davidaulloa/AmericanStories huggingface dataset:
St. Paul daily globe. [volume] (Saint Paul, Minn.) 1884-1896, 1895-03-03
DECAY OF PUGmIsM.

The star of the oId-time pueil;st
mas set, and he is replaced in the
directions of the tickle sporting world
by the football kicker, the curIer and
'cycllst. In the good old DAYS of
Heenan, Morrissey, Allen and Nc
Cool, when men met in the squared
circle, and with bare knuckles
pounded each others faces to putn
there was a sort of savage sport in
II which was attractive to a certain
class on account of it's very brutality.
These men We're ruffians, and did not
pretend to be anything else, but
their wonderful physical develop
ment and endurance of punishment
was marvel, and a good many peo-
pie who called themselves respecta-
ole went to see the exhibitions. and
the principals were looked upon as
heroes of certain class.
There are no heroes of the prize
ring now. The so-called fighters
spend long months of training. and
Wnen the event comes off it is gen
orally an exhibition Of amazingly
expert lodging. The PRINCIPALS or
their representatives meet and agree
upon certain percentage of the re-
celpts which shall go to the winner
and the rest to the loser, a crowd
gathers to see the fight, paying so
much head for the privilege. and
the doorkeeper does the rest. The
only man in the whole performance
who displays any skill is the adver-
Using agent, and nobody gets pun
ished except the public, which is
forced to read a padded report of the
fight 1t is money-making
scheme, pure and simple 1t hasn't
even the charm Of brutality about it
1t is about as exciting as game of
chess and not quite as dangerous as
Sunday school picnic. The contest
ants are not the heroes of the old
time prize ring; they are generally
a couple of well-conditioned bunco
steerers out of a job, handler with
their feet than their hands. and
handler with their tongues than with
either. Once in a great while one of
them gets hurt, but it is generally bv
falling against something when he
St. Paul daily globe. [volume] (Saint Paul, Minn.) 1884-1896, 1895-03-03
MORE FVTIyISM.

Some OF our humane and philan-
thropic people, with the very best
Intentions, have taken the news
boys and bootblacks in hand and
propose to legislate them into a con-
dition Of Intelligence and morality.
They will ask the legislature to pass
a bill prohibiting the gamin from
selling papers or backing boots I'M
less he has license from the mayor
of the city in which he lives. The
mayor cannot grant him a license
unless the lad is able to read and
write, nor unless he is above a GER
tain age, nor unless he has a good
moral character.
The motive underlying this action
is good one, seeking to offer to the
lads who cry the papers or shine
your shoes upon the street an in
centive to be better boys and de-
velop into good citizens. But there
is no reason to expect that this eff
fort to produce better morals by
legislative enactment will be any
more successful than have been the
efforts during the centuries to legis-
late men into morality and religion
The churches in their palmy days
carried this method to extreme with
out avail. They invoked the terrors
OF the lnQuisition, and the stake, the
rack and the lash, the fine and the
prison, and found it all futile. In
fact, the moral development has
been more marked since the churches
abandoned that method of proselyt-
ing
The statutes Of our own states are
replete with enactments equally pa
ternalistic in their purpose and equal
ly futile. Men continue to get drunk
with impunity Notwithstanding the
Scheffer law, and boys buy and
smoke cigarettes upon our streets
In defiance of the Kelly cigarette
law. But in this case other oues-
lions arise. What will become of
those lads who are not. able to con-
vince the mayor that they are of
good moral character? Must the
mayor, for instance, be satisfied
that the lad does not indulge in
profanity? Must he bring evidence
that he always returned with the
nickel which he went saround the
corner to get changed?
And suppose that he cannot read
and write. What becomes of these
rejected ones? If they cannot earn
a livelihood by backing boots or SELL
ing papers, what will they do? Will
fhaV ha
the streets without occupation? Do
not these good people, after all. ig-
more the vital fact that education
counts for nothing if character be
wanting? If the germ of character
be tainted, education renders it only
more capable of evil. Law cannot
make character. Environment NAV
do much toward shaping and modi-
Tying it. 1t can discourage the evil
tendency and aid in the DEVELOPMENT
of the good one, but legislation can
not provide this environments; il
must be the result of charitable and
private action.
IL the people who are concerned
in this movement have become dis
couraged and impatient of the slow
processes of their own efforts and.
like the wagner in the fable, are
now calling upon Jupiter to aid
them, they should remember that
the development Of the race is slow:
that it's best aids are the efforts of
individuals; that human laws are
inert save as there are human ac-
t1v1t1es behind them, and that it is
human nature to yield to suasion and
resist coercion.
St. Paul daily globe. [volume] (Saint Paul, Minn.) 1884-1896, 1895-03-03

