The St. Louis Republic. [volume] (St. Louis, Mo.) 1888-1919, 1903-01-25
Millionaire Promises to Give En-
ploymcnt to John :. Downing,
an Old Soldier.
WAS SENTENCED FOR LIFE.
Every Month He Has Been I'M
INJURED Has Brought to Him
SD. Il Pension From the
United States.
REPUBLIC SPECIAL

REPUBLIC SPECIAL
New York. Jan. 24.-John S. Downing. Il
years old. is 10 be taken 10 d court IN
Brooklyn. with the hope that he never will
return to his cell.
He is not helpless. despite his age. He
Is healthy and vigorous. Every month he
has been immU-ed has brought him sl2. a
pension from the United States, for he Wa
a soldier in the Civil War. and was wound
ed. and men Of affairs in this city have an
interest in him one Of them, a million
airc. mas promised to give him employment.
HIS sentence was that he should be I'M
prisoned for life. although he was convicted
only of manslaughter in the first degree. 1t
IS for this reason that his friends, though
Norman s. Marsh. a lawyer. will endeavor
10 have him liberated. The lawyer obtained
q writ of habeas corpus from Judge Gayror,
IN Brooklyn, some days ago. and. as II Is
returnable this morning. the aged prisoner
will be taken before. the Judge by one Of
the Warden's deputies.
WOUNDED Vt ANTIETAM.
For four years Downing fought with
Company B. of the Fifty-first New YORK
Volunteers. and he was in many Of the most
important battles of the war. He was a
prisoner of war for five and a nall months
and was wounded at Antictam. Returning
to this city he became a shoemaker. and
with his wife drank TO excess frequently.
They quarreled. often. and on December j.
losS, ne "dS l'hiiu a'du an NAN' '.i'.
She had been beaten and ncighborS testifled
that Downing and she had fought the night
previously. He was >indicted for murder in
the first degree.
They could not convict him said Mr..
Marsh, for they had no evidence against
him. Benjamin X. Phelps. Their District
Attorney, prevailed on downing TO plead
guilty to manslaughter in the first degree.
Death was then the penalty, as. now. for
prisonment for murder in the second de-
gree. But all the law said about punish
ment for manslaughter in the first degree
not less than seven years
Judge Cowing had been on the bench of
the General Sessions Court for just thirteen
was brought before him for sentence. The
Judge sent him to prison for life. at hard
eighteen months the Penal Code was adopt
ed. and that describes the heaviest penalty
for manslaughter in the first degree as i'm
prisonment for twenty years.
MERCY is ASKED.
81 will contend that the punishment meted
out to Downing was excessive, and that ne
has been dealt with severely enough and
should not be compelled to die I'm prison. /
will hold also that the provisions of the
Penal Code. making twenty years the maxi
mum penalty for his crime. should be retro
active. For you must remember that. should
the law be changed between the commission
of a crime and the time for the sentencing
of the criminal. he would be punished aC-
cording to the new law ana not that which
was In effect at the time Of the commission
of the crime.
But IL the court should not free him !
have prepared a petition which l will place
before Governor Odell. Colonel William c.
Church. Colonel Appleton and men of sim
ilar caliber are willing to do all in their
power to obtain the old mans pardon. and
Francis s, LorinG, q prominent shoe manu-
facturer. has promised to find a place for
Downing, should he be freed, either in Chi
cage or Detroit. You must remember that
he is the only living convict who was cen
fenced to life Imprisonment under the old
law. in the prisons of this State. All the
others are dead or have been pardoned."
In his petition is this paragraph:
lie Is yet strong and vigorous and not
without meaps of support and he prays
the Governor for pardon in order that he
may spend the last years of his life in free
dom. and he pledges the word of an old sol
dier. who has suffered much. that he will.
IL pardoned. lead an orderly and sober life
and render to the State such service as may
lie in his power during the years that re-
main