The Detroit times., 1911-05-26
sFOR HIS /
llM[Ess ACTS


rrW YORK. Nay z.--The first In
&nce Of 4 notorious bandit--a bandit
the type which made the term a
,aded one IN the far west eight
/. - 40 furning reformer has been
'orded 10 the people oil, New YORK
George Sontag. member Oh the
Iebrafed Evans-Sontag band OF des-
radoes. who has been telling his IN
rest-compelling story of the useless
~ OF q life OF crime In daily lectures
4 moving picture theater here.
There were three In the band
soree sontag. the directing genius,
? brother. John and Chris Evans.
Eeoree was arrested In Visalia, CAL,
"a Aug. 3. 1892, after he and his part
krs had blown up an express car
IA shot the express messenger. The
her two escaped and It was not un-
June IL, 1893, that they were
6&ught, after battle In the California
ofhills. In that fight John Sontag
rs fatally wounded. Evans shot
verely, and two of the posse so In
red that their lives, for days, were
repaired of.
John Sontag died of his wounds
&5elve days after being captured.
vans and George Sontag were tried,
<cnvicted and sentenced to life Inn
isonment. Sontag was pardoned re-
ntly and Evans last week.
III am trying to forget 1t all" said
Gbntag last night. Il am trying to
l1rget the horrible story of the trail
n death and other forms or crime that
1arked our path for SO many yeas.
II am forty-seven years old now and
1889, when I was twenty-five years
IA, i began my life Of crime. Think
nov sc twenty-five, the time OF
( De when the average young man Is
0Dxious totlsy his groundwork. Instead
entering a promising business, be-
lime = desperate.
Became Robber for Revenge.
sBut II was q spirit of revenge that
rried me away-not a lust for gold
blood. My brother was brakeman
61 the Southern Pacific. He was
knrt, but the railroad company did
nothing for him. That angered me,
hut, when some OF my relatives were
defrauded out of property by a rail-
road running through Minnesota,
was furious and determined then and
there that some one, aye, several,
must suffer. be they guilty or limo
cent
The face OF Sontag. who was clad in
evening clothes, his whitened hair
combed loosely down about his fore
head. was smooth and peaceful up to
that moment. He had looked the sue
cessftll business man, wealthy and
c0ntented but the memory of the old
days changed his countenance and
heightened the look OF hatred that
flashed from his eyes.
My brother John had felt the
wrongs and injustices just as keenly-
as |, and he believed, with me, that
should be wrought We
went to Chris Evans, who had fam
~ OF seven children. He was in the
mining business, had run a stable, but
fate had been just as unkind to him
- our oppressors had been to US.
Evans and I had fight over the own
erehip Of mine. II was this quarrel
that proved the turning point In his
career
II recall distinctly SIX robberies in
which had part. Four were In Cal
|f0rnia. one I'm Minnesota and one in
Wisconsin. Those six holdups brought
h $4,000 The biggest OF the lot was
hat at Western Union Junction, seven
miles from Racine, Wis. II was fine
dark night and the spot was the most
desirable that could have been se-
|ected for our work. Everybody was
% surprised that they made no resist
nnce, and, after we had blown up the
Express car, we found that our haul
|ofaIed $500.
nv boy, let me tell You. as have
bid those who have made up my au-
1nce, that life Of crime does not
am happier now, save for the
ories Of my past, than have ever
before. All OF my rights as a
have been restored to me, and
MI try from now on to make up
he misdeeds OF the old days. Let
u sink into you: the work that we
brought us In, In all OF our career
crime. an average wage of 25
|1u<s q day. The cheapest working
Ion n the United States, no matter
low young he may be, draws more
han that. and, what is more, he makes
h honestly.
Evans. thanks to kind heaven.
1As been permitted to go back to his
family-to the children whose hair
burned white when their father turned
from an honest man into bandit.
May he live long to wipe out the stain
that blotted his life
Edward Cudahy. who gained fame
~ being kidnapped. has reached an