that the grand jury Of Cook county
would be able to fully fathom
the depths of mystery surround
ing the transaction, and low
ers of good government all over
the country will earnestly commend
the effort to make the outrage the
matter of searching inquiry at the
hands of men whose environments
are such as to hold them clear of
even the suspicion of collision with
the derelict aldermen.
In cities like Chicago, where men
of impure lives and immoral habits
so often gain the aScendency in poll
tics, it is very desirable that some
outside force be occasionally eXerted
to call them to an accounting. The
local corrective agencies are often, if
not generally, inadequate to cope
with the thoroughly organized ma
chine of the political gang, and it is
only by invoking the strong arm of
the state law, and by enlisting the
services of citizens having none 9TH
er than a general interest in the
situation as it affects the credit of
the state, that the evil can be Ell
fectively remedied
The people of Chicago and of the
whole state of Illinois are to be con-
graduated upon the prospect of such
a speedy and comprehensive investi-
cation of a transaction. which is a
blot upon the reputation of Chicago
and of the state of which it is the
metropolis.
St. Paul daily globe. [volume] (Saint Paul, Minn.) 1884-1896, 1895-03-03

trial they are also sent there dur
ing her majestys pleasure" which is
an equivalent sentence In bona fide
cases of insanity, should recovery
subsequently occur, it is left by the
home office to the discretion of the
superintendent of Broadmoor whetn-
er such persons shall be paroled,
subject always to a guaranty from
responsible friends as to their safety
and conduct; such friends being re-
CURED to make a written report
every three months to the asylum
superintendent. These patients are
also subject to inspection several
times yearly by government medical
officers, and are liable to recall at
any moment. In cases of suspected
shamming no such parole would be
allowed. L was informed that with
such restrictions the plea of insanity
In criminal cases was very seldom
made, the accused preferring to take
the chances of the trial Such pro-
visions do not do away with medical
expert testimony, but rather give it
the dignity and bipartisan char
acter which it should possess.
St. Paul daily globe. [volume] (Saint Paul, Minn.) 1884-1896, 1895-03-03
JOHN F. FITZPATRICK.

Popular attention is now and then
forcibly attracted to the subject of
circumstantial evidence, particular
ly in criminal cases, and some mis-
apprehension exists as to what
makes such evidence. Circumstan-
tial evidence is not peculiar to legal
science. 1t is just as common and
just as much used in any other sci
ence or art, and in fact simply g.
general rule of logic, by which one
fact is inferred from evidence of an
other fact, in some way connected
with the first Everybody uses cir
.rcumstantial evidence when he seeks
to discov. L hidden truth or fact of
any kind.
The on.y peculisrities of the ap-
plication of circumstantial evidence
in courts of law are the limitations
Nihi. have been cast around it in
the way of presumptions. There are
many such presumptions which have
no foundation in the rules of logic.
In law a man is presumed to be in
nocent, and his guilt must be proved
Beyond a reasonable doubt; and his
motives are always presumed to be
proper and honest until the contrary
is shown. There is no logical reason
why innocence rather than guilt, or
laCproper motive rather than an i'm
proper one should be presumed. AL,
OF which shows that the law will not
lturn a poor defendant over to the
unrestrained action of human rea-
son when guided only by what Coke
calls 1.-The uncertain testimony of
slippery memory"
The defects of circumstantial evil
dence as applied in the courts are
those of human nature rather than
of rules of law. The tools are of the
finest, but the workman and his ma
terial are very crude and imperfect.
The material, which is testimony,
shows as through a magnifying
glass all the weaknesses of poor HUI
mainly. The natural desire to score
a point, or make a sensation, not to
mention partisan bias or exagger-
alton, together with a slippery
memory" make even honest wit
nesses usually unreliable.
Few persons can see a fact as it is
and fewer still describe truly. Alb
solute consistency is so rare a quality
that the presence of it in the testi-
mony of witness is very suspicious.
and subjects him to the severest
comment. The incapacity of the av-
erage witness to give direct an
St. Paul daily globe. [volume] (Saint Paul, Minn.) 1884-1896, 1895-03-03
DR.. C. EUGENE RIGGS.

