The Mankato free press. [volume] (Mankato, Blue Earth County, Minn.) 1879-1924, 1905-08-11
LONGS FOR OLD MINNESOTA
Alfred A. Buck Writes a Letter to The
Mapieton Enterprise.


From Fridays Daily.
In a private letter TO The Mapleton
Enterprise A. A. Buck says that he is
under arrest at Havana and that while
the best attorneys III the city claim
that they can prevent his being taken
back, he is ready to come, that he is
homesick for old Minnesota and that he
is coming eXtradition papers or not. He
says further: 81 cannot express to you
my feelings, but | want to get back
and take my medicine, and when | get
through | will be free to 60 where /
please. The worst part of the whole
deal is having dear little Dan. He is on
the Isle of Pines and l can only hope
he will always be the perfect little
gentleman he is at present. | will see
you, or rather will be with my old
friend Ben Williams soon after you re-
ceive this and | shall be pleased to have
you make me a call and talk over mat
ters. Ny leg is broken in two places
and | am still on crutches. Ny friends
here all want me to fight the extradi-
ton, but even if | won | should always
have the worry and could never return
to the states, SO my mind is made up
and ! am going back l shall hope to
see you in Mankato"
Sheriff Williams reached Havana last
Saturday, but owing to the precautions
being taken to prevent the spread of
yellow fever which prevails at New Or
leans, he in company with the other
passengers on the boat was taken to the
detention hospital at Triscornia station.
where he was detained three days and
will probably reach Mankato on the
return about the middle of next week
as at best it will take him nearly
week to make the trip. The usual de-
tention is five days. but Sheriff Will
would be kept but three days.
The letter of Mr.. Bucks should set
at rest the stories that he would COM
NIT suicide of perform some desperate
act before he would return. He rec
ognizes that he is in the clutches of the
law and as he says wants to get back
and take his medicine" He certainly
has taken some bitter medicine since
giving up his happy home and pleasant
surroundings which he enjoyed at Ma
pleton less than two years ago. His
wanderings have certainly been follow
ed with a chain of circumstances that
would convince the most skeptical that
the way of the transgressor is hard
No one knows better than he and his
only sister, Mrs. Abbott, what his suf-
ferings have been, how misfortune and
sorrow have followed his footsteps wher-
ever he went. Father, wife and babe
were called home to the Master, sick
ness and physical sufferings were his
lot, business ventures were failure
and hard manual labor only brought
relief III that exhaustion that brought
tDouU ItSt NDCitlH lie COulu IOfStt
those he had wronged.
A representative of The Havana Post
who called on Mr. Buck after his arrest
says that he was well treated by the
authorities, given a cell by himself, a
decent cot and bathing facilities The
prisoner admitted that he was guilty |
of taking the money from the bank and
expected to have to answer for it, He |
informed the reporter that:
When he left Mapleton, the scene of
his populations, he had very little |
money, his thefts from the bank having
extended over a period of several years.
1t was the same old story of succumb
ing to "A severe temptation and after
wards repeating many times the orig |
inal offense in the hope of making a
lucky strike which would enable him
to make good the amount unlawfullyl