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Show A. STHANGE CASH. A NOVEL CONVICTS ITS AUTIIOIt OF CRIME. Th Itanarkalita Lllsrarf fredottlna at John lllaglns, of Adilaa, Laadl Il.l.tn.l tVLna liars for lha lUnalnder or II U Lire. flTII the centence ot John Hlgglna lo the Michigan state prison for life on charge of murder mur-der Ihe last act waa closed In one otthe moat remarkable rarra In the crtml nit annals ot th world The man goes to bis living grave In the penitentiary practically self convicted, and not by open confession, confes-sion, as has so often been the case, but through the medium ot a remarkable novel which be wrote detailing a murder, mur-der, and which the Jury waa mado to believe waa the Into of the murder for which he was tried The manuscript was accidentally found by the pnl'ce read to the Jury with a telling effect by the prosecuting attorney and doubtless doubt-less served to fasten Ibe mysterious murder ot Lafayette Ladd upon the author Hlgglna la a most remarkable character among criminals Olfted with a splendid Imagination, a good education and a fine flow of language, he apeaka and wrltea more like a professor pro-fessor of rhetoric than a burglar and murderer, which the court bave pronounced pro-nounced him to be. Last April Lafayette La-fayette Ladd, a wealthy man ot Adrian, waa shot In hla ham by a midnight Intruder, and no trace waa left for the officers to follow. Por montha the crime bnmed their efforts and It bad been almost given up aa an Impenetrate Impenetra-te mystery, when tllgglns waa ar rested In Toledo for burglary II told tbe pollco he had disposed ot rome of the silverware In Adrian and a search of the place he named In that city brought to light not only Ibe plunder, but the manuscript of a story entitled, "A Life for a Life," written by the bur gtar, and which has now served to send him to Jackson for life This story Included an account of a crime that tallied so closely with the clrcum-atancra clrcum-atancra aurroundlng the Ladd Murder tbat ausplclon at once fell on lllgglns, and an Investigation convinced the officers of-ficers that he was th man who committed com-mitted the murder. With th manuscript manu-script of the atory aa Ihe groundwork for their operations the authorities brought to light tbe evidence that secured se-cured Hlgglna' ronvtrtlon. It I quite remarkable tbat the lllerary abilities ot the man are what led to bla being sent lo slate prison. This la the opening of lllggln'a novel aa It was read dramatically dra-matically for the benefit of the Jury: "Twaa the laat day of June. All nature reveled In aplendor. Ilenutlful green foliage clung lo tbe gently away-Ing away-Ing boughs of the trees under which t atood My gase waa fixed Immovably on the western horltan, and I was under un-der a spell enchanted, aa It were Heaven's day star had disappeared yet there lingered for a distance ot many mtlca a vast expanse of won droua beauty. Green, yellow, carmine and other hues, such aa hid never before be-fore pleased ray eye It seemed, as I stood thcro looking, that a master piece had Just been finished and hung on the horlxon by nn Invisible hand Gradually the color became blended, the expanse became smaller A moment mo-ment more and they aeemed lo be moving toward the center from both ends, not unlike a panoramlo vlow when rolled upon a start At last they dlsnppoared. A mighty change was taking place. My eyea were diverted, and yonder. In the distant blue, a twinkling star lookrd down upon me Another eprnng Into view, followed by others, until the great, vaulted arch wis one complete crown, replete wllh brilliant goms I turned, and away In the east, so majestic as to Inspire me with awe, appeared the pale, mjste-rloua mjste-rloua star of night" Here the writer Indulged In a few thoughta ot hla childhood home among the hills ot Tennessee, and tell ot JOHN HiaaiNS "soma power that tells me to turn from the life of crime I am about to enter while yet another voice tilJx me proceed." pro-ceed." Then come what the prosecuting prosecut-ing officers Interpreted to b a description descrip-tion ot the Iddd murder, the part which" led Ihem to faaten tha crime upon Hlgglna, " Tla midnight," runs the story "Prom my place of concealment under the evergreens I look toward the mansion man-sion I am about to desecrate and rob No light comes from the window, where but a ahort time before I could look through and see luxury and wealth A step nearer, and my heart beat with Increased force, but I cannot can-not go back, I approach the window and soon have loosed It from Its fastenings. fast-enings. What a changed atmosphere! Tbe