Pine Bluff daily graphic., 1919-07-27
HISTORY OF BOY
 OF 19 LIKE A
 "DIME NOVEL" /"
Youth Captured Here Has Rob- bed Banks, POstoffices, and
 ''BrOke Pen."

Musician, bank robber, auto thief, pest office robber, convict, jail rreaker-that is the tabloid auto biography of J. A. Williams, white youth of 19 years who is now in the county jail at Conway awaiting the action of the grand jury on charge of stealing an automobile from a garage at Conway, as was told to Pine Bluff officers who arrested Williams here when they went to Conway to- appear as witnesses be- fore the grand jury.
 Williams, who says his father is a grocer at Norfolk, Va, was arrested in Pine Bluff several days ago by Pine Bluff officers after a short pur- suit during which they fired sev- eral times at him with their re- volvers. He claimed at that time that his name was Hayden and that taken to Conway the day after he was arrested, and later, was recog- nized by Chief of police Rotenberry, of Little Rock, as J. A. Williams, who escaped from the hospital of the penitentiary early last spring. In describing his adventures prior to his present difficulty, Williams told a story filled with far more thrills than the old dime novel.
 Wounded on First Job.
 His criminal career, he told the of ficers began in one of the western states, and in his initial job, he re- ceived three wounds from the guns of officers. He, with his partners, were surprised while at the job of robbing the bank, and in an exchange of shots between the robbers and the officers, he was wounded once in the back with buckshot, once in the hand, and once in the leg with thirty-two pistol he said.
 After making his escape, he went to Fort Smith where he was arrested on two charges of rosoing a post office. He beat the case, he stated, by having plenty of money. The money, he said, he picked up easy. His next fling was when he stole an automobile. This time he was un- able to beat the case, and was sen- fenced to term in the state peni- tentiary by Fort Smith jury.
 Escapes From Pen.
 Shortly after arriving at the peni- tentiary he managed to get in the hospital from which he escaped in May of 1919. He said he rushed the guard who fired at him, but made his escape without any trouble. His next appearance was in Pine Bluff where he arrived from Conway with a man whom he called Smith" and in an automobile which was stolen from a garage in Conway. Local officers who had received tip that the car was stolen one, and going to garage where the car had been left for repairs, they laid in wait for the two men. A premature appear ance by the officers caused the two to run in an attempt to escape. Will Hams pulled a pistol from his pocket as he ran but dropped it when one of the officers fired at him. Another shot, and he surrendered. His pardner, a man whom he called Smith" continued to run however, and swimming bayou made his escape.
 Williams, while talking freely of his guilt in other escapades, stoutly maintains his innocence in the theft of the Conway automobile, stating that his friend Smith," whom he met in Little Rock, merely invited him to ride to Pine Bluff where they would sell Smiths car and go to Monroe.
 Williams is musician, and plays on the violin, earning his living at times, by playing orchestras. He is h,af 10 0f onI luo11 dressed when arrested, and in appear ence, looks very much like the aver age youth his age. He will not pro- cure a lawyer, he said, and while he protests his innocence, says he is sure he twill get the limit" The thought of getting the limit, officers said, seemed to worry him very little He will not notify his people of his difficulty, he said, tho he could get financial aid from them if he did.