Des Moines courier. ([Ottumwa] Iowa) 1848-1854, 1850-07-12


| 'Whatv exclaimed the astonished Judge
ARE you licensed attorneys
| The question is irrelevant and imma-
terial,' replied the stranger with a vene.
nous snecr, .as the recent statue entities
any person to act as counsel at the re-
i quest of party
4 But does the prisoner request it!' in
quired the Judge.
] Let her speak for herself said the
stranger.
i i do was her answer, as long
drawn sigh escaped, that seemed to
render her very heart strings.
4 The case Immediately progressed, and
as il had tinge of romantic mystery we
will give the substance of the evidence.
i About twelve months before, the de-
fendant had arrived in the village, and
opened an establishment OF millinery.
Residing in room connected with her
shop, and all alone, she prepared The ar
ticles of her trade with unwearied labor
end consummate taste. Her habits were
secluded, modest and retiring, and hence
she might have hoped to avoid notoriety
but for the perilous gift of that extraor-
dinary beauty, which, too often, and to
the poor and friendless always proves a
curse. She was soon sought after by
all those glitterng fire. flies of fashion,
the profession of whose life, every
where, is seduction and ruin. But the
beautiful stranger rejected them all with
unutterable scorn and loathing. Among
these rejected admirers was one of a
character from which the fair milliner
had every thing to fear. Hiram Shore
belonged to family, at once opulent,
influential and dissipated. He was him
self licentious, brave and ferociously re-
vengeful--the most famous duelst of
the Southwest. it was generally
known that he had made advances TO
win the favor Of the lovely Emma, and
shared the fa,e of all other wooers-a
disdainful repulse.
At nine o'clock on Christmas night,
1887, the people of Lewisburg were
startled by loud scream as of one of
mortal terror, while, following that, with
scarcely an interval, came successive re-
ports of firearms, one, two, three, a
dozen deafening roars. They flew to
the shop of the milliner, whence the
sound proceeded, pushed back the un-
fastened door, and scene of horror
was presented. There she stood in the
centre of the room, with revolver in
each hand, every barrel discharged, her
features pale, her eyes flashing wildly,
but her lips parted with fearful smile.
4 And there at her feet, weltering in his
warm blood, his bosom literally riddled
with bullets, lay the all dreaded duelist,
Hiram Shore, gasping in the last agony.
He articulated but single sentence:
"Tell my mother that | am dead and
gone to hel!' and instantly expired.
In the name of God, who did thisT
excla imed the appalled, spectators.
/ Il did it, said the beautiful milliner,
Il did il to save my honor
AS may be readily imagined, the deed
caused an intense sensation. Public o.
pinion, however, was divided. The
poorer classes credited the girls version
of the fact, lauded her herGism in terms
of measurless eulogy. Bnt the friends
of the deceased, and his wealthy family,
gave different and darker coloring to
the affair, and denounced the lovely hon.
icide as an attrocious criminal. Unfor-
tunately for her the officers of the law,
especially the judge and sheriff we're
devoted comrades Of the slain, and DIS
played their feelings in revolving par
tiality. The Judge committed her with
out the privilege of bail, and the sheriff
chained her in felon's dungeon.
! Such is brief abstract of the cir
cumstances developed in the examina-
ton of Witnesses. The testimony closed
and the pleading began.
/ First of all, the advocate in succession
for the prosecution; but neither their
names nor their arguments are worth
preserving. Orators of blood and thun-
der genus, they about equally pariitioned
their bowling eloquence betwixt the pris-
oner and her leather robed counsel, as if
in doubt who of the twain was then on
trial. As for the stranger, he seemed
to pay not the slightest attention to his
opponents. but remained moiionless, with
his forehead bowed on his hands, like
one buried in deep thought Of slumber.
| When the proper time came, however,
he suddenly sprang to his feet, crossed
the bar, and took his position almost
touching the jury. Heihen commenced
in whisper SO wild, SO clear, SO unut-
terably ringing and distinct, as to fill the
hall from floor to galleries. AT the out
set he dealt in pure logic, separating and
combining the proven facts, till the whole
mass Of confused evidence looked trans
parent as globe Of glass. to which the
innocence Of his client shone brilliant as
a sunbeam, and the jurors nodded to
each other signs of thorough convictions;
that thrilling whisper, and fixed concen-
tration, and the language, simple as a
child's had convinced all.
i He then changed his position, so as
TO sweep the bar with his glance, and
began to tear and rend his legal adyer.
saries. His sallow face glowed as a
heated furnace; his eyes resembled
living Goals, and his voice became the
i clanOor oc a fru,nnat I have never