The Bamberg herald. (Bamberg, S.C.) 1891-1972, April 23, 1914, Page 7, Image 7
? THE CAREER OF
WHO BEGAN A
Possesses the Distinction <
Famous Criminal?S
< and Attempl
A five-year-old boy, named Pratt,
whose home was in South Boston, i
% Mass,, was found in 1872 tied to the
" K oflnot in thp
ID SSI 01 ail U1U uua l auvuv ?4? v ?*
"cow pasture" marshes. His eye,
lids were pinned to his forehead,
his lips had been slit and many pins
were sticking in his flesh. He was
living and recovered, but was crippled
for life, says the St. Louis PostDispatch.
j
A few- days afterward another little
boy was found tied by his thumbs
fo the limb of a tree. Another child;
was found tied to a telegraph pole, j
his 6aek jabbed and slit, with salt
rubbed into the wounds. Half a dozen
similar outrages were reported
within a week or ten days.
A boy was tied up within a short:
distance of the railway station.
All of the victims were boys under!
10 years of age, most of them around
.
6 or 7 years. Descriptions of their!
tormentor differed. Some said he;
was a man with red beard, others:
thought him a "big" boy. All
agreed that his eyes were peculiar, j
A boy he was, and that "big" boy!
' was Jesse Pomeroy, a youth of 13,
fr?r fortv-one vears to date has
^ borne the doubtful honor of being
America's most noted criminal.
He was a product of Boston, where
he was born December 21, 1859.)
His parents lived in comfort: his:
father was a butcher, the mother ran
a notion store. No one suspected
their thirteen-year-old son of possessing
criminal instincts. He was
like most boys, rougher with small
playmates than with those his size, j
but not to a marked degree^
a- But when the outrages began andi
f
the little victims had told of a "big"'
i
boy being their assailant, systematic
; efforts to find this boy were made
One little boy was sure he had seen
the "big" boy before in his neighborhood,
but did not know his name.
This started a school principal to
studying the boys in his school. He
v hit on one, largely because his eyes
did not match, and that he was a|
bit inclined to "lord it over" small- j
er ones. It was arranged that the
latest victim should come to the
school.
"All eyes front," the principal
commanded. The child looked the
class over and said: "He is not
here."
Just then the principal saw that
one of the boys had turned his head
* to the side.
I
"Now, all again, eyes front, and:
don't one of you turn until I give j
permission," said the teacher.
"There he is, that's the boy'";
shouted the child the instant his,
eyes gazed upon Jesse romeroysi
face. "I know it is he, for the boy
j that whipped me had eyes that didn't:
match!"
w Jesse's eyes didn't match; one was
white. The Pomeroy boy was ar- \
* rested. In court he was shown to
,>
he a cheap novel reader, but all the?
children read similar novels. Prac1
tieally the only thing in which he
differed from his playmates was that I
> his eyes did not match. He was
never seen to smile and had a marked
inclination to extreme secretive
ness.
The boy was sentenced to West>
boro Reformatory and became the
.
subject of deep study by alienists
and scientific men generally, who felt
sure he was wrong some way --a degenerate.
insane or something abnormal.
In truth, public sentiment
was so aroused that the officials
were more than anxious to find
something sufficiently wrong to keep
him in prison indefinitely.
Little Katie Curran, a 9-year-old
f
child, living near the Pomeroy store,
disappeared in the spring of 1874.
She had been sent by her mother to
buy a spool of thread. When detectives
asked Jesse Pomeroy if she
came to his mother's store, he was;
so openly frank that they believed
him.
4 "Yes, she was here,' he said: "she
bought the thread and then went out
of here."
Weeks of search brought no result
and another mystery was added
to the list of unsolved things.
Policeman Faxon was on duty on
South Fourth street, Boston, April
22, 1 874?a few weeks after the
mystery of Katie Curran's disappearance.
