Los Angeles daily herald., 1888-02-26

opR cation was made f0f W1t
81 babeas corpus. The Jailor and
sheriff Of Eureka were then sent for,
and upon their arrival they positively
identified Finnegan as the man
wanted. The Sheriff reminded the
Court that in order to fully establish
the mans identity it was only neces-
sary to examine his thigh, when the
scar remaining from surgical opera
ton performed on the safe burglar
would to found. Meanwhile the
doctor who had performed the
operation was telegraphed and
requested to wire back the
exact location of the operation,
reply being received, an examination
of Finnegan's body established to the
satisfaction of the Court that he was
the man wanted, whereupon he was
escorted back.
II was employed by Finnegan's
friends in St. Louis to defend him,
and lett for Eureka for that purpose,
taking with me as witnesses for the
defense q man named Williams,
whose horse Finnegan had cared for
when in St. Louis; q book-keeper
employed by Furber, the butcher;
grocer named Glenny, and a lady who
had resided in st. Louis with the
Finnegan family. When the trial be-
gan, all the witnesses for the prosecu-
tion-and there was a large number
Of them-with one exception, posi-
lively identified Finnegan as the man
who had laid there in Jail
three years ago, charged with
robbing the safe. The doubtful
man was the Assistant Prosecuting
Attorney, who contended that the
hair of the prisoner was brighter
red than that of the man who had
been imprisoned and made his escape.
The case for the defendant looked
very blue indeed, as all the witnesses
testifying against him had been made
very familiar with the face of the safe
robber, especially the Justice Of the
Peace, who swore in most positive
terms that there could be no mis-
take. Then the witnesses for the
defense were submitted. Williams
testified to loaning to the accused in
in st. Louis $500 about the day the
robbery occurred, and the deed of
trust securing the money loaned by
chattel mortgage was produced, the
date of its filing also being nearly
identified with that on which the
robbery was committed. The entries
on the books Of the grocer and butch
er showed accounts personally trans
sacted with the defendant at the
time, and burial certificate produced
from the Health Department at st.
Louis bore the signature of Finnegan
himself, signed on the very day Of
the safe robbery, he having been an
undertaken as we'll as a liveryman.
Then the hotel register was produced
and the handwriting of the two Fin
negans did not correspond. There
were a score OF witnesses on either
side-all honest and sincere, and all
confident that they were right. On
the one hand was documentary
evidence, but on the other hand
the scar on Finnegan's thigh was in
itself silent but eloquent witness.
The defendant explained that the
scar was the result of All accident re-
ceived some years since in Iowa,
when his team had run away with
him and he was thrown against a
stump. Then he recalled that his
knee had been injured at the same
time, and though not much conf
dence was placed in this recollection
of the eleventh hour, l requested
that the jury be permitted to retire
with the defendant and ascertain for
themselves the truth or falsity of his
statement by studying the nature Of
the two scars and their relative posi-
ton. This was done, and the result
was an acquittal.
Taking everything into considera-
tion," concluded the Governor, "the
nature OF the testimony, the similarity
of name and the existence OF the scars,
l remember nothing approaching this
case of mistaken identity anywhere in
the country. Minor instances of con-
fusing testimony bearing upon time,
piaucc and other conditions Of dispute,
1 might rehearse by the dozen, as
every lawyer is constantly encounter
ing them; but that, l think, should
suffice for to-day"
IcW tucIo Lc Will tnO CyA1Cdi
frankness of Dean Swift, whose self
confessed ignorance Of the very fibre
Of music was voiced in the memorable
couplets;
'1is said that Sig. Buoncine
Compared to Handel Is q ninny,
While others hold that to him Handel
Is hardly fit to hold candle.
Strange such difference should be
'Twixt tweedledum and tweedledee.
Waving, however, all matters Of
other than strictly relevant import,
this subject would lack finish if men
| ton were not made of the men who,
while they will swear themselves
black in the face in offering testimony
before a court as to some scene tc
which they we're witnesses, testimony
that the very next reliable witness
may refute, yet these same individu
ais are the first to demand that capi.
tai punishment be visited on the head
of the newspaper reporter who, in the
heat of an item obtained under every
disadvantage, inadvertently makes
some comparatively trihing misstate
ment. AS matter Of fact, to let the
readers of the Republican into thu
confidence of the local staff
it is a theme for wonder t.
every practical newspaper MAJ
that the errors of the daily
press are 80 very few in number
People who testify in court and peo
pie who make ludicrious blunders il
trying to size up the height of plug
hat, invariably err on the side of ex
aggeration. Much Of the news clulet
each day must, as a matter of course
be obtained on hearsay of the chief &C
tors, whose accounts are but too oftel
of nature that is the basis for libe
suits and general extravaganza Q
coloring, and to the cautious and oh
servant reporter and city editor ar
left the task of separating the whea
from the chaff, the truth from the lie
of knowing where the grain of sal