Western Kansas world. [volume] (WaKeeney, Kan.) 1885-current, 1896-06-06

principal witness onto the stand, and
said:
.'t1o ou swore away the life of poor
Barney last year. We all know that you
swore away the life of that poor boy
You seem to make a business in testify
ing in such cases. You evidently like
to place yourself in position where you
can swear away human lives. Every
body knows that poor Barney was inno-
cent; and yet he was hanged altogether
On your testimony. l don't know what
you have against Ellis here; but, of
course, you have a grudge of some
kind
AT this point the prosecuting attor-
r,ey interrupted me, and demanded that
the witness be protected from insult by
the court. The judge, who had de-
Tended poor Barney the previous year,
said that no protection could be given
to the man who had sworn away the life
of Barney.
THAT decision had good effect upon
the jury. 1 was not defending Ellis, but
prejudicing the minds of the jurymen
against the witness, by calling up the
Barney case. / kept at the witness, up-
til he finally confessed that he had been
mistaken in the Barney trial of the pre-
ceding year. Then / ranted and shout
ed: Here you come into court to swear
with this jury of intelligent men. If
you were mistaken in the Barney case,
which resulted in his hanging, you may
be mistaken in this case, and Ellis
shall not hang on your miserable testi-
nIony. l thank God that the people OF
Nevada did not mob you last year; and
/ hope that you may escape with your
life on this occasion. You may get of
the witness stand. Your testimony is
| worthless
'"Then the other witness was sum-
moned. He was excited with he ordeal
of his predecessor, and 1 saw that he
could scarcely stutter, much less talk.
1 went right at him and said: You saw
the man O'Brien raise shovel to brain
Ellis. You saw the defendant try to
run away from him. You saw O'Brien
rush after Ellis to the edge of the pit.
! Your own eyes witnessed the fact that
Ellis only drew his gun and fired in
self-defense. Now tell the jury the
truth without quibbling, without equiv
ocation or hesitation
The poor fellow began TO stutter and
stammer. / went after him and de-
manded . prompt answer without any
mental reservation or time for consid-
Grafton. The jury did not know that
he was sufferer. They saw before
speechless when confronted with a de-
termined attorney. The poor fellow
tried in vain to deny the story. He
could not utter word. He refused
to leave the witness stand. He tried to
say that he was a stutterer, but his
tongue wobbled all over both of his
| cheeks. He was finally ordered off the
stand by the judge, and my case was
| Won The jury believed that Ellis was
| innocent. 1t took them only five min
utes in the jury room to reach a verdict
of acquittal.
"As soon as the verdict was rendered
Ellis came to me and asked if his life
was saved. l replied: Yes, your life
is safe for just ten minutes. These
people here are going now to the sa-
looms. and as soon as their whisky takes
effect they will come here and run you
up on rope. While they are drinking
you must seoot up the side of the noun
tain and disappear. Now get out as fast
as your legs VIII carry you
mo man ever Skinned up mountain
side with more expedition than Ellis.
He disappeared in the brush, and no.
body ever saw him again in those dig
gings. L got onto my horse and dis
appeared also, because the crowd might
have been inclined to mob me, when
they failed to find Ellis. Of course.
after they cooled down none of them
blamed me for saving my client. al
though they all were satisfied that he
was guilty.
after that case / quit criminal prac-
tice," continued the senator. II de
clared that l would never again defend
a man for an extreme crime. Then I
went into politics and have never since
been bothered with criminal cases.
But I had not seen the last of Ellis.
l made no inquiry concerning him, and
had dismissed him and his case from
my mind for several years. But one
evening in Salt Lake City, after had
attended public meeting and was
walking to my hotel, man rushed out
of a little alley way, stopped me, hand
ed me a purse of money, and said:
Take it It's yours You earned more:
but that is all now have. You saved
my life. I'm Ellis
with that he disappeared, and I
have never seen or heard of him since
Maybe he was innocent. All of the cir
cumstances We're against him. Maybe
he ought to have been convicted. But
a man VINO will go out of his way to
pay debt as Ellis did must have some
good qualities in him. When opened
the purse 1 found in it the neat sum of
$3.50. which must have been his saw
ings for long time presume that
he had been watching my movements,
and followed me on that occasion in
order to pay for my services Whether
he was innocent or guilty / did my duty
in defending him. 1 know that no othe-
- rJx.rn how real