Oxford Democrat. [volume] (Paris, Me.) 1833-1933, 1881-09-20
A NARROW ESCAPE.

little town Of -, while patroling tn
streets to pick up stragglers from tn
camp on the outskirts of the town, Cor
poral Julius Fry was shot and killed b,
one of three men Of bad character, WHIT
were in company and upon terms o
open enmity with the soldiers. The mel
were arrested, committed to prison, ant
brought to trial at the next term Of court
Two of them were gamblers and desper
ADDE'S, and supposed to have more thar
once had their hands stained with hu'
man blood. The third, whom | shall
call Short, though bearing an unenviablt
reputation, was regarded as one unlikely
to slay fellow-man, except under CON-
pulsion 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 important to
bear in mind the physical peculisrities,
dress and general appearance Of each of
the three prisoners.
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 side -whiskers. and at the time o!
the murder wore a light felt hat and an
old light blue army overcoat.
Ryan was fully six feet in height, OF
robust frame. with black hair and mus.
,ache, dressed in dark clothes, and wore
black Derby hat. Grey was a heavy,
broad shouldered man of medium height,
weighing fully two hundred pounds, with
full black beard reaching nearly to his
waist. But as the 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 aud Ryan,
or less liable TO be mistaken for each
other even by strangers, much less by
their acquaintance. There was no pos
sibili,y here for case of mistaken iden-
tity.
Short and Ryan were tried together,
with their consent-Gray 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 Commonwealth
called as It's first witness 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 friends, and
were constant visitors 10 the drinking sa-
loon of which she was the proprietress.
She was a woman of powerful physique,
almost masculine frame, great force OF
character, had more than ordinary intel
ligence.
From her testimony it appeared that a
colored woman with whom she had had
some dispute, had hit her on the head
with stone and ran, and the three pris
oners, coming up at the moment, started
with her up the street in pursuit of the
fugitive. Although the night was dark
Lax . hn nj a % "a :
lamp near by gave sufficient light to en-
able one 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 stopped un-
der the gas lamp, being challenged by
the deceased, who was in uniform, IL
company with one Of his squad. She
swore that when the corporal called halt
Short, whom she had known intimately
for years, replied, "Go 20 h and
while standing at her side, SO that their
elbows were touching, both being imme'
diately under the gaslight, he pulled out
a pistol, pointed it at the deceased, who
was four or FIVE feet from him, and fired
and then ran down the alley, the de-
ceased pursuing him. She heard four o1
FIVE more shots fired, and Immediately
the deceased returned, wounded, ant
Short disappeared. While the shots
were being fired, she saw both Ryan ant
Gray standing at the corner some fee
away from her, and after that they sepa'
rated, and she went home. 1t was also
proved that this alley was bounded or
either side by high fences, difficult to
climb, and led down to stream Of watel
about fifty feet wide, and three or fou1
feet deep. No traces Of footsteps wer'
found in the snow except those Of ont
man leading down into this stream, ant
it was evident that the person who hat
fired had not climbed either fence, bu
hat waded through the stream and dis
appeared on the other side.
The next witness was the soldier wh'
stood close by the deceased when tn
first shot was fired. and who. not know
ing either of the prisoners, described tn
person who had fred and ran down th'
alley as the man with red hair and sid'
whiskers, dressed in light blue arm,
overcoat and white soft hat, and upon be
!: ing directed to look at the three prisoner
. identified Short as the man whom he ha'
seen do the shooting.
The testimony Of these witnesses wa
. in no way shaken upon cross-examina
ton.
Then the sworn ante-mortem statemen
of the deceased, taken by magistrate
was read to the jury. He said that h
had known Short personally for som