The Kenosha telegraph. [volume] (Kenosha, Wis.) 1860-1888, 1880-09-03

ence were in front. / had procured a
newspaper, which | opened and spread
upon the top of the desk, and stood
reading it while the preliminaries were
being arranged. The handkerchief was
I produced, and, while I was cross-exam-
ming the principal witness, l carelessly
spread it over the newspaper | had been
reading, and with pin, unseen by any
one, [ punctured the handkerchief and
paper around the margin of the blood
spots This I did while I was cross
examining the witnesses and "quarrel-
ing " with the District Attorney.
When the examination had concluded
and the defendant had been held under
bail for his appearances at court, I re-
qqested the magistrate to inclose the
handkerchief In an envelope, and Keep it
until court. did this because I feared
some one would discover the love-knot,
which [ found as Ellen had related. I
then returned to my Office with the
ptnctured newspaper, making a COM
lplete map of the blood-spots. Next.
spreading out the handkerchief Ellen
gave me, and the punctured newspaper
over it, with q tuftof cotton busted red
lead over the pin-holes, and on removing
the paper there was map Of the spots on
the handkerchief. We had chicken for
dinner that day, and vial of its blood
found its way into my office. With the
blood and small brush l saturated the
spots marked on the handkerchief, let it
dry, laid. it away, and awaited the time
of trial. M 1f
1t came at last, in the month. of Au-
gust. The jury was impaneled, and the
District Attorney opened the case. By
the side of the prisoner sat his mother
and afianced bride. Ellen was really a
very beautiful girl, and, while the Com
monwealth's counsel was stating the
facts he intended to prove, she looked at
the jury with such a startled, pleading
expression In her ear-dimmed eyes that
| thought to myself, Well, gentlemen, if
you can disregard that 'item of evil
dence,'' you are made of different mate
rial from any jury I ever selected.
The witnesses were called and the
facts proven In substance as [ have mar
rated, up to the Identification of the
handkerchief. When the District At
torney called the name of William
WI [ felt the blood rush to my heart
In a way that almost silenced its beat
ing. The crisis was at hand. / knew
if | failed the young girl would be heart
broken, and believed it would kill the
old mother, whose heart was bound up
in her idolized son. Not only this, but
the defendant-as honest and worthy a
young man as there was in the country
would be branded as felon, sent to
prison, and ruined for life; and all this
because the infamous license law had
spread its poisonous influence over the
little village Of S and tempted its
young men to vice and crime.
The witness, William w., came
upon the stand with a supercilious air,
full of the importance. of his position as
principal witness against defendant in
case that excited SO much interest in
the county. Iknew he was deep-dyed
villain at heart, whose loftiest thoughts
and best acts were SO mean and low that
the lowest and worst thoughts and acts
of the prisoner at the bar had never yet
descended to their level.
In my practice [ have observed that
there are two kinds of witnesses who
appear in our courts. One class will
tell lie SO adroitly that it will look just
like the truth the other will tell the
truth SO bunglingly that it will look just
like lie. Fortunately for my client,
William belonged to the latter class,
and, when he tried to mix truth and
falsehood together, he made most lam
entable failure. The fact was that he
had tried to become sutton of Ellen,
and, moved by jealous hatred toward his
successful rival, I believed he would hes
itate at nothing that would procure that
rival conviction.
The witness narrated the occurrence
at the ball, the broken glasses and bleed
ing hand and, when the handkerchief
was handed him, he identified it without
hesitation as the one he had taken from
Henry's pocket and wrapped around his
hand When the Commonwealth had
ended the examination Id chief, the wit
ness was handed over to me for cross-ex-
animation. sat behind the counsel-l
table. Close to me, on one side, sat the
mother; on the other, Henry and Ellen,
to whom, my impression is. / had given
some instructions before the trial COM
menced. 1t is SO long ago, however,
that may have forgotten it.
The handkerchief lay upon the table.
The one Ellen brought me was in a
small roll in my lap under the table. I
took the right handkerchief in my hand
and proceeded with the cross-examina-
ton. My first object was to get William
angry. In this succeeded most COM
pletely; for, when I proceeded to ask
him about his store, and if it were not
place Of nightly resort for canal-thieves,
gamblers, and canal-boat cooks, to say
that he was angry conveys a very faint
idea of his mental condition.
While our aniiable interview had been
proceeding, L accidentally dropped the
right handkerchief in my lap, and some
how, by mistake perhaps, picked up the
wrong one and laid it upon the table in
sight Of the jury. The court, audience,
and jury had become SO interested in tie
''unpleasantness between the witness
and counsel that the mistake was not
discovered. Henry took the right hand
kerchief and put it in his pocket By
this time the amiable William would
have testified to anything the
moon was a cheese, for instance, or any
other equally credible statement
he deemed it necessary to secure YER
dict of guilty. m ~.
| then took the handkerchief from the
table, and passed around In front, near
to him, and asked the following ques-
tions IS rapidly as the answers would
permit ..e. 10
Question" Did I understand you to
say that you were positive that this
handkerchief is the one you tied around
the defendants hand the night of the
ball ?"
Answer-"I don't know what you un-
derstood, but l said so.'
O. (still holding the handkerchief in
my hand" What is there about this
handkerchief that makes you so posi-
tiveg'
A. -" The spots of blood and it is of
white silk with raised flowers on it. I
know it is the same one.
@. -" Now, sir, did you not say to Mr..
G. that, if necessary, You would swear
to lie to send Henry to the peniten-
tiary?"
A. witness in greater rage, if pos