The Wheeling daily register. [volume] (Wheeling, W. Va.) 1864-1878, 1865-01-21
A SCENE In A JURY ROOM.
A THBILIINQ EIORV.
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The ease looked dark Maaf witnesses
were willing to testify to the prisoners
good qualities, but no one uould swear
that he was not dissipated and degraded
That house had bean TO him. indeed, Re-
gion informal Its destruction cried Oat
for his bodily life. and it's existence had
long been eating away his soul Poor
Charley! had before bean sure Of his
innocence, but now / could only shake
my head and pity him.
Finally he was allowed to speak for
himself He said he was innocent of the
crime imputed upon him. He said THAT
he had threatened to burn tho house
down-that he had sad all that had been
sworn to. And furthermore, he was
around the house ON the night of the fire.
He was not tan rods of when the ia
burst forth, and he was one Of - ..es
to give the alarm. He b. LIE first
cry of fire when be -. uttered one
flames must b'- ,,otiosd where the
. q I've originated, and the
tn -ame to him If he were found
%, he might be suspected of having
set the fire; so he ran away. he also
said that three nights before the contla-
uration, ha had been robbed in that house.
His pockets had been emptied of every
thing in them, and his pockstbOok con-
tanning forty dollars in money, and some
valuable papers, had been taken. he
had gone there ON the night Of the fire
TO try and persuade them to give him
back his money and papers-Or at least
to get back what he could. When he got
there, he SAW o man 60 III whom he did
not wish to sss 50 had hung around.
waiting for him 10 depart Hs waa
around by the back part It tho building
onoe-and that was sn hour before the
Are broke out. He knsw nothing OF il
nothing He elasped his hands. and with
his fearless syes raissd toward hsavSa.
he called on God 10 witAess that hs was
innocent!
Ihave told yoa that knew him well.
knew hin so well, tAa$ nom shsE mo
ment | knew him b. b. innOosnR l
knew his very SOUL knew how free
and open it was-ah, how Ainfully' Sol
and knew that there was no falsahoOd
Ia the story he had told ".
my boy is innooents Mg bsy is limo
cent"
| heard the sry--aDd | saw an odd
woman sink back into the arms OF q male
companion. 1t was his poor mother-
her heart was we'll nigh broken! Yet i
say that all this had but little effect
upOn the mass of the spectators Tho
prisoners course of dissipatiOn-his many
threats against the house-and the very
fact of his having been robbed ana
abused there, were heavy against him.
The counsel for the prisoner made his
speech, which was labored and hard. He
was foolish enough TO intimate that II
his client ,ods around at the back part of
the house he must have been Intoxicated.
In short, his plea had better been left
out The evidence he could NOT shake,
and he did all no could to suppose evil
dence, some Of it most absurd and ridio-
ulous l afterward learned thai Moul-
ron Warren engaged that lawyeE for the
youthful prisoner The government at
torney made his plea. 1t was plain,
straightforward and very conclusive.
The Judge finally gave his charge. He
was fair and candid. He reviewed tho
evidence carefully and pointed out such
as bore heavily upon the case. He told
us If there was lingering doubt in our
minds we must give the prisoner the
benefit of it. But l could plainly see
there was no doubt in his mind.
Ws-the jury-were conducted to our
room by an officer. and there locked up.
A silence of some minutes ensued. Moul-
ton Warren was the first to speak:
Well" he said. Il s'pose there's no
need Of our bein' here great while. Of
course we all know that the prisoner
must have set fire TO tho house"
There. was something in tho manner Of
that nfan as he said this which excitsd'
nEauriosity-I'won't say it was suspi-
cion then-only curiosity. HS spoke
with forced effort NJ calmness which,
at once perceived. The more ~
looked AT him, more became
strangely nervous and Uneasy ! woh-
aered w by he should be 90 anxious DO get
rid of the case, and have Ambold cob
victed. knew that he had frequentSd
thatevil house and that no: had dohe.
much toward tempting Charley to dis
sipation. / Knew he was In that hoube
on the night on which the prisoner WIS
robbed-toT Charley had told me SO when
7 visited him in his cell. had then
asked tho unfortunate youth II he WIS
,s9re, Warren was his friend OhAhS
was sure of II. He should have huuted
him up on tho night of his robbery, only
they told him Warren had gone
BY thsSby tha foreman proposed tint
we should each take up piece of parer
and write down our opinion, and thin
compare notes fwent 60 my hat, whith
I had'placed upon table with n,,mlsr-
of others, and took out sheet of PAPER:
l had got half way Back to the tabRs
wasp found | had made a mistake / +
had got part of a letter from another
mans hat, Twas about to turn bank
when the name of the writer of the kt
ter jarreated my attsrtion. ;. / Looked
more closely, and read Stephen Grant ~
Next caught this sentences;
"And now, dear Charles, if not for ydur
SEpfSst tar,yoar mothers sake, lat bne
hone you viii do BETTER
tstarted as though. a shot had struHA
me. held in my hand the other halfot
The sheet which had been used to fire na
burnt house. went to the table aud
found that had taken it from MoultbH
" afrefis HIT. + looked TO see If had
UpeG6bs I'D and L had not. put the
'lapsy back nd then took . piece frSH,
snwsssn hat, which was.of the samepaE
ftrfN sseseother; ami by 10 ode Z: :. ..
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