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$I.OO a Year, In Advance. "FOR, QOD, FOR COUNTRY AND FOR TRUTH." Single Copy 5 Centa,
VOL. XVlfr PLYMOUTH, N, C. FRIDAY, JCLY 20, 1906. 4 NO. 17
1
THE DISTRICT ATTORNEY
HOW THE BANK CLERK HE
HELPED CONVICT RETURNED
i
fcv stacey
THE district attorney was making
Lis closing speech to the jury.
. The counsel for the defense had
- finished his plea a minute or
two before, and now sat at the long,
paper-littered table, shuffling nervously
some folded memoranda that he had
used in recalling important bits of tes
timony. The attorney for the defense
felt that he had argued well, that he
had made out a good case as good a
case as was possible but he also felt
that the weight of the evidence had
been against him. And the spectators
upon the worn court house benches felt
this, too.
The attorney for the defense was a
very young man. To tell the truth,
this was the first case of importance he
had ever undertaken; and he was not
getting paid for it, either. He had
worked for three weeks preparing for
to-day, however, as industriously as if
he had been counsel for some big rail
road, with a $10,00() fee in sight if he
were successful. This is a way only
very young and struggling attorneys
have.
Near by sat the prisoner, so close to
the jury box that the foreman could
have touched him. if he had c&red to
lean over the railing. H wma pale,
slight man, this irisoner, ith a thin,
yellow mustache and eyes that had
very little ligh-t in them. He wrinkled
li is forahead once or twice during the
district attorney's speech, seeming to
stare furtively across the room to
where a woman was sitting near the
wall. The woman wore black, with a
veil, and every little while her shoul
ders shook slightly, and the people, in
the adjoiuiug seats, keenly alive to the
dramatic, whispered to one another
that she was crying.
".May it please the court," jaid the
district attorney, "the evidence ou both
sides of this case has been pretty thor
oughly sifted. My young friend for
the defense has made out as strong a
presentation in behalf of his client as
the crushing weight of adverse testi
mony would admit. I congratulate him
upon his effort. It is creditable to the
bar of this county and of this State.
But now let me trespass upon your
lime, gentlemen of I lie jury, in briefly
summing up the facts from the stand
point of tht? people.
''This prisoner was a clerk in the
Commonwealth National Hank. He is
a trifle more than thirty years of age.
and has borne an excellent reputation
for honesty. II is good character has
been described by a half dozen reputa
ble citizen.. We shall grant his good
character. We do this cheerfully. We
snail admit that he has been a model
citizen of this community up to June
the l.jth, last.
"This man has been used to the office
methods of the financial institution in
which lie held a position of trust. The
bank closes at 3 o'clock. All the other
employes leave. The prisoner at the
bar stays. Why does he stay? Hear
Lis answer. He stayed 'to balance a
troublesome ledger.' This was on a
Saturday. Cu the next Monday morn
ing, wheu the safe is opened, it is dis
covered that $1000 in .10 notes is miss
ing. Yhe combination lock has not
been tampered with. Tbnre is no indi
cation of a forcible entry. It turns
out that this man was the only person
entrusted with the figures of the com
bination lock, save the cashier and his
assistant, who was absent upon his va
cation. Finally, four !j10 bills of a new
Treasury isiiie. like the new hills
which were missing, are found upon
the person of the defendant. Does he
account for them? No, he merely as
sures us that he came by them hon
estly.
"We must uot let the clement of
sympathy enter into this case at all.
Justice is at stake; justice which con
cerns you, concerns me, concerns the
county. That this man has lived
among you for years, bearing an hon
est reputation we shall allow, a de
servedly honost reputation should not
have the slightest weight in your de
terminations, gentlemen of the jury.
If you have auy faith in circumstan
tial evidence, we ask that the prisoner
be convicted in manner and form as he
stands indicted."
The district attorney said this and a
great deal more. He sat down, touch
ing his face with a silk handkerchief.
He was a large, impressive looking
man, and the afternoon was warm.
The woman in black over in the corner
w as soblnng audibly now, and the pris
oner's brows furrowed again as he
glanced iu her direction. His counsel
leaned across the littered papers and
whispered. The prisoner nodded wear
ily. The court charged, the jury as the
district attorney had Mid it would.
