Show IS A PRISON enild PATHETIC HISTORY OF LITTLE ALMA GREASON born in jail at reading pa she Is the tile pet of all who know her her mother and reputed repute ed father under sentence of death aar alma a greason 01 reading pa is a child with a strang i history she has never been outside of prison walls she is two and a half years old and her mother and her reputed lather tather are in now the same jail under sentence of death alma Is dark sla skinned nned bright and attractive and she speaks two languages english to the prison visitors and the pennsylvania german dialect to her mother being a pet of the jail the child Is daintily dressed and has the run of the prison she spends an hour downstairs with the wardens ls and tha the next hour up on the second tier of cells with the death watch in charge of her convicted mother in all her jail liberty she is never permitted to see samuel greason her reputed father in another part of the jail greason is a negro almas mother is white the murder of which the two vere were convicted was that of the womans omans A husband the story of this prison childs life is unusual even in criminal history HIT hur complexion it at birth wv i to determine the life or death of her mother john edwards eduards the husband of the woman was vas a white laborer in the quarries of burg being out of work nork and shiftless he failed to support hh wife kate and their children greason also a laborer had bad money when he lie saw narg edwards children going barefoot in winter he pr provided ovidea money for their needs in this wry their mother came to have kindly feelings toward him edwards suspicions wore were finally aroused he ile accused his wife of having been unfaithful and declared that if the child soon to be born was black he would murder her now mrs airs ed edwards ards Is a dark skinned woman it was evident therefore that whether her husbands suspicions well inell founded or not the complexion of the child might cost her her life some time before the child was barnin born in july ml 1901 there was waa a party at the edwards home edwardo edwards drank a R great deal of beor beer the next day lay his body was found in the cistern near the house he had been struck on the head with some blunt instrument while sleeping on the porch after the party mrs airs edwards 11 a variety of etorres about his lils death and finally she accused greason of being concerned in it both were convicted of murder in the jerst degree tho the child was horn born in prison As has bas been said she hac a dark skin and they christened her alma greason I 1 her ler reputed father has never seen her thrice greason has been reprieved churches sunday runday schools and cake walks have raised money to pay his lawyers to save him bim from the gallows he lie declares that he lie was not at the edwards home bome on the night of 0 ed bartis he ile says kidoes not nok know who killed him but the theor of his friends is that the wife and her eldest daughter alone know the truc atory of the death of edwards it is generally believed that edwards was murdered be cause cau seIt it wag feared that the child would be black and that he would carry out his 1 threat to kill his alfe and while greason and airs edwards are growing fat in the shadow of the scaffold the little child is joyously prattling about abo prison corridors by day and sleeping in the bosom of ot her nother by night in a cell some say the tho child will grow vp up in the jail and never leave it jf the love that is shown for alma con finues developing it will be very hard to part with the child hi the he years to come com ewhen when her parents have paid the we penalty of their crime crima |