OCR Text |
Show WASTJtlCKEDJtYFATE wnoNOt-v in nniaoN tvvbntv- two YCAnB. Tie o ! rlntee CiMitlele.1 John C lliMnta en.l NMlIf l Hlw !' tha itollowa faneeanee I'lnallv I'auh-llah I'auh-llah t,!. After apendlng twenty-two ytwra In Sing 81 ii li prlami for a crime whleli lie illd not eommll. a blind error of Juetkw being reepontlble for hU convletlun end roBBnemeul John C llaldwl" walked out of thai Inatltulliin n few dyi tint relleveil of the horrible nc-tuealloti nc-tuealloti of murder In the fleet Utgree li waa In 177 that JUIdwIn wo eon-vlrlnl eon-vlrlnl In I'ort JervU of the killing of William prlngaleln Although II WM on the narrowrat thread of clr-ciiuietanllal clr-ciiuietanllal evldeme that he waa form! gulltr he waa eenienceil to die oo the gallowa In eiplathm uf hla ii-liotttl ii-liotttl ctlme The rlemencr of Oov ItoHneon waa extended to him and the aenlence eommute.1 to life Imprleon-mert. Imprleon-mert. Hla friend believed aunchly In hi Innocence and continued a re-lentlees re-lentlees tearth for proof of hie martyrdom mar-tyrdom Thla they aulolantlallr tabllahed Ave rm 8u omplet waa I heir exoneration tliat nine uf the living Jurora who had ronvlcted him prufeeeetl to believe that tho evidence had pointed faleelr to hi g"Ht Hut even tht could nm release him, for (lor Hower refuaeil to pardon blm Ho the teareh waa reaumed for the one mltelng link In the rhaln which, when It wa dlieovereil lat month, led (lav. ltooeevett to order hie pardon. A moro remarkable tlnry of the damulnii of a man by chance haa rarely been heard In American criminal aunala. 'I he clrcumalnnre that convicted htm waa n aronll flnger am 1 1 lie waa at I'ort Jcr-vlt Jcr-vlt wllh Rprlngetctti lit tho tlma of the lalter'a murder The two men were on good term anil were never teen lo dleagree. let alone to quarrel Bo when flprlngeteln dleappearcd and llaldwln profeeaed to know nothing of Mm It waa not thought that nny foul play had been Indulged. Hut when, ehortly after. llaldwln dleappearcd at completely, an active Inveellnntlon wa begun After a brief aearch the body JOHN C. HAUIWIN. ot Bprlugttuln waa lound burled not (0 jnrdt from the barn back ot tho houto In which ho lived Huaplclon waa directed toward llaldwln and, upon hla being located, he wn arretted. arrett-ed. It waa proven very conclualvoly tbitt Ualdwln had been with Bprlng-ateln Bprlng-ateln ahortly before hla death. Thero waa no ono cite to whom tho flnger ot autplclon could be Juatly pointed, o It needed little tn fatten tho crime upon blm. And that alight clrcira-tlanre clrcira-tlanre waa not lacking. Ualdwln waa known to have cut lilt finger a fow dayi beforo the murder Ha wat wearing wear-ing n flnger ttnll upon It. When the tody ot Bprlngttcln waa unearthed a leather ttall wat found beildo him Tht wat bolleved to bo the clinching evidence, and upon It n verdict of guilty waa rendered In tho tint degree, lluldwlu waa tried, convicted nnd ten-fenced ten-fenced lo death Later hit punlthment wat commuted to Ufa Imprisonment All the effort made to release him proved initialling, and the hope of lilt frlendt wero dying when the doctor who had examined tho body ot the murdered man mtdo affidavit that ho had fouml tho flnger ttnll In tho pocket ot tho victim, nnd had himself thrown It upon the ground, where It wat tuh-tequcntly tuh-tequcntly found. Thlt removed tho main prop ot tha prosecution that had convicted tho man, and wat thought to bo tufflcltnt to secure hit release It wat not. however, and matters retted until o woman who had for year been lu tho wetl unexpectedly returned to I'ort Jcrvlt nnd proved llaldwln'a In-noceuco In-noceuco beyond peradventuro. It wna by tho merest chance aho had heard ot the conviction ot the prisoner mid the Immediately came cast to testify that he had made the flnger ttall which llaldwln wore at that time At ho had aw urn, It wat mndo ot bluo denim overall cloth, and wat wholly different from tho ono found on the ground by the murdered man. The facta wero laid before Oov. noojovcll. ulth the result that llaldwln llald-wln ha been pardoned At the prison llaldwln It known ui "llonctt John" llaldwln. 1'or year bit keepert have believed In hi Innocence nnd wondered wonder-ed why he wna not pardoned. Ho hat wou the reepect of all of them by hit manly bearing and the cheerful performance per-formance of tho talk allotted to blm. During hit period of conflnemeut he earned G1 57 and expended $Z. Kor the pat fourteen year he haa been miiLinir amin unit la An exnert at tho butlneea. llaldwln It now fifty-four yearn ot age and whllo hU life la In a tente blotted by hit twenty-two year of confinement In Sing Slng't gloomy wall, he hat been taken In charge by the frlenda who proeured lilt pardon and will bo glten n etarb However. mmmmmmmm 1 twenty-two year oat of a man' 'It I It no IneoDildemhlc period and Dtlrt win may not Im able to aUml m agalurt the bunvilngi whMi mark the foeh that ban downed el nee lu veil nhtit otit from the world In thl eveot be will be taken In hand M fata frlenda ami given a home whlrh t trfek of fate ben V.ipt from him that' many yearn |