The Mankato free press. [volume] (Mankato, Blue Earth County, Minn.) 1879-1924, 1913-09-05

came over to where Joe was sitting
and put both paws ON his lap. He
was a general favorite with the
horses while working on a ranch in
Oklahoma. The sheriff took the Of
,ficer and the boy automobile riding
while they were waiting for a
train, and when they travelled out
among the hills Joe noticed that the
woods were dense and the hills
steep. You couldn't find me If |
got away here" was his comment.
On the train he was allowed to sit
next to the open window, and his
head and shoulders were out most
of the time. One of the officers,
however, always maintained a firm
hold on his foot. He noticed that
Postoffice Inspector Drake had a
fine revolver in his grip and began
talking about the merits Of several
makes of guns. Finally he began
clasping and unclasping the catches
on the grip. The officer notice
this and told him to stop it. He did
so Immediately and looking up with
quizzical grin, he said: ut
wouldn't take you long to open your
satchel and get that gun, would it?'
Wrote Out a Confession.
Brown prepared a full confession
of his theft on the train and told
the whole story. He even drew an
excellent map of where he had plant
ed the roll of money. He did not
know at the time that he was to be
taken to look for it, but the details
particular. He showed them the old
pail at his cache and then picked
out the two laborers who had seen
him with the mail pouch. They adj
mitted seeing him, but denied taking
the money from it's hiding place.
The next day third Greek bought
a postoffice money order for $120
and sent it to a relative in La Crosse,
Wis. The money was damp and the
Greeks are still suspected of getting
away with the $500. They were quiz
zed long but unsuccessfully and said
that number of them had given
their friend the money in SIS or $40
amounts to be sent to relatives in
Greece. They were allowed to go,
but the authorities are still on the
lookout for more of the stolen
money.
. In one of young Browns pockets
w ich
was written: ''In case of accident
notify Mrs. James J.. Brown, South
Superior, Wise. My name is Joseph
Godfrey Brown" He said that he
had written it once after being put
off a moving train.
Joe's travels, if they could be set
down in detail, would be more in
teresting than Gulliver's. He told
the following story to The Free
Press last night while cuddled up
in bed in the Jail, ready. for a
good nights sleep: "My father is a
contractor and his name is James J.
Brown. He was born in Cork, Ire
land, and SO was my\ mother My
were always very good to me, but
the life in the woods was so unin-
teresting that the wanderlust got the
best of me. / have five brothers
and three sisters. Their names are
David, James, Robert, Charles, Wal
ter, Sadie and Margaret. 1 had an.
other sister, Annie, but she is dead
My brothers and sisters are not
wild like me, but are all good, steady
people.
Was Always Getting in Trouble.
81 was always getting into trou
BILE. Three other boys once stole
three cases of eggs in my home
town, and | was found near the
place where the eggs were all
broken. I was arrested and in order
to get me out of jail, my father paid
for them. But there were three
pairs of beautiful black eyes in town
the next day. Our teacher in school
| always wore a silk skirt, which she
| took off while in school and replaced
with an apron. Some of us conceived
! the idea one time of hiding the
skirt. We did it, and the teacher
had to go home in her petticoat
| My sister finally made a dress ou
| of the skirt | left home eight
months ago. First | beat my way
| to st. Paul and from there to Chi
| cago. | worked on a steamboat {
short time between Chicago and De
troit, and then went to Cleveland
! From there | chased over to Pitts
burgh to see the smoky city, where
/ was arrested for malicious mis-
chief. l was walking along the
street where a building was being
| erected, and | saw a pail of mortar
setting on the end of plank.
man was working in hole at tina
end of the plank and did not Sc,
| me. | jumped ON the other end o
the board, and the bucket went I'll
in the air, and you can imagin,
what happened l don't suppose tina
fellow has all the mortar out o
his ears yet. | was arrested ant
put in a detention home where
stayed one night l escaped by GO
ing down cellar, climbing over
partition and walking out through tn
open door of the building next doc
to the detention home l beat M
way to Youngstown, Ohio, then t
Toledo and back to Chicago. From
there | went as far as Denver an,
than cnlIfh To Pod lnl,o