There had been a heavy snow
arid a chill wind was blowing. Out
. of the cold came a youngster, who
grabbed ^his hand, mumbled some-!
thing and pointed to the salt marshes
in the distance. He could only
point for he was a deaf mute. Thinking
that the child had strayed from
the deaf mute's institution and was
afraid to go home alone, the policeman
permitted the child to lead nim
down the street. But the youngster
I
*
i i
A CRIMINAL
lT THE AGE OF 13
af Being America's Most
itory of His Crimes
l ?_ r
[S to nscape.
did not stop at the big gate; he tugged
along leading the way to the
marshes. Every time the policeman
halted the child pulled at his hand
and pointed to the wet marshes beyond.
At last the policeman reached a
point where the grass was high and
the water close to the roadway.
Pointing into the clump the child
mumbled something, which was in- ,
terpretea to mean "search." There
in the weeds lay the dead and butchered
body of a little boy. He had
been mutiliated and his flesh was
full of pins.
The deaf mute was taken to the
Perkins institute for the deaf and
dumb, and there Dr. Anagnas was
fingered the story;
"I was in the front yard when
Horace Mellen and a big boy came
along. They asked me if I wanted :
to go down to the marshes, but I
could not go, and they went along
without me. The big boy took Horace
awray out in the marshes; then
they sat down. The big fellow got
up, hit Horace with a stick and then
sat down again. It a little while
the big fellow came along, and I
ran to this policeman."
There was the crime and the clew
?the "big boy" with a little boy,
horrible mutilation of the dead child i
and his hody full of pins. Footprints
in the snow were carefully
traced on paper, and with one accord
the police said: "Jesse Pomeroy!"
At tne Fomeroy home the mother
.was awakened. "We want Jesse."
the police said. "He's in bed, been
sick all day and has not been out of
the house," answered the mother.
It was a fatal defence. It convinced
the police that the boy had been up
to some mischief, even if he did not
kill the Mellen child.
The door was opened and in bed,
apparently asleep, was Jesse. His
shoes and stockings near by were
wet and muddy. The shoes exactly
fitted the prints in the snow where
the Mellen boy's body was found.
He was arrested for murder, but denied
guilt, saying he had not been
near the marshes all day. He did
admit leaving the house despite his
mother's vehement assertions to the
contrary. A cell door swung to, and
Jesse Pomeroy was a prisoner awaiting
trial.
The day Jesse was held for trial
the mother closed her store and
moved. Everybody felt sorry that
she must abandon her business, and
assumed that the disgrace had been
too much for her.
Landlords were "on the job" in
those days as actively as to-day. Soon
renovators were in the now vacant
store room to fix it up for the next
tenant. At first they encountered
a horrible odor. They attributed it
to the stuffiness of the closed store.
Next day they found a number of
dead rats. These were thrown n
IUB streets.
A near-by druggist became interested
in the rats, for all had disintegrated
in a peculiar manner. He
predicted that all had eaten something
containing chloride of lime.
Then he recalled that he had sold
chloride of ' lime to a member
of the Pomeroy family. With
the police he hurried to the
store. In the basement was found a
pile of earth and lime. Into it they
delved. First they found a gold
locket and chain, then the disintegrating
body of a little girl, the
body of little Katie Curran. It had
been placed in the lime only a short
time before, after the arrest of Jesse
for the Mellen boy's murder.
Indignation ran to the limit. An
attempt was made to burn the house
and the father of Jesse had to leave
Boston, although no one suspected
him. He had not lived with his
wife for a long time previously. The
crowd shouted for the blood of the
mother, but she was safe with the
police.
It was shown that both murders
were calmly conceived and calmly
carried out, thus making their villainy
peculiarly atrocious. When
the Curran girl asked for a spool
of thread she was told to come down
to the end of the counter and make
her selection. While she was there
Jesse walked to the street door and
locked it. Then he hit the child in
the head with a club, threw the
body down the cellar steps, followed
it to strike more blows, covered
the body with rags, returned to the
store, washed his hands, unlocked
the door for business again. When
his mother came in ne went nome tor
supper, after which he slept through
the night free from fear or worry.
It was proved clearly that his muri
der of the Mellen boy was free from
; cause other than an uncontrollable
love for murder. He had made no i
arrangement to meet the child, just
picked him up on the street and
promised a walk to the marshes.
