The diamond drill. (Crystal Falls, Iron County, Mich.) 1887-1996, 1895-06-01


President f.Incoin-
The courtroom in which were tried
In May, 1865. the eight conspirators ar
raigned for being concerned In the plot
against the lives Of the heads OF the
government was place OF fascinating
and perhaps morbid interest, writes
Noah Brooks IN Century, bnt IL was
finally opened TO those who could pro-
cure passes from the president Of the
court The room in which the trial was
held Is ia part Of the great United States
arsenal establishment, attached to
which Is the penitcntiary In which the
conspirators were confined. IL is on
the banks of the Potomac, in the sub
urbs OF the city. Entering an old
fashioned brick building, one was
shown into a large, bare room on the
ground floor, where sat couple of
STAFF officers receiving the credentials
Of those who applied for admission.
They sent these up TO the court, where
an officer inspected them. and returned
them, n satisfactory with the desired
card of admission.
a narrow flight of stairs brought the
visitor 10 small chamber in the second
story, where lot of ordcrlies were
lounging about, and an officer inspect
ed ones pass. After another fight of
stairs, another inspection OF the pass
permitted one To enter the courtroom,
which was i'm the third story. 1t was
an apartment about twenty-five feet
wide and thirty feet long, the entrance
being at the end opposite the peniten-
tiary. Looking up the room one saw
that IL was divided lengthwise into two
parts. the portion on the right being
occupied by the court, sitting around a
long, green-covered table, Gen. Hunter
at one end and Judge Advocate General
Holt with his assistants at the other.
The part of the room which was not
occupied by the court was rallied off,
and was taken up with a few seats for
reporters and spectators generally, who
were crowded confusedly about, and
rested as best they could against the
bare, whitewashed walls OF the room.
At the farther end of the apartment
was wooden railing, behind which, on
narrow, raised platform, sat the ac-
cused men, all In a solemn row, with
an armed soldier sitting between every
two persons. At the left-hand corner
behind them was heavy iron door
opening into the corridor along which
were the cells of the prisoners Each
one of the accused was manacled nand
and foot, and sat grimly against the
wall, facing the court and the wit
nesses, the witness-stand being raised
box in the center of the room.
The appearance and demeanor of the
court. it must be admitted, were neither
solemn nor impressive. The members
of the commission sat about in various
negligent attitudes, and general APP
pearance of disorder was evident. Many
ladies were present, and their ire
pressible whispering was continual
nuisance TO the reporters, who desired
to keep track of the evidence. The
witnesses were first examined by the
1udRe-advocate, the members of the
court putting In a question now and
then, and the counsel for the prisoners
taking up the REORGANIZATION, each
counsellor attending only TO the wit
ness whose testimony affected his own
client. The witnesses were brought in
without regard TO any particular Grim
inal, all being tried Mt once. occa-
sionally an attorney for one prisoner
would "dcvelop" tho witness under ex-
animation In such a manner as to injuro
the cause of another of the defendants,
and then n petty quarrel would ensue
between the different counsel.