Omaha daily bee., 1909-01-31
A STORY OF CHRONOLOGY
Remarkable Career of n Western Des-
DeradO Born with n Moral
faint.

Taint.
A recent attempted escape on the par
Of several desperate prisoners at the Utal
state penitentiary, near salt Lake city
among them Abe Majors. calls to mind
curious story. Majors is a murderer serv
ing a life term. this being a Communication
OF an original sentence of death. So far
any penitentiary affords a precedent FOL
Majors and his status. But for his gene
sis. his psychological development, there
would be found few parallels. Born will
a moral faint, his progress seems to hav'
been normal, and his arrival at servitud,
logical and inevitable. Then how deeply II
he to be blamed?
The story Of Abe Majors appears to be-
gin wien he was a golden-haired lad, bu.
how many generations before, who shal
say? It was in the early '7Os that a mar
named Lloyd Majors settled in San Jose
Cal. He was a dark, t%aciturn individual
his rather repellant face marred by a sea-
said to have been in token Of a saber slash
Beyond the fact that he had been one OF
Quantrel's raiders little was known of him
and perhaps too little heed was paid to
this circumstance Majors was possessed
Of a decent address and fair education,
and though a wagonmaker, Joined a de-
batting club composed mostly OF lawyers
Both he and his wife belonged to the
church and Majors was active in Sunday
school work.
One night the shop Of Majors was burned.
It had been insured and 1t was only after
some demur that the company paid. A
new shop was erected, insured and burned.
There was more trouble about the insur-
ance and thereafter the companies de-
clined to assume any risk.
This course embittered Majors. Abruptly
he broke all respectable connections and,
going to Los Gatos, a nearby village.
opened a saloon that from the first was a
resort to shady characters. Among the
habitues of the place were Jewell and
Showers, the former a great favorite with
the Majors children, the latter a phleg-
matte German Of low intelligence.
The citizens Of Los Gatos noticed one
night the not unusual spectacle of fire re-
Elected on the clouds and thought that the
strawstack of some mountain rancher was
burning. Instead of this It was the cabin
OF a mountaineer named Renowden. just
outside the circle of fire was the body of
Renowden and inside the blackened ruins
the charred remains OF his neighbor. Nc
Intyre. Both had been murdered and the
cabin set on fire to hide the crime.
How step by step the truth came out
that the murders were done by Jewell and
Showers and the match applied by Majors,
who had planned the whole affair, would
make too long a story. There was circum-
stantial evidence in plenty and this Show
ers buttressed by a full confession. Jewell
was sentenced to be hanged and was
hanged. to the last smiling and debon-
naire. Showers. in view OF his confession,
was sent to prison for life, and Majors was
melted a similar fate.
There was great indignation at this leni-
ency toward Majors and a second time he
faced the bar. in this instance to answer
for the murder OF Mcintyre. He Sc
cured a change of venue to Alameda
county, and the trial was stubbornly
fought, resulting in a verdict of guilty.
Majors, guerrilla, Sunday school teacher
and assassin, was hanged. after one at.
tempt to escape that occasioned his stand
ing. on the gallows with a broken arm.
He never weakened. had no contrition to
express, and his regrets he kept hidden.
During this trial his two little boys,
Abe and Archy, played about the court
room. friendly alike with Judge and jury.
They were too young to understand, and
won to themselves and their mother much
sympathy. They were too young even to
ask questions when they saw their father
no more, the explanation that papa had
gone away being sufficient.
However, as they grew up they began
to discern the >bar sinister; the weight
OF disgrace pressed upon them. Stunned
by other children, they learned in turn
to shun. Unhappily they came within
the influence of a female Fagin, who
trained her own flesh and blood to crime,
and was glad OF recruits. Thus II hap
pened that while still in their teens both
were sent to Folsom. convicted burglars.
They did not stay in the grim peniten-
tiary.
Under a California law the youthful
prisoners were released on parole. For a
time their mother seemed able to control
them. They appeared once a month be-
fore the proper official and declared their
conduct and intent. But after a short
term OF this restricted freedom they van
ished. Efforts to find them were vain.
They were believed to have gone in COM
pany with some convict friend OF their
prison experience.
A little later there was a stage robbery
in Utah. A posse pursued the two ban
dts. and Captain Brown, OF the Ogden
police. was killed by one OF them. One
of the bandits, a mere boy. also was
killed. and the survivor, downy OF face,
sullen and desperate. refused to give his
own name or that OF his comrade. The
picture OF the captive was published in
the Salt Lake papers. and. reaching Call
fornia. was at once recognized as that OF
Abe Majors. Archie, the younger. had
been the one slain.
The prisoner was tried and sentenced to
be shot, but was saved from this through
executive consideration of his unfortunate
history and his tender years.
In some mysterious way news gets to
penitentiary and circulates among the
inmates. So the fate of Majors because
known within the gloomy walls of Fol
som. There was a life termer there
named Putnam. who had formed a singu.
lar friendship for the brothers. and he
cursed and ragged upon hearing what had
befallen them.
Showers, whom Putnam regarded as
the source OF all the trouble. was a fell
low prisoner. Putnam made up his mind
to kill W He secured a file, ground
Il patiently to a blade and In the presence
of guards and convicts, fell upon Showers
and cut him so he died upon the flags
Of the COURTYARD. Then he dropDed his