Arizona republican., 1912-09-08
The Red Rock Excursion

The Red Rock Excursion The late excursion of MT Crowell, 1 presumably resident within the walls i of the penitentiary to which he was committed by an unfeeling jury ana judge, in company with another gen. tleman, also a presumptive prisoner. 1 under the chaperonage of a couple of guards, to Red Rock, his former habitat, has become the subject of some controversy which, after all, is narrowed down to the query, Did MT. CroweH and his companions celebrate their coming to Red Rock by getting drunk at MT CrowelTs bar and So demean themselves as to disturb the peace of Red Rock and excite com ment?
 A few days ago The Republican printed, purely in the way of news, a telegram from a gentleman of Red Rock, whom we know to be reliable, 4 former member of the legislature and one who holds the respect and confidence of the business men of Phoenix and Tucson-Mr. Mott E. Guild
 Mir Guild recited the fact that the journey from Florence to Red Rock was made in the state automobile and that the cOnvicts and guards got drunk at Crowelrs bar after their ar rival and that the people of Red Rock were indignant. The telegram, We took to be in the nature of a protest against this particular phase of prison reform.
 The Republican printed it as a description of a most extraordinary incident, probably unmatched in the annals of any prison outside the state of Arizona; the publication was not meant to be in any sense an attack upon the institution at Florence. That it reflected upon the prison manage ment was necessarily incidental.
 The readers of this paper will recall that for months they have seen little or nothing in the columns of The Re publican descriptive of alleged out rageous happenings which have been given publicity in other journals of the state. Some of the stories of the remarkable conditions at the prison may not be true but many of them we believe to be true and we know ab- solutely that some of them are true.
 There are lying in the desk of the editor of this paper several letters re- ceived within the last three months describing the conduct of the prison. Some of these letters are from per sons of undoubted veracity. Some of them contain slckenin- stories of un- punished crimes agaius. nature and other irregularitl5s, by the publication of which We have thought that our readers would not be edified.
 At the beginning of the era of prison reform, the funny things that happened at Florence constituted proper news matter but they have in our opinion ceased to have news value. Later they were regarded as good jokes but a joke is not long lived so that there seemed no reason why the columns of The Republican should longer be cumbered with these matters
 But, returning to the Crowell epi- sode, to which we would not have alluded again but for a denial of if in such terms as to make it appear that this papers publication of the Red Rock telegram was falsely ma licious or maliciously false.
 In the course of that denial it is related that CroweIl who has a hotel and general merchandise business al Red Rock and a ranch near there, was taken to Red Rock at his own ex- wife who had been attending to ii being incapacitated. It will be ob- served that the denial contains nc mention of Crowelrs saloon.
 Now, here is an array Of facts some undisputed and all the other: easily established: Crowell a couplt of months ago was sentenced to { term of twenty years in the peniten tiary for the cold blooded murder O a deputy sheriff at Red Rock. Tha he was not sentenced to be hanged and hanged has been regarded b. those who are conversant with tn case as a miscarriage of justice.
 Among the interests of Crowel a Red Rock is a hotel, place whicl