St. Paul daily globe. [volume] (Saint Paul, Minn.) 1884-1896, 1892-02-04
THE HARRIS CASE.

The conviction of CARLYLE HARRIS,
who has for some weeks been OH trial
In New York city for the murder of his
wife, following close Oh verdict of
guilty in the GRAVES case at Denver, is
indicative of the most extraordinary
SillingnesS on the part of jurymen to
trust in circumStantial evidence. Both
OF these men were charged with the use
of poison, and 4 reasonable motive was
found in each instance for the commits
sion of the deed. But the chain by
which they were connected with the
acts themselves Was of The SlimmeSt
kind. The Colorado victim was killed by
drinking from a bottle of whisky sent
her by mail, and the woman in New
York by using medicine which had been
prescribed her by the accused. But how
the jury which listened to the testimony
had the daring to take the chances of
the doubt which surrounded the crimes
and vote promptly and unanimously in
favor of putting to death fellow Great
ure who might be innocent, is really
quite remarkable.
The man condemned in New York
suffered from his personal record, which
was very skilIfully made to appear in
the worst light by the states attorney.
He is still very young, and seems to
have led a very foolish and dissolute
career. He belonged to the set of smart
boys who pass their summers at the
cheap seaside places in the neighbor-
hood of the metropolis, and who spend
part of their leisure in plotting against
tile honor of young girls, and much
larger part i'll Boosting about achieve
ments, most OF which have been made
only in their imagination. HARRIS was
proved to have been the hero of scrape
or two, but the tales which he had told
OF his victories were admitted in evil
dence against him, and by them lie was
q Lothario of medieval proportions.
According TO his own accounts he
had been secretly married three or four
times at least, and was the father of
several children who had been pre-
maturely put out Of the way. He is
good-looking and Of attractive bearing,
but he knew this so we'll himself that
he kept telling every one he had never
met woman who was proof against his
nv piOtulC DtGSSHIS 10 blS
man of the world belongs to the type of
cheap Washers who frequently do ae-
complish much harm among silly and
Ill-bred young girls, but who are their
OVID worst enemies in that they mag
Nifty their sins because they think it is
big thing to figure as tough. The
average jury is made up of individuals
whose temperamentS are sober, and
who have themselves led lives of earn
estneSs ana decent routine. And this
was so in the present instance. They
took in seriousness all that they heard,
and were without the capacity of dis
elimination sufficient to separate
which was substantial from what was
the vapid talk of an underdone boy.
They accepted him at his word, and, be-
lieving hIm to be a monster of wicked
ness, as he had declared he was, found
him equal to committing the crime of
murder, and worthy of suffering the
death penalty.
He still has chance for his life, but,
whether he escapes finally or not, his
fate is sealed SO far as future of use
fnlness is concerned. He has been
playing with fire during his unthinhing
years, and, now that he had arrived at
time when ne would have been glad to
settle down to work, he finds himself
wrecked and an Outcast. This seems a
very bitter punishment for youthful in
discretion, but it is the risk which
everybody runs who ventures upon
sexual irregularities of any sort. A
good many who engage in such things
escape comparatively unscathed, but
the world is full of examples of noble
lives cut short by the daIliance of an
Idle hour. No man or woman who
steps outside the narrow path which
society and the law have prescribed as
being the only secure one can feel any
confidence that he will enjoy immunity
from consequences out OF all apparent
proportion to his escapade. The fruit
may be scared conscience, leading up
10 transgressionS still more dangerous.
1t may be diseased body or tainted
reputation, thwarting ones hopes in the
moment of their realization. Or it NAV
be something still worse than any of
these, as in the case of the poor wretch
In New York city. But in general it
may be assumed that the love of adj
ventures with the opposite sex is a
pastime which one INDUCES in at the
expense of the most serious periis.
Everybody, whatever his age, ought to
understand this when he proposes to
make the plunge.
OF hot