perfume ot flowers fills th open space before me, and I enter this vault of wealth and for a moment eland like n statue The heavy breathing ot the aleepera tells me that I am aat. On I went toward the room wber 1 was to find the treasure I coveted. Oh. j Ood, dlscoveredl A command, a ahot, and I stagger, but, quickly recovering, I face my antagonist, and In deadly ' combat we engage. A life must go out, so t plsce my weapon to his breast and fire. A groan and a relinquished grasp tells roe too plainly that I bave killed my antagonist' Then follows the story of ths flight I "across lawns and ovsr pavements, white behind me I could hear the shrill whistles of ihe vigilant officers, who had gathered at the home I had destroyed de-stroyed " The story concludes with an account of how the fugitive heard the cry of a lost child, whom he gathered In hla arms snd restored to the mother from whom she had wandered This kindly office took him through the "'city ot the dead wherein a new made grave would soon be made for 9 the man whom I had slain " The re- B suit of this waa the capture ot ths U fugitive and his rentence to Imprison ment for lite etc Thus runs the story, 9 and had It not been for Its discovery I by the police there Is little doubt tbat suspicion would not have attached to Hlgglna and that the murderer ot La- fl fayotte Udd would still be unpunlahed M A most dramatic acene followed Hlg- H gins' conviction No sooner had the Jury been polled than Judge Ches'tr asked the convict If he had anything to say why sentence should not be passed upon him With that complete eclt control which marked Mm through-out the trial, lllgglns made this somewhat remarkable reiponV. "Well, your honor, that la a very momentous mo-mentous question to ask a man and TIIK MIDNIOIIT BIIOOTINO. t feel that I would be lesa than a man If I made no reply to It. Thla la the most momentous, Ihe most eventful porlod of my life. I know only too well the sentence of tbe court that Is about to be passed upon me, and I have this much to say, that th slayer at Lafayette La-fayette I .add has not been convicted of murder I stand before this bar In nocrnt of thst crime And while I ntn under that dark and gloomy place, the man who took the Ufa ot Itfayette I add will continue to walk In the sunlight sun-light and look upon all that li beautiful A I look nut of that window at those things I am about to leave and look yonder Into that other place ot darkness and of gloom where all Joys die In the heart, I say to this court that I havo a clearer conscience nnd that I shall feel better knowing that I am Innocent of this crime, than I would were I to arcept all tha prlrt legea of freedom nnd feel In roy own heart that I had assisted In sending an Innocent roan to prison. "And thus I say to you, ns Milton said In 'Paradise Ixt,' 'I'arewell, hap py fields, where Joy forever dwrlli- hall horrors, hall, and thou, profound- est hell, recrlve thy new Inmate I brlnR my mind not be chanced by place or lime, for time Is It own place and In Itself csn make heaven a hell or hell a heaven, "I ahall go to that place with a mind not to be changed by time or place. I shall live on, your honor. I ahall pray, I shall live Ore years, ten years, twenty year es, until the luster ot these eyes have become bedlmmed, until un-til the flush ot health haa departed Irom these cheeks, until these locks. have turned gray. I shall lire on In the hope that some time, upon a deathbed, a confession will be made and that man, about to meet his Creator, ahall cry nut to tbe world' 'It was I who killed tbe man. John Hlgglna Is Innocent.' Inno-cent.' "I wish to thank the court for the fairness he has shown In this trial, for I feel that the court haa been entirely en-tirely fair with me Hut I atltl pro lest my absolute Innocence of any 1 nowledge or participation whatever In ) iho murder of Lafajett Ijidd " At the close ot thla Impassioned neech lllgglns stood without the 'Ightest tremor while Judge Chester i "ntenced him to prison for life That ' his glflrd rogue his led a life of crime , as described In his novel Is proven by the fact that he has twice served In the Michigan atate prison for burglary and was under sentence In Ohio when he waa pardoned by Ihe governor ot H that state, to bo placed on trial hero H for Uio murder of Ladd Thero Is little Hj doubt that be Is a remarkobls Instance HI of degeneracy, and that the Incidents (HI of the Ladd murder Impressed the finer HJ side ot his nature so strongly that llsl he could not resist the temptation to 'Hf writs a book about It, and that Is what 'jB led him to a lifelong Incarceration at Hjj Jackaon IHH |