Las Vegas daily optic. [volume] (Las Vegas, N.M.) 1880-1908, 1896-11-06

to Justify him In concurring In th
statement made by Sir Edward Clarke
Such condition, he said, generally rs
G suited 10 mental Disturbances, religion
and other forms of mania and render
ed the sufferer irresponsible for he
actions. DR.. Savage, one OF the lead
ing specialists in female diseases Il
: England, took the stand and corrobo
rated the testimony Of DR.. Grigg. A
this point 10 the proceeding, the crusl
on the court room had become almos
suffocating and number Of ladies II
the crowd were allowed to take seat
upon the magistrates bench, an unu
| sual occurrence, while others fount
seats upon the stairs and in and arount
the counsels' bench, until every incl
: OF available space was filed.
Alderman Roitlege, Major Eagan, u
s. A., Col. II. X. Hawse, of san Fran
cisco, aud other friends of Mr.. ant
Mrs. Castle, were in court, ready Il
testify in behalf of Mrs. Castle,. ant
Mr.. Castle himself, who had left th'
} room after his discharge, now appear
ed in court. DIR. Gabriel, of the col.
lege Of surgery. supported the testl
mony already given by medical experts
and said that uterine troubles had af.
fected Mrs. Castles mind. He had
warned her several times to avoid all
excitement. He, together with Drs.
Scott and Savage, had seen her pro.
fessionally on October 11th, while she
was in jail, and the three had discuss
ed her case exhaustively at that time.
They had agreed that further imprison-
ment would imperil her reason.
| DIR. Scott, who was the next witness,
testified that the nervousness from
which Mrs. Castle suffered had con-
tinned during the entire time she was
in jail and he had made report of his
examination to the home cfiice, advis-
ing against her further Imprisonment.
The lady had no fixed delusions, be
said, but she was of unstable mind and
liable to do eccentric things, unless she
was carefully looked after by her
friends
Sir Edward Clarke here interposed,
saying that Mrs. Castles friends were
only anxious to remove her to place
OF quiet, if the court took favorable
view of the matter.
The chairman said thai the ques.
ton as to the effect which i'm
prisonment would have upon Mrs.
Castle, was one which must be
considered elsewhere. The chairman
and magistrates then retired to another
room for the purpose Of deliberation.
After fifteen minutes absence, the
magistrates returned to the court room,
in which profound silence reigned.
Mrs. Castle was then brought into
court aud the clerk of the court an
nounced that Ella Castle had been con-
victed upon all of the eeven indict-
ments. Chairman Mcconnell said :"The
court has had great difficulty in deal
ing with an exceedingly painful case,
upon which sympathy has so powerful
ly been brought to bear, until it almost
began to interfere with justice.
ssThe court knew that the sentence
which 1t became his duty to pass upon
the prisoner would be well weighed |
elsew here, and if any suffering dan
gerous to her life or intellect should |
follow, 1t would be Immediately met
by another authority. He would not
prolong the painful scene and there-
fore, would at once proceed to pass
sentence, which was that the prisoner
be confined in jail without hard labor,
for three months.
As the chairman pronounced the
all eyes were turned upon
Mrs. Castle who stood dazed for a
and then, as the full import OF
the chairman's words came to her she
became hysterical obliging the nurses
and the prison warden to support her.
She then began to moan piteously aud
finally to scream and struggle violently.
She was removed from the room as
quickly as possible and as she was be-
ing taken away, cried out: "What
does it meanp My God, what does it
meanp'' fA@h
A good many ladies in the court
room exhibited strong emotion, several
Of them weeping, and all expressing
deep sympathy with the unfortunate
prisoner, whose screams could be
heard family issuing from the under
ground passage through which she was
taken, even after the court room had
been cleared.
Mr.. Castle was congratulated upon
his own release from custody, but he
said il was only justice that he had re-
,eived, and that he was not satisfied
With the result of his wife's case. He
vas exceedingly anxious about her. he
'aid, and desirous of removing her to a
place Of rest at the earliest possible
Application has already been
made to the home Office for Mrs.
Castles release, and it is understood
hat her sentence is practically formal
Ind that she will be liberated in few
lays.
SAN FRANCISCO, Cal, November 6.
The case of the Castles is familiar to
newspaper readers. Walter M. Castle,
. wealthy and prominent merchant OF
his city, has been enjoying European
our in company with his wife, who is
lady of considerable beauty and high
lttainments, and their ten-year- old son.
dr. and Mrs. Castle made an extraor-
linary number OF purchases, and on
he eve of their departure from London
10 route for this country few weeks
ince, they we're arrested at their hotel
IN charge of stealing various articles
Il fur from various furriers' establish
nents. An examination oftheirtrnpks
to light the articles alleged to
lave been stolen, some petty articles
# hotel silverware and miscellaneous
FOODS. MIR. Castle indignantly re-
,udiated the suggestion Of shop-lift-
pg. and ffsred to pay for some of the