Arkansas weekly mansion., 1884-04-12


William Huntley was found buried un-
der bank near the spot where he was
last seen: The impor ant ont of veri-
neat Oh was very peculiar pro oiccting
side tooth, VIII ch all who saw it recog-
niHed As belonging to the missing Hunt
ley Upon exposure To the air the teeth
of the skeleton fell out, and this pecri-
liar tooth was. st angely enough, lost
or stolen. Goldsborough was now ap-
pretended, AMI had a long trial. He
had able counsel, who made the most
o. the element of doub; in tke matter,
and the jury, ov .rlooking the strong
element of probability in the evidence
against the prisoner, acquitted him.
Bat the general impression OF his guilt
rema ned. and the account o. his trial
incline the reader to iclevc that the
general impre sion was probably cor.
Feet.
Inc law holds man to be lnnore
until he s proved guilty: publ op:n-
iDr FIN moe Swavcd by outside in
fur noes, crc rcum>tances, and chances
than the law, Is seldom so merciful.
But it Is Il very unfortunate thing when
public opinion does not generally con
cur in the decisions of "a court of JUS
tice. II is often sad that it we e better
that nlnctynInc guilty MEN should eS-
cape punishment than that one inno-
cent man should Su Fer. Now this
sentiment cannot be founded on hui
name considerations purely, else ii
might be Justly regarded as very weak
sentiment. indeed, In world where
the innocent have been suffering for the
~u lty for nearly six thousand wears, 1t
might well b" questioned whether It
wo, IL not be far bette for one Innc-
L lit man to suffer and die if need be.
rather than intiict on society the i'll ,Ury
caused by n.nety-ninc criminals at
large. especially As these criminals
would lie VERY likely to cut OF in thcI,'
pfim" II hundred or SO Of innocent vic
Tins. Bul the point of the saving is
thi, Though it iS -unfor. innate
that crime must sometimes go
unpUni>hcd. it is more unf"r-
lunat" if Il wrong dcc's:on take the
life o. the limo cnt, ani thus seriously
shak.. u l-c confidence in the ust al
ministralion of courts. or this reason
the convict ,on of Liza Fcnn;ng an'l her
execution. July 70, lSl.I. were peculiar
IL unfort innate. Not that she can be
ins,:'n eel aS one of the unqU, s. iunablr
ian cent victims IF judicial error No,
the c;iS,. was ioilbt:ul. ard the doubt
invoked in il has nc,cr been cleared ny.
She wa Il yoInw servant girl. charged
W III IL " I'i>''i tii' lam IN
which She was employed. That they
had bccl poisoned hy ONE ,Iumpl ngs
which they had at"n WAS nniurSt :0nr,i
Some remains of the dumpllngS ana
lived were found to con n Il Il large pro-
portion of arsenic The flour from
which they had iccn made. and t!Ic
Yeast u>.d, were both examined, and
wcic fotni To contain nothing delete
r.oIIS. \ paper nf arsenic bought to
Kill rats had disappeared. The evidence
against III" accused WAS ent rely cir
rum>tantial he poison was in the food.
She alone had prs.. .arcd it, and, though
th,. motive for III. wicked decd,
a quarrel with her m st cSs, was
app a".ntIy Insufficient, she was al
Judged u ltv and pu 10 death. Much
p=hic excitement + e a.l"d. The girl
asserted her innocence to the last Her
BODY WAS handel over to her pa ,nts
who had it on public Inhibition for tOur
DAYS ANA ror~eio Of per .!.."L.d t.
: it the o>t of them giving the
parents a fee. ont of sympathy. She
was buried ru | ely July 80. :. process
son o over lu,ut'o crSonS- following
her to tn. grave. Now. S,ich iliustrioUs
LAWYERS aS ~irs amucl Romillv and tur-
ran ellie ed firmly in this girls inno
cen u AMI her case is usually clasSed
with the wrorgcI victims of circum-
-tant;al evidence. and ct we say. this
Is by no means clear. The girl had Il
lnny I ial; she was defended by allie
counsel. The ease was bcfo e an abe
and Up i@ht jrdgc- l lie reason why
conviction res / ed WAS because the
cIrcuu stances al tilted but one conclu-
>.ol. and no hypothesis was brought
forward that could in the least
make room for auo:hcI. Neither the
ril nor the lawyer could sug
w..>t any means by (which the
poi-on could oct in q the dumplings
without the ri Is action or t.onnil ancc.
We are sorry To say that the a>>cve.a-
/ on> of nro cncc so otteT made by
prisoners and pcr>' st Il in to the very
sea, old do not max As much impress
sion ou The legal or judicial mind as
they 60 in he minds of tie populacc.
The natural impulse. of the incXpcri
en-, and -u~pe"t'ng min is to be-
llcvc all that : to.d to it. But cNper;-
cnrc in connection with human tcsti-
m0nv shows that 4 i> very prone to be
falliblc. Tnc lawyers experience rem
d,rs his habit of douhtin@ and question
Ing all stat mrntS second nature to
him. M eminent Judge once declared
that he had never known an assertion
made hy 4 aconvict"d prisoner to prove to
statement and not borne ont by facts.
For instance. the case Of LcBrun,
which we shall brcil.- cite. aS it is one
of the mos painful cases on ord OF a
,uI cial thunder cause by circunStan
tial evidence. II occurred in Par in
lG~.'. IcErUn WAS :hr toward of a
wealthy lady. The lady WAS murdered
in her .Ird one SUNDAY might, and the
steward was arrested on the charge
If c0mmittin the crime. None OF the
lo" * ia the house were forced. and the
,rlproS!t;ou e mel to b.: if il was not
Lc Brun. who wa it9 y nightcap found
on the ll"nr OF the room fitted the stew
ard head in HI possession was found
Il duplirat. key of ia" lady'S room.
which h, aid e had had M adc It her
ord y. All this sc@mS bu. Slight evil
Gcnc, but it was enough in tn sc cruel
ol,! DAYS to sugce-t ti," rack a. Il means
ri arriving at the whole truth. The
man WAS therefore put cn the rack
ard tortured 50 severely that he Il cd in
a few houl> y few months aficrward
Il man was arrested in one of the PROV
ines with property believed to be ~tol-
en- On cxamin ition he proved to
have ..omc articles belonging to the
murlc ed lady. rei:'- put to the rack
he told the whole story of his rim".
How he had rn;c ed the house and hid
den himself in tin. att g. Coming down
SUNDAY afternoon he hid himself under
the LADY : bed. and 80 kill d Ii during
the evening thjr" o mt r. ce"n.
An Ugly Visitor in a Bedroom.
Levi ahar. II PurNtown. Pa. had a
terrible fight with wildcat in his bed
rnn,n Tho a.thrr. uimhf L animal en-