The herald., 1896-03-13
After Six Hours Conference the
Lowry Jury Is Locked Up
SOME SCORCHING ARGU MENT
Engineer Fi1ckle Testifies iu the City'S
Water Suit
hrs, Mary Jane Dalton's Suit for $40, 900
Damages on Trial Before Judge Nc.
Kiniey-New Inform matlons

It looks as if the general fate that has
attended the indictments of the grand
jury, recently discharged, is to befall the
Lowry case.
At 4 o'clock yesterday afternoon the jury
retired to consider the verdict. and, save
for the tins spent in dining, six hours
were consumed III discussing the merits OF
the case without any decision being arrived
at. At 10 o'clock the jury was locked up
for the night, Deputy Sheriff Guy Wood
ard continuing to keep ward over his
charges.
Having remained out so long it is more
than likely that the jury will agree to dis
agree, and Judge Smith, in such case, will
order it discharged.
The arguments of the defense. made yes
terday, as we'll as the closing effort of
District Attorney Donnell in behalf of the
prosecution, lucid and logical as they may
have been, can scarcely be said to have
been such as would remove reasonable
doubt from the minds of ''all'' jurors.
During the trial 50 many ctions
of both Ward and the defend ant
were testified to as seemed to indicate that
much remained untold that this alone
would be calculated to raise doubt in the
mind of the average juror. If on the other
hand the jury had determined to cry, "a
plague ON both your houses" and disbe-
lieve the testimony OF both Ward ana
Lowry. then their would not have been
weight of testimony and an acquittal would
have surely resulted quickly.
There is nothing certain, save death and
taxes. and jury is the most uncertain
quality, but il seems safe to say that the
present one will fail to agree.
Attorney Variel made the opening argyll
ment to the jury and prefaced his analysis
OF the testimony by polntediy drawing
parallel between the Hebrew custom, un-
der the Mosaic dispensaton, of placing the
sins of the tribe each year upon the head of
q scapegoat and sending it into the wilder
ness to be forgotten. mayhap to die: and
Frank Lowry, upon whose shoulders had
been placed the offenses of the county
clerks Office in general, and those of L. FL.
Ward in particular-it mattered nothing
that his life should be blasted, that he
should be penned up in the penitentiary.
20 long as he carried into seclusion the sins
of those Tor whom he was made to suffer.
After this mild toast of Mr.. Ward coun-
eel proceeded to examine the more salient
r.. lures of the evidence produced by the
prosecu ion, leaving for his colleague the
duty Of more Systematically dissecting
end tearing TO pieces the case as put for
ward in behalf of the people.
When Attorney Meserve began his argu-
ment the pointed allusons of his associate
counsel sal;k into insigniticance beside his
bitter invectiva. He reserved his most
carefully selected terms of denunciation
for Ward and his deputy, Woodbury.. In
detailing the actions of the former, while
county clerk, he very cleverly marshaled
the facts as elected, not by the defense
but by the prosecution. and in striking
manner present ed 20 the jury word pic
ture of the criminal laxity prevailing even
az ording to the testimony of Ward him
s.l-.
FOR Mr.. Woodbury.. however, counsel
found no words to express his scorn. 1t
vas this witness that occupied the unique
position of being the only one to whom
Lowry, according to witnesses statement.
actually confessed that he had 'made
away" with the Sl354. Counsel's miidest
term for this betraying OF his friend was "a
traitor In seeking a parallel case of in
fanny counsel went back some 1900 years
and spoke of one whom it was desired
should be deli> cred to the proper tribunal
for trial. "His friends" said counsel,
"kept their mouths closed, they would not
speak though they had been torn limb
from limb. 1t took thirty pieces of silver
to produce Judas Iscariot. and it took the
love of holding office to prompt a Wood
bury to betray the man who according to
his own statement, was his friend.'
This is a mere specimen of the rhetoric
to which the jury were treated and by the
time counsel had concluded his argument
the court room was very warm.
In the closing argument for the prose-
cution District Attorney Donnell did not
waste much time in preliminaries. In the
short space of time during which he occu-
pied the attention of the jury he gave a
clear and clean cut statement of the facts,
AS put forward in behalf of the people and
drew attention to the discrepancies IN the
defense. which had been set up to meet
these facts. Major Donnell spoke for
instructed the jury and the latter retired
few moments before o'clock to consider
the verdict