The Birmingham age-herald., 1905-02-13
Broke Down When They Knew | Was a Hanging Ofanse
 and Told of ihe Crimes
TELL 0F TIMES THEY
 HAD ROBBIAG PEOPLE
Came Very Nearly Killing Mir. Bra. zeal, and Would Have Killed Any One Who Offer Any Re-
 sistance to Them.

T. J. Langford, aged I9 years, and J. Trout aged r years, are self-eonfessed hishwaymen. Yesterday they admitted that they had held up and robbed E. I. Simon, the well known liquor dealer last Wednesday night on Highland avenue
 The pair have also confessed to rob ping several other people To reporter they denied that they robbed B. M. Bra zeal, well known as proprietor of a type writer and counting machine agency and as baseball magnate. although Mir. Brazeal identified both of them positively yesterday as the young men who robbed him as he was entering his gate one night last week. They however, contradict themselves in this and other matters
 J. II. Williams, who lives at Rising sta tion on the Bessemer line, near the old fair grounds. also identified the taller of the two young fellows, Langford, as the one who held him up and robbed him on the night of February 6. r. D. Owens. a negro, will probably call at headquarters today and identify the men. He has de- scribed them accurately. He lives near the old fair grounds and was held up and robbed on the night of February eth or 7th the highwaymen getting a valuable 1 gold watch and some money
 They Are Cool.
 The two boys are taking the matter cooly, although they know that detah is staring them in the face, for they have committed crimes which are hang ing offenses in the state of Alabama. It was this information which lead them to make their confession yesterday morning in the private office of Chief Wier.
 We just gradually drifted into this,'' Langford said to a reporter last night at the city jail. We started out just a little at a time and we have gradually grown in crime until now we are in a bad fix. I am iather by trade and worked in Birmingham four years ago. We have visited many southern cities and have operated in several of them.
 We did hold up some people here, but l Mr. Brazeal was wrong He cannot prove it and he could not identify us. Mir simon did Identify us. We live in Jacksonville, | Fla, and there was other man with us when we held up these people. If l there were three men in any gang mat | held up any one else, it was in a dif- | ferent gang from ours. There was another gang operating in the city,
 Amusing Accounts.
 In their confession yesterday morning to the detectives, both Langford and | Trout gave rather amusing accounts of enc or two of the robberies they had committed, and still there was a serious 1 side to it.
 1 MT. Brazeal does not know how near he came to being shot and killed the other night" Langford stated. He | kinder hated to give up his money and | if he had have kicked much more we would have shot him. In fact we were willing to shoot any of them that show ed any sings of kicking, as we were out | after the money and determined to have | it.
 When we held up Mir. Simon on the | Southside he was pretty badly scared | He hacked around and around a tree, and called for help. The one he called to was Trout, and when he called Trout, I | said: Yes, come on up, Jack" and Jack | came.
 1 Jack was to walk ahead of me as a blind so as not to arouse suspicion, and | this time he had passed Mir Simon and was about 75 feet ahead. When MT. Simon was backing around that tree, kinder side-steppng as it were. he discovered Jack and called for held. don't blame him though.
 Would Leave Town.
 We held up people and then we would leave town at once We would not stay | tl, aft.. | all in daylight. We were afraid some- one might try to pick us up. We were l not afraid of Identification as we l thought these people would be too badly 1 scared to be able to identify us. but guess they were not as badly scared as ] we thought they would be. Anyway they l identified us all right
 "We are going to enga ge the best law yers in the country to defend us. I guess that our people will aid us, but if they throw us down we are in a bad fix. My father, who is dead now. used to run | a stable in Birmingham, Jacksonville, Att | lanta and Macon, and as pretty well | known
 During the confession yesterday the boys seemed badly troubled When the de- l | they had been doing. they stoutly denied 1 their guilt, but Detective Bodeker ffoored 1 them when he asked:
 l DO you know that highway robbery is | a hanging offense in Alabama? 1 Langford Broke Down. | Langford's face dropped. his lip quivered | and a tear came Into his eye when the question was put, for it was the firyt in 1 timation he had that he was facicr any | thing but a term in prison His her yes grew weaker and weaker until finally he | broke down and confessed.
 "Its the first time that I knew that I was apt to hang" he stated. and if I | had known it I do not believe that would have ever tried it. This came on us gradually. We came to Birmingham on last Sunday morning while the big l fire was burning on Twenty-frst street. We could not find any work to do and so we tried holding people up We just drifted into it, and then we got into bad company and that had a lot to do with