La Junta tribune., 1905-08-02
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east made much ado about nothing
over Sehidlofskas. the Boston wife
murderer. While Schidlofskas was
an inmate of the Otero county bas-
tile telegram after telegram was sent
TO this city by various yellow journals
of the effete east imploring for
something sensational in the line of
news concerning the murderer Lo-
cal officers. however. thought the
murderer the mildest hammered fiend
with which they had ever had to
do and paid very little attention to
him. Yellow journals. however.
have patrons whose abnormal appe-
tites for something sensational must
be satisfied, and when there is
nothing in fact. they supply the
deficiency by turning the case over
TO some reporter with an order to
work his imagination overtime until
ne turns out something sensational
The Wednesday. July 18th. issue
Of the Brockton Times. published at
Brockton. Mass, contained a two
column article concerning Schidiof-
skas. headed as follows: ''Schid-
lofskas Tries Suicide. Attempts to
Strangle Himself With Suspenders.
Tells How He Cut Wrinkles OFF His
Wife's Face. She Protested. Then
follows two-column screed. not
single line of which Is true. Our
readers can form very good idea Of
the general run of the article from
few extracts which are as follows:
With moose made of his sus-
penders. John Schidlofskas.. held in
the Otero county jail at La Junta,
Colo. charged with the murder of
his wife in Belmont. Mass. made
desperate effort TO commit suicide
By strangulation about O'Clock
yesterday afternoon.
Taller Frank Nixon was the only
one at the jail during the afternoon.
and with his wife he spent most of
the time on the lawn in the rear of
the jail
AT O'Clock he entered the corri-
dor TO give Schidlofskas his evening
meal and heard him kicking about
his cell. He ran To the entrance of
the steel cage in which the Russian
is confined He was startled by the
sight that met his eyes. Schidlof-
skas had tied one end of his sus-
penders TO a cross bar in the door
and the other end about his neck.
Falling forward. he put his whole
weight on the moose. and was rolling
and kicking about in his efforts to
choke himself. The prisoner was
gasping for breath.
The jailer had arrived just in
time. Had the suspender moose
slipped more easily there is little
doubt that the wife murderer would
have succeeded in cheating the law.
The sheriff and the jailer both
refuse To talk of the attempted
suicide and say that it was
bluff. Since the attempt. how
ever. the sheriff has refused to
admit any one to the jail
Ia Junta. where Schidlofskas is
held awaiting the arrival of General
Whitney. of the Massachusetts state
police. is town Of 1900 inhabitants
made up mostly of Mexicans and
negroes, with smattering of
hybrid Indians of the Chickasaw-
Navajo tribes.
1T is in the center of a rich agri-
cultural and cattle country. 1t is
wild town where saloons are
numerous and open all night"
Schidlofskas was incarcerated in
the Otero county Jail for eleven
days, and during all that time did
not make a desperate effort" or
any other kind of an old effort to
commit suicide by strangulation or
any other method. The details of
the attempted suicide are painfully
elaborated upon for two columns or
more, and in not single line is
there one word of truth.
When the reporter related that !
Jailer Nixon is in the habit of
spending his afternoons on the lawn
in the rear of the jail. it was not
quite the truth-but near it. very
near it.