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Show MORRIS SIGNS ! STATEMENT IN FACE OF DEATH Condemned Slayer of J. Waller Wal-ler A.xtell Still Smiles as He Talks to Newspaper Men W ho Visil Him. LESS CONCERNED THXN QUESTIONERS Insists Upm Truth of Former-y Former-y Related Story That Police Retained His Diamonds, Jewelry and Cash. I f ' final moment of Ids m rl earthly existence but fortv j t hOurs distant. .T .f Mortis, the " convloted murderer of t. Walter Wal-ter Ax tell, who will pay with his life Hie penr.lty tomorrow morning at io o'clock, coollj nd smilingly resolved re-solved a number of newspaper men, a.. -eon-.panid i,y Warden Pratt, at his cell In th stnt prison yesterdas evenlnB Th- islt was made at the speeial re- qucsI of the condemned man. who stated to the warden that h wished to jrive a signed statement to the newspapers, and to aive final answers to anv questions "within reason " Moixls's attitude of reticence which he iind maintained toward all Interviewers Interview-ers during the past fortnight, was not In evidence yesterday, and he freelj answered an-swered a number Of questions that were put to him. The condemned man, however how-ever exercised his right of judgment as to what queries were "within reason' and flatly refused to make any statements state-ments bearing upon his life prior (.. .l iv 0, Mil, the date upon which J. Walter Axteii was murdered. Betrays No Fear. Throughout the Questioning, Mollis be. t rayed not the slightest sign Of. nervousness, ner-vousness, and his voice was clear and strong. He amiled as he refused to a.i-BWer a.i-BWer some of the questlona. During the conversation with Morris. Julius Slrmay, sentenced to be shot m i-. 22, sat In the adjoining cell with his fa-n pressed against tin? bars, listening closely to the questions put (o Morris and the hitter's answers, though he did not seeni to be particularly affected by the frequent fre-quent references to Hie execution of Morris Mor-ris tomorrow morning. "We have been trh en to understand that your right name - is not Morris." said one of the interviewers. "Will yon now divulge It. or relate something Ol your life In your earlier days?'' "Positive! 00 1 will relate nothing that happened before May 9. 1011." "Granting ther is . Judgment day, do you believe that paying with your life the penalty for taking the life of anothei will count In your favor''" "i do not -though i sincerely believe iii a hereafter." "Do you believe that a man COUVlCted of murder should be executed?' "T do not,'' and he added with intense feeling, "that law was concocted liy a lot of ignoramuses a lot of lunatics ' "Then, if you hHd your way about It, you would give a murderer life Imprison merit V "Yes." Death Before Prison. "Would yOU prefer life Imprisonment to paying with your life as you will Tuesday?" Tues-day?" 'A thousand times no! I'd rather l.t.-It l.t.-It over with quickly, as far as 1 am concerned" con-cerned" One of the visitors put a question to Morris in a slightly bro&en voire The questioner- was visibly trembling "What are you trembling about?" demanded de-manded Morris. "Brace up. man. this is nothing to get ex. ited about " "Well, I think 1 am more wrought up over it than you." replied the Visitor. "You certainly have plenty of nerve. Do you think you ran keep it up? ' "Certainly, t am going to be u.mie t-. the end Tf I m disturbed Or lose m nerve no one Is going to know it." Then he added. "I guess that's about all 1 i-an tell you. boys." Morris shook bands with his Interviewers Inter-viewers and bade them farewell with a smile on his tare. Warden Pratt gave ;i M his opinion that Iforrls would not break down or become unnerved even with the noose about his neck. "Morris is a nenrj man saul , warden; war-den; that is his type, and his nttitude Is not braggadocio.' Slayer's Statement. The signed statement given to the press by Morris is as follows. April 18, 1912. To whom it may concern: i the undersigned, realising that i will soon be numbered among the dead do hereby make the following statement freely and voluntarily with no Inducements whatever having been made or offered me. The statement I made after my arrest anil conviction of murder in the flr6t degiee was true The diamonds anil money taken tak-en from me al thr poli'-- station after my arrest on May 9, 1911. which sre. a follows, and were never rt-turned rt-turned to ire. One three .Tnd one-fourth carat straw colored diamond, set In a ilng I valued at $650. one (mallei dla- j (Continued on Page light.) SLAYER MORRIS SIGNS STATEMENT (Continued from Page One.) mond set In a ring, valued at $400; one and one-half carat steel diamond, set in ludy'p ring, valued at $300; one steel blue diamond stick pin, valued 1110, one pair lady's cjix drops with diamond settings, valued at $500; thre diamonds, two straw colored, one steel blue, valued at J1S00; one riften Jewel old iv.ich, ulncd ,t 81ft; one Huuare linked gold chain, valued at S4fi, alo ?72 40 In money. T do i""1! wlah any one to think that this statement is made or whs uuide at the time 1 made II In open COUrt to -reate syrnpnthv. N'othlnp was further from my mind. It was made and i made at this time in order thai the truth may lie known and the people may know just what port Of police "'"'i' era they were paying. H 1 should have been given ihe opportunity op-portunity I Should have proven beyond be-yond all reasonable doubt to any man that the diamonds ami money were in m possession at the lime of my arrest, and I could have corroborated ii with other evidence. And if I were given theeopportunlt I think I could do so net. Sticks to His Story. The story i told a ' c noi a dream, nor a frame-up story bj an one. The story aa told bj We can be rorrobo-rate.l rorrobo-rate.l at any lime by mt SSSOClate who was arrested with me on May 9. 1911. I have had no opportuntt oC communicating with him since my arrest. T request, an Investigation from the mayor, i also made s request re-quest for ati investigation In open court, but it was not granted Tf the police officers who had charge of the searching of rnv olothlng, were as honest ;ic thes claimed they were, they would cheerfully have oonsent-edi oonsent-edi and insisted upon Ihe fullest kind of an Investigation in plnco of trying to COVOT It up and making light of my storr. I solemnly affirm the above to be the truth. and nothing hut the truth. This I make as my last and nnal statement concerning this mailer mai-ler realising as ihe iime approaches for my eye.-nfjon. thai 1 owe it to myself aa well as to the public to state Ihe facts concerning I his -whole matter, and 1 want to assure you I have done ao. J .1 MORRIS |