The Birmingham age-herald., 1905-09-08
1OMEN MADE HAPPY BY THE GOVERNOR Jack Fontalne Is ParoIed and Given Another Chance WORKED HARD AND LONG Young Man Was Convicted of Forgery, But Full Reparatlon Has Been
 Made By Wife and
 Mother.

Montgomery. September 7.-(special)-
 with heavy hearts, might have been seen
 vending their way up the steps of the
 capitol on their way to the office of the
 governor of the state. Three-quarters of an hour later they traversed the same
 way on their return to the city. with
 smiles on their faces and tears of grati-
 tude in their eyes.
 | Within this time the chief executive had given back to one a son and the
 other a husband in the parole of Jack
 Fontaine. serving at speigner's sem
 tence of two years for the crime of forg- cry in the second degree. These two who
 loved the convict with all the fire and earnestness for which the women are known, had labored long not only to l secure the freedom of the accused but | to remove every vistage of the wrong | he in his youth, had committed. All the labor was as nothing when the governor | handed to them the precious paper that f marked the successful termination of their service, and represented the end
 sought when everything was sold to pay | off all the charges.
 There Is pathetic story of womanly
 devotion and youthful folly behind the
 simple statement that Jack Fontaine, convicted February %, 1905. in Dallas county for forgery in the second de- gree, had been paroled. He had not so | long before married and had been doing | some little work in and around the city. | If he had not made friends his wife and
 mother had. He fell. A forgery was com mitted and he was thrown in jail After | six months the trial came and then the ] sentence, two years at hard labor for the state. All seemed dark for the wom- | en.
 Work of Women.
 However, the mother and the young | wife went to work. They sold what little l property they had and paid off all the | amount taken by the young fellow, and | Then moved to Speigner's where they | could be near him as he toiled in the | state cotton mill and tried to begin anew 1 the life that he had sacrificed in a mo-
 ment of temptation. Every day the faith | full women worked, They encouraged him and sought influence to secure a parol | Good men of Selma entreated the gover- l nor. One of these was H. S. D. Mallory, | chairman of the state democratic com | mittee and one of the leading men of | the state. He wrote repeatedly to the | governor in the young mans behalf, so | often that he felt that he had to ask par- l don for persistency. He said that if given | a new start he felt sure the young man | would recover all he had lost. He called | attention to the fact that all the money | taken had been returned and ell cases | against the young man mol pressed. and | that this had been done after conviction, | not before to influence clemency, as is of | ten the case.
 All Helped Out.
 l The merchants who had been wronged | by the forgery joined In the plea for | clemency. The officers of the penitentiary | testified to his good conduct and tracta- | bility Everybody seemed to become in-
 terestsd to one time lend help to a man | down.
 1 Finally the end of the row came for the | two faithful women. They had spent all | they had to pay off the obligations and | moved to be near the object of their | love. and they came with sorrowing | hearts to tell all of this to the only man l in the whole world authorized to give | them back their loved one and they came | not in vain. Good friends had paved the | way and in a short time after they | asked It. the governor issued the order | setting the young man free. The end was | well and they walked away with beam | Ing faces and happy hearts, and tho | world will unhesita tinFly credit them with | all that is good in devotion and love. an- | other instance of the spirit that kent the woman last at the cross and found her | first at the sepulchre.