The Elk County advocate. [volume] (Ridgway, Pa.) 1868-1883, 1881-06-02

Short was small man of not more
than five feet six inches in height, slen-
der, weighing scarcely one hundred and
thirty pounds, with bright, fiery red
hair and -whiskers, and at the time
of the murder wore white felt hat and
an old light blue army overcoat.
Ryan was fully six feet in height with
robust frame, with black hair and mus
tache, dressed in dark clothes, and wore
black Derby hat.
Grey was heavy, broad-shouldered
man of medium height, weighing fully
two hundred pounds, with full, black
beard reaching nearly to his waist But
that he had not fired the shot, it is un-
necessary to describe his appearance
more minutely.
Certainly it is difficult to imagine
two men more unlike than Short and
Ryan, or less able to be mistaken for
each other, even by strangers, much
less by their acquaintances. There was
no possibility here for a case of mis-
taken identity.
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 post-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 a
woman, Mary Bowen. She bore bad
reputation, but nobody questioned her
purpose to tell, reluctantly, it is true,
the whole truth. The prisoners were
all her fri nds, and were constant Wis
itors to the drinking saloon of which
she was proprietress. She was
woman of powerful physique, almost
masculine frame, great force of char
acter and more than ordinary intelli
gence.
From her testimony it appeared that
q colored woman with whom she had
had some dispute had hit her on the
head with stone and ran, and the
three prisoners, coming up at the mo-
ment, started with her up the street in
pursuit of the fugitive. Although the
night was dark there was snow on the
ground, and a gas-lamp near by gave
sufficient light to enable one to recog-
nize a person with ease some feet away.
Afterrunning about one hundred yards
the pursuers came to the corner of an
alley and stopped under the gas-lamp,
being challenged by the deceased, who
was in uniform, in company with one of
his squad. She swore that when the
corporal called "halt," Short, whom she
had known intimately for years, re-
piled, $50 to -" and while standing
at her side, so that their elbows We're
touching, both being Immediately un-
der the gaslight, he pulled out pistol,
pointed it at the deceased, who was four
or five feet from him, and fred and then
ran down the alley, the deceased pursu.
ing him. She heard four or five more
shots fired, and Immediately the deceased
returned wounded, and Short disap-
peared. While the shots were being
fired she saw both Ryan and Grey stand
ing at the corner some feet away from
her, and after 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 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
| iONll lHlO Ullo bllSdLlJ dllNl IL NGS CNl-
dent that the person who had fired had
not climbed either fence, but had waded
through the stream and disappeared on
the other side.
The next witness was the soldier who
stood close by the deceased when the
first shot was fred, and who, not know
ing 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 light-blue
army overcoat and white soft hat, and
upon being directed to look at the
three prisoners Immediately identified
Short as the man whom he had seen dc
the shooting.
The testimony of these witnesses was
in nowise shaken upon cross-examina
, ton.
Then the sworn ante-mortem state
| ment of the deceased, taken by magis
trate, was read to the jury. He sait
, that he had known Short personally fol
some time, but had never had any diff
Guilty with him. He fully identified hin
, as the man who had fired the first sho
and then ran down the alley, firing on,
shot after another until he fred thu
} last and fatal shot almost in the face o
the deceased. He also fully described
: the clothing worn by Short as it hat
, been described by the other witnesses
These were all the witnesses to tn,
/ occurrence, except the prisoners them
/ selves, and, of course, they could no
be heard. The case against Short seemed
to be as conclusively made out a
! though score of witnesses had sworl
, that they had seen him do the shooting
l Neither the judge, the jury nor tn
5 spectators entertained the slightes
7 doubt of his guilt, and when tt e com
t monwealth at this point closed its case
l it seemed as though the fatal rope wa
already around his neck and his escap
5 impossible.
;, Ryan heaved a sigh of relief whic
e was audible throughout the Who'll
: courtroom, for he was safe; there wa
# not one word of testimony against him
t or any circumstance tending to shoN
d any previous arrangement or concert c
d action between him and Short.
e After q whispered consultation be
! tween the counsel for the defense, on
t of them rose and moved the court t
# direct the jury to forthwith return
J, verdict of "not guilty" as to Ryan, i
e order that he might be called as wi
n ness for the other prisoner. This wa
il resisted by the district attorney, an
g after lengthy and elaborate argument
y the court decided that it was bound