St. Paul daily globe. [volume] (Saint Paul, Minn.) 1884-1896, 1885-11-02

iSt in the case of BURRAS will be developed
in the trial of his case and will be deter
mined by the jury by whom he will be tried.
From reading statement made by himself
to the reporters of the Chicago papers and
from the testimony of his wife, it is easy to
see how plea of homicidal insanity can be
urged with some force in his behalf. In
the first place, as we have already stated, it
is hard to conceive how the human heart
can descend to the depths of degradation
which would stimulate q human be-
ing in the possession of reason to
commit the crime which he committed.
In the next place BURRAs says that he felt
impelled to commit the deed in vindicatlon
of his wife's honor. His statement is that
from the time he first knew the two women
they were the relentless prosecutors of the
woman whom he afterwards married. He
states that during their association in the
ST. Paul Office they were jealous of his at
tentions to Miss COOPER and commenced a
systematic defamation of her character.
Afterwards, when she had become his wife
and they had removed to Chicago, again his
wire became the victim of their SANDER, and
as a result he was treated coollyby his asso-
ciates and he and his wife felt the mortifi-
cation of the sting. The following extract
is taken from his interview with the news
paper reporters:
Feeling high sense of duty to my wife
have been guided and actuated in this matter
oy sentiments which have seemed to me to be
right. You will see that for q year or more
wife char1ntnr has haaO in iannor1V and
that insinuations have been made as to the
Legitimacy OF my baby. Here the prisoner
again broke down and cried. This has all
come from the talk of these two vile women,
and it was too much for any man to bear. My
life for year has been one of torment.
have been deprived of peace of mind, health
and happiness; have been Stunned without
cause: all these together have been too much
Tor me to bear-and they were all caused by
these two women whom never injured in my
life. This is my justification for what l have
done.
The human mind is a many-stringed in
strument. When single chord is strained
or broken there can be no harmony In the
diseased mind there is often a hidden wound
which will not heal and when it gaps
afresh the whole instrument walls forth in
madness.
But, whether BURRAs was insane or not,
whether he is morally responsible for his
crime or not the tragedy bears with it an
impressive lesson. 1t is the danger and
folly of meddling with the private
affairs of other people. The unfor-
tunate girls who took it upon them
selves to disturb the domestic peace Of
the BURRAs family by attempting to create
trouble between man and wife have paid
most dearly for their folly Yet they have
themselves to blame for it. Tale-bearing
and tattling are mischievous in their most
harmless forms. But when falsehoods are
manufactured to serve the purposes Of the
tattler and SANDER becomes the weapon of
the tale bearer. it is impossible to calculate
the hurtful consequences which follow.
Then it is that the meddlesome busybody
becomes an enemy to society, and when
overtaken by fate which is the logical re-
suit of his or her own act public sympathy
is slow to be aroused in behalf Of the vic
tins.