Helena weekly herald. [volume] (Helena, Mont.) 1867-1900, 1885-03-19
GRAND JURY REPORT.
County Matters Sharply Criticised
and Ventilated.
Timely Suggestions and Recommends.
tiOns.
A Paper that Greatly Interests the
General Public.
THIRD JUDICIAL DISTRICT COURT,
HELENA, MONTANA, March Is, lSs'

we have endeaNored TO the extent OF our
ability to comply with the suggestions and
orders of this Honorable Court, and in the
discharge OF our duties have made investi-
cations as full and complete as our session
permitted. Our work was somewhat i'm
peded by the failure of committing magis-
trates to send to the District Court their
cases in which defendants were bound over
There is no excuse for Justices of the Peace
IN holding these cases, which should pass
out of their hands as soon as practicable
after the examination of the Offenders If he
is held to await the action of grand
jury. Great and needless expense follows
such delays, Us we have had occasion to know
since we have been s.ting, and witnesses,
material and necessary, often drift away,
and the time of the jury is delayed
in waiting for them. This could in many
instances be obviated if the District At
torney knew what cases were to come be-
fore the grand jury before term of court,
and witnesses could be notified in time
We have made a thorough inquiry into
the recent hanging of Con Murphy. The
evidence before Us went to prove, that
crowd of some four hundred persons de-
manded Murphy from the authorities, who
were absolutely powerless TO resist them.
The sentiment OF the people just at thal
time was aroused TO feyered heat by
reason of the notoriously bad reputation
Murphy had, and the grave fear prevalent
that he might escape jail again and con-
tinue to jeopardiZe life and property, and
il was this sentiment which in its height
/ eliminated in q sudden but wide spread
/ determination in Helena to take his life.
\ We cannot think il was necessary for self
protection, nor that such excitements ever
work good, and we sincerely deprecate the
fact that Lewis and Clarke county should
/ have set such an example 10 the rest of the
\ Territory of Montana; but we cannot learn
| who actually hung the man, and we had
no evidence TO warrant any Indictment.
/ We hope that never again may popular
u hatred lead TO the erroneous belief that our
| courts and iuries are unable to punish
criminals. The records of this county are
/ filled with Just convictions rs the result of
court trials, and it is an imputatior, wrong
and untrue, that Murphy could not have
been convicted and sentenced IN court.
/ The sober reflection OF this community
must hiring to all persons a full sense Of the
/ horror which shrouds the lawless way in
which four hundred or more men took one
\ defenceless wretch and hung nim twice
almost in sight of the city.
! We left nothing undone in the effort to
inform the court concerning the recent
escape of six prisoners frori the Jail of this
nty.
We found that the Sheriff employed one
! TAILOR whose habit was TO lock prisoners in
their cells from the outside corridor by
automatic locks and then TO 20 in and put
extra safety locks on each door. The Jailor,
on the night of the escape. ordered the
prisoners into their cells and not seeing any
within the inner corridor locked the auto
| matte locks and proceeded, as was his GUS
/ tom TO walk around the outer corridor 10
\ look into the two bath rooDs, which are
/ adjacent to the cells but tcithOm any doors,
l and quite dark by daylight The lamp
I light penetrates the inside OF the iron
( works but dimly, and il would have been
! difficult for the TAILOR TO detect anybody
] in the bath room without most careful ex-
! animation. he saw no one apparently
/ and then went in 10 put on the safety
/ locks, and as he was locking the cell, next
I to the bath room, the prisoners jumped
upon him, gagged him and taking the
KEYS from his pockets went into the cor
rider unlocked the door into the SherifiTs
\ Office, gagged the cook, and left the build
/ ing. We exonerate all concerned from
| criminal Negligence, but we do not hesitate
/ to report that il was not only piece OF
grave lack of foresight, but fearful lack
4, OF caution on the part of the jailor not to
throw dark lantern into the bath roon,s
before going into the cage at all but we
go further and we report that the Sheriff
deserves TO be censured for ever, under any
circumstances whatever, for allowing one
man alone to enter the inner corridor Of the
jail unless an assistant is there 10 help
prevent escapes and sudden attacks. One
man aerer should be alone with sixteen or
eighteen conyicts at night in such prison,
no matter how secure it may seem to be,
and how impossible il is to escape. We
are convinced beyond doubt, had there
been another guard in the jail, on the
night of the recent escapes, the cage
door could have been closed and no one
need have even reached the outer corridor
1t is but Just, however, to the sheriff, whose
responsibility is so great in the custody Of
prisoners, to say that he should have been
allowed jailor at the county expense, and
we urgently recommend that the County
i Commissioners employ . suitable person 70
be the assistant jailor for the jail at once !;
for so long o time as Territorial cOnvicts
are in the prison, or longer, If such person
is necessary to insure the safe keeping of
prisoners. The safety of the public i'm
peratively demands that there be no more
Jail breaking in this county. The Com
missioners should a'so have cage doors put
upor the bath rooms in the JAIL and thus
remove beyond any doubt all c.,ance Of
escapes.
We have given considerable attention to
the various county offices.
The Probate Court records do not seem
to be complete, nor are the full number Of
books. required to be kept, on hand. The
business methods of that Office would ap-
pear to be and have been lax, when the
importance of the matters before that
court is considered. We made no detailed
examination except of one or two cases In
estates filed in the court, but in the few
cases which we inquired into we ascer-
tanned that TIE Probate Court allowed
exorbitant bills, and that the Public Ad-
minis,rator draws fees largely in excess OF
the value of services performed and Of the
fees allowed by law.
We are informed by the County Com
missioners that. up to the date OF our