The Mankato free press. [volume] (Mankato, Blue Earth County, Minn.) 1879-1924, 1912-12-13

lOOh VI Iellcl CdIHc ONci HiS ldCe
when l confessed. At the same
time want to say that / was
greatly relieved to get the load Off
my mind.
SHERIFF Freer and County Attor-
ney Bulls arrived at West Point
the following Monday. ! never was
so glad to see anyone in my life
as | was to see them. They were
from home
Thought of His Family.
During the seven months | was
away from home, family and friends,
fugitive fleeing from the law,
thought of my family constantly.
also thought continually of my
friends. | never can describe the
feeling that would come over me-
1t seemed as if my family and
friends belonged to the dim, dead
past and that j would never see
them again. 1t was a most depress
ing feeling. No wonder my hair
has turned gray and that my friends
say that ! have aged fifteen years
would not go through again what
] underwent in those seven months
for all the money in the world.
Il did not hear a word from
home. | did not know how my
family was. | did not know how
my friends were. | saw nothing in
papers in regard to myself. In Sep.
TENDER | went into the First Ma
tional bank at West Point and look,
ed at the Bankers Blue Book.
saw that the State Bank of Com
merce of Winnebago had been drop.
ned from the list, and that was the
first intimation I had that the bank
was closed. / had hoped that it
would be possible to straighten out
the affairs of the bank, and that it
might be kept open.
Parker Alone Responsible.
"At this time / want to repeat
that l alone am responsible for the
condition that the State Bank of
Commerce was in. 1t was l alone
who did the damage. John Sharp,
the bank president, and G. A. Bas-
sett, the cashier, had nothing to do
with it. l alone am guilty, and
will take my punishment without
a whimper. The states prison,
after what l have gone through,
has no terrors for me. l have suf-
fered more severe punishment than
they will ever mete out to me at
Saltwater. l do not want any one
to think that l am broken down
over the certainty of going to pris-
on. l have no regrets on that score
| have done wrong and / want to
take my medicine for it. The joy
of seeing my family once again
has shorn the penitentiary of it's
horrors. And / am only looking
forward to the day when can leave
those prison walls behind me and
face the world again, free man
and a man who has paid the pen
atty for his misdeeds. l say this in
no spirit of braggadocia. $50
- Shortage is Only $4,000.
"The bank examiners say that
there is shortage at the bank of
$4,000. They are mistaken. There
is no such shortage. The only
shortage there is that know of is
the $4,000 | took with me the day
/ left. There must be assets in the
bank, in the form of notes, to cover
that $4,000. There are many
things about the bank which no
one seems to know but myself and
want to say again that l am
willing to do all in my power to
help straighten out the bank af-
fairs. There is some bad paper at
the bank, but the depositors should
not lose one cent, as the stock
holders liability is sufficient to make
up the loss on this poor paper.
Many Things False.
much has been written and said
about me that is not true that wom-
an story for instance. But j have
not a harsh word or an unkind
thought about any one. | have no
scores to settle with any person in
the world. Since my confession my
mind is at peace and life once again
seems worth the living"