Waterbury evening Democrat., 1905-02-16

The farmer pulled up. Paying no at ten to the men following. quarter of mile behind, he stood behind tho agriculturist and ordered him to drive like h., or I'll blow your bloody brains out" Again the farmer obeyed. Suddenly coming upon dozen ditch men directly in his path, all hope of escape seemed to be cut off. It was then that the remarkable coolness of the man and presence of mind as- serted themselves. Hurriedly jumping from the wagon he cowed the crowd in front with his revolver, calmly un- hitched one of the horses and before anybody knew lis intentions he had jumped on the animals back and, with half dozen shots, dashed on a mad gallop to stretch of wooded land three miles away. Reaching the thicket he dismounted. turned the horse loose and escaped from his pur- suers, It was then that the plans of Morrison to aid in the escape were useful, for Ely found the home of Jack Taylor, one of the gang, gave the pass word, and was sheltered until he had time to burglarize the residence of William Schwartz, a farmer. and ulti- mately found his way to Kansas City
 Ely's Confession.
 In the investigation of recent years the robbery of Ayers was looked into and information given by Jack Page resulted in the apprehension of Ely He was brought to Williams comfy from his residence in the west and when the evidence prepared bv the state fire marshal was shown him he confessed to the deed, took the officers over the route of his escape and yeri- fled all that had been related by Page in his confession. He served one wear in the Columbus (OD, penitentiary for his crime, justice having been side tracked to some extent because he turned states evidence and supplied the officers with information which in part resulted in the arrest and con- viction of Morrison, who is now sery- ing a sentence of 30 years in prison.
 Jack Page, first in crime after Mor- rison, enjoys freedom because he gave information of so much value Tn hunt ing down the tirebugs. A crippled old man now, he does not hesitate to say that he cannot begin to remember how many houses he fired. and how many dap plr ctn nio ha laft ic home, with flaming torches, and sold his manhood and soul for few paltry dollars. to be gained when the robbed insurance companies paid the policies on the buildings consumed,
 At present Page is willing away his time with a secret service guard con stantly watching him. for members of the conspiracy have vowed to take his life for the disclosures he made.
 Fire Marshall Takes Hand.
 The first visit to West Unity of Walter Payne who was. during the investiga- tion, assistant fire marshal. will never be forgotten by him. It was by the slightest chance that he ran into a shred of evidence which. followed up from a hundred different directions finally brought the hopedfor results Clyde Persing, of West Unity. was in debted to Toledo firm in rather large amount. and, neglecting payment, hs was drawn upon. Hectored by the ac tion in presenting draft to him for pay ment. Persing lost his temper. and threw care to the winds. At that time he conducted a small restaurant in g building owned by Mrs. Winifret Adolph. The night after the draft came to him the restaurant burned. That was in July of 1902. So bold was the action of the man that 1t could not fail tc arouse the suspicion of Mir Payne. and within few days. he visited the village He had not been there more than few minutes before his presence was tipped of to the leaders of the gang. Homer Morrison was there at the time, and hi; trusty lieutenants made him aware o' the fact that the fire marshal was in ths village Payne desired 10 talk witt Frederick Miller. the only banker of the town. and who was the agent fer nearly all the insurance companies which had policies placed in the vicinity. The mar shaI went to the bank. and, to his sur prise. the brazen scouts actually fol. lowed him, .n their attempt to learn the exact nature of his business. Even Mor' rison, fearless because he thought his dignity in the community protected him from suspicion. listened with eag.ruess 10 what the marshal said. and then en trusted the work of shadowins Payne tc less distinguished men in the profes sion
 The officer finally succeeded in evad [ ing the fellows on his trail. and held $ long conference with Miller. and other prominent men. who. he had learned Lad suffered because of their honesty lr refusing 10 participa'e in the depreia 1 tions. From citizens of this class. h, learned much. and his suspicious that the rAsraTrsnt fire was of an incendlar, nature were strengthened.
 ! Bit, to his great surprise, he was ur abe to get ore of the men assembled there, to mention the name of singlt person ~ho might. possibly. be con nectsd Thzy actually feared the con sequences tdat would come. when it va discovered that they gave information Appeal to thei. maBliness was unavail irg They were thoroughly coved bl the threats They feared their live world bc the forfeit for divuigiug an! of their secrets. Payne pointed out th, seriousness of the crime of arson. an showed them the criminal statutes. pro