The Benton weekly record. [volume] (Benton, Mont.) 1880-1885, 1883-06-02
THE VICTIM OF RUM.
a Sad and Terrible Scene in a
Court of Ju-tice-Whl
Whisky Was RESPONSE
BILE For.

lhe Oh icago Tribune, i'm an edtori Lar
ticle under the heading can Argument
ios iiigh License draws the following
realistic picture Of one of the numbarless
terrible crimes which must be charged TO
tne accountofthe saloon seourage:
Judge Barnum's court room Thursday
last, On the occasion of the trial of Thomss
walsh tor the murder of his wife, presented
scene worthy of the pencil ofa Hogarth
or Dore. Walsh was IA confirmed drunk-
ard. He was in the habit of beating his
wife numerically when brutalized by al
coholic drink aasaOne evening, in drunl-
Ell tit, he beat, and kicked, and Epounded
her almost to death. The poor wife crawl
ed into bed and sank to sleep, never to
awaken again. The drunken husband
lay down by her side, and in the morning.
turning his face toward her. beheld q
corpse! His little child, 5 years old. under
compulsion, had held light to guideg the
murderous hand, and meantime had plead.
ed. 20 papa, for M sake, don't whip
mamma any more!''
In the court room Thursday the mur-
derer sat in the dock pale and shivering
wretch-sat there under plea of not guilty
OF willful and malicious murder. His little
o-year-old child was there, only half real
izing the horror that covers her Young
life with pail as dark as Erebus. The
parents of the murdered woman were
there weeping. The policeman to whom
Walsh surrendered himself, and who
found the bruised and lacerated body of
the murdered woman in state ofcomplete
nudity on the wretched bed, was there.
The doctor was there to say that: "From
the top OF the head to the soles of the feet
| the body was mass of cuts and bruises >,
that the scalp was beaten to pulp; and
that the breast was broken i'm as if bv a
kick" A woman who lived in the adioin-
ing room to that of the Walsh's was there
to testify that on one occasion Mrs. Walsh
borrowed 10 cents of her to buy drink
for her husband so that he would not beat
her. The gentlemen of the ssdefense''
were there for the purpose of INTRODUCING
ga number of witnesses to show the good
reputation of the prisonern
The prisoner took the witness stand to
state that his dead wife was during life ad-
dicted ta the vice of drunkenness; that on
the night of the murder she had "urged''
him to buy whisky; that he had bought it
that they drank it together; that they went
to bed drunk together at o'clc OK in the
afternoon; that he awoke at O'Clock and
found his wife on the floor; that this en-
ragged him, and he then proceeded to beat
her, how long he did not know. He told
how in the morning he wakened, raised
himself, and encountered his "dead wife's
staring eyes, touched her icy form, and,
with a shrek, jumped out of bed crying,
My God! Lizzie is dead!'" The wretch
ed murderer's counsel was there to ask the
weeping and convulsed prisoner, HDid
you love your wife ?' and the prisoner re-
piled, eyes; we loved each other as much
as any two persons in the world.' ~
Some persons who ought to have been
present were not there. Those persons
were the saloon keepers who sold Walsh
the liquor which transformed him into q
fiend in human form. They had been
subpnnaed, but not arriving the court ad-
journed until Monday. When the court
sits Monday the prisoners 'scounsep' will
! be there 'to present some authorities In
mitigation of his offense. This isa hor.
rible picture, but it falls far short of afford.
ing an adequate conception of the scene
either of the murder or the hearing in the
court room. Such scenes are simply in
J describable. But similar scenes are o1
: common occurrence in the city, and In
every large city in this country and in 9th.
er highly civilized countries. We have
drawn and emphasized the picture hop.
! ing that the public may dwell upon it Ions
enough to think about devising remedy
} We wish that the scene in Judge Barnum'l
Z court room could have been enacted In tn,
> presence of the Legislature of this State
We doubt, in that event, If there woult
{ have been go votes recorded against takin.
! up the Harper high license bill.