The Bottineau pioneer. (Bottineau, N.D.) 1885-1895, 1894-10-20
IT WYER'S 0

AT the time the following incident
took place | was about twenty-fOul
years Of age, and had just been adj
mitted to the American bar. | had
studied hard. aal my preceptor pre-
dicird for me great success i'll the pro
fesSion | had chosen; i'll fact, | felt
myself that | was. sure of success
er or later. This feeling was not that
Of vanity. but only Il consciousness OF
power. | must confess, however, | an
ticipatrl many years of hard work be
fore making any reputation, or ever
having any difficult case upon which
to exercise my ability.
One day | took up the morning paper
according to my usual custom, and
was soon Interested :a the graphic ac'
count of Il rOld-blOoded murder and
bank robbery. The Fifth National one
Of the richest banks in the city, had
been robbed of one hundred thousand
dollars and tn" ianitOr shot. The cash
icr was found the morning after the
occurrence in Il small closet in the in
ncr office, and his death was expected
honrly-the great wonder being that
he had not %smothcred.
Like many others | took an interest
in the case. which was so mysterious,
no clue being found. except a black
mask and revolver which had been
dropped in the office. The janitor &C.
curird rooms on the lower floor, but
his body WAS discovered in the room
adjoining ~ office in which the cash
Ter WAS found, and in which was the
safe. The doctors all agreed that the
~janitnr lived for about ten minutes af-
ter being shot; and that he must have
struggled hard, for his head showed
marks of blows from the butt of a re-
yOlyCr
That this could all take place in an
adjoining room, and the cashier not be
put on his guard. seemed absurd. and
there were many who claimed that
he vas an accomplish, had opened the
safe, and then been locked in the clos
ct without considering the INSULT
cheney Of air. The cashier. contrary
to all expectations recovered and
told his story.
lie stated that he was detained at
the bank by some work until nine
o'clock. He heard no noise of any
kind, but was seated at his desk busily
writing; then he heard someone ex
claim. Look around, or make Il noise
and you are q dead man."
Looking naturally ahead. he behelt
in the mirror over his desk a man il
his shirt-sleeves. who held Il revol
yer close to his head. The fellow was
about 6 feet in height. quite stout, anc
had on 4 black mask which covered
his face to his mouth; his chin wa.
bare, and his revolver was held il
his right hand. the left being cut of
at the elbow. This he saw in the few
seconds that elapsed before the rObbel
ordered him to get up, repeating his
inju1 ction not to look around or max.
a nOiSe
He then said, II have come for thu
money in that safe. | have killed thu
%janitor. and will kill you unless you
open it. In order to show you that
mean business, l have brought the
body of the janitor up stairs, and he is
in the next room. Walk to the door
and look at him. You need not try
to escape, for the outer door is lock
ed, and | will shoot you if you attempt
it,
The cashier walked to the door OF
the main office, and beheld the deaG
body of the janitor upon the floor.
"NoW, open the safe," said the rob
Der.
The cashier. frightened at the fate
before him if he refused, decided tc
open the safe, hoping for an opportu.
nifty to overpower the ruffian; but
when the safe was open, the robbel
quietly ordered him to enter the closet
This he was also compelled to do. The
closet was so small that u person
could not turn around in it,. other
wise he would have pushed open the
dcor and grapplcd with the robber
when he heard him drop the revolver,
which he was obliged to do to lock the
door. He heard the robber at tile
safe, but in n few minutes became un
&C nscious from lack Of air, and knew
nothing more until his recovery.
This story created great excitement,
the more so from the fact that the
description was almost an exact one
of Col. Coventry. m of the bank direc.
tors. The colonel had been an officer
in the Civil War. and had lost his left
forearm in the service. The cashiers
story was corroborated by finding
blood upon the carpet of the %janitor's
room, and it was found by experiment
that a revolver discharged therein
could not be heard in the Office above.
Two men informed the reporter that
they had seen Col. Coventry walking
by the bank at half-past eight on the
evening of the murder. This evidence
was sufficient to cause his arrest, and
he was placed in Jail.
AS soon as I heard the cashiers story
/ determined to defend Col. Coventry,
for I saw an opportunity to prove his
innocence and make a reputation TO,
myself. I ordered a hack, and driving
to the gaol, found the colonel consult.
ing his lawyers. / waited till they had
departed, then stated my reasons fol
coming. He looked at me in surprise,
and smilingly said that he had older
and more experienced lawyers.
"VVhat hope do they give you?" ]
asked.
He blushed redly, and said in an an.
cry tone: '"They say the evidence is
strong against me, and act as if they
believed me guilty; but the rascals are
smart"
Colonel" 1 said, "they, as well as all
Who read the papers, do believe you
guilty; but | know you are innocent,
and, what Is more, | can prove it,