Then they began to play, during
which he knocked the child unconscious
and mutilated the body, so
that he died from the mutilation
rather than from the original blow.
It was contended by his lawyers
that the fiendishness shown in his
murders proved the boy's insanity.
Their alienists were manfully in support
of the theory, but other alienists
swore equally well for the prosecution.
The jury brought in a verdict
of first degree murder.
Up to this time all Massachusetts
had shrieked against the villain.
Now the pendulum swung the other
way. Could the noble State of cul
ture and college put a 15-ybar-old
boy to death. Must it demand an
eye for an eye.
Judge Gaston, later governor,
thought hanging none too severe,
and sentenced him to the gallows.
That opened the floodgates. Thousands
of petitions and letters flooded
the office of Governor Rice. Part
urged clemency, others sought vengeance.
A dozen little victims of the
fiend were paraded before the governor
when the latter was presented.
Governor Rice commuted the
sentence to solitary confinement for
life.
For a long time he was a model
prisoner. One day he reverted to his
natural self and declared: "I will
not be here always. When r get out
I will kill Judge Gaston and every
one who helped put me here." He
tried to escape a dozen or more
times. Xo one doubts if he is ever
beyond the prison walls some one or
several will pay dearly for the long
years of confinement.
In the long time since 1867 Jesse
Pomeroy has kept the news channels
more than fullf for the cunning
that made him a successful criminal
has kept him busy in attempts to escape.
It has been an hourly matching
of wits between the prisoner and
his keepers, with the score to date
largely in favor of the prisoner. It
is true he is still a prisoner, but his
near-escapes have made monkeys of
the Massachusetts prison officials.
One day Jesse complained to hi^
mother' that the bench in his cell
was too hard, and asked for a chair. >
The officials consented to her bringing
one. It was subjected to many
examinations, and was being carried
to the cell, when the heat of the
keeper's hand melted sorhe varnish
on the back. Out fell a bit of wood.
It was the cover to a hollow place
in which were a bunch of saws.
They were taken out, the holes filled
and then the chair was placed in
the cell. To this day Pomeroy has
not spoken of the absence of those
saws.
A year or two later Pomeroy told
the warden that he had invented a 1
lead pencil that could be sharpened
without the use of a knife. The
warden loaned him some tools to
make a model. Although carefully
watched, as was supposed, he used
the tool to remove the fnortar from
behind the rock of his cell, and
was engaged on the outside wall
when caught.
Once he dug the mortar from between
the huge stones of his cell
until he reached a gas pipe. This
he pierced with a drill and filled in
the hole with wet bread. Then he
filed the bars of his door. Next he
loosened the leg of his cot. His
plans were to fill the prison with gas.
explode it with a match, push
through the cell door and, with the
leg of his cot as a weapon, take the
chances in the corridor. Everything
went well up to the vital point, and
the explosion ripped open the cell,
hurling a huge stone through the
ceiling into the hospital above. It
knocked down the guards and opened
the way to freedom?but Pomeroy
was not able to take advantage of it.
A large stone had hit him fairly on
the head and he was found unconscious
in the floor. When he reached
the hospital he only grinned over
his failure.
"Something went wrong and I will
succeed the next time."
Finding escape by the ordinary
methods somewhat of a delusion, he
next tried starvation, and was almost
without food for twenty-three
days. Explaining his ideas he said:
"I knew you fellows would not let
me die, and if the outside world once
heard how I was withering it would
believe me to be starving and would
demand release."
Nobody may now see tbe man.
His mother's visits were cut off long
ago. He sits alone in his dungeon,
enjoying many conveniences, electric
lights, books, etc., but not libertv.
Pomeroy was illiterate when he
entered the prison. Now he is an
accomplished scholar.
The recent application for a pardon
which was denied, was about his
fiftieth.
i
The New York Housewives' League
has engaged several women to act as
inspectors in their crusade against
cold storage food.
DELAYED MANY MONTHS.
Tedious Process of Litigation Likely i
in Frank Case.
