The Pulaski citizen. [volume] (Pulaski, Tenn.) 1866-current, 1870-06-03

!
clearly proved that the key had been
inside the door when I went up to bed,
and that it had never been seen again
until it was found in the coffee room.
My defence tried hard to make out that
some person likely to commit the muir
der might have been in the house that
day, but of no use. AS the trial went
on, even I, who knew my innocence,
could not help allowing to myself that
the evidence, though purely circum-
Stantial, was very strong against me.
The only points in my favor were, that
on the day of the murder was sup
posed to have committed, l travelled up
to London, and had not the least APP
pearance of man who had anything
on his mind. Again, Strange was
known to have on his person a gold
watch, and a purse containing q few
sOYereigns and twenty-five pounds
notes, the numbers of which latter were
ascertained at the bank at SOuthamp-
ton, where he had procured them in
exchange for a bank-pOst bill. The
watch had been taken and never traced;
but the bank-nOteS had been exchange
ed at the Bank of England on the day
after the murder, and before I, as / fully
proved, had any communication what
ever, with anyone in London. OF this
last point my counsel made the most
but it did not help me much, if an.
thing. The jury retired and after delib-
Grating about half an hour, returned
into court and declared, through their
foreman, that | was guilty of the will
ful murder of Edward Strange.
Gentlemen, a man who has gone
through that Ordeal-whO has heard
the jury pronounce him guilty of capi-
tai crime, and heard the Judge pass
sentence of death upon him-a man, 1
say, gentleman, who had gone through
that ordeal and still lives to tell the
tale, may (or am presumptuOus? p be-
looked upon as man who had really
gone through what, in these days
would be called q sensational time. /
heard every word the foreman of the
jury said, and wondering what the
Judges black cap-Of which every one
has seen, would be like. Then l was
in kind of dream for a time, until /
heard the words cOndemning me to be
hanged by the neck until / was dead.
A sensational effect upon me, gentle
men, or am presumptuOus? And
will you favor me, sir, with light2
q In spite of appearances, said this
little old gentleman, smoking with eX-
ceeding relish, " my friends did not be-
lieve me to be guilty of the fearful crime
for which l was to be hanged by the
neck until ] was dead, i'll ten days after
the trial. They moved heaven and
,earth to obtainsa communication of my
sentence, after a. great deal of
trouble, they succeeded. AT the time
of which speak, there was III England
temporary, but very strong reaction
against capital punishment. [ cannot
recoIlect all the circumstances of the
case, but, in q trial fOrmurdeT, two men
had been condemned to death and duly
executed, and, shortly after they had
been hanged by the neck until they
were dead, their supposed victim made
IS appearance, well and hearty. The
lRblic press lookup the question of not
Rnging upon circumstantial RT2encas
q / benefited to the extent
the temporary eXcitemenS ~
pited and condemned to transporter
for life, and very shortly after
for in those days transportation
NIL sWing-fOund myself on my
Van Dieman's Land, con-
en- long wears, entIemen,
a. = sys5,llishment for a
Grim lIsarfectly innO-
cent man who
real Strange, as
ID went out in the
me, condemned to sew
en- yea sportation for burglary.
He musSflaVe, heard me tell my story
and declare my innocence over and
over again; for in the colony, we work
ed a long time together in the same
gang. He was afterward assigned to a
master who lived near the prison where
had to slave out my time as in those
days 'lifers,' whose sentence had been
commuted for capital punishment,
were never allowed to leave the chain
gangs. But, after three years i'll Van
Dieman's Land, this real murderer took
to his old trade Of burglary. To avoid
being captured he TO the bush, and
Oh q party of police AiQg sent after
the band to which he beIo3lsed, he shot
a constable in cold blood. Ho, ,aSas cap
tured, sentenced 20 be hanged -
neck until he was dead, and twON
before his execution confessed that ~
had murdered, at Southampton, a per-
son called Strange, for which offence
another man had been sentenced to
death.
"His statement was taken down,
and it was exact. 1t appeared that he
had been hidden for several hours i'll
the inn, intending to steal whatever he
could lay his hands on. Early in the
morning he had found his way into
poor StTange's room, hoping to pick up
But his entrance aWOEe Strange, who
struggled for few minutes with him,
and kept hold OF him. The razor which
l had lent Strange being still lying OH
the bed, he murdered slaiSH victim with
it, and then puti EP's hand,
in order to make 1t appear That he had
committed suicide. He secured the
watch, the purse and the bank notes
of the murdered man, and stole out of
the house, locking the door of the bed
room on the outside, and hiding the
key. He declared that he had gone
into StTange's room before I had left
the house, and that, for some time af-
ter, his fear was lest I should come
back. Had I done so, the murder
would, in all probability, have been
prevented.
When the statement made by this
convict had been duly verified, and
when certain references had been made
to the Home authorities, 1 was duly
| liberated. That is to say, gentlemen,
1 obtained the royal pardon for having
con, mitted a crime which never COM
mitted. And very sensible am gen
tlemen of the royal clemency. Though
it seems odd.
"All tickets, gentlemen, all tickets"
1.-THE train had reached the ticket
platform at Vauxhall.
All, yes ~ said the little old gem
tIeman, producing his, "mine's a re-
turn ticket; but it had very nearly
been otherwise"
There is hope for short men, for a
! German professor has shown by eXpe-
riment that the bones of the legs can
be heightened by local irritation. By
inserting ivory pegs in one Of the leg
| bones of dog eight weeks old, he pro-
duced in four months an elOngatiOn of
| fOur-tenths of an inch.