Th: talesmen clattered out of the room
and clumped back'again almost as soon
s they bad gone. They had not stayed
a quarter-hour, and their verdict was
'guilty' The foreman announced i;
iu a lack lustre fashion, lie. too, was
affected by the warmth of the day.
L1:'; i'ttonn-y for Ihe tie Tense asked that
hutchixgs.
the jury be polled. This was done, '
and then he asked for clemency.
From outside there floa ted in through
the open window the jingle of street
cars and the rattle of trucks over the
cobbles, mingled with the broken tune
from a street hurdy gurdy stationed in
front of the saloon ou the corner. The
district attorney was chatting, even
laughing softly now and then, with an
other lawyer. He was being told that
he had made a brilliant summing up,
and this pleased him, for he was a
candidate for re-election. He raised
his head abruptly as he heard the clos
ing request of the young attorney. The
prisoner was to-be allowed to speak
before sentence was pronounced.
"I have not much to say. Your Hon
or," the man began. "I have lived in
this town for a long time. I came here
fifteen years ago, without a cent, and
I have become what I am. I have
never owed a man a bill that I did not
pay. I have doue my work faithfully
and as well as I knew how. And now
I stand here a convicted criminal.
"I ask you how I can help it if the
evidence has gone against me? I was
in the bank, the last one in the bank,
that Saturday afternoon. Those four
uew bills were found in my pockets
when the officer arrested me. But 1
did not steal them. If I had wanted to
steal I should have needed to feel that
I should be made happier than I was
by taking what was not my own. I
did not have to steal to be happy. 1
was happy until the loth of June."
The Italian with the hurdy gurdy
had left the corner saloon and trundled
his instrument nearer, uear enough
for the tune to be heard quite plainly.
In through the windows, ou the slug
gish afternoon air it came:
'There's just one girl in the world for mc,
There's just one girl ha3 my sympathy.
She's not so very pretty, nor yet of high
degree,
But there's just one girl in this world for
me."
The notes filtered distinctly into the
room, causing an aroused tipstave to
hurry out into the hall at a frown from
the court officer by the witness box.
"There isn'; any use in saying any
thing," the prisoner went on. "And
yet, it's got to be said. It's only fair
to them. I've got a wife and a boy and
girl. We've been together for seven
years, all save the boy; he came last
year. We have been happy." He
stared about him as if he fancied some
one from the hushed benches were go
ing to contradict him.
"Does any one here suppose that I
would have risked the certainty of our
little home for all the bills in the Com
monwealth Hank? The district attor
ney has said that you should not take
sympathy into consideration in dealiug
with this case. And .iet. Your Honor,
it is not an unmanly thing to ask for
sympathy for the sake of my boy and
my girl and her."
He looked toward the woman in the
corner seat. The eyes of the young
lawyer for the defense were a trifle
cloudy as he heard sentence
The district attorney die the hand
some thing. He dropped a $20 bill into
a silk hat, starting it among the other
lawyers after court had adjourned.
The contents were to be sent to the lit
tle woman. He felt quite pleased with
himself as he contemplated his gener
osity. Wheu the money came back the
next day .ie was auuoyed as he pock
eted his banknote. "That's all non
sense," ho said.
The district attorney had served an
other four years, and had been in pri
vate practice for two more. He had
also moved into a more expensive
home, for he had gone into corporation
law and was flourishing. He had also
got married.
He was quite alone in his private
room one afternoon in February. It
was a wholly comfortable office. Very
few save his close friends and corpora
tion clients 'ever saw the inside of it.
There were some brightly polished and
irons, relieving by their glitter some
heavy rugs, foreign and very expen
sive. The desk fittings were silver.
The district attorney was at ease in
his leathern chair when the door of the
private room swung inward and a
stranger entered. Johusou who lost a
good position afterward should not
have let him in without sending in
card. For the man was not a railroad
president, nor was he a close friend
either. He was a gaunt creature with
an extraordinarily white face. There
were heavy lines about the corners of
his mouth, besides a drawn expression
above the eyes. He wore a rough suit.
Had the district attorney's memory
been keen he might have recognized
the clothing as the sort given to its un
willing wards by ft grateful &tate when
it turns them out after term is over.
It was just about time to think of
going home for dinner, and the occu
pant of the leathern chair looked up in
a displeased fashion. "Well, what can
I do for you':" he asked.
