The Democratic press. [volume] (Ravenna, O. [Ohio]) 1868-1901, 1885-05-14
MUNDANE mEANDERINGs.


1t is alleged that the Cleveland Rolling Mill
Company. in boring for gas. has struck a vein
of pure rock salt, t69 feet thick. at depth of
/. .9s5 feet, or nearly half mile. Itwould seem
as though Lots wife, together with all her Sis
ters. cousins and aunts, must have looked back
in this locality,
1t is surmised that the original Adam was
lurking in the suburbs of the beautiful Adj
amless Eden," lately on exhibition here.
One of the bianketcd camels of the Fore
paugh Show lost two enormous humps here.
They came of on Superior Street during the
circus parade. Some infdels alleged that it
was a bogus camel. This was uncharitable. 1t
ought not to dctrsot from the orthodoxy Of any
we'll regulated camel that he lost his hump
here. Cleveland is a bad town. Besides, l
should lose confidence in a camel if our recent
climatic extremes didn't knock his humps of.
The patent right agency contract case of c.
G. Post, of Vermont, vs. Edgar Foote, we'll
known citizen of streetsborn', was tried yes
,erday before Judge Jones and jury. and the
Jury, after ten minutes absence. decided in ia
vor of the defendant. Edgar Foote. So the neat
game of the enterprising sap spout agent was
not success, although we'll played. And the
next sleek and oily swindling agent who visits
the Foote mansion, in Strestsboro', will hardly
get away with Foote'S signature on little
piece of paper. merely to show the agency"
The Webster trial, SO quickly following the
| brutal murder near Geneva, has attracted con-
| siderable attention hero. l have conversed
| with quite q number of prominent attorneys
who have followed the very meager and miser-
able reports OF the evidence published IN the
| Il ally papers, and while some are OF the opinion
| that the defendant may be the guilty party not
one thinks that the evidence reduces his prob
| able guilt to such u certainty as 10 be beyond
reason able doubt, as it should do to come up to
| the requirements Of legal conviction. IL ID
unfortunate that the " ebstss trial has not dem
onstrated past all doubt. either the guilt or the
| Innocence OF the defendant
| There was very great prejudice in Ashtabula
County against the defendant, arising naturally
| from horror OF tue crime, accompanied by the
supposed identif cation of the guilty party.
But just such supposed identihcations as this
must be taken with great allowance. otherWlse
many innocent men will hang. While the
community anu the jury are not to De blamed
(for it is human nature, ana can't be helped.
vet 1 would not give ten dollars for cause
worth q thousand dollars, ii it were to be tried
before q Jury and in q community nlISi with
such q frenzy of prejudice as was the case in
this unhappy trial No attorney would csre to
submit case having at stake the value OF pig
to Jury under such circumstances.
All the way from Cleveland came expert eVi-
dence summoned by the State to prove that the
blood OF the murdered man was On the defend
ants clothes, and this expert evidence reduced
nearly to 9 practical demonstration the fact
that the blood OF the murdered man was not on
the defendants clothes, thus csrroborating the
abundant evidence OF the defendant to account
| inEocently Tor the blood on his clothes.
This blood matter. by the way. Was one OF the
misunderstood items which tended swiftly to
convict the defendant in'ihe minds OF The peo~
Pile, before he had any trisl. and so 10 cover him
with prejudice.
While most Of the witnesses were hnstWor-
thy. yet the besstly galoOt witness. who seeks
to suck notorety from his imagination. by al
fecting some knowledge of the case, was not
wanting. These assinine witnesses always ap-
pear in an exciting case where there there Is
| chance to convict an innocent party. Such ass
es disgrace the race Of fools, But unfortunate
Iy this is q case where the ass is most danger
| Gus animal. Let no litigant ever underestimate
| the danger of the assinine witness, who seeks
to initiate himself with imaginary knowledge.
| TO thus throw HinsclI lnIo Importance on" NV
toriety. Such witnesses, while among the most
contemplate freaks of human nature. are yet
| often most danger ous impediment 10 justice
| in our courts
Previous to this terrible charge. w ebster was,
az shown by the testimony. a fine young man.
of splendid character, and with apparently Il
promising and happy future before him. Still
| he may be guilty. and if so. he ought TO hang
1 am not unkindly criticising court. jury or
people, But the trouble is, W ebster was not
proven to be guilty beyond a reasonable doubt.
| and the Court ought to have granted him new
trial. also a change Of venue. With his fin.
| previous character, he certainly o.ght TO be
| supposed to be innocent until clearly proven to
| be guilty.
While Webster may be guilty, yet so lar as
| at present appears he mdy be innocent, We
now have to face the possibility OF hanging an
| innocent young man. while The real culprit no
doubt member of the great army of expert
burglars. robbers. and scoundrels who swarm
throug ghout the Iand-may be thanking his It, rs
that he so easily escaped, through the honest
blum der of q poor half murdered woman, and
the rank stupidity of lot of pudding headed
officials And these same officials possibly may
be interested witnesses. as the conviction of IN
innocent party may tend to cover their rank
stupidity in placidly following the wrong trail
while unwittingly letting the real villain es
cape.
These possibilities suggest the fact that a new
trial and a change of venue can work no harm
If Webster is guilty. and can be proven so, ii