The evening herald. [volume] (Shenandoah, Pa.) 1891-1966, 1897-10-02
JOYCE IS
GUILTY. !
Evidence Heard at Harrisburg Yester-
day and TO-daY.
7. P. GORMAN The MAN SOUGHT
He is Said to be the Fourth witness Pres
ent When the Alleged Compact Be
tween COyle ard Wyatt Was
Entered Into-The Case
Goes to the Jury.
By Long Distance Telephone.

mond, of MahanOy City, was arragned in
the Dauphin county court at Harrisburg yes
terday afternoon, before Judge Archibald, of
Lackawanna county, on the charge of libel
preferred by Hon. Joseph Wyatt, of town.
The latter charges Joyce with having pub
lished libelous article in the issue of his
paper Of June 27, setting forth that Wyatt, in
order to procure his election as Sergeant-at-
Arms, had entered into written agreement
to pay half of his salary to State Senator
John j. Coyle. The grand jury found a true
bill yesterday morning, and the case was inn
mediately marked for trial in the afternoon.
Among those from this county at Harris
burg, subpoenaed as witnesses are the
following: David M. Graham. Charles @.
Burchill, Hon E. A. Grifiths, Patrick
Cleary, Philip E. Coyle, John ]. Coyle and
John w. Parker, Of Mahanoy City Hon.
c. N Brumm, Of BIinesville; and Repre-
sentatives Schrink and Orme.
Mr.. Joyce was present in Harrisburg but
when the case was called he was not pre-
pared, as he had no counsel. He subsequently
retained Mr. Fox, an eminent lawyer of
Harrisburg. Mr. Wyatt was represented by
Senator McCarrell Of Dauphin, and John f.
Whalen, Of this county. Mr.. Joyce asked
for a continuance on the plea that an import
ant witness, the fourth party present when
the alleged agreement was signed, could not
be secured before next week and in reply to
question said E. A. Grifiths was an i'm
portant witness in the Coyle case, but not in
this one. Judge Archibald overruled the
motion for a continuance
Mr. Wyatt was the first witness called. He
stated he had been defeated for the Legisla-
ture. He came to Pottsville and Hon. G. c.
Schrink suggested that he run for the posi-
tion of Sergeant-at-Arms. He thought favor
ably of this proposition and spoke to his
friends, among them being Congressman
Brumm, Representative Orme, United States
Senator Quay and others. He saw State SEN
atOr Coyle about two weeks after the talk
with Mr.. Schrink, but no such meeting as
had been mentioned in the article took place
neither had they entered into any agreement
to elect him to the place.
Senator Coyle, the next witness, denied
that such meeting had been held or that
such an agreement had been made Repre-
sentatives Schrink and Orme testified to
reading the article, but neither knew of any
agreement being made.
Congressman Brumm testified to c0nver-
sation he had with Joyce, in which the latter
said he would not quit until he drove Coyle
and Wyatt out of the county At this point
the Commonwealth rested
For the defence Mr.. Joyce testified that
Wyatt met him in Pottsyille and talked
about the position of Sergeant-at-Arms.
Witness told him to see Coyle and Wyatt
came to Mahanoy City and they went to
Coylcs Office with another party, (tho mys-
ferrous important witness). Wyatt asked
Coyle to help him get the place of Sergeant
alarms. Coyle said he had been fooled
enough by men for whom he had got places
and he wanted an agreement in writing that
he would get half Of the salary He said the
position of Sergeant-at-Arms was worth
/ $4,000, COyle drew up paper and Wyatt
signed it. Witness did not read the paper
but believed that 1t was concerning what had
been talked about. Al this point court ad-
iourned until this morning.
The case was resumed this morning at o
o'clock, with about 100 people in attendance.
Chas. Snyder, Esq, of Pottsville, was present
to assist in the defense.
Mr.. Joyce was called and testified that the
fourth person who witnessed the alleged
compact between Coyle and Wyatt, was
Thomas r. German. The witness said he
saw Mr.. German at the Mansion House in
MahanOy City last night and tried to induce
him to go to Harrisburg, but that he slipped
away from witness at McElhenny's cafe.
Senator Coyle was called and swore that he
never received any money because of Wyatt's
appointment.
Congressman Brumm testified that the de-
fendant's reputation for vaacity was bad
and that he would not believe him on his
oath. A wordy war snsued between the wit
ness and Attorney Snyder, and in reply to
question by the latter as to who told him
the defendants reputation was bad, Mr.
Brumm said "You did, yourself" Snyder
replied Perhaps you have heard me say
the same thing of your"
Mr. Wyatt the prosecutor, was recalled,
and again denied the charges contained in
the alleged libelous article.
p. J. Cleary, whom Mr. Snyder designated
as private detective for Coyle, testified that
Joyee's reputation was bad. When asked
whether he received political appointment
from Senator Coyle, he answered in the af-
frmative. He was also asked whether or
not be was Democrat. The commonwealth
objected, but the court overruled the OBJ
jectons, and Cleary said he was Democrat
} sOmetimes-it depends upon the platform.
r. L. Heiser was called aud questioned as
10 the defendants reputation for yemcity as
were also several other witnesses, including
Editor John w. Parker and others.
NJ J. Moore one of the witnesses subpoe-
naed, arrived in court after the evidence had
closed.
Attorney Fox, at 1915, began his address to
the jury in behalf of the defense, and was
followed by Senator McCarrell for the Com.
monWealth
In charging the jury Judge Archibald said
that during the first day Of the trial he had
not insisted that the defendant name the
fourth party present when the alleged com
pact between Wyatt and COyle was made but
did so on condition that he be named to-day
and be produced in court The witness is
not here If, however, the defendant ha,
made proper effort TO secure witness pres
ence that was in his favor. Whether he has
d done so, the jury must determine. But il
you are not convinced Of his story, his mo
two seTiouly impeaches his testimony. The
court said there was no question that the
publication was libelous But the verdict
hinges on the point, was the article true oi
was it published with malicious intent,
r The jury at 8 o'clock, on the third ballot
@ returned a verdict Of guilty. A motion fol
new trial was made.