The Manning times. [volume] (Manning, Clarendon County, S.C.) 1884-current, 1889-07-03
THE NcDOW TRIAL.

AAS SOS@S "a SS-S>S~- SSS~~~-S, -
Charleston, was occupied all OF last
week in the trial of DR.. T. B. McDow,
for the killing OF Capt. F. W. Dawson
on the 18th Of March last.
A great deal of testimony was in
troduced, and the examination of the
was exhaustive; Ae aFgpa=
ments of the solicitor and counsel rep
resenting the State, as well as those of
the counsellors for the accused, were
models of legal research and profes-
sional skill. The charge of the pre-
siding judge was, to say the least, fair
to the accused in every respect. On
lsss Saturday afternoon, the jury
unanimously agreed upon and render
ed verdict Of not guilty.
In coming to the conclusion that
Mellow was guilty of no crime what
ever, the jury, in the discharge of the
high duty devolyed upon them, must
have ignored several particulars of the
awful tragedy which was enacted in
the little Office on Rutledge Street, on
that afternoon in March. Notwith-
standing McDow's attempt, by getting
rid Of the body of his victim, to de-
stroy the evidence which would, at
once, unerringly, point to him as the
slayar Of Capt. Dawson, and notwith-
standing the substantial. discrepancies
{ between McDow's first statement to
reporters and others Of material facts
concerning the homicide, and his
testimony on the same points at the
trial, the jury appear as having as
suned that the entire statement of
McDow, from first to last, was trueto
the letter, and that his actions on the
occasion of the killing, and his earli
eat statement of the fact, were TO be
blown aside as 50 much chat.
The jury appears to have attached
no importance to the GOODNESS and de-
liberation of Mellow, evidenced in a
dozen different acts, whereby he at
tempted the task of covering up his
bloody deed.
The attempted burial was, evident
ly, only a temporary arrangement for
the hiding of the body until it could
be entirely destroyed, and the traces
of the crime forever obliterated. It
has been shown in several important
criminal trials in this country, by the
testimony Of experts, that, if proper
agencies are used, human body may
be destroyed in few hours. McDow
was a physician.
Dr.. Mellow enjoys the light of
heaven, uninterrupted by the iron
bars of his recent prison, and, to-day,
walks the streets of Charleston free
man; but large number Of the
thoughtful and order-loving people OF
the State, and we may say of the
United States, are not prepared to
accept the verdict of acquittal as con-
elusive of the innocence of Capt.
Dawson's slayer, but they think, and
vail continue to think, that in this in
stance Justice has not been done.
Though the pitiful condition OF
Mellow, while being tried for his life,
was calculated to excite some commits
esaiion, and appealed fora dispassion-
ate consideration Of his case, yet, the
dsrkened home of which his victim
was the light, the unutterable anguish
aos the bereaved hearts in that home,
where morning and evening prayers
are burdened withl the thought, -
.Bus O, for the touch Of ysn!shed hand,
And the sound Of voice that is still,
appealed, likewise, for some degree Of
Justice.
Il in the result of this trial justice
has been done, then we say save us
from such justice, and let new def
milton be attached to that term in the
name OF which so much injustice has
I--o