River Falls journal. [volume] (River Falls, Pierce County, Wis.) 1872-2019, 1880-07-29

| opening IOf my idNOIite ltAt. lSdlith;
| wish you could contriye to do more
fof your old mother"
Il does try, miss" he declares: II
does my best" tossing the grass pic
turesquely. 81 tries bard"
Lucy had given me to understand
that Isaiah was the rakish and rowing
member of her family, addicted to
singing about the streets at night, never
going to church / referred to these
facts in his personal history. Isaiah
did not deny them. But he made
! promises of amendment. |, for my
part presented him with an old coat,
OH the understanding that he was only
to wear it to church. He had pleaded
his deficient toilet as an excuse for his
/ neglect Of religious observances.
Not longer than week after that our
town was startled by murder commit
ted on thc street at night, the victim,
an overbearing, quarrelsome youth of
the white race. who yet elected in his
death the sympathies of the whole
community, 50 unproyoked and das-
tardly was the way of his end. His
murdcrers were traced Immediately,
and identified beyond a reasonable
doubt. Alas, one of those arrested on
suspicion was the same lsaiah-lsaiah
/ Carroll--of whom | have written
4 above
/ went to see Aunt Lucy directly, and
found her plunged in grief But she
was confident of her boys innocence.
1 She bcwailed the way of life which had
ca sed him to be identified with the
class Of men by whom the murder had
| doubtless been committed. II always
tell him 90" she kept repeating Il tell
/ him his company wud be de ruin OBJ
HIM 1t war de singin', miss, she re-
iteratcd Il allus knowed no good wud
come Oh it"
| followed the evidence carefully.
The feeling of the public was dead
against the suspected murderers from
4 the start. | who had my misgiyings as
/ to Isaiah, ut last was glad that the uni
vcrsal charity of the law gave the
wretchcs, prisoners n chance to defend
] themselves. | was glad to know that
/ Isaiah would have an able counsellor;
! but all that | could hear or read was
against him.
The line Of defense chosen by all the
prisoners was to prove for themselves
an allbi Observe that no one had
seen the murder committed. The fact
/ that the three men accused Of the
crime had been traced from point to
point through the neighborhood, and
/ ON the night Of the murder, furnished
| the original grounds of arrest. Isaiah,
it was shown by the prosecution, had
always been hand in glove with the two
other prisoners, Smith and Quinby. 1t
struck me, on reading the evidence,
| that it implicated the others far more
| conclusjyely than Isaiah. But it was
| shown HAT he had been standing about
/ the st Get corners ON the morning Of
| the murder with the two others ac-
| ctl>ed and it was also shown that for
! the last six months they had been an
| inseparable trio Isaiah had, beyond
dispute, been a companion of thieves
if not worse.
In spite of all which | believe he
could clear himself Poor old Amt
| Lucy did not see him through the
trial. She could only mourn for him
and pray for him. Poor old Lucy!
/ The day when had ascertained that
Isaiah would be questioned, | myself,
against all my previous habits, went
down to the court house. it was quite
| pitiiul sight when Isaiah, confronted
by ii badgering lawyer, infinitely more
| anxious TO win his case than that the
right should prevail, was placed on the
/ stand. He was attired in his best
| clothes, and he stood nevously twirling
| his hat in his hand, as had seen him
! do on the occasion Of our last meeting,
when | had bethought me to advise
| him IT, to his moral and spiritual state.
| He had evidently been coached by
his lawyer, and he was prepared to go
! through the examination rs to his
1 whereabouts on the day of the murder
with Circumstantial precision. He ac-
cOmpl~hed his lesson thoroughly. His
| honest air and and heavy well-meaning
expression were all in his favor My
spirits revived. He appeared to me to
! have told plain, uhvarnished tale
enough | did not recognize any ofthe
| names or places he mentioned; he did
not bring in those relatives of his with
| whom was acquainted -Milly, Lucy
but there was un air of heavy, dull
verisimilitude over his whole MARIA
ton
Then the cross-cxamination began,
Issiah had accounted for himself ON
every hour of the day ofthe tragedy up
/ to 10 o'clock at night, the murder hay
| ing been Mt seven. He stood his ground
| quite well ut first, when he was called
| ON To- rencat his statement, but on the
redirect examination lac suddenly broke
| down. can remember having been in
such a state of mind myself, when every
| thing around me has all at once become
| Il blank, Issiah looked about him help
! lesslv It suddenly came over him that
he had been betrayed by his own care
| lesnes- into giving an account to his law
yer of the day before murderi He had
/ been coached ON that. His dull, de-
/ pendent intellect refused to think and
| plan for itself on the spur of the mo-
mcnt He was to bewildered and con-
| fused To- remember The prosecuting
| LAWYER tainted him. The prisoners
counsel tried to encourage him. But
lis only answer was, Il don't see whar
/ ! am sir: Is lost myself
There was ripple of unfeclIng mer-
rimcnt through the court room. lsaiah's
! previous statement passes for an UNI
/ mitigate, lie sit cold and stern. /
| catch l-SIah's eve and its look of stolld
! discontinue. believe in him.
! At the same time-and this makes
my fcar- for him all the stronger be-
/ licyc ii possible that the testimony
of the ether prisoners may have been II
! tissue of falaehood. have seen enough
Of colored people to be sure that, on an
| emergency, it Is as easy for some ofthem
to lie II. to speak the truth, However,
/ there is nothing more to be done. Issiah
has played the part assigned him in this
days programme. Iasscrtain this, and
/ leave.
Invent straight to his old mothers. |
/ found her occupied in patching a pair
Of trousers for one Of her grandsons.
She was very quiet and down-hearted.
| led the conversation gradually to the
subject of Issiah. She put down her
work, and wiped away tear or two.
II wld nebbcr lih troo it 'cep' for one
! ting" She said II feels so cole an
hungry an mis- 'rakle in my heart; an
/ den. SCI | ter myself Deere is a God,
derc is a God, an | warns up, an has
cnuff an ter spare. 1t don't last ter be
sure an has ter preach ter myself
/ ober an ober agen. but while it las |
/ feels So full ob die great Am
+ We talked over the trial. In fact it
/ had occurred to me that her memory