His visitor eougiird before he spoke.
"TliLs,'s he said with an effort. Then
h-j went to the doer, snapptd the inner
latch, and .turned toward the jcanuel
coal and fhe polished andirons.
"What the devil do you mean!" cried
the district attorney, starting to his
feet.
"Sit down," said the man.
His request was complied with, for,
plainly, he was holding a revolver. It
was a new firearm, a very cheap one.
but the district attorney felt that it
was loadV.
"You sent me to State's prison six
years ago," said the stranger, slowly.
"I stole a thousand dollars from the
Commonwealth National Bank. You
said I did it, and the jury believed
you."
The district attorney's mind was
working reluctantly. "If you have
come to rob?" he muttered, "here is"
"I don't need any of that," said the
man, watching the other's haid stray
toward a breast pocket. "I haven't
needed money for six years, not since
I stole that thousand dollars. That
thousand, yor. see, has lasted me a
long while.
"I had a wife once and avgirl and a
boy. I was also happy. That was be
fore I stole the thousand dollars. Then
I left it all. The little home was
there; they were there, but I was sew
ing on shoe soles in a prison workshop
and sleeping in a four by ten cell at
night. Dk'. you ever sleep in a four by
ten bedroom?"
"No," replied the district attorney,
dully. He looked at the bronze clock
on the mantel shelf, and realized that
the desk push button was too far off to
touch without danger from the waver
ing pistol barrel.
Vell, you don't want to." said the
man. "it vent on that way for six
years. The judge had said thab might
get out then if I used all my good con
duct time. I remembered that. I
worked with a ball of tire right through
my brain, and something cold in my
heart. They said I worked well, and
my keeper told me that he turned me
out a good shoemaker an A 1 shoe
maker." He tried to smile. It was not
pretty to look upon, 'aud the other man
shuddered.
"I wasn't a good bookkeeper, you
see," the stranger chuckled. "And it is
something to be a good shoemaker.
You remember when you were a child
how they used to promise you a piece
of gingerbread or an apple if you
would be good. I had a calendar that
a Salvation Army woman gave me in
my cell one Sunday. I did what I
used to read that all prisoners did
marked off every day with a cross. It
seemed very new to me, quite original,
as if no one had ever thought of mak
ing the time pass quickly that way be
fore. It . . as just like the girls in a
boarding school before the Christmas
holidays."
, This idea seemed to please the stran
ger. He mumbled the words over
again: "Just like girls in a boarding
school."
"I knew one man who used tp mark
off the half days," he went ou. "He
was in for arson. But he died of con
sumption a year too soon, and he's
there now, four feet below, inside of
whitewashed walls. Once I had the
same cell with him and I used to whis
per to him at night when the guards
were at the other end of the tier and
he couldn't sleep. He said he wasn't
guilty and I believed him.
"I got out a month ago. They gave
me this suit of clothes and a few dol
lars, not my thousand dollars. They
said I was free. They lied. I'm not
free. I'm a shoemaker, a good enough
shoemaker, but I'M a prison shoemak
er. They haven't wiped the telltale
white from my face and the prison
slink from my feet and shoulders. A
bad bookkeeper in a bank and a good
shoemaker in State's prison. It's a
funny combination."
lie leaned forward quickly. "You
remember my wife? She sat in the
corner seat when they said I was
guilty."
"I didn't know she was in the court
room until afterward," said the district
attorney. He felt surprised that he
could recall things; he had tried so
many cases like it. But his mind was
weirdly active now, and he remem
bered very well.
"We sent her money, but she
wouldn't take it," he added.
"You sent her money?" The man in
the rough clothing snarled. "Did you
think she would take any of your
money. I found her two weeks ago.
I found her. but I tell ycr I didn't
know her. It was iu a hospital and she
wasn't the pretty woman she was when
I saw her last. Her throat was all
shruukcu and her hands her hands. 1
tell you, were hard and knotted. She
had taken in washing! I tell you she
had taken iu washing. She had forgot
ten how to smile.
"I asked her where the boy and
the girl were. And what do you sup
pose she said? They were dead. She
said they were dead and that she was
glad of it. So. you see. when you told
that jury I stole a thousand dollars you
committed in u r de r . "
"Don't shoot for God's sake!" cried
the district attorney. "I'll give you
live thousand anything. The jury
said you were guilty not I." Never
had he pleaded so earnestly before.