Atlanta, April 17.?The execution
of Leo M. Frank for the murder of
Mary Phagan, which has been set
for noon to-day, will at least be. delayed
many months by the action of
attorneys yesterday, in the opinion
of legal authorities here. It was
pointed out to-day that a tedious process
of litigation, which may include
a decision by the Supreme Court of
the United States, will now be necessary
before the last recourse to save
the convicted factory superintendent's
life has been exhausted.
It was generally expected that of
' * 11 T~"1 ^ 4
tne two motions niea oy r rail* s attorneys
in Superior Court yesterday,
that asking a new trial on grounds of
newly discovered evidence would be
first pressed for action. If, after arguments
on April 22 this motion is
denied, appeal probably will be taken
to the Supreme Court of Georgia,
which already has affirmed the lower
Court in denying a new trial on previously
submitted evidence.
China as a Cotton Country.
That education is a two-edged
sword, cutting both ways through
ignorance, indolence, sickness, evil
and all forms of darkness, is illustrated
by the successful campaign of
education which China's white
friends waged against opium, assisted
by many of the more humane and
progressive Chinese. The plunging
of this sword into the vitals of the
opium traffic uprooted the popy plant
from millions of acres; the drawing
out of the sword planted cotton seed
to such good purpose that in four
years China has jumped into second
place as a cotton producing nation.
For 1,000 years China has been
raising cotton of a sort. But the
growth was spasmodic, the industry
was not systematized, and practically
all the weaving was done by hand
until a few years ago. Now, howevef,
it is different. In 1910, 1911
and 1912 China raised an annual
average of 15,680,000 picues of cotton,
or about 4,181,333 bales of 500
pounds per bale. The ministry of
agriculture and forestry at Peking
estimates the cotton crop of 1913 at
5,333,444 bales. Modern cotton
'mills now have a large share in the'
industrial life of Shanghai and Hongkong.
This production puts the republic
of China second only to the United
States as a cotton country, and who
knows but that "The Yellow Yankees"
may surpass us some day? For
the present, however, the United i
States^ produces from 14,000,000 to
16,000,000 bales per annum, comprising
from 50 to 60 per cent of the
world's cotton yield.
"Brer Rabbit" on London Svtge.
Of interest through the south, and
especially in Atlanta, the home of
Joel Chandler Harris, will be the following
cable from London which describes
the staging of the Uncle
Remus stories and the enthusiasm
with which the initial performance
was received.
"Since the beloved 'Bluebird' revealed
the possibilities of modern
poetic symbolism in drama and
achieved an enormous success, we
have waited impatiently for other
playwrights to follow Maeterlinck's
lead, and at last we were rewarded
by a play with a distinct American
flavor which approaches 'The Blu$Bluebird'
in exquisite poetic charm.
It is 'Brer Rabbit and Mr. Fox," which
was-presented for the first time, on
any stage at the Aldwych theater to
a delighted and astonished audience.
"The fantasy is an adaptation of
Joel Chandler Harris' 'Uncle Remus'
stories, which are almost as popular
nere as tney are in America, wim a
musical setting based on negro melodies,
by Cecil Sharp and .Martin
Shaw. Tt is distinctly a play for
'grown-ups' who want to be kiddies
again, if even for a night, and is
full of delightful symbolism and
quaint philosophy such as makes the
'Uncle Remus' stories have an irresistable
appeal.
"Uncle Remus himself acts as
chorus, interpolating explanatory remarks
regarding the doings of the
four-footed artists. The human element
is supplied by Mr. Man and
sweet 'Mis' Meadows and de gals,' attired
in the crinolines and fal-lals of
the sixties."
CA ROLIMA XS HOXORED.
Victor Rliie and A. H. Scales to Be
Captains in Navy.
Washington, April 15.?President
Wilson to-day nominated Commanders
Victor Blue and Archibald H.
Scales to be captains in the navy.
Commander Blue is now chief of the
bureau of navigation at the navy department
here, with the ex-officio
rank of rear admiral. Commander
Scales is in charge of the receiving
ship Franklyn at the Norfolk navy
yard. He is also a Carolinian.
When you want a tablet come to
the Herald Book Store.
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^mesb?m?
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