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Beauty’s Photo Brings Cheer to Cell Convict Sees Picture; Wins Her AidMRS. ETHEL EPPSTEIN.SAN FRANCISCO, July 10.— The picture of a beautiful woman published in a newspaper may result in freeing a boy serving aterm for murder; started a number of wealthy women to helping convicts reform, and has also resulted in a released prisoner trying to live down the past and become a good citizen.Mrs. Ethel Eppstein of San Francisco is the woman whose picture accompanied this.Shortly after her marriage, a year ago, Mrs. Eppstein received a letter from Deer Lodge Prison, Montana. It contained an appeal for help, and the excuse the convict gave for writing was that he had seen her picture in a San Francisco newspaper and had been greatly impressed by the strong resemblance it bore to his mother. The convict felt confident, he said, that a woman with surf) a countenance must be goodkind-hearted.^Slaving only a short time tb serve, the man explained that hewas anxious to have enoifgh money to give him a new start. During his solitary moments in his cell, he embroidered a pair of pillow shams in intricate patterns of birds, beasts and flowers. The shams were made of silk patches, and the manner in which they were ornamented was pronounced to be unique by experts in decorative fabrics.The man who signed himself “Thomas Burns, No. 1,” offered to send the shams to'Mrs. Eppstein to dispose of, the proceeds to be used to enabel him to pay his fare and provide him with a temporary start in some state outside of Montana.“It would not be policy for melinger in this state, where I have been a prisoner, wrote Burns. The law would hound me and employment would be out of the question.“ ‘He’s an ex-convict—he can’t be trusted/ would greet me everywhere.Mrs. Eppstein, who is a member of the Vittoria Colonna club and active in uplift w'ork, foundthat the case of Burns was wortny.While she was Interesting her friends in the matter the term of Burns expired sooner than he expected, and she received another letter from him asking that she transfer the proceeds from the sale of his handiwork to Robert Vanella, a youth virtually serving a life sentence in the Deer Lodge penitentiary.Mrs. Eppstein then turned her attention to the case of Vanella and found that he was convicted on circumstantial evidence of a murder. He steadfastly proclaimed his innocence, j The facts narrated by Vanella Ljrere dramatic, the young man having been convicted of slaying a companion whom he claimed had committed suicide because he was jilted by a girl whom he j loved.Mrs. Eppstein is now interesting herself in the case of Vanella in the hope of amassing new evidence that will result in the granting of a new trial. Meantime she is assisting the mother, who lives at 30 Madison st., New York.Burns, the prisoner who saw the picture of Mrs. Eppstein following her marriage, has left the penitentiary and when last heard of was starting life anew in a distant state.
Newspaper Details
Tacoma Times
Tacoma, Washington, US
Wed, Jul 10, 1912
Page 8
Full Page
Clipped by
Joseph M.
VA, USA 25 Jun 2020
Other Publications Near Tacoma, Washington
Tacoma Times
