The Democratic advocate. [volume] (Westminster, Md.) 1865-1972, 1907-03-08
Sympathy of
WILLIAM HALL
(Alias Charles Wells).
MARYLAND Penitentiary.

Hall, who sent 1t, IS serving term for bur
glary committed at the house of Mr.. Asbury
Watts, near Pikesville, in 1895. @ln stating
he would like to send some evidence OF re-
gard for Mr.. Doyle, Hall said he would like
to spend IS for flowers. and Warden Weyler
handed him note of that denomination from
the extra money Hall has made since he has
been behind the bars He also said he had
| always been sorry he had shot Doyle, but that
he knew that Doyle was fearless and would
have shot him had he not shot first.
story of Convict.
In talking of the shooting of Doyle yester-
day Hall land that is not his real name) said
he had met many brave men, but Doyle was
one of the bravest he had ever come across.
In telling of the events that led TO the shoot
ing and his subsequent capture near Harris
burg, Hall said:
II did burglary job at Carlisle in 1895 and
got away with the police on our tracks. A
man named Cost was with me. [ met him in the
Jail at Westminster, where / had been arrested
and held for trial for burglary L did not
commit. We broke Jail there with a pocket
knife. We stole horses at Harrisburg and
rode to Mechanicsburg, and there was some
shooting at us by the posse that followed.
There was more shooting at Bridgeport, but
they could not hit us and our horses were fast.
At Myersville we left our horses and hid In
the woods. Later we got two more horses and
| doubled back to Harrisburg throwing the
police off the scent.
| went to Pikesville and worked on the
dairy of James Counselmau. | got in trouble
there over the Watts affair and had to get
away. | got job on farm in Carroll county
and got in trouble there and was locked up.
AS said, Cost and | got out of jail We then
came to Baltimore and laid here one night.
We knew the police were after US and made
e, A. lla
tending to tramp through the country. We
travelled by darkness. In the early morning
we burrowed under barrack to sleep through
the day. The first thing we knew saw
policeman helmet coming into the barrack
and he had pistol in his hand | afterward
learned that there had been several burglaries
in and about Gainesville and Doyle thought
we were the men. He told us to come out,
but | fired at him with 38 gun five times,
each ball taking effect. Cost gave him the
bullet that nearly put Doyle out of business.
He shot him in the region of the heart
We got away and made track over the state
line on a train. and later we were picked up
near Harrisburg and brought here for trial.
Visited by Doyle.
While was in Jail in Baltimore about three
months after we had shot Doyle he came to
see me. He told me he had no hard feeling
over the shooting and made me take pound
of tobacco. 1t showed good spirit, and it
taught me my first lesson about good men.
lam very sorry for Mr.. Doyle's family and
want to send some evidence of my sympathy,
so if the Warden will let me will send some
flowers"
Hall is 81 years old and Pennsylvania.
He will be releasedin December, 1911. Orgi-
nally he was sentenced to the Penitentiary for
40 years; then the sentence was reduced to
% years, and finally Judge Burke, then sitting
at Towson, and who tried the case, reduced
the sentence to 20 years. Hall is a model
prisoner, and if all things go we'll he will get
40 months Communication for good behavior
from his term.
Held Posse at Bay.
When Hall Was arrested in Pennsylvania he
had held posse at bay with two revolvers
for over five hours. He put up desperate
fight and had the officers badly scared His
ammunition was getting low, when citizen, an
undertaken, took part in the battle with
shotgun. Hall tried to kill him, and the un
dertaker kept banging at the desperate man.
Hall stated that he loaded and emptied his two
revolvers six times and fired in all y times at
the undertaken without touching him. When
all his cartridges were exhausted the under
taker walked up to Hall and hit him on the
head with gun, knocking him senseless, and
then handed him over to the police.
Hall also said he had been in the regular
army and had wife and two sisters.
Warden Weyler said that Hall one Christ
mas after he had been there about two years
said he wanted to sell pair of shears he had
for IS cents in order to get some things for
the holidays. The warden advanced the con-
vict S., and the latter was so grateful that he
went hard to work, doing extra labor, and
soon paid up the AMOUNT
Hall was also in an attempted delivery of
prisoners in the pen several years ago. He
got the confidence of deputy warden. and
the latter carried files and saws into the old
prison, where Hall was confined at that time
before the new prison was finished. The plot
was discovered in time to prevent its carrying