The Wheeling daily intelligencer. [volume] (Wheeling, W. Va.) 1865-1903, 1876-03-16
Ghe9ttelIiqstcer
what a Good Lawyer Can Do.A
" aslIington County, Pa ISe"''
,,IHRnnep.

u nshingtOn County, Pa "en
uiScence.
From thowashngtOn RcportCr'l :, ,ooo
On the night Of the Goth OF April, 4SoS,
.,,o church al Cross Creek was burned
under circumstances which LETT no doubt
"f T its being the work,ot an incendiary.
NJ course there was much conjecture US
W wbo Jid the wicked act, some blaming
" ~ md some another. While these sus.
n;Sions as to the guilty party were enter;
aimed, scarcely any Of them we're uttered
aloud. At length a young man named
,John Kirk, who lived with his father in
an old log house, which is still standing
abou, forty rods south Of the church,
actnated perhaps by foolish desire to
obtain notoriety, told certain -
c., who was prGlessed atheist, thai
he (Kirk) had set fire to the chtiTch;
C soon made known what hirk mau
told him, whereupon warrant va Ei
issued and Kirk was arrested ms
father going his bail for his ap'
"cSrnncs nj court. TO corrOboratc
Tho confession he had made to Z :,
Wv sonUg woman who lived at his fathers,
yT" n'So " OwcJ him grudgc Of some
i.;.J ,rowed her readiness to swear that
~" NM w. ri,bt the church was burned she
Ind met Kirk going towards 1t carrying
Grc The case was considered an exceed.
,mHiv clcar one, and Kirk was regarded
"a certain to go to the penitentiary for u
GOOD long time. Kirk then began to re-
aSi;,o thu danger he was in, and soon con-
rlnded there was not 80 much fun in store
as he had anticipated. Court was coming
an. n term Of years in the penitentiary
was staring him in the face and some.
thing had 10 be done. His father went to
Pittsburgh and employed James Ross,
then the great criminal lawyer OF Penn
.ylyania, who was to be paid one humid
red dollars in silver il the defendant was
acquitted, but nothing II convicted.
When the case came TO trial the man
c. to whom the confession had been
made was put upon the witness stand and
.yorc positively 10 the confession, fixing
lime place and circumstances. lie WIS
subjected to n rigid cross.examinatiOn,
hut could not be induced to vary from
his plain story. The young woman re-
ierred to was next called and testified
that she met the accused carrying fire to-
wards the church the night il was burned.
When she was handed over for crOSs.ex-
animation, Ross, fixing steady gaze
upon her, asked her how she knew it was
Kirk she met carrying the fire. 20" said
ahc, at was clear, moonlight night, and
/ could not be mistaken" "Are you sure
it was moonlight?' said Ross. ayes"
said she, "for could see his eyes plain
IT," With this she was dismissed from
the stand, andthc testimony for the prose
cution closed.
Ross produced an almanac, which
showed that there was no moonlight
whatever qt the time spoken OF, and call
ing the man c. to the stand again, asked
him il he believed in the existence Of
Supreme Being. NO." said he, ~ do
moi believe there is God, nor never did"
His testimony had TO be excluded on the
ground OF n want OF religious belief, and
thus the case OF the prosecution was COM
p!ctely broken down, the jury agreeing
upon verdict OF Acquittal without leav-
ing the box. Kirk went home free
man in company with his father, who
was oyerjOycd at the result, but it was
quite otherwise with those who had testi-
tied against him, especially with the
Young woman who was 20 clearly shown
10 have sworn falsely, rs the finger OF
scorn was pointed at her as long rs she
remained in the neighborhood of Cross
Creek. Kirk came near losing his liberty
bv foolishIy declaring himself guilty OF a
crime. he had never committed, and all
apparently for the sake Of gaining noto-
riety. He only escaped the penltentiary
from the fact OF his having made his pre-
tended confession to m atheist whose
testimony could not be taken. His expe.
rence, however, made him wiser and
better man, and lie was never known TO
he guilty OF the like folly afterwards.
Years rolled by; the church had been
rebuilt, and the excitement caused by the
burning, and the trial OF Kirk which fol.
lowed had passed away. Still there lived in
the congregation an old man who wa:
closely connected with the then pastor OF
the church. This old man was content
iOus and quarrclsome and seemed to grow
more 80. He.was especially troublesome
to his relative, the pastor, and more than
once had seriously interfercd with the
peace Of the congregation. At length he
sold his farm and removed to the inter-
ior Of Ohio. In the autumn Of 1SS3-al-
most n third Of century after the burn
ing OF the church--this man, then past
foar.score, was brought 10 his deathbed.
Convinced that his end was rapidly ap.
preaching, his conscience became aroused,
and calling around him few friends,
confessed that it was he who had burned
the church at Gross Greek, and that Kirk
was an innocent man. He acknowledged
he had not known what 1t was to enjoy
peace Of mind from the time he commit
iced the act, and felt that he could not AZ.
ford to die without first unburdening his
mind. Kirk, who had preceded him to
the grave by few years, was never per:
mitted to know who actually committed
tho crime for which through his own fols
~, he came 30 near being punished.