The Barre daily times. (Barre, Vt.) 1897-1959, 1913-04-14
RESCUED 3
AMERICANS
One of the Last Acts of Pres
ident Madero Of
Mexico
HUEh4A PROMISES
TO FREE THEM
Confined for Years in the
Dreaded San Juan
FOR Murder

| Chihuahua, Mexico, April l4.-Aftc
twelve years in Mexican prisons, libert,
is finally in sight for three Americans
DIR. Charles S. Harle, Leslie 4. Hurl5er
and William Mitchell. They were con
yicted of numbering two other Ameri
cans. one being Harry Mitchell, half
brother in-law of Hurlbert; the othe
was William Devars, a drunken outcast
whom they had met in FL Paso, Tex.
The murdered men were first insured
for $4,000. Harle, Hurlbert and Mitch
ell were in the life insurance business
The policies We're made payable to Hurl.
bert and Mitchell, known respectively as
Richardson and Mason. DIR. Harle was
the medical examiner of the company in
which the men were insured.
1t was through an investigation by the
insurance company preliminary to pay
ing over the $4,000 that the fraud was
discovered.
The three conspirators were conv cted
here and sentenced to death. For several
months they were Kept in solitary CON
tnement in the state penitentiary here.
The date of their execution was fixed FOR
December q. 1907. They had served six
years in prison up to that time, await
ing final action upon their case. The fir
ing squad had entered the court yard of
the prison and the. execution was about
to take place when an order came from
President Diaz committing the sentences
TO twenty years in the San Juan de Uiul
prison.
Begged to Be Shot.
When informed of this act of clemency
Mitchell and Hurlbert begged that the
death penalty he Immediately imposed.
They had heard Of the horrors OF San
Juan de Ulua. 1t had been said that ten
years there was equivalent to the death
penalty. Life there was a lingering tor
ture.
DIR. Harle comes of prominent Texas
family. His aged mother lives in Abi-
lene, that state.
Soon after Communication of their sent
ence the men were moved from Chihua-
hua to the grim old prison of San Juan
te Ulua, on little island in the harbor
of Vera Chuz, and for six years they
were immured from the world. During
the early part of their sentence they
were confined in solitary cells beneath
the surface of the sea, but through the
OF influential friends they
were accorded more humane treatment
during later years.
1t was due to the late President Ma
Hero that these men were saved from
nrther suffering. Having been asked to !
pardon them or transfer them to a more I
'anitary institution, he caused an nves- |
igation to be made. II was found that !
he long imprisonment had greatly i'm !
,aired the health of all three. Madefo /
hereupon ordered their removal to the
'enitentiary at Chihuahua. II was one
il the last official orders issued by Ma
Zero, and it had just been carried out
when he was assassinated.
1t was through the intercession of w.
/. Atwell of Dallas, former United
tates District Attorney. that Provisional
resident Huerta agreed TO pardon Dr.
iarle as soon as certain records of the
lse can be looked into. Inasmuch DIS all
hree men were convicted on the same
barges the pardon OF Hurlbert and
iitchell is expected to be issued along
18th that of Dr. Hare
While they were in the San Juan de /
'lua prison they met and became friend !
} with Col. Felix Diaz, who himself was ;
ontined there for several months after
is capture by Madero's military forces
Vera Cruz. II is said that Felix Daz |
commended their pardon.
San Juan de Ulua is one of the few
risons OF the world from which L is I
impossible to escape. Being
tauted some distance from the shore /
ne OF the mainland, it occupies posi-
on of isolation The waters of the hqr- @
'r are full of man-eating sharks. Dc :
sionally prisoner, in desperate at |,
mpt to gain freedom, jumps into the {
alter and strikes out for the shore, hut c
he falls victim to the sharks. "
adero had planned to abolish this 4
ison and convert it to other uses, but 4
did not live to carry it out. p
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