Show PLEADED FOR ns liFE Case of Abe Majors Before Board of Pardons A MOTHERS PATHETIC PLEA I Mrs Wagner Mother of the Condemned Cali demned Man Arrived from I and After a fornia Yesterday I Touching Interview With Her Son I at tho Penitentiary Begged the Board of Pardons to Spare His Life Petitioners Represented by Hon Thomas Pitch Hearing Continued II I I ij The application of chief Interest before be-fore the State Board of Pardons yesterday yes-terday was that oC Abc Majors for a commutation of the death sentence passed upon him under the alias of James Morgan to a sentence of life Imprisonment In tho penitentiary The I I members of the board present were Gov Wells Chief Justice Barlch Justice Jus-tice Baslcin and AttorneyGeneral I Bishop Majors was convicted and I sentenced In May 1899 > for the murder I of PapU William T Brown of the Ogden I Og-den police force In Box Elder county I and unless the sentence is commuted ir by the Board of Pardon Majors will I be shot on the 17th of next month After hearing the arguments of Hon Thomas Pitch who was assisted by Attorney I torney J DCal1 of Brigham City In favor of the application and oC Attorney Attor-ney E Allison of Ogden against itt it-t the board after holding an executive session decided to continue the case until next Saturday at 10 oclock during dur-ing which time additional aflldavits may be filed by both aides MEETING OF MOTHER AND SON The mother of Majors Mrs L G Wagner arrived from Oakland Cal yesterday morning with her tenyear oJ old son Ralph and was driven to the penitentiary where she was permitted to see the condemned man after which she was present at the hearing Mrs Wagner rose from a sick bed to come to Salt Lake to do everything she could to save her sons life and the J U meeting at the prison was an affecting J one Her nerves are so shattered from 1 grief that she trembles continuously u and at the sight of hoi son she was so Io overcome with emotion that for a timeS time-S she was unable to give expression to S her feelings Finally she exclaimed Thank God I see you again after which becoming more composed she lavished upon the wayward son the S endearing names and the fond caresses t that had been his In Innocent childhood Majorss composure and nerve was such that he did not break down yet SE he was deeply affected and directed hIs efforts to comfort his brokenhearted broken-hearted mother Mrs Wagner has had d a life ojf trouble that fully justifies her present almost distracted condition and the wonder Is that her reason has not S been wholly dethroned or that she has not died under her burdens S HIS FATHER WAS HANGED J Her first husband was hanged an S older son Archie was killed by the 1 officers when Capt Brown was shot S as tha tvo brpthprs were fleeing and resisting arrest for having roblJcd S bound and gagged a milkman the night before the shooting Mrs Wagner was i met here yesterday by Miss Lulu Johnson John-son an old friend from Des Moines la1 who made the trip to render what S aid she could to the companion of her girlhood Miss Johnson Is so paralyzed that she cannot speak her features arc badly distorted and tho contortions of J her face neck and limbs make her an object of pity Miss Johnson it is said does considerable literary work despite her great affliction FAITHFUL FRIEND When asked for a statement Miss Johnson wrote The mother knows me well 1 have a book of poems In Iii press now but word was sent come at II once I left It all to come and comfort 1i5 the mother and stand by thc boy to the end Be shall not die Mrs Wagner and Miss Johnson areS are-S bolng kindly cared for by a number of ladles of the Christian Science church who furnish the distressed women with a carriage and pay them needed attention atten-tion In many ways S HIS MOTHERS STATEMENT MiSs Wagner Is averse to talking for publication she says both on account I ac-count of the publicity which spreads the disgrace and because some of the b papers have treated me and my boy ij shamefully The San Francisco Examiner Ex-aminer even went so far as to run a L picture of my boy sitting on a coffin di ready to be shot I have two boys left Ralph who Is with me la 10 years old 9 He works every day in a butcher shop The older boy Is 11 years old and works S In the Oakland postofllce My boys dont want me to talk to newspaper I representatives as we dislike to see l4 our troubles In print Still I appreciate that many papers have treated me very f 5 kindly klndlSIGNEHS SIGNERS OF THE PETITION The petition for the commutation of Majorsa sentence signed by C C Goodwin U P Henderson E W Duncan Dun-can G S Gannett M II Walker A S C Smith Alfred Rordame II B Prout Ellis Bishop J S Fordyce E Mohesy Jr W S Henderson O J 1id Salisbury E W Wilson cl f GROUNDS FOR COMMUTATION s The reasons for asking for a commutation commu-tation of Majorss sentence are based on two nflldavlla One of the aflldavlts is t by Vern Philipps and It states that S William Fosgren ono of the jurors who I L convicted Majors said to Phlllpps in 1 the presence of James ChrIstensen k Alvlras Thompson and Fred Chuol at f Brigham City before Majorss trialS f trial-S that Majors should suffer death and that Ififtc Fosgren was on th6 Jury 1 he woul r have him convicted and that S he deserved to die The other nIB j 1 davit was by George J Wells a Constable S 4 Con-stable of VIllard precinct who waft aa S clstlng1 In the pursuit of ho Mnjora brothers lIe witnessed through a Held t S gln s at a distance 150 yards the ltd I shooting of Capt Brown and Archie Majors and the surrender of Abe RS3 Majors Brown and Archie Majors fell F about the same time the latter a t second or two first Archie fired last A shooting at Brown Abe Majors showed it no disposition to retaliate and accord i ins to Wellss belief Abe Majors did D I L not fire a shot