The Ketchum keystone. [volume] (Ketchum, Idaho) 1885-1899, 1896-09-19
sEHTEHCED HIS SON TO DEATH.
Tragic Scenes During Trial for MUIR
der in tho We9t

Ouo VI WIG tAOot tGo&AC SC0uo0
ever witnessed" said q Western
Judge, occurred il, a courtroom in
q small town in one Of the new West
ern States. That is to say, it was
new then, but that has been forty
years ago, and was out there grow
ing up with the country and show
ing people how much law . young
ster Of 81 or 20 has at his fingers
ends. The judge vas Z man Of 60
or more, and in addition to q most
venerable and dignified appearance
and manner, he was the saddest-
faced man / ever saw. He had come
to our town ten or q dozen years
before from the East, and we knew
little of him, except he was an able
lawyer and jurist, and his wife, who
was the only other member of his
family, and himself had some great
sorrow which they had sought some
escape from by going into : far
country. M
"Ours was . quiet town and the
Judge and his wite seemed to live
serenely enough, bat they we're
evidently growing old and feeble
ahead of their time. One night
our town was all torn up by rob-
berry and murder and the capture of
the killer and thief almost in the act.
For a wonder he wasn't lynched
then and there, but he wasn't, and
as soon as daylight came proceed
ings were instituted against the
prisoner and was appointed with
another youngster to defend him.
Really there wasn't any defense
and l was frank enough to tell him
that be might be thankful if we
could save him from lynching. He
was a stranger in the town, evident.
ly led there by some stories he had
heard of an old miser we had
among US, and was a man of per-
haps 80 or IS with q most unpre.
possessing appearance, greatly &C.
centuated by weeks growth of
rough whiskers, years Of dissipation
and hard living. In those days
and in such cages the laws delay
was not MUCH force and by 6
o'clock Of TIE second day the pris-
oner was standing before the Judge
to receive sentence. As he stood
there that day q harder-looking
customer l never saw.
"'Have you anything to say why
sentence of death should not be
passed upon your said the judge
after all the preliminaries were over.
81 have, your honor. if you are
TO pronounce that sentence replied
the prisoner withan air of almos,
AT least be added,
half apologetically. possibly under
the circumstances you might not
care to pronounce it,
This was entirely out of the or
binary, and touched my client on
The arm and was about to remind
him of the customs of the court
when the judge requested me to
leave the prisoner to him.
''Will you be kind enough to ex.
plain?' he said in a strangely ex-
cited tone. sas. 49,
"'Well, your honor responded
The prisoner, without quaver off
voice, as I'm your only son
"But the judge heard no more.
It was evident that he knew the
prisoner was telling the truth, for
With groan he threw up his hands
md fell forward across the desk In
'ront of him. and little stream Of
blood trickled from his lips. The
was terrific, and in the
midst of it the prisoner dashed
through window and would have
but timely shot from
life in the hands of man on the
outside settled him forever. And,
'est of all, his mother never knew.
She fingered a few months after her
death, and the entire
of the town considered
to be sacred obligation to lie to
Ter about the whole afair.-Wash.