The Salt Lake herald. [volume] (Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1870-1909, 1904-12-24

EVENTFUL LIFE OF
tom" KING ENDS
City Jail Trusty Found Dead
in Drunk House.
PROUD CAREER AS SOLDIER
LIQUOR THE DOWNFALL OF MAN
WITH KIND HEART.
PROUD CAREER AS SOLDIER

LIQUOR THE DOWNFALL OF MAN
WITH KIND HEART.
Lying on the cement floor in the
drunk house az the city jail about 9
o'clock yesterday morning. Tom King,
a veteran Of the civil war and for many
years a constant trusty at police head
quarters was found dead. During the
night King was IN a fit of madness. the
result Of years Of dissipation. and his
mdeous cries resOunded through the
lall FOR several hours. He shouted and
preached along q religious strain until
after daylight. and then he ouieted
noWn. He rolled around on the floor
and another drunkard who was there
thought ne had gone insane King
sank INTO deep slumbeT and at
clock, when the drunk house was
thrown open, his body was found on
the floor Ed Murtie and johnny
Bull who have been companions of
King for several years and have known
no other home than the city jail, were
the first to find him. They attended
To King and, Strengthening him out i'm
natural position and covering his
face with handkerchief, they watched
over him in the dingy cell until be was
taken to the undertakerS establish
ment.
Wants to Be Out Christmas.
King was arrested Dec. on the
charge Of being drunk. He fought Of
hcer SmOOt all the way C. the police
station as he always did. and the next
day pleaded guilty 10 the charge of
drunkenness. Before Judge G.. B. Diehl
passed sentence upon him, King asked
permission Of the court 10 make a
statement IN his behalf The court
granted him the privilege.
Please. your honor" he pleaded. Il
would like to be out of jail on Christ
mas. If you viii make my sentence
short enough so ! can be at liberty on
Christmas day l will never come back
again.
I have saved over $500 from my gov
eminent pension, which my guardian
has kept for me, and Christmas eve
am going to the Soldiers home in San
Francisco"
Judge DiehI looked at the calendar
and, counting up the days before
christmas, sentenced him 10 serve six
teen days. Thursday night Tom walked
INTO the station, handed the desk ser
geant dollar and asked to be released.
He explained that his sentence expired
the next day, and that he would pay
the fine. The officers tried TO get Tom
to remain i'm jail that night. but he IN
sisted on going. Late Thursday night
Tom was creating TOO much of a dis
turbance i'm Riley's saloon on State
street. and he was arrested by Officer
Smoot and lodged in the drunk house.
Career of Tom King.
Tom King was born in Ptttsburg. Pa,
In 1888, and would have been y years
sf.r 40 A
on farm in the neighborhOod until he
was y years Of age, and then secured
employment in the coal mines near
Pittsburg. At the outbreak of the strug-
gle between the north and the south he
offered his services to the government
and Joined Colonel Kaighns Bucktail
Rangers, composed of shaTpshOOters
from the Cumberland mountains King
fought with his regiment through all
the battles Of the Potomac under Cen
eral Mcclellan. At Charlottesville,
Brandy station. Culpepper court house
and Gaines mill and Malvern hill he
stood with his regiment
Later on he was transferred and
fought in the battles of Peach Orchard.
HarrisOn's landing. South Mountain
and i'm the battle at the White Oak
swamp. At the last named place he
was left wounded on the field and fell
into the hands OF the cOnfederates. He
was ssnt to the military prison al An
Jacksonville and afteTwaTd 10 the Libby
prison, and remained there until the
end of the war.
Wounded Early in the War.
During the first year of the war one
Of his feet was shattered by a shell
and he remained I'm the hospital for
some time. He was sent to Tennessee
and was there for several months. one
night company was sent out to Sc
cure provisions for the regiment and
they were fired upon by a squad Of in
fantTy. Their band was separated and
COrnered. King made his escape through
a field Of cotton and, to prevent being
followed. he set the cotton on fire. He
was captured. however, and in his story
tells that the rope was put around his
neck. but that he never understood
why they did not hang him. He was a
prisoner for over a month but finally
managed TO escape with several others.
When he was captured the second
time he was badly wounded and his
skull was fractured.
He was one Of the prisoners who
assisted i'm the hanging of Superinten-
dent Swartz of Libby prison. who, they
claimed. had taken valuables from
them and refused 20 return them when
they We're liberated.
Sent to An Asylum.
After Kings release ne was adj
Judged insane and was kept I'm the
government asylum for soldiers for
four years. An operation was per-
formed on him and a small fragment
IF bone WAS removed from his brain. |
He recovered his reason shortly after |
ward.
King came here about twenty-one
years ago TO visit his sister. who is /
now living i'm American Fork. but the !
greatest part Of his time has been /
spent IN jail. He began drinking be- !
fore he came here. and it affected his |
mind so that he became Crazed and |
at times violent while under its in |
1Uence
Tom became a fixture at the Jail /
about eighteen years ago, and up to I
the day he died he was the leader /
among the trUsty force. He had al /
ways retained his leadership. and mt /
times he had fought for IL. always VIC (
torlously. Toms pension was always /
spent for whisky. and even when he /
was ogt Of jail for "a day or two he /
would come back each night and fight !
for his bunk. Several persons attempt !
ed To reform Tom but they all failed. /
yet they felt he was to be pitied more /
than blamed.
Jumps Over Embankment.
At one time Tom was hired to work !