The Dallas daily herald. [volume] (Dallas, Tex.) 1873-1887, 1876-02-04
The stone Case.
DALLAS, TEXAS, February ., 1875,

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DALLAS, TEXAS February D. 1876
10 the Editor of The Dallas Herald :
In his letter. which appeared IN Inv
HERALD Of this morning Judge Hare
acknowledged his error in the reduc.
ton of stones bail bond, which was
the burden of my complaint, and adj
mits n reason 10 due to the public and
myself why the bond was reduced.
This reason--showlng that the Honor.
able Criminal Judge has constituted
himself both judge and jury in decid-
ing upon the plea of insanity; that he
has regarded the pockets of the tax
payers rs worthy Of more considera-
ton than the security of their lives !;
and that he has considered the power
ty Of Stone and not his crime in put
ting the bail 50 low, so low in fact,
that it Is cheaper TO forfeit the bond
than it would be TO return and
stand n trial this, his reason, fully suS-
tains every allegation which | have
made against him. Further comment
is unnecessary, as the public can easily
form their own conclusions; but |
shall reply more particularly to the
false imputatiOn which the gentleman,
rorgetful of the dignity Of his position,
and with considerable malice, hes
brought against mean mputation
which Is only base subterluEe on his
part to divert the public mind from the
enormity OF his little "mistake."
Fortunately, was keeping diary
at the time of the interview to which
Judge Hare refers, and with its aid |
am able to give with accuracy the
dates order and purport of the CONVEX
sations | then had on the subject. On
Wednesday, the 18th day of Au-
gust 1875, DR.. Xibley, stones I'M
Gle, came to my Office and
requested an interview on behalf of his
nephew, which granted. He related
many incidents Of stones life tending
to prove him subject to fits of insanity,
which, with some reluctance, he said
was h ereditary. He feared, he added,
that the conviction and sentence to
the penitentiary of stone would result
disasirously to stones mother. He In
timated that all expenses and loss of
time would be made good TO my broth
er, James T. Obenchain, if | would ac-
cent q mitigated form of the indict-
ment. replied that felt great SYM
pathy for Mrs. Stone, and that, throw
| ing aside my personal feelings, the
only question with me would be
whether consideration for Mrs. Stone
should outweigh my duty to- society,
and asked until the next morning to
reflect calmly ON the question. The
next morning, Thursday, August 18th,
General Shelly called on me on n sim
liar mission. DR.. Hibly had appealed
to my feelings. and now General Shell
ly discussed the ease in q legal point Of
view, and attempted to show me that
| the defense could easily establish the
plea of insanity, and that all | could
accomplish by prosecuting the case
would result in nothing but heavy ex.
pense and great distress to stones
family. General Shellv,r | replied,
"I may believe your statements, but
but it is due to society that your plea
be clearly established before u Jury in
a court Of iustice.u | do not think this
gentleman can deny that he found me
iuflexihle. and that lie requested NE.
in taking his leave, to think farther
over the matter and give him an ans
wer as soon as possible. In compIi-
anoe with his reoilest. / called on him
between and . O'Clock d. m. on the
10Th day of last August, Mt the San
Jaciuto hotel. aud informed him that
had resolved to let the law take its
course in stones case. He not only did
not seem surprised at my decision, but
said ne could not blame me for IL at
all. DIR. Smith, Pastor of the First
Presbyterian Church. and Professor
Scales also called on me the same day,
as friends of DR.. Zibley, As soon as
they began the subject, | told them
what nv decision was. and SO NV CON
versation with those gentlemen on the
subject was very short. After sumner.
at the Lamar hotel. on the evening nj
the nineteenth of August. abont sir
hours after I had told General Shelby
nv decision. | had with Judge Hare
fine interview To which he refers In
seeking this interview with Judge
Hare. the only object was TO know, not
what course T should pnrslIe. INT
whether or not / was right I'm
what had done. | was satisfied with
nv decision, and felt some pride in
informino Judge Hare of ALI the cir
cumstances connected with II. Here.
plied in n kind and friendly manner
that had acted wisely as he wonld