Los Angeles herald., 1906-03-26
SHACKLED, BUCK
GOES TO PRISON
STARTS TO SAN QUENTIN
TODAY
Condemned Man Shows improvement
in His Physical Condition, but Is
Being Closely Watched.
Proof of Sanity

Morris Buck. condemned murderer
of Mrs Chloe Garfield. goes to san
Quentin today to pay with his life fol
his terrible crime.
Shackled hand and foot to ]. w. Kef-
ford, sentenced to five years imprison-
ment for forgery, Buck will be closely
watched by Sheriff White and one oi
his deputies.
Not for an instant will the eyes OF
the officers cease their vigilant watch
upon the covering wretch soon to be
hanged.
Buck might not make an attempt to
escape, but given chance he mlghl
seek to fling himself from car WIN
dow, with the certainty of death at the
end of the journey ever before his
mind.
He Looks Better
According to the Officers at the
county iail Buck showed slight inn
provement in his physical condition
yesterday.
The strain of the long trial told
severely on his unstrung nerves ana
several times he collapsed and required
prompt medical treatment. At one time
it was thought that he might cheat the
gallows and die from heart failure ana
nervous exhaustion, but there is lit
tie doubt that Buck will be i'll
better physical condition on the day
he is hanged than he has been for
weeks since the murder.
The death watch kept constant
guard over the condemned man and
took extraordinary care that Buck
should have no opportunity to COM
init suicide.
A curious feature of the case not
brought out prominently at the trial
was referred to by a prominent au-
thority on insanity last night.
Wty He Is Sane
This doctor remarked: "If Buck had
been really insane at the time that he
shot Mrs. Garfield he would have
ended his own life with the same
weapon that had just dealt out death.
"An insane criminal who runs amuck
will generally kill everything in sight
and is reckless of his own life.
IA man laboring under a homicidal
impulse thinks nothing of killing his
victim and holds his own life cheap:
i'After Buck had seen Mrs. Garfield
fall dying to the floor, it would have
been a natural sequence OF his madness
to shoot himself.
'Instead, the man fled from the per-
sons surrounding the veranda and was
discovered covering in the extremity
of fear.
HE exhibited all the symptoms of
terror during the trial and his frequent
collapses, to my mind, were evidence
that he realized that he would be
convicted of murder and be sentenced
to hang"
Departure Today
Buck will probably leave Los An
geles this afternoon about 3 o'clock on
the Southern Pacific, although the
plans may be changed at the last min
ute.
Every precaution will be taken to
guard the prisoner from the gaze of
the morbid crowd and with the utmost
secrecy he will be taken on board OF
the train, bound on his last railroad
journey.
The sentence of the court was that
Buck should be hanged within a period
of time, not less than sixty days nor
more than ninety days. A deputy pre-
dicted as a guess last night that Buck
would be hanged before June l, little
over two months from now.
In California a condemned muir
derer never knows until the
last, the day upon which he is to hang
and the suspense to a man with sane
mind is said to be almost unbearable.
If Buck has not been shamming, his
strange indifference, his apathy should
stand him in good stead, said the
deputy, at the time of his execution.
However. the official believed that the
condemned man is fully conscious of
his fate and that his actions in court
were largely assumed for purpose.