The Somerset herald. [volume] (Somerset, Pa.) 1870-1936, 1881-06-15

l30 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-blue army
overcoat.
Ryan was fully six feet in height,
of robust frame, with black hair
and moustache, dressed in dark
clothes and wore a black Derby
. hat.
Gray was heavy, broad-shoul-
dered man of medium height, weigh
ing fully 200 pounds, with a full,
black beard reaching nearly to his
waist. But as the evidence subse-
quently showed that he had not fir
ed the shot it is unnecessary to de-
scribe his appearance more mi
nutely.
Certainly it is difficult to imagine
two men more unlike than Short
and Ryan or less liable to be mistak-
en- for each other even by strangers,
much less by their acquaintances.
There was no possibility here for a
case of mistaken identity.
Short and Ryan were tried to-
gether with their consent-Gray
having asked for and obtained a
separate trial-and each was defend
ed by separate counsel.
After the preliminary proof relat-
ing to the post-mortem examina-
ton, the cause of the death and the
Identification of the body Of the de-
ceased as the person named in the
indictment, the Commonwealth call
ed as its first witness a woman, Ma
ry Bowen. She bore a bad reputa-
ton for chastity, but nobody ques-
toned her integrity or her purpose
to tell reluctantly, 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 phys
ique, almost masculine frame, great
force of character and more than or
dinary intelligence.
From her testimony 1t appeared
that a colored woman, with whom
she had some dispute, had hit her
on the head with a 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
light near by gave sufficient light to
recognize a person with ease some
feet away. After running about one
hundred yards the pursuers came
to the corner of an alley and stop
ped under the gas lamp, being chal-
lenged by the deceased, who was in
uniform, in company with one of the
squad. She swore that when the
corporal called ''halt" Short, whom
she had known intimately for years,
replied, "Go to HI and, while
standing by her side, so that their
elbows were touching, both being
Immediately under the gas-light, he
pulled out pistol, pointed it at the
deceased, who was four or five feet
from him, and fired and then ran
down the alley the deceased pursu-
ing him. She heard four or five
more shots fred and Immediately
the deceased returned, wounded,
and Short disappeared. While the
shots were being fired she saw both
Ryan and Gray standing at the cor
ner some feet away from her and af-
ter that they separated and she went
home. 1t was also proved that this
alley was bounded on either side by
high fences, difficult to climb, and
led down to q stream of water about
fifty feet wide and three or four feet
deep. No traces of footsteps were
found in the snow except those of
one man leading down into the
stream, and it was evident that the
person who had fired had not climb
ed either fence, but had waded
through the stream and disappear
ed on the other side.
The next witness was the soldier
who stood close by the deceased
when the shot was fired and who,
not knowing either of the prisoners,
described the person who had fired
and ran down the alley as the man
with red hair and side whiskers,
dressed in a light-blue army over
coat and white felt hat, and upon
being directed to look at the three
prisoners Immediately Unidentified
Short as the man whom he had seen
do the shooting.
The testimony Of these two wit
nesses was in no wise shaken upon
cross-examination.
Then thesworn ante-mertem state
ment of the deceased, taken by a
magistrate, was read to the jury.
He said that he had known Short
personally for some time, but had
never had any difficulty with him.
He fired the first shot and then ran
down the alley, firing one shot after
another until he fired the last and
fatal shot almost in the face of the
deceased. He also fully described
the clothing worn by Short as it
had been described by the other
witnesses.
These were all the witnesses to
the occurrence, except the prisoners
themselves, and ofcourse they could
not be heard. The case against
Short seemed to be as conclusively
made out as though a score Of wit
nesses had sworn that they had dseen
him do the shooting. Neither the
Judge. the jury, nor the spectators
entertained the slightest doubt Of
his guilt, and when the Common
wealth, at this point, closed its case,
- co<,s,oJ oc fIo,,rb fba fatal rona