The Stark County Democrat. [volume] (Canton, Ohio) 1833-1912, 1871-03-23
NUMBER Al

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understand, TIL sile day was some hours
older, that was needed more here al
Carlisle than anywhere else, Just then.
l went from the breakfast table into the
readlng-room, and dafte. read an bonr
heard one man say. IT, err: IlE
"Let's go over 10 II. ,ourt bt,nso
they re trying Joe CSLa-I Thev went
out and re1i1snberIng my little tan; with
the district attorney, my curiosity was
excited, and followed them.
lMhen entered the court room. The
victim OF the robbery was on the stand
ne was q pam, simple old man, and gave
ms evidence with apparent truth falness.
he testlhea- that was stopped about
sunset some months before while passing
from Carllsle to his home with one thou
sand collars that he had drawn that after
noon from the bank. 1t was a loneful spot.
and there was not a house within half =
mile of IL He was logging leignrelv
along, when light wagon drawn bv two
horses dashed up beside his buggy. and
three OF the four men N it iumped out.
while the fourth. held the reins. Thev
were all masked.a Onelof them seized his
hoiss py the bit aud stopped him. the sec
ond snatchedthe lines from his hands, and
the third climbing halI into the buggy and
taking him by the arms, demanded his
money. He said that he instantly shouted
as loud as ne could; when the r1ffiin dealt
him savage blow with q siune shot
which knocked him senseless; and when
ne came to himself again, both robbers
and money were gone.
de recognized only oneof the four the
man that struck hIm=As he drew back
to give the blow has mask dropped, and;
revealed the face of Joe Shfer, the prison
er at the bar. He knew it, he was posi-
tive OF 1t, and all the ingenuity of the
cross examination could not weaken or
shake his evidence on this important
/ point. Sem
| No other witness was called for the
prosecution; none seemed necessary. The
| prisoners lawyer got up and made plaus-
ible statement to the jury that complain
| ant was mistaken about recognizing Joe
/ Slifer on the occasion referred TO that
Sllter WAS not there at al, but that he was
at Norcott, fifty miles north Of Carlisle, at
/ the very hour of that robbery, and that
he should prove IT by at least two Witness
es He sat down and called out Caleb
Wye" and every body leaned forward ex-
pectantly
The witness came forward with a slow,
Imping gait, leaning on cane. lie was
| apparently a man of middle age, and
| dressed in suit of sober, black, with a
white choker about his neck His hair
was silver grey, and as he mounted the
stand, and leaning on his cane, turned
Rlacidly to the prisoners counsel, he pre-
sented an appearance which would COM
mand attention and respect anywhere.
saw him; and thought I did not be-
tray any surprise. know that my heart
gave n tremendous thump. For l saw the
1 IT1l 4 L.
| the SCARED forehead Of the dodger whom
had seen twenty-iour hours before in the
doorway of the saloon. With this differ
ence, however, the hair Of that man was
almost black, while this mans was silver
grey. :-4
4 I edged my chair quietly up beside that
Of the District-Attorney, and while the
man was testifying / managed. 70 whisper
in the others ear without attracting the
attention of the witness. s acrrL =
i The latter testified that he was dealer
in ready-made clothing, at Norcott and
one of the firm of Wye 4 Peasants. That
on the day testified to as theFobbery. both
he and his partner We're at their store at
/ Nocott, and there was an unusual call
for goods. Joe Slifer was then. in town
they knew him well. and had often enas
lployed him to help IN the store. On this
particular day the sent for him be came
Immediately; and he renamed at the
store, waiting on customers, from two
o'clock till eight, without once leaving il.
Mr.. Pleasants- was in-oeurt and he could
testify to the same facts ----l
The FIRST question Of the district attor-
ney made the fellow start and shiVsr. l1
Are yon-in disguise, sir = q, s,f,s2
4 fWh-what? stammered the man.
van -ft1rr n,yoy. sg,,s
dark hair 2"
The man looked amazed and then fright
ened, but said nothing; and before he
could recover his self-possession, the dis
trict attorney had stepped forward and
removed the wig, revealing 4 smoothly
brushed head Of dark brown hair. ~
What does this mean2" he asked
sternly. .-r... "a
.lH 'Only. a fancy r. was the surly answer
IfI've worn that wig for years"
i Have you indeed? Did you wear ital
day yesterdayf' a as h1e
Eyes sir" was the confident response.
!, fWhere 2"
eat Norcott, to be sure"
"All day 2' ,
rCertainly was there the whole day ,
"When did you arrive here at Carlisle 2
rAt 7:3O this morning"
The district attorney gave me q triumph
! ant wink and then be stated to the ecour
? that he desired this witness TO be detained
till the close of the trial. The sheriff wa
directed to take charge Of him. Mr.. Calel
! Wye came down from the stand with hi
, / wig in his hand, and took a seat By tn
! sheriff, looking decidedly more biliou
f | than had yet seen him appear.
{ Mr Peasants was loudly called for b,
2 the defense but no one came forward
The unexpected reception which the las
witness had met probably chilled the ardo
of his confederate, and he wisely chose {
:. keep himself in the background. Thi
+ then was all OF the defense; and my eyi
: dence at once blew it to.the wind. look
/, ed directly at Mr.. Wye (so-called,) Will
: ! was telling the jury when, where, an
v under what circumstances / had seen hiT
the previous day, and | saw him trembl
like an aspen leaf The jury convicted th
IS prisoner without leaving their seats. an
the witness was locked up for further cor
Y siderstion
left Carlisle the next morning. an
e heard nothing more OF this affair for sever
al weeks Then letter from the distrit
r attorney, thanking me for the assistance
], had rendered him. conveyed more detail
"The witness Wye" he wrote, who's
e real name is Nicholas Bray, was indiete
a for perjury. a very slight investigate
| showed me that we could prove that /
( had no right TO the name OF Wye ths
4 neither he nor any man by the name
: Peasants ever kept store in Norcott, an
d that neither Of them We're known there
n all. This, with your evidence, would IA,
been sufficient TO convict him; and unde
: standing it as well as anybody, he concli
/ ded to save trouble and plead guilty.
i he and Slifer are both in the pententiar
ir and will stay there for term Of years.
If
le