The morning call., 1893-03-22
TIE HARRIS CASE.

THE HARRIS CASE.
The circumstances which attended the
sentence of Carlyle w. Harris TO the death
penalty in New York on Monday were
striking enough to warrant word of COM
ment Harris was medical student aged
% years. He was a bright young man, but
was regarded by his intimates as unprin-
cipled. He had mania for deceving young
girls. lie would send them telegraphc
dispatches ln the name of girl friends.
would meet them al q place he designated
and would take them to resorts of his own
under plea Of meeting ladies they knew.
In the course of his adventures he met
Helen Potts, beautiful young lady OF 10.
whose charms Of face and figure fascinated
him. She had sense enough TO insist on
declining a visit which did not aim at mar
riage; he acquiesced in her views and took
her before a New York Alderman who
kept corner grocery and who was quite
willing to marry them for the usual fee.
He stipulated that the marriage should be
kept secret. Presently circumstances CON-
PEELED Helen 10 disclose the facts To her
mother, aud tbe latter insisted that Harris
should acknowledge the marriage. He de-
INJURED, and demanded a postponement
till he had been admitted TO practice.
Meanwhile Helen complained of head
aches; her husband gave her box of cap
sules to cure them; she took several and
presently died on the autopsy her stomach
revealed the presence of morpha in large
doses. On this Harris was arrested and
tried on a charge of murder. His counsel.
the well-known criminal lawyers, Howe &
Hummel, rested the defense on the theory
that Helen was a person who was particu-
a T
They summoned medical witnesses to prove
that some persons will die Of dose of
morphia which others could take without
serious consequences. But this defense
was shattered when the regular attendant
Of the Potts family was put on the stand
and testified that he had frequently pre-
scribed morphia for helen without unusual
results. The prosecution managed to get
the antecedents of Harris before the jury
and with very little hesitation they found
the prisoner guilty of murder in the first
degree. lie was accordingly sentenced 10
death. An appeal to the Court Of ) ppeRls
resulted in a confirmation OF the findings of
the court below, and on Monday Recorder
Smythe sentenced Harris TO die by electro
cuton during the week commencing May s.
The usual inquiry being put whether the
prisoner had anything to say, Harris spoke
and read from notes for all hour aad a
quarter Much of what lie said was in
audible from his emotion; but the reporters
caught sentences in which he berated the
Prosecuting Attorney. the witnesses and
the Judge who had tried him 10 the terms
which prisoners usually employ when their
hopes OF aequittal have been baked. lie
would have been listened 10 with less at
tention but fur the fact that. while no one
l. Il ~ ,
not but admit that he had been oDycted
on circumstantial evidence. The actual
administration of the poison by him to his
victim had not been proved.
After the sentence the real sensation in
the case occurred. When Harris was taken
out of the courtroom his eye encountered
crowd of 5000 people crowding the streets
and closing them to traffic. When they saw
him they burst into shouts, "Hurrah for
Harris! Bully for Harris!" you'll
down Recorder Smythe yeti" ItreQuired a
strong force of police to get the prisoner
through the throng to the Tombs, and once
or twice rescue seemed likely. The
vociferous mob followed Harris to the steps
of the prison bowling and shouting and
cheering.
This is the sad, we might say the alarm
ing feature of the case. Here was repro
bate of the meanest kind, who had spent his
days in comprising the ruin Of young girls.
and who. when the life Of an innocent young
woman stood in his way. did not hesitate to
take it in the most cunning and trescherous
way. Yet when he is sentenced to bear the
penalty of the crime the sympathy Of the
New York mob goes out to him and the pop
ulaee shout, Bully for Harris!' Are We
TO suppose that the lower strata OF society
In New York approve of debauchery sup
plemented by assassination?
This tendency to sympalhize with crime
Is a European exotic. On the continent of
Europe so many good men have suffered for
their opinions that the masses have been
educated in the idea that the prisoner is
generally victim and the officers of the law
tyrants. There is no justification for such
notions here. In this country tile ministers
Of the law hold the scales of justice evenly
between society and the wrougdoer; it is
they. and not the culprit who are entitled
to public sympathy and support. Yet
American women sent flowers to Gnlteau,
and men-let us hopa they were not Amerl-
cans-shouted "BuIly for Harrisr'