The daily gazette., 1878-12-06

mony Of The Conductor and Others.
Special to the Gazette.
NEW CASTLE, Dec. 5, 1S7S.-rThe
proceedings subsequent to those publish
ed in yesterdays issue are as follows:l
| Court assembled at 3 o'clock. Judges
Comegys, Wootten, Houston and Wales
on the bench.
The case of Harley G.. Brown was i'm
mediately taken up, and the work of
empanelling the jury.
Harley Brown was brought out and
placed in the dock. His appearance did
not dliier from that of the day upon
which he was arraigned. lie paid earnest
attention to the proceedings that were
transacted before him, and as his coun-
sci, MIR. Lore, gave directions to swear
the Jurors he would intently study their
countenances as though endeavoring to
iathom the state of their feelings. He
was deeply and intently alive to the hor-
rlble position in which he was placed
Out of forty-three jurors called fifteen
were challenged; twelve had expressed
an opinion and four had conscientious
scruples against trying a man, when the
verdict is death. The twelve chosen are:
William Jerome Eliason, foreman |:
Samuel }. Mccall, James NJ. Hurst, Ell
wood B. Mckee, Joseph Il. Brown,
Franklin Wright, John f. Weldin, Jos.
Henry Hanson, Frank f. Brown, VIM.
Morrison, VIM. &. Carnaghy and William
Murphy.
The Indictment was then read to the
jury after which the Attorney- General
spoke as follows:
Gentlemen Of The Jury 1t is not
necessary to call your attention to the
serious character of the offence which
you are called upon this afternoon to try.
| know that you, having heard the read
ing of the indictment by our clerk, now
feel sensibly impressed with the great
ness-the magnitude of the duty to
which you have been called. You have
been selected from among the Jurors,
empanelled to attend this session of the
Court by the State, by the counsel repre-
senting the prisoner at the bar, and as
you step into that box by the virtue of
your oaths you leave all feelings aside
and take your seats with the determina-
ton to judge the merits of the case from
the facts adduced from the witness
stand.
Harley G. Brown stands before you
charged in this bill of the Indictment
found at the present term of Court with
having, on the 29th of last June, placed
upon the track or road bed of the Phila-
delphia, Wilmington and Baltimore
Railroad Co., a certain obstruction and
that in consequence thereof by reason of
the placing of this obstruction on the
road bed, an engine, tender and train
of cars, then running on the said road.
were thrown off; and, that further by
reason of such obstruction, one, George
Babes, was killed, coming naturally and
entirely as a consequence of the act
which the prisoner stands charged with.
1t is the question which you are now
called upon to try, whether it be true
that Harley G.. Brown did the act which
he is charged with; whether he placed
upon that road the obstruction which
caused the death of the unfortunate
Babes. The law is plain upon the case.
[The Attorney General then read from
page 775, section 20 of the revised code
to the effect "that If any engine or train
shall be thrown from the track by reason
of an obstruction and if any person
shall be killed by reason of this he shall
be deemed guilty of murder and shall
Q lfier death."1
You will see gentlemen of the jury
within the act of tn e assembly the of
fence of placing an obstruction willfully
or maliciously upon the road bed of the
track and that death was caused by it, is
the law itself. The act makes
it murder i'll the first degree and the pen
atty shall he death.
don't deem 1t proper 10 enter into the
definition of murder, as the law is eXpli-
cit. You will see that the case is very
grave one. 1t is one which we all ap-
proach with perturbation and fear, lest we
might fail in the discharge of our duties.
We should therefore enter into it with
all fairness aud deal with nothing but
facts.
We shall be able TO show that on the
both of June, Harley Brown the prisoner.
was in the city of Wilmington; that he
left there and went to Chester where he
remained until eveaing ; that he then
started off with the intention of walking
back to Wilmington; somewhere on the
way back he was overtaken by a gentle
man in a carriage and conveyed until he
cot somewhere near Claymont tina,
there the gentleman turned off TO the
right that the prisoner after leaving the
carriage started down the road and final
ly got upon the track of the railroad
that whilst upon that track, and passing
down tile track, he came to little bridge;
that after crossing this bridge he saw
some old ties when it entered into his |
brain that he would place one of these
old ties upon the track before the south
bound train would pass ; that whilst he
was there in the act he heard the whistle |
of the approaching train that he then
hastily picked up the tie from where he
had iamned it in under the track, and
placed one end under the eastern rail
and the western end over the western
rail that about that time the approach
ing train was very close;that the tam run
ming about forty-fve miles an houl struck
this obstruction, and consequence the
engine and certain Of the cars were
thrown from the track after running
about 600 feet and that by the engine
burying itselfln the embankment George
Babes the engneerwas instantly killed.
There were other persons on that tram
that were killed;and it is only miraculous,
that of the seventy-five passengers, there
were not not more OF them injured