The Topeka state journal. [volume] (Topeka, Kansas) 1892-1980, 1906-08-11

weight OF years, tOtter1ng
as he hurried towards the
police station at midnight
last night leaning heavily
upon a cane which has
been his constant companion since he
returned from Camp Chickamauga
Calvin Morrison met an officer at the
door Of the city prison and pleaded for
protection from mob which he
imagined was following him.
Calvin Morrison is a relic of the
Spanish war, a physical and mental
wreck; a perfect man when he enlisted
he is now a palsied, crippled, prema-
turely aged man bound for the insane
asylum and within hearing distance of
taps which will undoubtedly soon be
sounded, as he is laid to rest by the
comrades who Jared better than he did
during the Spanish trouble.
He presented a pitiful sight last
evening as he told his story at the po-
lice station and one that touched the
hearts of the officer though most of the
stories that reach their ears are sad
ones. He told how though he had
lived in Topeka for years and had been
a collector for GuiIford Dudley in his
bank that when the call came for
troops he felt that it was his duty to
enlist.
Il was afraid because Governor
Leedy was Populist that there would
be no chance to get to the front and
so I went to Pierce City, Missouri and
enlisted in company z of the Second
regiment. he said. I'VE were started
south but did not get farther than
Chlckamauga, where We went into
camp and stayed for ten months. 1t
was there that I contracted typhoid
IeVer, from which l have never recov-
cred and that is what has brought me
here today for protection"
Then the lucid interval left him and
he raved again of the mob which he
imagined was pursuing him to hang
him to a telegraph pole. Il never com
mltted the crime that they charge me
WITH, he pleaded Tt is all a mistake.
though I Know that two of the children
have died. I mus have protection for
l heard them al foot Of the stairs lead
ing TO my room planning to hang me
and they followed me part way down
here"
It was seen that the man was dement,
ed and the officers locked him in a cell
separating him from the remainder of
the prisoners in the city Jail where he
became quieter.
How did your clothes happen to be
so wet asked Sergeant Voiles as he
noticed that the man was drenched to
the skin. Well, I thought that [ was
not going to be able to get away from
the mob so I ran east 9pn Sixth street
and jumped into the water and tried to
drown myself. Think of the disgrace of
a soldier trying to drown himself or
tJ us at tA1C udiQc u MOD. / won {
do it and you must save me- he pleaded
for his voice was low and he did not
rave.
This morning he was taken to the
county jail and he PAGES rest1essly up
and down the cell used for the deten-
ton of prisoners or crouches on \ cot
in one corner, staring wildly at every
one who approaches. If they stop at the
door of the cell he slips quietly towards
them and whispers that there is a party
of men in the next cell who are prepar-
ing decoctiOn in which they intend to
boil him this evening
Then he pleads with the listener to
save him as he is of more use alive than
dead even though he is not fit for hard
labor. The sheriff and all of these men
about here are in the plot to boil me
alive, he continues. for something
which was an accident and which had
no hand in Then my head hurts me -
he complains as he runs his long bony
fingers through his hair which dis
heaveled as it is with the wild staring
eyes, gives him the appearance of a
raving maniac.
Morrison's record is a good one and
he has a discharge showing that he
was model soldier in every way
Prior to the time of his enlistment he
had been employed about the GuiIford
Dudley bank and as soon as he had
sufficiently recovered after his return
home he resumed his old position
which he held until the bank was
closed.
He was in the army for ten months,
most of the time being in camp at
Chickamauga, where hundreds of en-
listed men contracted typhoid fever
and other diseases which ended their
terms of service in the army. He was
in the hospital for some time with
typhoid fever and when he returned
north the change did not seem to bene-
fit him and though but forty-one years
of age he appears to be sixty at least.
Ever since the close Of the wal
Morrison has been a familiar sight on
Kansas avenue and was usually seen
between Fifth street Sixth avenue, as
he had a room in the old Branne1
building. His case was presented tc
| the government and several years age
/ he was granted a pension of $50 a
month upon which he has subsisteo
since the Dudley bank closed.
/ Arrangements are being made by
Major Harvey and a number of his
! friends to have him taken to some pri-
vate. sanitarium where he can have
rest and care in hopes that he may
regain his mind and his physical con
| dition become such that he will agar
be able to care for himself