The weekly register. [volume] (Point Pleasant, Va. [W. Va.]) 1862-1909, 1881-07-06

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upon the stand With a superoilliaus
air, full Of the importance Of his po-
.sition, as prihcirdl witness against
a defendant in d case that excited SO
.mash interest in tlfe county. /
knew he was a dsep,dyed william at
heart, whose lpfgest Thoughts and
best acts were 50 mean and low that
the lowest sga worst thoughts and
acts of theprisoner at the. bar had
never yet }escended to their level.
LII my practice 4 have observed
that there are two kinds Of witnesses
who. appeari in our courts One class,
willsell the liesso Sadroitly SliNtsit
will lock just, ,likeahe truth, the 9th
,efone viii teAithe truth so b0nsliN
Ely that twill look jdst like q lies4-s
IFortunatelysfors my client, $Eilliains
belonged to thelatter elasS and when
he tried to mix strpthtapd 5slsehood
togetherI Iha made; most lainents bio
]Sill r fqe p sf hhAt ks' 'Ie,|s !
u I'd to DC 4 s ! fol 5I &; aiit, .
moved now.by Jealous hatred tpwardp
his successful rival, IL beiieybS he
would hesitate at nothingbAat would
procure that atriyaps Convictions c.s.
The essAnarrated the occur,
renee at the ball, the broken glasses.
and4he bleediag band; and wRenthe
handkerchief was handed ihiSS he
identified it without hesitation as the
one he had taken fromiHenry's peck
ct and wrapped aropQd his hand,
When the Commonwealth had ended
the examination in chief, the wit.
ness was handed over to me for cross
examination. | sat behind the 'coun.
sci table. Close to me,.,on. oneAside,
sat the mother, on the other side
Henry and Ellen, 10 whom, my i'm.
preston is, ] had given soma instruct-
ions before the trial commenced. 1t.
isso long ago, however, that l may
have forgotten. I.
The handkerchief lay upon the Ia
BILE. The one Ellen brought me was
in small roll in my lap under the
table. Il took the right handkerchief
in my hand and proceeded with the
cross'examination. My FIRST object
was to get William angry. In this
| succeeded most completely; for
when / proceeded to ask him about
his store, and if it were not a 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 amiable interview had
been proceeding. Il accidentally drop
ped the right handkerchief in my lap
and somehow, by mistake perhaps,
pickedup the wrong one and laid it
upon the table in sight Of the jury.-.
The court, audience, and jury hadbe-
come SO interested in the "pnpleas;
antness" between the witness and
the counsel that the mistake .wgis not,
discovered Henry took the right
handksfchief and put il ia llis poek-
ct. BY this time the amiable Will
liam would'have testiiedto anything
that the moon was cheese, for in
stance, or any other equally credible
statement-had he deemed, it neces-
'saryto secure verdict Of guilty.
| then took the handkerchief from
the table, passed around in frontnear'
TO him, and asked the followingques-.
tions as rapidly as the answer would
permit:
@. Did | understand you to say
that you were positive that this
handkerchief is the one you tied a.
round the defendants hand the night
Of the ball?
A. | don't know what you under
stood, but said so.
. Q. (still holding the handkerchief
in my hand) What is there about
this handkerchief that makes you SO
positive?
A. The spots Of blood and it is of
white silk with raised flowers Oh it.
know II is The same one.
Q. Now, sir, did you not say to Mr..
G., that, if necessary, you would
swear to lie to send Henry to the
penitontiary.
A. (witness in greater rage, if
possible, than before.) No, sir, did
not say so. It's lie; | never said it.
Q. (handing the witness the hand
kerchieD. Now take the handker-
chief and show the jury any marks
that are on it that makes you sowill.
ing to swear to it, if you can and
tell the truth.
Witness took the handkerchief,
opened it, and pointed out the blood
spots to the jury, and said: 81 know
it is the handkerchief; | cannot be
mistaken"
Q. You can't! Don't you some-
times make mistakes or are you al-
ways right and never wrong?
A. You need not try to make
me say anything else. | know this
is the handkerchief
Q. Now, sir, is not this the hand
kerchieR Henry Cunning to the de-