Radio doings (Dec 1930-Jun1932)

stand close scrutiny for long. I soon saw that he was timid and petulant, and that his occasional hursts of bravado and sulkiness were only a feehle subterfuge to cover the great fear that was in his soul. "I tried to be very friendly and informal in my attitude toward him. I told him that I had heard he was sorry and penitent about the crime, and that I would like to have him tell me in the light of his own experiences, what his advice to young people would be. "He said he had not thought much about advising other people and doubted whether they would be interested. "I assured him they would be and that a statement from him, in view of the sensation his crime had created, might have a far-reaching and beneficial effect on others who might be inclined to do wrong as he had done. "He remained silent for some moments, apparently thinking. f THEN he said that he believed the I foremost thing boys and girls should do was never to doubt God and that young people should never disobey their parents. That they should seek the right kind of associates and pursue honest employment were the third and final points of his advice. "When he had finished I asked him if he would mind putting these thoughts in writing for me. He said: 'No, I would rather not/ "De Warr, knowing that I wished to have a specimen of Hickman's handwriting as a memento of our interview, challenged him with: "Well, Eddie, I'll bet you can't imitate Mr. Harris' handwriting?' "This appealed to Hickman's vanity, for he was proud of the fact he could imitate with great accuracy the handwriting of most anyone. (In fact his dexterity with the pen led to his capture. The finger prints taken at the time of the forgery case led to the establishing of Hickman's identity through comparison of other finger prints left on the steering wheel of the 'Death Car.') "Hickman accepted De Warr's challenge. "I wrote my name on a letter-head bearing the imprint of the Sheriff's office. When I had finished writing my name, De Warr handed the paper, together with my pen, over to Hickman. "In exactly forty seconds time he reproduced my signature with uncanny accuracy. The 'Nick' and the 'B' were so like my handwriting that I was almost convinced I had written them myself. The 'Hairis' was not quite so exact a copy of the original. He seemed COIXTY OF LOS AXOKLFS g O E R I FF c 1 to lose interest in the contest when he reached this point and wrote my last name with haste. "He seemed pleased when I complimented him on the excellence of his reproduction. At my request he signed his name to the sheet of paper, using these words: 'Best wishes to Mr. Harris. From William Edward Hickman. Alias "THE FOX." ' Then below he wrote the Greek letters for the word Death. This was the word he used in signing all of his death notes to Marion Parker's father. "As the attendant returned and Hick man arose to go back to his cell, I thanked him for the interview and wished him luck. At the word 'luck' he winced and a strange expression came over his eyes. We shook hands — he had very strong hands — and departed. "Here certainly, I believe, was one young man with a dwarfed brain, who, despite all of his bravado and outward sang froid, really paid the penalty of a life of crime. A brilliant student and This is the handwriting of Hickman himself, written in the Los Angeles county jail on jail stationery. The signature at the top is that of Nicholas B. Harris. The next signature is Hickman's forgery made in exactly forty seconds. Hickman then signed his name, his alias "The Fox," and his mysterious Greek mark a hard working and ambitious youth, he was defeated and his downfall brought about through failure to associate with the right kind of people. His first wrong step shattered his moral equilibrium and distorted his mind." * * * Like many another famed detective. Nick Harris entered upon a career of super-sleuthing through the newspaper route. The youngest son of Charles H. Harris, founder of the Chicago Daily News, he decided, at the age of nineteen, to follow in his father's footsteps. Thereupon he left his mother's orange ranch at Covina, Calif., where they had moved from Chicago in 1897, and went to work on Warren Wilson's Los Angeles Daily Journal as a police reporter. A few years later found him on the staff of Edwin Wylic Scripp's Los An(?{ext Page) RADIO DOINGS Page Twenty-seven