Montgomery County sentinel., 1881-09-16
q gleasamt Sturp.
A NARROW ESCAPE.

One winter evening about s o'clock,
in the early days of the war, in the quiet
little town of -, while patrolling the
streets to pick up stragglers from the
camp on the outskirts of the town, Cor
poral Julius Fry was shot and killed by
one of three men Of bad character, who
were in company and upon terms of
open enrnity with the soldiers The
men were arrested, committed to prison
and brought to trial at the next term of
the court. Two of them were gamblers
and desperadoes, and supposed to have
more than 0nco had their hands stained
with human blood. The third, whom |
shall call Short. though bearing an un-
envlable reputation, was regarded as one
unlikely To slay fellow-man, except
under compulson Of circumstances. On
account OF the character of the men and
the trouble they had already brought
upon quiet, law-abiding citizens, the
sentiment of the whole community was
strongly against them
In order to clearly understand the
force of the testimony given upon the
trial and the subsequent result, it is inn
portant to bear in mind the physical
poculiarites, dress and general appear
ance of each of the three prisoners
Short was small man of not more
than five feet six inches in height, slen-
der, weighing scarcely 1870 pounds, with
bright, fiery red hair and side whiskers,
and at the time of the murder wore a
white felt hat and an old light-bl army
overcoat
Ryan was fully six feet in height, of
robust frame, with black hair and mus
tache, dressed in dark clothes and wore
IA black Derby hat.
Grey was il heavy, broad-shouldered
man of medium height, weighing fully
200 pounds, with a full black beard
reaching nearly to his waist But as
evidence subsequently showed that he
had not fired the shot. it is unnecessary
to describe his appearance more minutely.
Certainly it is difficult to imagine two
men more unlike than Short and Ryan,
or less liable TO be mistaken for each
other even by strangers, much less by
their acquaintance. There was no pos
sibility here for a case of mistaken iden-
tity.
Short and Ryan were tried together
with their consent-Grey having asked
for and obtained separate trial-and
each was defended by separate counsel.
After the preliminary proof relating
to the p0st-mortem examination, the
cause of death, and the Identification of
the body of the deceased as the person
named in the indictment, the common
wealth called as its first witness woman,
Mary Bowen. She bore bad reputa-
ton for chastity, but nobody questioned
her integrity of her purpose TO tell, re-
luctantly,it is true,the whole truth The
prisoners were all her friends, and were
constant visitors to the drinking saloon
Of which she was the proprietress. She
was woman of powerful physique, al
most masculine frame, great force Of
character, and more than ordinary in
telligence.
From her testimony it appeared that n
colored woman with whom she had had
some dispute had hit her on the head
with u stone and ran, and the three
prisoners, coming up at the moment,
started with her up the street in pursuit
OF the fugitive. Although the night
was dark there was snow on the ground,
and gas lamp near by gave sufficient
light to enable me to recognize person
with ease some feet away. After run
ming about one hundred yards tho pur-
suers came to the corner Of an alley and
stopped under the gas lamp, being cbal-
lcnged by the deceased, who was in
uniform, in company with one Of bis
squad She sworc that when the cor
poral called "halt, b" Short, whom she had
known intimately for years, replied, $50
to HI, and while standing at her side,
so that their elbows were touching both
being Immediately under the gas-light,
he pulled out pistol, pointed il at the
dcceased, who was four or five feet from
him, and fired and then ran down the
alley, the deceased pursuing him, She
heard four or five more shots fired, and
Immediately tho deceased returned wound
cd, and Short disappeared. While the
shots were being fired she saw both Ryan
and Grey standing at the corner some
feet away from her, aud after that they
separated and she went home. II was
also proved that this alley was bounded
on either side by high fences, difficult
10 climb, and led down to stream of
water about fifty feet wide and three or
four feet deep No traces Of footsteps