Woodville Republican. (Woodville, Miss.) 185?-current, 1889-06-15

How Tom Marshall Once Upon Timn De.
touteda Burglar
tom" Marshall was at one time the
iavorite hero Of the bar in Kentucky.
His acumen, his wit his magnetic
power over a jury, whether he hap
pened to be drunk or sober, gave rise
to numberless anecdotes about him.
One Of the least known is the follow
ing:
Marshall, after prolonged holiday.
found himself in a little inland town.
the center Of an admiring circle Of
newly-made friends who were ignorant
Of his real position or occupation.
Chief among these was young dem
list, hard-worlzing, frugal fellow.
who, by dint Of strict economy, had
saved q few hundred dollars. He was
about to be married, had bought a
snug little house. and Withdrew his
money one day from the bank to pay
for it.
The bargain was to be completed on
the following day. He carried the
money to his chamber. small room
back Of his shop, and. locking up the
roll Of bills in his secretary, went to
bed.
About midnight he was wakened by
the flash Of dark lantern in his face.
He sprang up. A man was climbing
out of the open window. His desk
was open and rined. He rushed upon
the thief, who fred at him twice and
escaped. The poor dentist, on the eve
Of his wedding-day, was left danger
ously wounded and penniless.
The county was searched for traces
Of the thief, but in vain. Marshall
took a keen interest in the matter,
questioned the policemen closely, and
when they gave up in despair. asked
permission to visit the dentists rooms.
After close search, he found upon
the floor a small pellet of burned
paper, which he carried home. 1t was
the wadding out of the thief's pistol.
When examined, it proved to be half
of receipt for water-tax, signed by
John Jones, town clerk.
The GATE was entire, but the name
of the man paying his tax was torn off,
excepting two letters, Pc. Mar
shall at once searched the records of
lhe town clerk, and found on the given
date Peter Scott had paid his water
tax. Peter was arrested, and the
money was found in his possession.
Marshall soon after left the village,
followed by the blessings Of the grate-
full dentist and his bride. Long after
ward they discovered that their friend
was the famous eccentric lawyer Of
Kentucky.
Another story which fingers in the
gossip about the courts in the same
State is of an old lawyer named Hunt,
who, in the early part of this century.
was known as "the sleuth-hound," so
unerring was his pursuit of criminal.
On one occasion he was employed to
defend poor colored porter in bank,
accused of robbing the vaults after the
cashier was gagged and tied.
The circumstantial evidence was
complete against the negro, but Hunt
was convinced of his innocence. The
thief, too, had dropped a bit of cloth
on the floor, apparently the torn lining
of hat, about which Hunts keen
scent detected faint, peculiar per-
fume.
"The man who wore this is tan.
ner," he said to a detective.
There was but one tannery within
forty miles. One of the owners was a
dissipated young man. He was
watched, and was soon detected in
passing some of the stolen money.
Being arrested, he confessed his guilt,
and Hunts client was saved.
The old saying, Murder will out, n
is true only when some intellect is
acute enough to gather the proof of
guilt from trihes which other men neg
lect. Youths Companion.