I lis visitor .smiled and the hand with
the pistol rose slowly.
After thtse iu the outer office hoard
the one shot they found the stranger
lying with feet almost touching the
polished brass andirons. Something
warm from his forehead was soiling
the most expensive f the Royal Bpk
haras. The district attorney lay back in his
leathern chair, his eyes open, but
breathing very oddly.
When he became himself again, quite
some time afterward, his wife was
bending over him.
"Y'ou have been saying such funny
things, dear." she whispered. "You've
been imagining you were trying a case,
but you seemed to be judge and jury
and prisoner all rolled into one." From
which it may be deduced that the dis
trict attorney's wife had not been told
just how her husband had been strick
en with brain feyer.
"Do you know, Eleanor?" whispered
ie district attorney, very feebly.
"Yes?" said his wife, waiting for the
weak lips to frame the rest.
"I think I shall five up the law. I'm
Setting too old. We'll go abroad" for a
year in the spring." New York Fost.
AV a hailstone melts In water, it
gives off a large bubble of air, evi
dently enclosed under great pressure.
In Japan, according to Trofessor
Mfjfce, the highest authority on the
subject, there is at least one earth
quake daily.
Chemical fire engines are used in
Sydney, Australia, and they are likely
to "be used largely hereafter to check
bush fires during the summer months.
The manioc root of Madagascar
yields as much as ninety-five per cent,
of sugar. It has been used extensively
for the manufacture of starch and glu
cose, and several Paris distillers are
now making alcohol of it; 220 pounds
have yielded from ten to thirteen gal
lons of crude alcohol.
For all its beauty, the lily of the val
ley is denounced by scientists on the
ground that both the stalks and the
flowers contain poisons. It is risky
to put the stalks into one's mouth, as
if the sap happens to get into even
the tiniest crack in the Hps it may
produce swelling, often accompanied
by pain.
The Academy of Science, in Munich,
has made a grant of 500 marks to Pro
fessor Oscar Schultze, of Wurzburg,
for an investigation of the minute anat
omy of the electrical organs of fishes,
and a grant of 2300 marks to Dr. Rosz.
curator of the Botanical Museum, at
Munich, for zoological and botanical
studies in Central America.
It has been estimated that women
use only about one-fourth of their lung
capacity in breathing. This means
that only one-fourth of the oxysren
needed by the blood is obtained and
that there is a consequent lack of en
ergy; headaches and indigestion pre
vail and food- is tasteless unless highly
seasoned. Snieh breathing is a matter
of habit, and is at the base of a boat
of ills?
All of the hatcheries of British Co
lumbia have secured a full supplj- of
salmon spawn, and by the erection of
fish ladders a very large district has
been opened that had been cut off from
the salmon for a number of years.
The number of young salmon that will
go to the ocean this year will be far
greater than in any previous year, and
an exceedingly large run may be ex
pected in lfx)T.
Your Voice by Pontcaril.
The time is near at hand when the
obliging postman will leave with other
mail matter at your door the verbal
message from some distant loved one
instead of the formally written letter.
A Frenchman lias invented a phono
graph record of sufficient hardness to
go through the mails. It is the voice
which, on arriving at its destination,
speaks the message, and, as will be
observed, saves the sender a heap of
trouble, whatever it may do in the
end. A material called sonorine, which
has the advantages of wax and is in
destructible, is spread upon cards
which conform to postoffice regula
tion and requirements. The record
is made by a spiral which fills tfte
card, except for a small spot in the
middle. A card will hold about eighty
words, which is more than ordinary
calligraphy can manage on the post
card. Technical World.
Manitoba' Crops in 1903.
In 1003 the wheat crop of Manitoba
was 33,701 ,000 bushels, or 21.07 bush
els to the acre. The oats averaged
32.3 bushels per acre, and the total
cereal crop of the province was 113.
8G1.:;;1 bushels. The root crop aver
aged from 2:S3 to 2S!) bushels to the
acre. The value of the farm buildings
erected during the year iu Manitoba
was $1.00O.or.o. The value of butter
products for the year are estimated at
?T(J,fO and cheese rt"t !M27,"30.
