The Mankato free press. [volume] (Mankato, Blue Earth County, Minn.) 1879-1924, 1912-12-06
Winnehago saw they

i The theft of Parker has furnish
ed this town with the biggest chap
ter in its history.
West Point, Ga, December g.
Until Saturday Parker had stoutly
maintained that he was not the
man wanted and that he knew moth.
ing of the alleged embeZZlement,
but was strangely unable to give
a comprehensive account of his past
life. The nearest he came to ad.
hitting his identity before his con.
! fessiOn was to newspaper man
to whom he said: ~ have never
lived in WinnebagO. but did for
a while reside near there" How
ever, when the detective entered his
cell today and told him that the
Minnesota sheriff and the bank
president were on their way, the ex-
preston on Parker's face told the
story before he -;opened his mouth
THE fight is over" said Parker.
You win / am the man you are
looking for. If l did not tell you
now the Minnesota people would as
soon as they get here.
Admitted the EmbezzIement.
81 embeZZled $4,000 from the Win
nebago Bank of Commerce. This
amount l did not take at any one
time nor for my own USE 1t was
for some of my friends who were
not able to meet their obligations.
They were men who | trusted and
believed until the last that they
would make the shortage good. 1t
was not intentional on my part to
rob the bank and | do not believe
that it was the intention of my
| friends. that I should do so. Things
dragged along this way for good
while and then came the crash.
My shortage was discovered, and
with the hope of saving my wife
and children from disgrace / fed
| went almost directly from Win
nebago to Atlanta, stopping for sew
eral days in one or two towns on
the way. In Atlanta found my
self without work and had to take
what | could find.
E'.fE Met the Actress.
While there / worked as a book
keeper and as a clerk and several
other Kindred occupations, finally
getting in touch with some theatre
cal people. 1t was through these
that i met Florence Bauer, the young
actress whom l later married.
knew at the time that I perhaps
ought not to marry her, but found
it impossible to communicate with
my wife in Minnesota without de-
lection, and | knew that all of the
past was utterly dead for me if |
ever hoped to amount to anything
again.
"We loved each other and were
married. Then We heard of an
opening for the theatrical business
in West Point and came here last
spring. Since then / have been
fairly prosperous and had won for
myself a good name. Then like
Nemesis came the circular with my
picture. People began to talk about
how much the picture looked like
me, which made me feel uneasy,
but / laughed with them over the
joke and tried to keep up a bold
front. The bluff failed to work and
that's the end of the story, l guess %
West Point, Ga, December FL.
w. Parker, absconding bank cashier
OF Winnebago, Mimi, who on Satur
day confessed to shortage in his
accounts of $4,000. attempted to
commit suicide in tie West Point
jail early Sunday morning. The
prisoner swallowed twenty-five
grains of a drug he procured as a
headache remedy He finally was
revived by physicians.
After writing a confession of his
guilt, in which he admitted marry
ing Miss Florence Bauer of Cleve-
land, Ohio, despite the fact that he
has a wife and three children in
Winnebago, Parker became morose.
He refused to see any visitors, and
late in the night complained of Sc
we're headache.
Then He Wanted to Live.
A messenger was sent for head
ache tablets. A few hours after re-
ceiving the medicine, Parker swal-
lowed the entire twenty-five grains.
One of the turkeys discovered his
condition and summoned physicians,
who succeeded in reviving : the,
banker.
When he became conscious, Park
er begged the doctors to save his
life. !
The Cleveland woman, whom
Parker married while he was known
as Charles A. Long, has announced
that she would not accompany him
to Winnebago, as originally plan
ned. ."a'".
Officers from Minnesota are eX-
pected to arrive here shortly. They
will return with the prisoner imme-
diately, as he has expressed will
lingness to face charges against
him. iH.'t'
Winnebago, Mimi, Dec 2.-No
one has, had the heart to tell Mrs.
Fl. w. Parker that her husband is
a bigamist-that after leaving here
last April with a stain upon his
name he went to Georgia and there
was welded to another woman.
- When Parker's accounts at the
Bank of Commerce were gone over
and the state examiners said there
was $4,000 Shortage, his wife was
told. aShe bore the news stoically.
The family ranked high in church
and social circles and was repLsted
to-. be. wealthy. But the people Of i
soon learned that Mrs. |
Parker was, doing baking for some
Of her! neighbors. Am eighteen
year-old son found employment on
; farm and one two years younger I