The Cairo bulletin., 1909-06-16
JUDGE
NOW IN PRISON
ASSOCIATE OF CREELMAN IN
WRECKED CHICAGO BANK
sURRENDERS HIMSELF.
ADMISSION DENIED HIM
At Prison Door Till Deputy Arrives
With Commitment Papers--
Stole Away From Home
Waited Four Hours.

! Chicago, June l5.-Shunn.ng the
view of his fellow men, former Judge
Abner Smith yesterday fed his Chi
caso home and surrendered himself
AT the gates of the state prison at
Joliet. Last night. purely by chance.
he tossed on the rough cot of cell
given new quarters,
At an hour when no enc was astir
the convicted bank wrecker. accom-
panied by his brother, Henry D
Smith, he bale his wife farewell at
| his old home in Aldine square and
boarded a car that would carry him
10 tho prison gates.
Long before noon the former iurist
appeared at the prison gates at Joliet
and knocked for admittanca. II was
refused upon the ground that he was
officially unknown to the wardea Of
the prison.
StroIIs in Joliet Streets.
Then for four hours the condemned
man and his brother wandered about
Joliet. awaiting the arrival of Deputy
Sheriff Sears. who bore the warrant
for his arrest and confinement,
During the interval that elapsed be
tween the unexpected surrender of
the prisoner and his formal arrest by
the sheriff, Smith remained with his
brother, but when the hour Of his
Imprisonment arrived he was found
alone in a guard house near the
prison gates.
At o'clock Deputy Sheriff Sears
arrived at the prison and was direct
ed by Warden Murphy to the little
hut that faced the penitentiary's main
entrance.
There. seated alone, the deputy
found the gray haired man for whom
he was seeking. He was huddled
within the small space of the little
house that formed the guardian s
post His brother had said good bye
to him only few minutes before and
he had been left to face alone the
ordeal
Spears, AIMED with the mittimus
from the supreme court, had leaped
from train in frcnt Of the prise n
enclosure at O'Clock and had gone
TO the office of Warden Murphy.
Guarded BY Sentinel
The deputy was told that his pr
oner was awaiting him When, inside
the tiny lodge, which was guarded by
a sentinel armed with a rife he
found the man he was seeking. h
announced himself .s,-JimdSerdiu
announced that he represented the
sheriff of Cook county.
Il have been waiting for you" re-
piled Smith, as he rose and adj
vanced.
Il have warrant for your arrest
and commitment to the penitentiary. "
said Sears, drawing a document from
his pocket.
Il am ready to 90. said Smith,
and he took step toward the door
OF the guardhouse. Then he saw that
several men with cameras were wait
ing outside and hurriedly screened
his head ant face with his Overcoat.
II think those fellows GA there
are waiting for me" he said. and
drew his coat more closely about him,
in the hope of preventing a success
full attempt to obtain his photograph.
Then almost blinded by his effort
at cOncealmen', he stumbled out of
the guardhouse and across the short
stretch of walk to the sure safety of
the prison enclosure.
The long. silken locks that hal dis
tinguished the aged jurist Turing the
las two decades OF his life OF free
dom still We're intact when he was
ushered to life row" but as matter
of course those locks will be shorn
today and Smith will be like many
hun lreds Of other convicts man
with closely cropped hair and a suit
Of convict's clothing