Just about the time when the Gala
pagos Islands were discovered by the
Spanish, not quite 4(K years ago, a tor
toise was born there. The same tor
toise died recently iu the London
Zoological Gardens.
Younger
Children
GRANDMA'S PARTY.
nee my grandma gave a party;
My! but there was lots to "eat!
indwicheg and chicken salad,
Cakes, and every kind of gwget.
Must have been a million waiters
Anyhow, I'm sine of eight;
'Cause each time I saw a new one
I would have him till my plate.
When they woke me up nest morning
Tummick didn't -feel ju.st right;
And I didn't want any breakfast, -Guess
1 ate that, too, last night.
E. is. K., in Harper's Weekly.
CATCHING KITES IN INDIA.
In India, where those large birds, the
kites, are common and fearless, boys
amuse themselves by catching them in
a way that is almost ridiculous in its
simplicity. A line is stretched tightly
a little way above. the ground between
two posts. Beneath it is laid a bait.
The kite stoops and seizes the bait, but
when he rises from the earth hits the
back of his neck against the string.
This makes him throw up his wings,
with the result that some of his. quills
get over the line, and he is kept a sus
pended and struggling captive until
the boys run tip and release him.
WHAT THEY SAT.
The American and the Englishman
say: How do you do?
The German: How do yxm find your
self? The Frenchman: How do you carry
yourself?
The Italian: How do yon stand?
The Spaniard: Go with God, Senor.
The Russian: How do you live on?
The Hollander: Have you had a
good dinner?
The Chinese: Have you eaten your
rice?
The Egyptian'. How do your per
spire? The Mohammedan: Peace be with
you.
The Persian: May thy shadow never
grow less!
The Burmese rub their noses against
each other's cheek, exclaiming: Give
me a smell.
Arabs of eminence kiss each other's
cheeks and say: God grant thee His
favor and give health to thy family.
St. Louis Post-Dispatch.
FIFTEEN TONGUE TWISTERS.
Six mixed biscuits.
Strange strategic statistics.
What noise annoys a noisy oyster?
A noisy noise annoys a noisy oyster.
Fresh fried fish freely flavored friz
zling finely.
Susan shineth shoes and socks,
Socks and shoes shine Susan;
She ceaseih shining shoes and socks,
For socks and shoes shock Susan.
' A cup of coffee in a copper coffee pot.
Three trey geese in a green field
grazing. Grey were the geese, id
green was the grazing.
The sea ceaseth and it sufficeth us.
Sh sells sea shells.
She stood in an arbor welcoming
111 in in.
All he holds are old whole hold-alls.
A big black bootblack blacked Bertie
Black's black boots with black-backed
brushed and blue-black blacking.
Sifch pranks Frank's fish phiy in
the tank.
Five wives weave withes.
Peter Piper picked a peck of pickled pep
pers. A peck of pickled peppers Peter Piper
picked;
If Peter Piper picked a peck of pickled
peppers.
Where is the peck of pickled peppers
rcter Piper picked?
SKIMMING IT.
"If you are going to give a pan of
milk don't skim it first," the old grand
mother used to say; meaning, if you
are going to do a favor, don't spoil it
by an ungracious word or manner.
Haven't we noticed how much of this
"skimming" goes on iu ordinary family
intercourse?
"Another errand? I never can go
downtown without half a dozen com
missions!" complains Rob, when his
sister asks him to bring a book from
the library. He never refuses to
oblige her; he does not really count it
an inconvenience; he ouly takes the
cream off his kindness.
, "Those gloves ripped again!" ex
claims Mary, when John wants her to
take a few 6titches. "It seems to me
they always need mending when I am
in a hurry with something else." She
would be shocked at his going shabby
aud distressed if any one thought her
unwilling to render such office, but she
makes it a little unph-asant to ask the
favor.
The children follow the fashion.
Tommy shuts the door at Bridget's re
quest, but he grumbles at having to
leave his top. Susie goes to the door
when she is sent, but she departs with
a protest that it is Tommy's turn.
Thus all day long people who love one
another skim the sweetness from every
service they render. Nashville Chris
tian Advocate.
"CIIFKUY RIPE."
Children who are too little to play
difficult games will enjoy "Cherry
Ripe." says the Boston Herald.