Wells was subpoenaed f by the prosecution but was not called niS and was instructed by the prosecuting SvS I attorney to say nothing to any one 1 t about tho case That at the trial Wells was excluded from the courtroom and h that tho defendant and his attorney c2i Jcnew nothing at the timo of the trial t aa to what Wellss testimony would 5Fl t be testmony I JUDGE HART AGAINST IT I Against the Issuance of the commu I talon was a letter from Judge Hart I t before whom the case was tried stat ing that nothing appeared In the trial Tint B to Indicate that the prisoner was weak S b in i mind br that he was being led and f that while he did not favor capital pun I j H ishrnent In general find waa In sympathy Insytpa I flu thy with the mother yet he saw no rca S W son for suspension of sentence A letter i from County Attorney R H Jones concurred con-curred with the statements ofJudgo M Hart Then there was a letter from p ii the warden of the State prison at San zt J S Qucnllu California stating that Mn 7 Jors had ben paroled December 23 mflJ 383S on a ten years sentence for burg ur 1 lary his time having begun May 3 i ISM I I Inclosed in this letter wa3 Majors plc p3 ture From the Folsom prlaou oC A1 a 5 Sii t meda county there was 0 letter stating that Majors had committed a number I of burglaries In that county ARGUMENT BY ATTORNEY FITCH In opening his address Mr Fitch said I that he considered It fortunate to make I his flrst appearance after his return to Utah before tho board in an uncompensated uncom-pensated catO of mercy Ho had heard the appeal to the Supreme court and was satisfied that the Judgment could not be reversed by the court but the board could do what the courts could I not do Tho speaker did Jiot wish to attack the Judge the counsel olthe I jury that tried Majors but they had been swift and merciless and defendant defend-ant did not get a fair trial and ho should not now be blundered Into his grave MV FHch then rehearsed the circumstances of the shooting using the atlldavlt of Wells In support of the theory that Archie Majors Instead of Abe Majors had shot Capt Brown He then explained that tho pistol that had tired the shot that killed Capt Brown was found near the hand of Archie Majors Ma-jors after he was dead and that Abe Majors under the excitement could not have possibly taken the precaution to have thrown down his own gun and tar ta-r ken up his brothers He also placed great stress on the affidavit of Phlllpps t saying that Juror Fosgren should not have sat on tho case by reason of his vindictiveness and argued that the I facts In either affidavit contained sufficient Cent reasons for commuting the sen tci ce Public prejudice had partly convicted Majors and the death sentence had been given him The wave of popular popu-lar clamor he said may beat against the doorc the courtroom but It I should be brushed aside at the hold h-old Mr Fitch made an eloquent apt ap-t peal for the boys life to the Governor the Judges and the AttorneyGeneral and closcfd by I saying You will not I sleep the worse In life If you save this youth from the sheep of death I leave i his fate In your hands and ask you to I l perfectly perform the duty which I r fear I have most imperfectly discharged dis-charged THE OTHER SIDE PRESENTED Attorney Allison In presenting the protest stated that he brought no pet I I tion but that he represented the vIe six children the mother and brother of Capt Brown to whose worth he paid I tribute Ho spoke of the bad record of the Majors boys of their being heavily armed and provided with burglars outfits out-fits Includng burglars pockets Abe Majors had berated the officers for kill Ing his brother and said on his way to jail that It was not tho first time he had been In a tight place but that J If they had got to tho brush they could have stood the officers olf They had made up their minds to rob the Hrst man they met Brown had been shot ac a distance of seventylive yards which showed an experience with guns The i affidavit of Wells he characterized as nonsense and read from the records of the case the examination of Fosgren as to his qualifications as a juror At the trial or at no time since until Wellss affidavit had been made was it ever claimed that Abe Majors did not kill Capt Brown Mr Allison made t strong talk and was decidedly positive in his objections to any clemency being be-ing shown to the prisoner Following Mr Allison Mr Fitch stated that matt mat-t rs had been brought In by the opposition oppo-sition of a hearsay nature that would have no weight In court and he hoped they would not be considered here MOTHER PLEADS FOR HER BOY Mrs Wagner was allowed to speak in behalf of her son She stated that it Was claimed that the prisoner had atolen the shoes he wore when the California fornia prison picture was taken but she had bought the shoes herself The officers had wanted to shoot her boy down and he had not been treated ally She had two boys left to her besides Abe and she was nearly broken bro-ken down with years of trouble Abe 7hiul ahvays been a good boy He was 19 years old the 2nd of April last but tho other boy was not so good She I came she said not as a mother asking for sympathy but for justice Mrs Wagner was much excited and her words were badly disconnected showing show-ing plainly the great mental strain under un-der which she labored HEARING CONTINUED session the board After an executive sesion decided a allow the opposition to the commutaton until Wednesday morning morn-ing next at 10 oclock to Hie affidavits in answer to the affidavits of Phlllpps affidavits to and Wells and counter nOdavls these In support of the commutation may be filed until 10 oclock Friday and the case will be again taken up Saturday next a will all the other cases that were yesterday brought before be-fore the board |