Montour American. (Danville, Pa.) 1866-1920, 1907-10-03
WILD Bill"
ADIUDCED GUILTY

William Uullfofd. commonly known
A. Wild BILL arrested for max Ing
threats against ~ H. y Meredith.
sunpfiuteuaent ~ the hospital for the
insane. was given hearing Saturday
aud adiudsad guilty by Judge Evans
tie was romaudcd to jail in default 4
hyo hundred dollars bail to keep The
peace
Wild BHl. who had been in tail since
the arrest on the llth inst was brought
into court bv Sheriff Williams, who
fearing an attempt Go escape, had TAX
en- the precautlon to employ pair Of
uippers. securely holding tie prisoner
bv the wrist.
The defendant being without counsel
william Kase West was appointed by
the court to defend him. "Bill' at
once took his seat by the attorney and
produced a sheet Of foolsoap paper. fill
ed with closely written matter, which
was supposed to contain data that
would prove valuable in building mp
defense.
Harry Mapstone, painter employ
ed at the hospital. was the first wit
ness. He repeated his evidence given
before the justice of the peace relat-
ing to the threats made. He was not
certain rs to the date but swore that
"Bill' had made threats against DR.
Meredith. his manner being such as to
impress the painters that the super
intendent was in danger and that they
considered il advisable to inform him
of what had occurred. In alluding to
DR.. Meredith the language used by the
defendant was violent and indecent
and wound up with the threat that he
would fix him if it took a hundred
years from now. :"
Alfred Stead, the boss painter. who
presented corroboratory evidence be-
fore the justice of the peace, is i'll of
pneumonia and could not be present
at the hearing, Saturday. a certificate
from the attending physician satisfied
the court as to Mr. Stead's illness and
inability to attend.
DR.. II. B. Meredith, the superintend-
ent of the hospital for the insane. was
the next witness. The threat made
by Guilford in substantially the words
employed by Mr. Mapstone, he said,
had been communicated to him by Mr.
Stead. DR.. Meredith said he regards
Guilford as a very undesirable per.
son to be at large. " While at the hos
pital he was considered dangerous
man and was given extra care and at
tention. In view of the threats made
DR.. Meredith says he has reason to
fear that his life is in danger.
Guilford was committed to the hos
pital three times-the first time, in
1876. the second time in 1887, and the
third and last time in 1898. After his
first commitment, in 1875, he escaped
from the institution the following
year, "eloping" during chapel ex-
ercises. When he was recommitted to
the hospital, in 1887 he again escaped
the next year. Following his commit
ment in 1898, he spent about four years
at the institution. being released in
1902 by order of the Clinton county
court
DR.. Meredith stated that the defend
ant had also been in the penitentiary,
serving one term of five years for
heinous crimes which he named. In
early life Guilford was an epileptic
DR.. Meredith read "history of the
case as presented when the defend
ant was committed, which showed that
he was homicial and had threatened
to kill. DR.. Meredith explained that
there is marked moral deficiency
about the man and that he persists in
telling falsehoods. when the truth
would serve his purpose much better.
He takes a delight in talk ing of his
experiences while he was in the pen
itentiary subject which ex-convicts
generally would prefer to avoid.
Bill" himself was called to the
stand, but his testimony did not make
a very strong impression. Reading
from the closely written page of fools
cap he traced his movements with
great detail and care for several DAYS
about the time of the alleged threats,
with the object of establishing an
alibi. Calling God to witness he pro-
tested that he had never made threat
against Dr. Meredith.
There was one question, he said, that
he wanted DR.. Meredith to answer. If
he was such dangerous man he
would like the superintendent to ex-
plain why he was given such freedom
about the institution under DR..
Shultz, the then superintendent. He
recalled that he was not even requir-
ed to sleep in the wards, but following
his inclination worked all day Fand
mostly spent the nights in the boiler
/ house. 1t was only when some of the
attaches got to annoying him that he
went back into the hospital proper to
sleep. He made no allusion the last
time that he was inearcerated, under