For Cherry Ripe someone must be
the old woman who sells cherries
and someone else the buyer. All 'the
other little ones are ripe cherries.
They make a w of themselves ia
front of the oft woman, and the buer,
coming up, parleys with her over a
purchase.
"Old woman, old woman! What have
you to-day?" she asks.
"I've sweet, ripe cherries. -Will't
please you to buy?" says the old wom
an. But the cautious buyer answers:
"How do I know they are worth the
cost? Before I spend j-our fruit I'll
try."
She does this by walking along th&
row and taking a pretended bite from
each clieek. Suddenly she kisses one
of them, aud then runs away as fast
as she can, the kissed child following
to catch her.
The position that is left empty in
the row when the cherry runs out is
immediately stepped into by the old
woman. The buyer tries to get back
to the old woman's place, and if she
does it without being caught the cherry
that chased her becomes buyer. S:)ulcl
the cherry succeed in capturing" her,
however, then the buyer remains Jjuyer
and the cherry becomes old woman for
the next turn of the game.
THE HORSE AND THE DONKEY.
The ancestors of the horse were fc
cutomed to roam rMs1 the plains,
where every tuft of grass or bush,
miglrt conceal an enemy waiting to
spring upon them. Under these cir
cumstances they must often have
saved their lives by starting quickly
back or jumping to one side when they
came without warning upon some
strange object. This is a habit which
has not left the animal even after Ion, X
years vf domestication.
On the thel- hand, the donkey is de
scended from animals which lived
among the hills, where there were
precipices and dangerous declivities,
and from these conditions resulted his
slowness and sure footedness. His an
cestors were not so liable to sudden at
tacks from wild beasts and snakes.
Besides, sudden and wild starts would
have been positively dangerous to
them. Consequently they learned to
avoid the very trick which has been
so useful to the horse. The habit of
eating thistles, which is peculiar alone
to the donkey, is also descended from
these ancestors. In the dry, barren
localities which they inhabited there
was often very little food; hence they
learned to eat hard, dry and even
prickly plants, when there was nothing
dse.
GIOTTO, THE GREAT PAINTER.
Over six hundred years ago thie
was, in a country place in Italy, a
shepherd boy called Giotto. While his
sheep were feeding he used to draw
their pictures on rocks with a pointed,
stone, and though he was only ten
years old, he drew so well that a great
artist named CMmabue asked his father
to let him go to the great city of Flor
ence and learn from him to be a
painter. Giotto's father consented, and
the boy began to Avork in the studio
of his new friend. . . .
One day, when Cimabue was' out,
Giotto was overcome by a spirit of
mischief. So he went to a portrait on
which his master was spending his
skill, and he painted a life-like fly
right on his nose. When Cimabue re
turned he thought the fly was real, and
tried to flick it away with his finger.
Then he and everyone else laughed, and
no one was cross with the boy, because
so long as you work really hard a little
fini crnrKil Tim fn-1ich i nil Tvlr-l.-nif!
children are those who care for nothingf
but play, and who fcever work hardl
- . i. A. J 1 . i- x i. . 7
except wneu mere is u iut iu vay. aim
only a little time to gobble it down.
One day, when Giotto was a man
some one came to see him. The callm
was an agent of the Pope, who wishet
to have some paintings done by the
best artists in Italy. He had, there
fore, sent his servaut to get examples!
of the work of all great painters, ani
when he saw them he was going tq
decide to whom he would give tin
honor of employment by himself. Wha
G lotto's caller wanted was a drawini
or painting by which his skill miglT
be judged.
Wlien he made his request Giott'
took a piece of paper and made a circh
on it with one twist of his wrist. Thei
he offered what he bad doue as a sain
pie of his ability. The caller wai
angry and asked for a painting oi
drawing instead of a mere simple elrj
cle; but the artist said he could giv
him nothing else.
The Pope's agent, therefore, toolc 1'
and later submitted it to his lrmstn
who at once picked it out from th
other work by different artists an
aked what it meant. His servant tol
the story, and the Pope smiled an
looked carefully at the plain circle
Then he said: "Let this artist be sei;
tnv -fin ilnni-i :i simtdf. bintr kI
perfectly that I am sure he is 'th
very man to paint the pictures I hav
in, mind." Giotto went to Rome an
did some wonderful work that exist;
to this day. Advance.
1