Democratic messenger., 1894-11-10
LYNCH AND SADIEl
FOUND GUILTY AND MUST
do TIME IN JAIL.
THE SANcTIFIED GANG
II Will Surely be Broken Up OI,
ChincOteaguc Island.

tihiist> W NHIHtottdguc, don iron,
Wi!liamsville and O'Cannock Neck,
for tonight Lynch. the Messiah" "
and the seductive Sister Sadie sleep
two-by-two in the little brick Jail few
steps from the Court House in which
their trial was concluded ut $50 this
evening.
When she came into the court room
at 10 o'clock this forenoon Sister
"a lies face was pale and pinched.
The three days strain had been too
much for her, and she ioresaw the
inevitable. Wrapped as she was in a
black shawl. she sat behind Counsel
Spady, utterly subdued and worn out
Not so with Spady; he was the lion
of the day. His bluff for the dying
cause Of the Sanctificationists was bold,
strong and eloquent.
The court got down to business
without palaver. Six witnesses for the
defence were examined and three tor
the prosecution. OF the testimony
educed from the former, that given by
Mrs. Catharine Birch was the most
amusing. Under cross examination it
was brought out that courtship on
Chincoteague is sometimes conducted
under circumstances quite as comical
as those recited in the plays of immor-
tai William. This comedy of the
merry Wives of Chincoteague" was
played as follows:
HIS OWN FATHEE-IN-LAw EY PROXY.
Mrs. Birch, the witness, had a
daughter. of whom Alonzo Tarr was
enamored. Mrs. Birch, comely wife
of 81. is Il ..sanctiiied" woman, and so,
in order to ingratiate himself with his
future mother-in-law, by strategy.
Alonzo proiessed earthly Identification.
He became the fellow -watchman of his
girls mother, and read the Bible with
her evening after evening; but as the
devout Mrs. Birch was obliged to look
after her household duties, many occa-
sions arose when Alonzo could slyly
court Mrs. Birch's pretty daughter.
Reading with the elder and caress-
ing her. Ia Chincoteague, he yet
found time to engage the affections of
the Younger. who by-and by became
his wife. But now, mark He did
not abandon Mrs. Birch when Miss
Birch had become Mrs. Tarr. Far
from it He kept up his two-by-two
readings with his sanctiiied mother-in
law, and is to this day her spiritual
husband. If this does not afford a
splendid opportunity for brand new
mother-in law joke. the laughter in the
court room to-day was altogether mis-.
placed.
For the prosecution the testimony
of the witnesses was lively and inter-
esting. especially that of Mrs. Pitts, a
sharp-faced woman in black nubia
from beneath the front of which stood
out a pompadour roll of sanctified red
hair. Her sharp tongue cleared the
air for Prosecutor Fletcher, who at
the opening of the afternoon session
began his argument for the common
wealth.
Common sense was Fletcher's kew
note. No such case, he said, had ever
before been tried in Virginia. Its
filth was abominable. There is bird
called the cuckoo that lays its eggs in
other birds nests, and he appealed to
the jury to cut off the wings and pull
out the tail feathers of the two-by-two
cuckoos. He rehearsed the testimony
and summed it up in a plain talk
whereof the effect upon the jury was
marked. He quoted the words of the
true Christ, applying them to the
false Messiah OF Chincoteague: "Woe
unto you scribes and Pharisees, hypo.
critics !" and then he added: You
compass land and sea TO make a
proselyte, and when he is made YOU
make him two-fold more child OF
hell than yourselves
Spady then got up. His oratory is
of the forceful and electrical sort. He
splashed in regardless, laying himself
open to counter shots time and again,
yet preserving his general coherance
and doing the level best of a great
pleader in a small cause. Ills analy.
sis of the adverse testimony was spec
ious and snappy.
His concluding plea for mercy to
Sister Sadie was resonant and pathetic
Paraphrasing the Savior's words III
behalf of the adulterous woman, he
pleaded that all of those indicted save
Lynch might be permitted to go to
their island homes, "where the ocean.
roar is the baby's lullaby"
But the jury had already made up
its mind. 1t took the case at 4.4C
and soon returned with the following
verdict:
Guilty as to Lynch, Sister Sadie,
Mrs. S. +. Collins and William J
Chandler; not guilty, as to John F.
Collins"
THE SENTENCES.
Lynch eight months in Jail and fine
$3.50.
Mrs. S. Z. Collins and Sister Sadie
four months in Jail and fine 800.
Chandler, six months in jail and
fine $3.50.
Spady gave notice of appeal; but il
is believed here that this punishment
will put an end TO as strange case oil
religious measles as ever went so long
unquarantined east of Utah.
Hogs Fattened ON Wheat.
Official government statistics Just
compiled show that the low price o
| wheat has dpveloped the pOrk -nackino