The River Falls times. [volume] (River Falls, Pierce County, Wis.) 1894-1933, 1896-11-10
THE CASTLE TRIAL.
IT RESULTS IN THE CONVECTION OF
MRS. CASTLE.
Mr.. Castle Is Acquitted but His Wife
Is Sentenced to Three Months
imprisonment Distressing
Scenes in Court When Sentence
Is PronOunced-EROrts to Secure
"a Reprieve.

4NOY. O.--1 lEld1 Ol MI. anu
Mrs. Walter NJ. Castle of San Fran
cisco, charged with shoplifting, took
place to-day and resulted in Mr. Castle
being acquitted and Mrs. Castle being
sentenced to three months imprison-
nent without hard labor.
There was much interest taken in
the case, especially among the mem
bers of the American colony, and sew
eral ladies were in court They in
cluded among their number the wife
of Chairman Mcconnell, of the Clerk
enwell sessions and Miss Chapman
of Kentucky. 1t was noticed that
there were quite number of Hebrews
present and also a goodly number of
newspaper artists.
With the view of possible challenges
and in order to expedite matters as
much as possible, three juries were
summoned. Quite early many of the
seats usually occupied by justices
were filled with well dressed ladies'
Mrs. Castle, when she came into the
court room with the prison attendants
and professional nurse who had her in
charge, was given a seat in the dock.
The jurors were of what is known
here as the middle class, mainly shop
keepers. The case was opened with
the names of the Castles being called
by the clerk of the court to surrender
their bail of $150,000 Then counsel for
the defense took the floor, although
Charles Matthews, senior counsel for
the prisoners, was not present. The
dccorous quiet of the court room was
broken by the sound of hysterical sob
bing by Mrs. Castle, whose husband
supported her in the dock.
Both prisoners were attired in black
and seemed to be weighted down with
sorrow. Traces of deep suffering were
visible on their faces. Mrs Castle, es-
pecially, appeared to have aged con-
siderably since her arrest a month ago
at the Hotel Cecil on the charge of
having stolen various articles from
various stores in this city. When Mrs.
Castle had become somewhat more.
composed the business of the day was.
resumed. Mr.. Castle stood up calmly
as the clerk of the court, in monoton-
Gus tones, read the Indictment and
called upon the male prisoner to plead.
"Not guilty." answered Mr.. Castle in
q strong voice, as flush passed across.
his face, only to leave him paler than
ever.
She Pleads Guilty.
Mrs. Castle was then asked to plead,
but Mr.. Clarke arose and said that his.
client, Mrs. Castle, would plead guilty
to all the indictments which were then
read separately, Mr.. Castle pleading at
the same time not guilty to each sep
arate charge. The scene was dis
tressing one. The sobs of Mrs. Castle
were heartrending in spite of the eff
forts made by her husband to soothe.
her distress. She was heavily yelled
and rocked too and fro, moaning and
Historically sobbing. She held hand
kerchief up to her face throughout
After long arguments Mr.. Castle was
discharged and Mrs. Castle sentenced
to three months Imprisonment. The
judge said that he passed the SEN
tence with the knowledge that it would
be revised elsewhere, and the general
impression which afterward prevailed
in court was that this means that the
home office will shortly release Mrs.
Castle on her own recOgniZance. The
unfortunate woman, on hearing the
sentence, went into Mysteries, shrek
ing: ''Oh, my God; Oh, my God" for
nearly five minutes. She threw up her
arms and staggered about, muttering
at times incoherently, and then
shrieked in wild agony There was
no doubling that she had the full SYM
pathy of her friends and relatives, and
that the court, counsel and the presid-
ing Judge were also greatly affected by
her distress.
Mr. Castles face turned an ashen
gray as he witnessed his wife'S agony
and all the physicians present hurried
down to the assistance of the suffer
ing woman
Shortly after, thanks to the attention
of the physicians who had admins
tered sedatives to her, Mrs. Castle was
calmer but fearful and was able to
enter cab accompanied by her hus-
band and the chief jailer, and was
taken to the NORWOOD Scrubs prison.
Ambassador Bayard is in commune
cation with the home Office and hopes
70