The Saint Paul globe. (St. Paul, Minn.) 1896-1905, 1903-09-13
ESCAPED CONVICT
LIVES LIFE OF MISERY
Reveals His Identity After Enduring 20
Years of Mental Torture.


NEW ORLEANS, Sept. &c. F. KEEL
ly, alias Felix DAILY. who has Just been.
Drought back to the Mississippi peniten-
tlary from Birmingham, Ala, to complete
nus sentence, interrupted by an escape
from the pen1tentiary twenty years ago,
tells remarkable story of remorse
and inability to keep a secret.
LAZY was living in Birmingham under
the assumed name of Kelly. He had mar
RED there, had son almost grown, had
zone well In business and had prospered
generally. During the twenty years since
ne mad escaped from the Mississippi pen
IIIeilIaFy ne had greatly aged, and had
changed SO in appearance that even the
old wardens would not have known him.
Lnere was never the slightest chance of
ms rearrest and Imprisonment; indeed,
the fact that a man by the name CT DAILY
mad escaped from the Mississippi Jail had
been forgotten by everyone.
Inc only person who knew it was DAILY
himself, but the knowledge so preyed
upon his mind that he could not keep the
secret. He wanted to confide in everyone
he met, and finally told his story to
and communicated the facts to the Mis-
slsslppl penitentiary authorities. DAILY
was rearrested, to the great surprise of his
family, and taken back to the peniten-
tiary. He made no denial, but confessed
his identity at once. and expressed great
relief that. the secret was off his mind
1T has kept me in condition of nerv5
Gus excitement for the entire twenty
years. said DAILY. Every day 1 ex-
pected the officers to come and arrest me.
Every day | felt that i ought to confess to
the authorities that was an escaped
convict and go back to the penitentiary
and complete my term.'
There can be no question that DAILY is
telling the truth in regard to his mental
anguish and suffering. AS matter of
fact, he has twice gone insane through
worrying over the matter without any
one ina ginning the secret that had mental
~ unbalanced him. After a short rest in
the asylum he recovered and went back to
his home, his mind still weighted with his
past.
Filled with the wild desire that pos
sessed him to share his secret with some
one he opened the subject several times
with strangers, he says. He even went to.
the governor of Georgia to tell his tale, to
get his assistance in securing clemency,
but he broke down at the last minute.
Finally the secret became too weighty for
him, as for King Midas barber. He told
the friend-who betrayed him. During all
his twenty years of freedom DAILY was in
mortal terror. Even when he slept ne
dreamed of prisons. He was twice in the,
Alabama state asylum at Tuscaloosa for
insanity, but when released was apparent
ly as sane as any one else, although a
physical wreck and with his nerves I'M
strung.
tent to murder William E. Smith. The
crime was committed at Moss Point,
Miss. in 1879. He was convicted on May
26, 1881 and sentenced to the peniteenti6adrSy
for five years. He escaped on Jan. 9, 1888.
after serving a little more than year and
a half. There was no trouble about the
escape, but Daily never got over it.
Itis probable that he will be pardoned,
as he has suffered during his twenty
years of freedom more than if he had been
confined all that time, and he is such q
physical and nervous wreck that he could
not possibly hope to serve out the re-
manning three and a half years of i'm
prisonment he owes tl7es state; indeed; it
would take very short term in the peni-
Tertiary to Kill him.