Iowa County democrat. [volume] (Mineral Point, Wis.) 1877-1938, 1880-02-06
4 SAD STORY
or the Cruel Mistake of Court Of
Justice e
ST. Louis Times.

Justice
81. Louis Times,
Il was in lS75-along in the winter
of that year-that | was passing u2 one
OF the populous streets of the Lake City.
1t was an ugly, sleety day, with mud
ana hail on the crossing; one could just
manage TO get along, and that was ali.
A little matter sometimes startles us rs
we DRIFT through busy districts of the
city. \ pale face at the window OF a
tenement house almost transfixed me.
it was the face of little girl, wan and
punched. The house was not occupied
by others than the poorest. What I'M
pels us at times to forget our errands,
our business, and leads us TO know
more of some one in sorrow and want
And yet we are censursd betimes for
these freaks of weakness. Is it weak
ness? for one don't believe 1t.
knocked at that door, and the pale
faced girl babe me come IN. There
was no seat to offer the stranger; there
was no table, no stove, no bed even.
rs your mother at home
no nam; she is out washing.
Have YOU tIOluSTS VI SlSttIS
Il have brother Harry, four years
old"
where is he? ~
There in the comfort; he is sick"
How long has he been sick %
-Four weeks.h
"Have you no stoveY"
'No mann; we are too poor TO buy
another. Mother sold the stove to buy
medicine for brother"
"Where is your father?'
"Father is away"
'Why don't he get you clothes and a
stove?'
The poor suffering face seemed to
grow more pinched AS she answered
sobhing as she spoke:
Father was taken away three years
ago. He can't come back and help us;
he would if he could"
"Why can't he come back ?"
"0h he is Mt Joliet in the prison,
and she broke into wall and then into
uncomfortable weeping.
Then there was long silence, for
who could be so calm as to ply the
wretched girl with questions when heI
grief was SO painful?
Next day l saw the mother. l heard
the story of their sorrows and wrongs
1t was an old story. For that story is
not new in this age. The father and
husband was arrested upon suspicion
simply because he WIS accidentally neal
when man was struck with an iron
bar. The aggressor escaped, and, as nc
one else could be punished, the officers
concluded that they could not be foiled
and hence locked the innocent man up
Circumstances pointed toward him as
the assailant, and the explanation he
gave was regarded as SO much stuff
His trial came on; the State was anx
ious to convict some one shat day, anC
fixed on this poor fellow. The accused
had no money, and no one volunteered
to defend him. He was convicted anC
sent down to Joliet for six years. That
was the sad story of the wife, and it was
true story, as verified by others, and
since by undisputed facts.
The guilty man afterwards admitted
his participation in the crime, to the
wife of the wronged one; but when she
told her story to the officers of the law
no one had time or disposition to rem
der any help, or take step to right the
great wrong. Fer four long years he
had suffered in prison, and all the while
wretched family suffered on in the
depths of poverty and want. The sad
experience Of that poor woman was
enough to melt heart of stone. The
first year of the fathers incarceration
the favorite child, and the most delicate
one, was carried to the cemetery. The
next year the youngest went, and the
mother and wife, with her load of grief
went on, toiling and starving through
the years of woe and want. A few
months AGO the wronged man was re
leased. But he was not the same man
His hair was gray, and q great bligh
and sorrow seemed always about his
face and his heart. And no wonder
People are not made Of iron. Human
hearts are not like wood as to feeling.
This mans whole life is blasted. And
he was innocent. II he had had money
his innocence would have been made
manifest at the trial.
He was poor, and he suffered. Others
suffered with him.
He is q free man now. but what re
dress is there for him! He was away
when want and poverty bore his dar
ling children to the grave. No time car
heal that. Can there be any redres,
for this?
And yet if philanthropic men o.
women interest themselves in thes,
matters to any degree, we find scores
of people ready TO pronounce them en-
thusiasts. Well, they can afford TO bt
called enthusiasts. They have theil
reward aud that reward is worth more
than the millions that Vanderbilt lief
behind him.