Evening Republican, Volume 17, Number 92, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 17 April 1913 — BURNS MAY LIVE; STILL IN HOSPITAL [ARTICLE]

BURNS MAY LIVE; STILL IN HOSPITAL

Degenerate Man Making Desperate Fight for Uie—Penitentiary S taping Him in Face. The Hammond Times states that Hugh Burns, who tried to kill his wife at Schneider Monday evening, is making a desperate struggle-for his life and there seems a prospect that he will recover if blood poisoning does not set in. The Times speaks of him as a blood-thirsy desperado and the term seems quite fitting. In St. Margaret’s hospital at Hammond he expressed regret that his plan to kill his wife had not succeeded and yet he said that he loved her. An unfortunate thing in connection with the deplorable affair is the fact that sensational Chicago newspapers, not informed of the true state* of Affairs, published that Burns’ action was prompted by jealousy and that his wife was unfaithful to him and that Frank Parsons, the ,man who was hit by a chance shot, was at that time in her company. The fact is that Mrs. Burns had never seen Parsons and that she was accompanied' by So one, but was oh her way back to where she,holds a responsible position as/A bookkeeper. It is a lasting shame to some city newspapers that care so little for the honesty or the reputation or the feelings of persons deep in trouble as to employ sensational and slanderous articles in the absence of re\ liable information. Mrs. Burns is a pure, good and shamefully abused woman, who put up for years with a husband in every way her inferior and tried to make the best of a bad marriage bargain. When 'ishe eould stand the abuse of a degenerate husband no longer and sought to live apart from him and earn her own living in legitimate employment Burns would £o ‘to her employers arid make charges against her and try to drive her into the street and would try to extort money from her by means of blackmail.

Under date of March 26th Burns wrote to his wife’s mother, Mrs. D. D. Gleason, at DeMotte, demanding that she write to Mrs. Burns and have her pay him money and saying that if she did not get him the money he would have revenge right off. .He states that if he does not hear from her in a week she will get all that is coming to him later and then makes a threat to Mr. Gleason. He goes ahead to state that his life is no good to him and that he had made up his mind to have the money if he had to go to jail the rest of his life. He concludes with the statement, “I will be a happy man in two months, one way or the other.” i This is only a sapiple of many letters Burns is reported to have written to his wife and her parents, trying to bluff them to give him money. H 1& wife lived in constant fear that he would'murder her. He is quoted by the Hammond Times as having said that he intended to kill her as she got off the Monon train at Thayer, but that there were about fifty people at the train and he decided to wait until a more favorable time. Burns had a razor and a bottle of carbolic acid in his pocket when his arrest was affected. The citizens of Schneider and the hewspapers are giving much credit to Deputy Sheriff Harry Rouse, for bravery in fighting Burns. He stood behind a telephone pole a short distance away and Burns fired at him repeatedly and the bullets cracked about his head. He took off his hat and held it out from the pole to attract Burns’ fire. Every little bit Burns peeped cautiously the door and then pointed his revolver at soem of the men and each time the revolver spit fire. Rouse demonstrated that he is cool and cautious and to him is unquestionably due the fact that Mrs. Burns was not murdered. As Burns was being taken to the hospital he is said to have kidded the deputy sheriff and to have said, “That was some gun play we had, eh?” He refused to take an anaesthetic when the officers probed for the bullets and said if you can’t get them out with your instruments use grabhooks....... r. : If Burns recovers, he will have to stand trial on the charge of attempt to murder his wife and he will stand a chance of getting a long sentence, probably 15 or 20 years. Any sentence that is meted out will be inadequate punishment for the frightful crime he tried to commit.