The final solution of the question
of expert testimony is far from being
reached. In the first place, there is
no standard to which any so-called
expert must conform in order to
justify his claim, and the value of
such testimony suffers accordingly.
There seems to be an idea that the
best expert is the one who can make
the best showing for his own side
Nothing, however, could be more
erroneous, for a true expert should
be unpartisan; his conclusions must
be rendered strictly in accordance
with facts, or, if it is a matter of
opinion upon which he is called to
pronounce, he must have had a wide
and varied experience to be of any
real value.
Many of our profession think that
the judge should be empowered to
appoint a commission of experts in
any case requiring the same; this
commission would be paid by the
state, and be, of course, bipartisan.
Objections to this plan are obvious.
1t seems to me that this problem
must work itself out entirely along
the line of the survival of the fittest.
The most difficult sphere of med
ical expert work is the psychologi-
cal; the very frequent question which
the expert alienist is called upon to
meet being that of sanity or insanity.
There is wide middle ground where
absolute sanity and indisputable in
sanity meet, on which qualified men
differ reasonably and conscientious
ly. 1t is the failure to perceive the
gradations of this sliding scale from
thesane to the insane which gives rise
to much unfair criticism of the ex-
pert Unfortunately just here also
there is total variance between the
medical and legal idea of response
bility. 1t is owing to this difference
OF opinion that certain offenders
nave upon the one hand been too
vigorously punished, or, upon the
other, allowed to escape their Just
deserts. Guiteau and Prendergast
were undoubtedly insane, yet soci-
ETY. for its own protection REQUIRED
their execution.
The serious question arises, How
shall society defend itself and at
the same time be both just and hu-
mana? In Great Britain this prob
lem has been solved by the establish
ment of the criminal insane asylum.
TO which are sent all of this class
Persons committing a homicide, If
found to have been insane, are sent
there for life; if insane at time of
St. Paul daily globe. [volume] (Saint Paul, Minn.) 1884-1896, 1895-03-03
HEIRLOOMS.

This ivory casket, jewel set.
That grandma cherished to the last,
In satin, sweet with mignonette,
Contains the treasures of the past.
She was q f4mous b lie when yoj n =
For she herself has told me So
And when her wedding chimes were
rung
Full many heart was wrung with
woe.
I lift the lid and scan them Ger
Dead souvenirs with reverent gaze;
1t is like opening the door
OF grandma's heart in other days.
If each could tell it's own sweet tale.
But all are silent now as she,
And darkness shrouds the narrow vale
'Twixt memory and mystery.
Here is the chain that round her
Was fastened at the kings cons
mand
Here is the Letter grandpa wrote
When he besought her for her hand;
Here is the locket, pierced. that
To save him from a British gun,
And here a glove, worn when she
The minuet with Washington.
know no more; 1 only know
She loved each one as some old
friend
Anu ludI, because SHe NllieI II 81.
/, too, shall guard them to the end.
She gave no gold TO mine or me.
But left, instead, a heavy debt
OF love, that keeps her memory
AS fragrant as the mignonette.
Truth.
Man wants but little here below
Now. I'm inclined to doubt it:
He gets but little; wants Il pile,
And has to do without it.
Truth
St. Paul daily globe. [volume] (Saint Paul, Minn.) 1884-1896, 1895-03-03
left the alligator state minus the
yellow fruit and the soothing cider.
THE NoMINEE.

