The Indiana State sentinel. [volume] (Indianapolis) 1868-1895, 1894-04-18

woman, and it was conceded that Mamie
| Pollard, Of whom she spoke, was
matured then. Concerning the engage
ment Of Woods. he declared that there
was no hint even of improperly in those
relations.
The Rhodes Matter.
The relations Of Madeline Pollard and
Rhodes We're discussed next and Mr..
| Wilson emphasized the fact that there
was no testimony but that Of the de-
| mendant to the effect that the dead
man, who could not speak for himself.
had sustained improper relations with
the plaintiff. Rhodes, however, was a
man who. unlike the defendant kept
| his letters. Those letters had been
| raked up and throughout them was no
| sentence to hint of improper relations
| between the parties to the correspond
ence. The defense. however, accused
| the dead man OF even greater perfidy
/ than was charged against the defendant.
| Discussing the testimony of Hiram
| Kaufman and John Brandt the speaker
| said that some good Wader had waded
| through the filth OF the back alleys of
| Lexington to bring forth these known
| perjurers, which had a greater signi-
| ficance, because it showed the character
| of the defense.
Mr.. Wilson went on to speak Of the
| might he said, have passed by that
| testimony as did a famous lawyer who
| handled "a most unique liar" by sim
ply dismissing him with may God have
mercy on your SOUL
He then characterized RosselTs testi-
mony as "a black a damnable lie; a lie
| nailed to the counter to be written in
letters of deepest black against this de-
| Tense"
Scoring breckenridge.
Then Mr. Wilson proceeded to attack
the credibility of the defendant fierce
ly. He has been equally guilty with
my client" declared the lawyer; "even
more so, for he had taken a solemn
vow to heaven and she had not. He had
| broken that vow by his own confession
before he ever met Madeline Pollard.
He has admitted that he knew Sarah
| Guess, knew the character of her house
and had been there before he went with
Madeline Pollard. He has lived a lie
| for ten years; his life has been that of
| faithlessness to the most sacred obi
cations Of life. He has lived life of
| duplicity. of hypocrisy such as you can't
coin words to express the length and
breadth of. He tells you that he went
to Mrs. Blackburn Intentionally to de-
ceive her; he tells you that he went TO
Moore to tell him a lie. When he at
tempts to blacken the character of my
| client l want to measure his testimony
| by the rules Of law How do YOU know
| that he is not telling this story TO de-
| ceiVe you2 The probab ility is that he
| is doing it, for he is now in the tolls;
| he is brought TO bay, and in his eX-
| tremity he asks you to believe such
story on his unsupported word-this
man, STEPPED and soaked in depravity
and original sin. l want the world To
know that whatever of slime is on her
| trail of the serpent over her life. L
wish all the mothers Of the land could
| see this woman in her true light They
would open their hearts to this woman,
| their svmpathies would swell up for her.
She would be. if not excused. understood
as not being the seducer of this unprO-
tected man. but as injured by his ma
chinations."
Mr.. Wilson expressed a wish that he
had the tongue of the defendant, or his
learned counsel. that he might properly
nav tribute to the noble sister from the
house Of refuge where Madeline Pollard
was sheltered. who had supported her
through her ordeal and with an applica-
ton by Sister Ellis of the scriptural
promise; In my Fathers house are
many mansions.
WASHINGTON. April 14-Foreman
Charles r. Cole of the circuit court jury
at 4:45 o'clock this afternoon announced
a verdict for the plaintiff, Madeline Pol
lard, for $4,000 damages from Congress
| man w. c. p. Breckenridge for breaking
his contract to marry her. thus ending
the long and exciting Breckinridge-Pol-
lard breach of promise trial.
Sensations had fairly crowded into the
last day of the trial: there had been some
of the most dramatic scenes which ever
stirred the dingy little court room, reek-
ing as it was with the memories of cele-
brated cases; there was an approach to
|
son and Attorney Charles II. StOll, dur
ing the magnificent closing argument Of
the Washington lawyer, followed by talk
of a duel, and Judge Bradley. in his
charge to the jury, scored Col Phil
Thompson.
The jury retired at 3:O7 p. m. The first
ballot was taken upon the merits of the
case, leaving out of consideration the
question of the amount of damages. 1t
resulted in eleven votes for a verdict IN
favor Of the plaintiff and one vote for
the defendant. Thereupon the dissenting
gentleman was, figuratively speaking,
cOrnered by his colleagues and for some
time was argued with.
In speaking Of this discussion after
ward Foreman Cole said that the jury
men displayed fully as great familiar
ity with the points of the testimony as
had been evidenced by the lawyers in
their arguments. They laid the case
fully before the Obdurate juryman,
called for the grounds on which his be-
lief was based and were finally able 10
overcome him by sheer force of logic.
The next question to be settled was the
figure at which the damages should be
rated, and upon this matter there was
the widest possible difference. Two or
three jurors thought the full amount
sued for. $4,000. should be awarded.
Foreman Cole said that a verdict of 81
would vindicate Miss Pollard and punish
Mr. Breckenridge sufficiently, and he
thought il was unnecessary to impose
any great financial punishment upon
him.
Reaching the Verdict.
Discussion of this matter followed. un-
til the usual course was adopted. each
juror writing the amount he considered
just upon slip of paper, and a balance
being struck The amounts ranged from
81 to $5O000 and $4,000 was the average.
Just before the final vote. Judge
Bradley had sent a messenger TO inquire
if there was any probability that YER
dict would be agreed upon soon. Re-
ceiving the reply that the jury was
about to conclude its deliberations. he
entered the court room. His entrance
of course was the signal for a gathering
of the crowd Not a woman's face was