The Douglas independent. [volume] (Roseburg, Or.) 187?-1885, 1880-12-18

riety. but for the perilous gift Of that ex-
traordinary beauty, which too often, and
to the poor and friendless always proves
q curse. She was soon sought after by
those gay fire-fies Of fashion, the busi-
ness OF whose life everywhere is seduc-
ton and ruin. But the beautiful
stranger rejected them all alike with un-
utterable scorn and loathing.
Among these disappointed admirers
was one of character from which the
fair milliner had everything to fear. Hi
ram Shore belonged to family at once
opulent. influential and dissipated. He
was himself icentious, brave and re-
yengeful, and q duellist of established
and terrible fame. 1t was generally
known that he had made advances to win
the favor of the lovely Emma, and had
shared the fate of all her other wooers-
a disdainful repuIse.
At 8 o'clock on Christmas Eve, 1888,
the people of Little Rock were startled
by loud scream, as if from some one
in mortal terror; while following that,
with hardly an interval, came successive
reports of firearms lone, two, three-a
dozen deafening explosions. They flew
to the shop of the milliner, whence the
sounds emanated, and pushed back the
unfastened door A dreadful scene was
presented. There she stood in the CEN
tire of the room, with q revolver in each
hand, every barrel discharged, her fea-
lures pale, her eyes flashed wildly and
her lips parted with an awful smile!
And there at her feet, weltering in his
warm blood, his bosom literally riddled
with shot, laid the all-dreaded duehst,
Hiram Shore. gasping in the last agony.
He articulated but o single sentence,
Tell my mother that / am dead and
gone to helli'' and, instantly expired.
I'm Gods name, who did this?" ex-
claimed the appalled, spectators.
IT did it, said the beautiful milliner,
in her sweet siivery accents. II did it to
save my honorr
Such is brief abstract of the essential
circumstances, as developed on the ex-
animation of witnesses. The testimony
closed and the pleading began.
First of all, Fowler, Pike and Ashly
(all famous lawyers at that time in the
southwest) spoke in succession for the
prosecution. They about equally partl-
toned their eloquence betwixt the pris-
oner and her advocate, covering the lat
ter with such sarcastic wit, raillery and
ridicule as made it matter of doubt
whether he or his client was the party
then on trial. As to Denton, however,
he seemed to pay not the slightest atten-
ton to his opponents, but remained mo-
tionless, with his forehead bowed on his
hands, like one buried in deep thought
or in slumber.
VVIo,, hsu &s,,,xa co mo hnxvnvor ha u,11
denly sprang to his feet, crossed the bar
and took a position almost touching the
foreman of the jnry. He then. COM
menced in whisper so wild, peculiar
and indescribably distinct as to fill the
floor from hail to galleries.
At the outset he dealt in pure logic,
analyzing and combining the proven
facts, till the whole mass of confused
evidence looked transparent as globe
of crystal, through which the innocence
of his client shone luminous as . sun
beam, while the jurors nodded to each
other signs of thorough conviction. That
thrilling whisper, and concentrated argu-
ment, and language simple as child's,
had satisfied the demands of the intel
lect, and this, too, in only twenty min
utes. It was like the work of mathe-
matical demonstration.
He then changed his posture so as to
sweep the bar with his glance, and, like
o raging lion, rushed upon his adversa
ries, tearing and rending their sophis-
tries into atoms, His sallow face glowed
like red-hot iron, the forked blue vein
swelled and writhed on his brow, his
eyes resembled live Goals, and his voice
was the clangor of q trumpet. have
never, before or since, listened to such
appalling denunciatioR. 1t was like
Jove's eagle charging 0 flock OF crows.
It was like Joye himself hurting thun-
derbolts in the shuddering eyes of in
ferior gods. And yet in the highest tenn
per of his fury he seemed wonderfully
calm. He employed no gesture save one
the fash of long bony forefnger di-
rectly at the pallid faces of his legal foes.
He painted their venality and .unmanly
baseness in coalescing for money to crush
friendless female, till q shout of stified
wrath broke from the multitude, and
some of the sworn panel cried 'Shamem
And thus the orator had carried another
point-had aroused a perfect storm of
indignation against the prosecutors and
this, also, in twenty minutes.
He changed his theme once more.
His voice grew meurnful as q funeral
dirge and his eyes filed with tears, as he
traced vivid picture of mans eruelties
and woman's wrongs, with special appli-
cations to the cases Of his client, till half
the audience wept like children.
But it was in the peroration that he
reached the zenith both of terror and
sublimity His features were ivid as
those of a corpse; his very hair appeared
to stand on end; his nerves shook as
with palsy; he tossed his hands wildly
toward heaven, each finger spread apart
and quivering like the flame of a candle,
as he closed the last words of the de-
ceased Hiram Shore, "Tell my mother
that am dead and gone to hellp' His
emphasis on the word hell embodied the
elements OF all horror. 1t waa wall of
immeasurable despair wild howl of
infinite torture. No language can depict
its effect on all who heard it. Men
groaned, women shrieked, and one poor
mother was borne away in convulsions.
The entire speech lasted but an hour.
The jury rendered a verdict of mot
guilty" without leaving the box, and
three tremendous cheers, like successive
shocks of an earthquake shook the court
house from dome to orner-stone, testify
ing the Joy ofthe people. At the same
moment the beautiful milliner bounded
to her feet and clasped the triumphant
advocate in her arms, exclaiming:
30, my husband! my dear husbandl'
Denton smiled, seized her hand, whis-
pered word in her ear, and the two left
the bar together, proceeded to the land
ing and embarked on o steam boat bound
for New Orleans. 1t seems that they
previously parted on account of his
causeless jealousy, after which she had
assumed a false name and come to Little
Rock. How he learned her danger,
could never ascertain.
Curious Charge Against q Young Womans
A curious and amusing case came up
before Recorder Waring, at the Police
Court recently. The complainants were
o family named Riley, of West New
burgh, who alleged that their son and
brother, Phil Riley, who is about twenty
one years of age, was in the clutches of a
young woman named Quinn who had