The Democrats of st. Paul. and,
indeed, of the whole Fourth con-
gressional district, will unite to
man in commencing the nomination
| of Edward J. Darragh to be corpora
ton counsel of fhe city Of st. Paul.
Mr.. Darragh is a young man who
has vaulted upward on the wings
of his own ambition and energy, but
has been sustained at every upward
step by his own substantial merits.
His has been a somewhat remarka-
BILE career. He has never taken a
backward step since he first gained
the notice of the public, and his adj
vance has been such rapid success
sion of political victories that one
can hardly keep track of them. His
defeat by Col. Kiefer in the congress
Sional contest last fall can hardly be
called defeat, for it came at a time
when the country was so money
mad, protection-craZed,a and so we'd
ded to Republicanism that the Apos-
tie Paul could not have been elected
alderman of the Fourth ward on the
Democratic ticket.
The selection of Mr.. Darragh is
happy solution of the problem which
confronted the Democratic organiZa-
ton. He is man against whom not
a breath of reproach can be raised;
he is eminently qualified by educa-
ton, practice and natural instinct
for the position; he has no enemies
in any faction or clique; his moral
character is as spotless as his pro-
'fessional reputation, and he has no
entangling alliances with the repre-
sentatives of another party His
nomination in the caucus means that
any Democrat who fails to vote for
him in the election may as we'll emf
CRATE to some other party, and his
election will mean that for at least
two years st. Paul will have as it's
legal adviser the clearest head that
is worn on any pair of shoulders in
the city.
1t is matter of general congratu-
lation that the Gordian knot should
have been severed in such a happy
manner. The Democrats of the coun-
Gil are to be congratulated on the
wisdom Of their choice, and Mr.. Ives
is to be congratulated upon the
manly and Independent manner in
which he placed self behind him and
came out for the best interests of the
party.
AS for Mr. Darragh, he will ex-
press his appreciation of the. honor
bestowed upon him by a faithful
performance of every duty to which
he finds himself assigned in his con-
nection with the Office for which he
has been chosen.
St. Paul daily globe. [volume] (Saint Paul, Minn.) 1884-1896, 1895-03-03

l6ck Holmes could not compare with
him. Seriously, it is not often pos
sible-though, of course, it is some
tmes-to make a perfectly innocent
act or series of acts appear to be a
Crime. Some detail essential to Grim
fnal purpose will nearly always be
found to be wanting. Finally, the
possibility of such chain of adverse
circumstances being woven about
an innocent man is clearly no argu-
ment against the value or impor-
lance of circumstantial evidence. 1t
would be just as reasonable to say
that because judges are in rare cases
dishonest or mistaken we should
abolish the Office of Judge
The first half of this question pro-
ceeds upon the erroneous theory that
such an unfair hypothetical question
would be allowed to be put to a wit
ness. Hypothetical questions are re-
CURED to be based upon the facts in
evidence, and if not, they are ruled
out This rule cannot often be vio-
lated, even by ''slyly" framing the
question, if the opposing counsel is
awake at the time. AS to the remain
der Of the question, the answer is
that 1t is not at all essential in a
large class of cases that the matter
inquired of should have come under
the direct observation" of the ex-
pert Mere opinions" rather than
'ascertained conclusions, are what
is usually demanded of an expert
witness. The field OF expert testi-
mony is too wide to discuss in a par
agraph, and will merely say in con-
cluslon that probably the true rea-
son experts so frequently contradict
each other is that the subjects upon
which their opinions are sought sell
dom admit of but a single absolute
conclusion. Their opinions are asked
as to matters of science and skill
and so long as the attachments of
different men in science, skill and
learning are unequal, and especially
so long as the matters they deal with
are not reduced to the status of an
exact science, it would be unreason-
able TO expect entire harmony and
agreement among the experts.
St. Paul daily globe. [volume] (Saint Paul, Minn.) 1884-1896, 1895-03-03

