Montour American. (Danville, Pa.) 1866-1920, 1906-03-01
HEARING BRINGS
DEVELOP MENTS

morning, which followed as an after
math Of the arrest Of the supposed bur.
glar on the premises of Franklin Boy
er, Tuesday night, which was accom-
plished under such sensational circum-
stances. The man arrested proved to
be the toughest problem that the Just.
ice ever faced-eithor the most astute
and accomplished actor that ever DON
ned workman apparel for disguise or
merely piece Of human driftwood
whose diseased mind was a perfect
phantasmagoria of wild delusions.
The man was dirty and unkempt and
his appearance on the whole resembled
more rolling mill employe than a
professional hobo. Upon being brought
into the office of Justice Oglesby about
9:30 O'Clock he stepped directly up to
the justice and with foreign accent
said:
"Charlie Johnson" "
The justice asked him where he was
the night before. The answer to the
question and many others that follow
ed showed that the man evidently had
no idea of what he was up against or
even that he had committed an over
act; one vagary seemed to suggest an
other to him and his statements were
irrational and contradictory.
The only facts deduced from his dis
connected and rambling talk, that
bore the stamp of probability was that
he was Swede, named Charles John
son, forty-nine years of age-that near
/ ly all his life he had followed the sea
that up to a recent date he had been
working at the steel plant at Berwick.
| According to his own confession he
was given to drink and it was a ques-
/ tion whether his arrangement of mind
is temporary, the result of a prolong-
ed debauch. or is permanent, following
as the result of other causes.
1t was evident that he could not be
held accountable for his escapade in
getting into Mr.. Boyer's house. Mr..
Boyer, himself, who was present at the
| hearing was one of the first to be i'm
! pressed with this fact. He was very
anxious, however, to know how the
man had gotten into he house, as the
front door was locked and there was
no other way open for admittance.
He put the question to the man. In
reply the fellow said:
"Why John, the man there, let me
in-the woman she was there. The
other fellows-the Huns-they were on
the roof. They were cutting a hole
through the ceiling. l fastened the
windows down; they had a lasso-they
want to hang me. "
He was reminded of the presence Of
the dog by one of the officers.
"Oh, the dog" he said; she no
| good He just stand and bark-he not
bite. "
In reply to further questioning he
said two other fellows came in the
front door with him and were lying
on bed beside him in the parlor
There was an element of strong
pathos in the situation accentuated by
the broken down condition and the
sad plight the fellow was in The
justice asked:
Have you been sick?
There was a slight hesitancy and the
Swede replied: "Yes, l have been
sick.-of drinks -
From what could be gathered from
the man he had come to Danvi lie from
Berwick, Monday proceeding the same
day to Milton where failing to obtain
work he came back to Danville on
Tuesday. 1t was while fleeing from
imaginary enemies who were pursuing
him with a rope for the purpose Of
hanging him that the poor fellow took
refuge in Mr.. Boyer's house.
He was under the impression that
Danville was a seaport town and in
trying to account for his movements
on Tuesday night he said before going
into the house he had been down to
the dock, where he had shipped on a
Nova ScOtian vessel, which was lying
out in the stream. The captain and
the mate had rowed into the dock and
it was with them that he had engaged
to sail, repeating the entire converse
tion that passed between them. He
was bound for Australia, he said The
Justice asked him where the dock was
and he replied: Down below the steel
plant.
He seemed happy at the prospects Of
leaving this section, where his enemies
were giving him so much trouble and
quickly arising with his soied cap in
his hand started toward the door.
"HOld on there - Chief Mincemoyer
called out, 'where are you gOiug?"
I'm going home, was the reply.
Asked where his home was he inno-
Gently replied:
"At the present time | am living in
Il building down here" pointing in
the direction of the lookup Officer
VOris asked him if he didn't know
that he was under arrest.
He replied to the effect that he had
not been arrested since Saturday night.
The officer asked him where he was
dTEeSttl tlltu am ne ItpLltu' I1eIe,1
guess You arrested me.
1t was seen that the Swede was "a
hopeless case but the officers had one
more question to ask. They wanted to
know why he gave two names on Tues
day night His explanation was plausi-
BILE. 1t appeared that he had been en-
ployed by a contractor at Sayre, who
arrived at the conclusion that there
were too many Charlie Johusous i'll
his gang and he obliged our Swede to
take the name of John Paterson. The
latter explained that he was in ''big
hurry to get home Tuesday night and
he got the 1.-TWO named mixed up.
This seemed satisfactory to the justice
and the man of many stories was re-
manded to the lock up Chief Mince-
moyer was undecided yesterday as to
what diSDOSitiOu he should make of