The daily dispatch. [volume] (Richmond [Va.]) 1850-1884, 1873-01-06

"A SERIOUS CASE OF MISTAKEN lDEsd T.,
sv,rrsrrn RI rHE pEMrEsTfARY FOR ITEf'
Ty YrAag--fFrontie New York Hefoaa -. l,,i
II win be recoliected that young man An
Mcmillan was tried Mt recent term vi 'n 80
General Sessions, charged with Deine oho n n
marty Of three who knocked down A' -,
robbed Mr.. James Hume, on the eve u
Thanksgiving Day. near Washington I I'iarw
Mr. Hume was rendered senseless 0y uiu"
from behind. and bis watch taken iroln ,'' ~
10 had seen his assaiIants, however, anu IL
cnrnizrd Mcmillan as one of them. gu.
or had character, who gave her naIhe as
To,,isa smith. swOre upon the trIa' tha .. sne
had seeu the whole transaction, and posilhe
~ identified Mcmillan as one oil the iouns .,.t
I'm his examination in the ponce co..it
Mcmillan protested his innocence WIN teai :,
FIJI eornestness, and charged the glri oullIh
with perjury in such a manner as 10 solhs-
what shake the belief of Justice Coz 10 Ills
rniIt. The testimony on the trial was, now
ever. too direct for any assumption Oh i,lno.
cenn., and the Jury found him guilty. ooon
ofte- officers of the court learned tnIo"En
somc statements of members of. the "iious-
ton-street gang" with which McMlllia II
was sunposed to be connected, thai 'hs
real criminals were still at large, ana
that an innocent man had been COLI
victed. The names of the informcrs are
lent secret. but through them the clncels
learned that two girls, well-known frequent
orc of the street in that vicinity, haa VIII
messed the wheae transaction; and IL the!
chose could tell all about it. The names o,
these were obtained after some ehort, anu
thcy were Yesterday morning arrested ana
brought up before Justice Cox. In the
presence Of Mr.. Hume they readily al
miI,cd That they had witnessed the robbery
and had raised Mr.. IIuInc's head from the
Ground after the robbers had fled, ana had
wiped the blood from his face. On tue ap-
nroach of the. officers they ran away, tearing
to be arrested. :. They protested 10 KNOW tte
real criminals well. but did not know their
names. Justice Cox saw that they were
conceaIiug something, and urged them 10
make clean breast Of it. They persisted,
however. that they did not know the names
of the robbers, but volunteered deScrip-
ton of Them They were separately taken
to the cells below to see If any OF the alleged
robbers were there On their return they
stated positively that the robbers were not
among The prisoners shown them.
They were left in temporary charge OF the
offirpr while a new phase of the affair came
IN in the courtroom. Mr.. Isaac Black, of
Chatham street, was arraigned. charged with
RECEIVING stolen goods i'll having purchased
the watch stolen from Mr.. Hume. The COM
pIaipant was Charles Woodruff, one of the
parties who was in arrest for completely in
the robbery. He stated that he had accom-
PANIED friend, whose name he did not
know, to Mr.. Blacks place, where his friend
sold the watch for SIS. Mr.. Black, who
is very respectable gentleman, gave
bail in the sum Of $1,000 to answer
the churge. Meanwhile the "friend"
of one Of the girls, who was seated in the
audience, was arrested by order of the JUS
tice, and the three were informed that they
would be locked up rs witnesses. This
caused an immediate tlutter among them, and,
after hurried consultation, they determined
to tell all the truth, which they accordingly
did, and the guilty parties are no doubt ere
this arrested Their story fully eNculpates
Mcmillan, and both Justice Cox and Mr.
Hume were convinced of his innocence. OF
course, with the arrest and conviction OF the
real culprits, immediate steps will be taken
for his release.