St. Tammany farmer. [volume] (Covington, La.) 1874-current, 1920-06-26
BOIL WEEVIL IS
PUT WHERE HE
WILLCEASE TO
TROUBLE
Wild, But Not Vicious, Yet
Women Had Learned
To Fear Him.
PRICED HIS HAIR AS
SOURCE OF STRENGTH
Committed Robberies But
OutWitted Hounds and
Evaded Officers.

EVaded Officers.
Boil Weevil must have got his name
Thru Natures mysteries upheld
And, like his namesake, won his
fame
By working havoc where he
dWelled
Gle should have lived in Gotham)
| Unshorn of locks pushed thru his hat,
In clothing nature gave him soon,
There is no earthly reason that
He shouldn't REALLY be a COON
Except that he's 'possum)
And that is one thing, and the
only thing, that Boil Weevil admitted
that he had done. He said. tha,
| when the officers got to shooting him
full of holes he played 'possum
They put him in wheelbarrow and
wheeled him to Jail. 1t was said
| that he could not live an hour. In
| fact, he was but slightly wounded
The ball entered his head and seem
ed to dance all around vital parts,
| finally coming out at the abdomen.
| without going deep enough into the
| body to cause serious harm.
The Court appointed Adrian d.
Schwartz and J. Monroe Simmons to
defend Boil Weevil. He was charg-
ed with breaking and entering the
| City Cash Store in the night time,
and was supposed to be the one
| who broke into the Patecek store
and stole some suits of clothes. He
was discovered by Night Marshal
Jones and Deputy Galouye and was
seen to climb up rope and make
| his escape through sky-light. lie
refused to halt when called upon by
| the officers. Marshal Jones headed
him off as he attempted to escape
jumped from the building. He es
capped, leaving trail of blood be-
hind him. He was captured some
hours later in the morning and wes
again shot at as he attempted to
escape from beneath an automobile.
1t was then that he played 'possum
1t is generally believed that Boil
Weevil had accomplices and that
| these accomplices put him up to the
| robberies. While Boil Weevil was
not vic ious, he was fearless and eX-
traordinarily quick and strong. He
| acknowledges that he has often gone
| into houses and got something to
| eat from the ice box or cupboard.
| Women were very much afraid of
| him and he was the cause of much
anxiety and annoyance to families
| living in the netghborhood of his
haunts. He grinned with amuse-
| ment as he told how he had often
| looked in at the windows of houses
and watched the family circle with
| in. But he contended that he had
no idea of harming any one, out
simply wished to satisfy his curiosi-
ty. He also told how he watched
/ the hounds on his trail while he was
curled up in a tree top. He was fre-
quently chased but never caught
These chases cost $267 for service
of hounds.
While Boil Weevil lived and slept
/ in the woods and in tree tops aud
sometimes in empty barns, he was
clean. Winter and summer he took
his morning bath, and the water was
never too cold for him. Another re-
| deeming quality was that he was not
| lazy. If he worked for you he gave
you full days work, and if he lik-
| ed you the chances were that he
\ would go off without even asking
you for pay. His charges were al
| ways moderate. But still he was
| dangerous. Women feared him and
there was no telling when beastly
instinct might take possession of him
and drive him to crime.
| When asked on the witness stand
| how old he was he answered that ac-
| cording to his mothers statement he
was nineteen. His answers on cross
examination showed him to be quite
| cunning and possessed of some
humor. He would admit nothing.
Not even that he was in the building,
| though the officers saw him plainly
But when District Attorney Brock
repeated the question several times:
..D:d you not, in fact, climb up the
rope and go out through the trap,
Boil Weevil answered, "Well, I'll tell
YOU Just how it is, Mr.. Brock, IL it'll
do me any good I'll say l did" But
he left the impression that he did
not mean it was true, but that he
would simply acknowledge it II any
benefit was to accrue.
The greatest trial of Boil Weev!i' s
Imprisonment was when they clipped
off his long hair. He kept it braid
ed in long plaits and believed there
w@ charm in it's growth. He asked
that it be given back to him after i
was cut, because, he said, it might
bring bad luck to any one who
kept it.
| Mr.. Schwartz being called away OF
business, his partner, F. j. HeintZ
acted for him in the defense.
| On request of counsel for Bol
Weevil, Judge Carter apo :nted
commission to examine him. Theil
findign was as follows:
To the Honorable Prentiss B. Carter
Judge of the Twenty-Sixth Judicia
District Court, State of Louisiana
Dear Sir:-We, the undersigned
appointed by your Honor as "Com