The Dallas daily herald. [volume] (Dallas, Tex.) 1873-1887, 1876-01-23
STONES RAIL.
Justice Satisfied with $500, which said
Justice Looks Somewhat Crooked.


Justice Satisfied with $500, which said
Justice Looks Somewhat Crooked.
Place, No. lbs Ross Avenue, In the
city Of Dallas, State of Texas Tine,
% p. M, May 20, 1876. The silence OF
the balmy night IL suddenly broken by
the sharp report OF u pistol shot, Soon
there Is great commotion on the
streets. The shrill note OF II Police
mans whistle Is echoed by answers
equally shrill. Crowds gather on the
corners and make inquiries almost in
whispers. Then conversation IL held
10y groups of excited men In tones of
voice ominously low. Some diabolical
deed has been done. What Is II ? Only
u dastardly attempt by drunken
desperate to take the life OF u quiet
and unotlending citizen. Young Oben-
chni1, the unfortunate victim, one
Stone, the would-be-assassin. Which
Obenchain No matter. The cir
cumstances show wanton and malici-
Gus act. That l. sufficient. The excite
ment increases, and public feeling
cries out instant vengeance. "Follow
me,n uttered then by some determined
leader, had made that night eternal
for J. w. Stone.
Young Obenchain was supposed to
be MORALLY wounded. After the first
excitement the public awaited the
result with determined minds. Elder
ly gentlemen, conservative and law
abiding citizens, favored in that case
summary punishment; and there are
hundreds in the city who well know
that the death at any time of Mr..
Obenchain, from the effects Of that
wound, would have been the signal
for an uprising of the people such that
no locks, bars or walls could have
saved the murderer from the fate he
would have deserved. In six weeks,
after painful suffering, Mr.. Oben-
chain recovered, as 1t We're bya mira
Gle, thanks to skillful attendance, kind
nursing, and the prayers of his pious
mother and devoted sisters In Virginia.
But he carries still In his body the bull
let that nearly ended his young life.
There was feeling of great relief at
his recovery, and the trusting oommu.
nifty, willing then to let the law take
its course, believed that justice would,
in due time, be properly melted out.
No one doubted the guilt of Stone.
The attack was unprovoked and brutal,
and the only dissatisfaction was as to
the extent to which the law could pun
ish in this case.
OF course Stone has relatives, and, as
is their natural and bounden duty,
they make every effort to save him.
For this no one can blame them on
the contrary, they deserve sympathy
for the heart-rending allliction. But
what plea can they set up? 1t isa des-
perate case, the facts OF which are be-
You'd question. Failing, after earnest
solicitations, to get u mitigation of the
Indictment, so the punishment would
have been paltry fine, the only plea
which the defense could make, and
had intended to make, was insanity.
Alas, that the same sort Of insanity, as
it were a contagion, should affect even
our courts of justice! To establish this
plea is a labor of Hercules. The trial
is postponed, because the defense dis
cover that public feeling is strong
against the prisoner. Naughty public!
Why retain your senses and remember
things correctly? Why not blot out all
memory of the past, deaden yOursenses
and know nothing about the matter
except what you would learn ut the
trial, months and months after the
event, by paying Indifferent attention
to the technicalities of the law?
But the defense are shrewd. A fair
trial is fraught with danger. The bail
bond Is fixed too high, but here is the
key to the battle. 1t must be reduced,
and the attack begins with cautious APP
proaches. 1t holds out well, and the
besiegers feel discounted. There il u
change of base. The witnesses for the
defense are drilled and passed in re.
view. 1t is unfavOrable. One of them
insists on telling all he knows. That
would never do. The siege must be re-
sumed. Victory at last The bond
tumble to $500, and "they take 1t in.n
Stone, the crazy man, is soon turned
loose on the streets OF Dallas, and 1t is
not long before he gives another proof
of his insanity by trying to borrow ten
dollars from certain merchant on
Elm street. ora + ~
IfStone was sane when he commit
| ted that diabolical deceive mean the
shooting of Mr.. Obenchain, for he hes
attempted to take the lives Of other
persons-he deserved all the punish
ment which the law could intlict and
the acceptance of q bail bond so in
commensurate with the offense, Is an
outrage on society. If he was insane,
society has been equally outraged by
turning loose upon 1t SO blood-thirsty
a lunatic. In either case the conclu-
sion Is the same.
Stone, unless again arrested, will
never put in his appearance here for
trial. The defense has displayed con-
siderable shrewdness. With q gie,o TO
forfeiting the bond, they sought this re-
ductiOn. The $1,000 bond could as easily
have been given, but, like good traders,
they wanted the best bargain they
could make, and certainly they have
no right to complain. These are facts
and not surmises. Viewing the matter
as simple business transaction, II Is
cheaper to forfeit the bond than to bring
counsel and witnesses here again for
trial; and so ]. w. Stone, who COM
mitted, in our midst, upon the person
of James I. Obenchain, one of our
most peaceable citizens, a brutal, fiend-
ish, unprovoked assault with intent to
murder, is permitted to escape justice
by the payment of $500, and this his
| friends will pay for him. Be not
afraid, the heavens will not fall. N
| Society, be patient; be law-abiding.
When outraged beyond endurance, do
not give action to your feelings. The
laws are made to protect you, and GER
tain persons are chosen to execute the
laws, and--ah, duped society! All,
ways that are darkl Alb, justice that