swer to direct question is only par
alleled by the inability of the aver
age lawyer to ask such a question.
However, although lawyers are not
responsible for the laws of circum-
stantial- evidence, they must bear
all the blame for the law of .'ex=
pert evidence. This has grown from
a very small beginning, in compar=
atlVely recent years, to a portentous
size and weight. The expert" and
his name is legion (for his speciality
may be road dirt, cracked skulls;'i
or anything else that humanity is
interested i'm, does not testify to
facts, but to his opinions of them.
He is never at loss unless he
should happen to forget his own
opinion. And his opinion is good
evidence, provided he has a reason
for it, and the reason need not be
sufficient to anybody but himself.
1t naturally follows that experts
contradict each other with sublime
complacency and indifference. Their
responsibility for their opinions on
Facts in court is the same as their
responsibility for their opinions on
religion or politics.. OF course, there
are rules to regulate their testimony.
but after one has shown himself an
expert" he is fairly beyond let or
hlndrance. A learned judge recently
CLASSIFIED witnesses as honest men,
perjurers and experts"
For the convenience of the eek
pert" the hypothetical question has
been invented, so that he can testi-
~ upon facts without hearing the
testimony of the facts This saves
his time, which is always valuable.
1t means that one of the LAWYERS
gives to the expert" witness the
substance of the testimony about
particular fact, and asks his opin-
ion of it. To ask such a question
with perfect fairness is beyond the
capacity of most lawyers, and wholly
inconsistent with the attitude of
mind of an advocate in the heat of
trial. The question will probably
{ be imperfect or unfair, and the an
swer almost necessarily more so.
The range of expert evidence has
been increased to an extraordinary
extent of late years, and, with the
wide extension more and more dis
credit has been cast upon such evil
dence. The evil may in that way
work out its own cure, because when
testimony of any kind has become
entirely discredited no one will en-
ploy it for any purpose.
St. Paul daily globe. [volume] (Saint Paul, Minn.) 1884-1896, 1895-03-03
G &~2&. Ez@<
DR.. WILLIAM D. KELLY.

No practitioner is anxious to be
called as a witness, and only the ne
cessity compels him to leave his
daily routine to become the target
of cross-eXamination. Expert evil
dence is alike unsatisfactory to the
jury and to the one giving it. There
is a great and grave objection to the
ordinary Hypothetical question pro-
pounded to a doctor on the witness
stand. 1t is this: The expert is
not presumed to analyZe the hyDo-
thetical question put to him for the
purpose of ascertaining whether it is
slyly framed to include the facts as
proven or the facts as presumed.
But he answers the question as pro-
pounded, in bulk, as it were; his re-
Spouse is to the question in it's en-
tirety he is not permitted to dis
sect or answer in piecemeal The
everyday interrogation in the law
courts places the expert medical wit
ness in an undesirable position. The
question is usually void Of clear
ness and cOnciseness, and often re-
pure and simple. The facts are in
sufficient and lacking in detail. The
result is that the expert witness
neither throws sufficient light on the
cause under consideration, nor does
he do justice to himself The ques-
ton as asked should be so framed
as to put the witness in full possess
cir Of
done, and thereby testimony be-
comes less valuable
Education and experience enter
into the answer Of every hypotheti-
cal question put to medical expert.
Here his competency to testify be-
comes a matter of judicial determine
alton. But it seems to me that
knowledge derived from books or
authorities without the application
of the same to similar cases con-
tanned in the hypothetical question
propOunded should render the wit
ness incompetent Upon the matter
interrogated. knowledge acquired
and knowledge applied are the fac
tors in conflict. No man is an expert
unless ne has been through the mill;
and his position as an expert is
anomalous unless he has had actual
practice and experience in the case
or similar cases upon which he VEN
lures to testify
The contradiction commonly noted
in the evidence of expert witnesses
is eXplainable upon the ground that
there are two sides to every ques-
ton, and this is practically true in
the medical profession. The Vari-
ance in time when the observation
is made by two physicians is ac-
countable Ofttimes for the variance
of opinion. The patients condition
changes, and as the changed condi-
ton is discovered a different con-
clusiOn is formed. Again, the doctor,
when called upon to give expert evil
dence, is only made acquainted with
the facts beneficial to the party call
ing him, and these are often exag-
gerated. If the conditions are other
wise than stated to him his cOnclu-
sions are erroneous. These are some
of the reasons why experts fire.
quently contradict each other, how
ever honest their intentions and
comprehensive their scientific knoWI-
edge.
St. Paul daily globe. [volume] (Saint Paul, Minn.) 1884-1896, 1895-03-03
They Met by Chance.

Truth.
Maiden Aunt hope you did nor
make any chance acquaintance on
the train, Maud?
Miss Maud Brisk am sorry to say,
Auntie, that L sat for little time in
the lap of an Episcopal bishop, and
watched a United States senator stand
on his head in the lunch basket Of u
total stranger.
Aunt-Horrors, child! What can you
mean?
Maud-It was not premeditated,
assure you, Auntie, but when our
train coIlided with another we were
so upset by the shock that we were
hardly responsible for what we dido
Truth.