The Anaconda standard. [volume] (Anaconda, Mont.) 1889-1970, 1889-12-15
THE CRONIN JURY.


THE CRONIN JURY.
Description ar the Room, In which They
Hold Their deliberations
From the Chicago Times.
The services of n certain noted inguist
of old are not needed tn Interpret the hand
writing OH tho walls. Those forming the
room i'm which the IL men good and true
i'm whose hands rests the destinies
of the Cronin suspects are literally covered
with specimens of chirography. And these
specimens are well defined enough to
admit of reading. providing he who reads
does not run too fast. This room to which
the Cronin jury adjourned after re-
ceiving the instructions of Judge AicCon-
nell adjoins tho court room and boasts of
no greater dimensions than 8 feet by II.
Through two indow facing Dearborn
avenue the light streams, bringing into
prominence the dirty and much worn
mating hat covers the floor. The
walls are bare except for the
lead pencil efforts OF some
literary juror. When i'm official use twelve
wooden chairs and n table comprise the
man has paced mp and down repeating n
p~araphrased version OF Hamlet's soliio-
G i. She o"e aa S%!y''t And Er n Ss, 70 th isn animvi thns
place has n history. The hopes and fears
of many a maj, ON trial for his life have
jury has sat in judgment ON n fcllow-man.
Through it's doors the twelve men good
and true have gone with the eloquent mp
still ringing i'm the ear or the last. glance
for mercy from the prisoner fresh in the
m,n"; III. E nsSIie t kson na"% LIGHTING Of On wS sns
TRANSFERRED within while the jury was ''out."
% the jury business" may not he
phcmousness may he argued, hut no one
will say IL is ambiguous or equivocal in
meaning. 1t is certainly not patriotic to
thus assail an American institution, yet
some juror has thus expressed himself on
the wallis OF the rooln. That he was not
alone IL his STRANGELY put opinion is evil
is written Immediately under. II would
seem by the next line that however the
Issue under consideration il certainly was
not on tine "damnableness" of tho jury
business. for in a free. iegible hand is in
mob voicinR the words Of an Anton.
There Is evidence, too, in the handwrit-
ing that a Juror had made no pretense to
to- the guilt or innocence OF the prisoner.
One declared his opinion i'm set terms
opinion found support in ssSnsa Say T." To
swell the list "a third used the forcible, i
i~neiegant. expression: too. Pete"
willing to- subscribe themselves ms rom
WINGED of his guilt is not known. as no
date is attached or name signed. IL might
be Zcph Davis. the negro who murdered u
factory girl in IL South Clark street shop n
year or two ago. The jury which returned
~ NerNtltt III Ktlllty III HIS elSc SAL III tIllS
same room. Here the evidence produced
in his trial was considered pro and con.
IL showed the brutality OF the crime and
the law was indicated when the drop
fel and physicians pronounced Zcph
Davis dead.
One j. Hirsch declared his opposition
to the great American jury system when
he wrote: ~ don't like this business"
That mans selishness never fails to ma
seen i'm this appeal ia bchalfo of The inner
man: "Somcthing tn eat for twelve, and
be quick about it. too" And again. in
this order: "Bring us i'm our SUPPER; don't
think we are all DIR. Tanners" The ir. my
of the last part of the sentence IL rarslo l.
existing behind twelve vests. for the "Hur-
~ ups" which followed showcd that the
verdict was unanimous"
the closing. words of this inscription:
1--WE. the jury, were locked up i'm this
room from 3 p; ~: January NJ, till 10 q. M;
Fixed him!" That suggests the scaffoid;
n figure with hands and legs pinioned; n
cap of sumber black; the form quaking
''click" and the fall of the drop; the rom
vulsive moments of the body; u stiffness
followed by the last struggle. and the
hanging H. over. Is this the "~fixcdness"
had i'm mind? 'Tis a icvity savorins OF
the tomb.
Warning to the public are not wanting
i'm the many handwritings on the wall. A
fnll appreciation Of the horrors Of his POI
sition and "a large desire to give the world
prompted the following: TAKE care and
keep out OF the jury business" Nor is
| poetic inspiration tn he sstuelched 10y jury
tween voting '.Gmiity" or "Not Guilty to
give the following fragment of Homeric
verse:
In jury WORN there's ~biibery.
The meter and rhyme of the fragment
may he faulty, but the sentiment Is faith
| fuI md true tn nature tn N rpunarkn hla tl0-