The herald., 1897-04-08
PLUCKY KID
n Curious Scene in the
Township Court
ANOTHER COMPLAINT
I To Which Kid Thompson Would
Not Plead Guilty
THE PROGRAM WAS SPOILED
AJURoR's MISTAKE KNOCKS THE
PANEL OUT
In the Suit of Mary Brady Against
the Times--Fight Over the
Electric Lighting Fran
chise-Supervisors
He's a birdl


The slangy exclamation is not alto
gether unfamiliar on the streets, bu
when 1t strikes upon the ear in a-couri
room it seems strangely incongruou:
and only exceptional circumstances
col1d call 1t forth. But the scene thai
was enacted in the township court just
before o'clock yesterday was qnite ex-
ceptional and the nota BILE kid Thomp-
son of Roscoe train-wrecking fame, was
the parsonage that someone pronounced
q 'bird"-and with some cause.
Tuesday, the 18th inst, is thedate set
for the trial of kid" Thompson on the
old charge, but the decision of the su-
preme court tangled things up in such
manner as to have caused some qualms
of doubt in the district attorneys office.
The nice definition of what is in law a
train, and how and when the act of
train wrecking is contaminated; and
how far and under what circumstances
the charge of murder may be switched
onto the train-wrecking charge, were
points upon which the supreme court
ruled in the most delightfully."- obscure
way. To render the situation still more
complicated some of theNwitnesses who
testified at the last trial of kid"
Thompson are now in heaven-at least
1t may charitably be supposed so-while
others have left this section. Under
these circumstances the chances of con-
voting kid" on the capital charge
seemed at least problematical; and on
the other hand it seemed rather hard
lines that, failing conviction, he should
be turned loose on the community. And
particularly does this apply when Alva
Johnson. after having turned traitor and
testified against his companion in crime.
is boxed up in the states prison for ten
years.
Under these circumstances the district
attorneys office arranged a nice little
plan by which the difficulties attend
ing the situation might be minimized.
Ben Goodrich and Will Harris. esquires.
have been "Kid" Thompson's counsel,
and they entered into stipulation with
the district attorney by which their eli
ent was to be rushed into the township
court just before 5 o'clock. and when the
business of the day being over, no one
would presumably be around save the
officers of the court. A complaint had
quietly been filed few minutes before
wherein kid" was charged with the
murder of one McMasters. the fireman
of the train wrecked at Roscoe. and who,
it may be remembered. was scalded to
death. All the evidence was arranged
and stipulated and was to be considered
as In, and the kid" was to be held after
q two-minutes' examination. Then to-
day the prisoner was to come into de-
partment one for arraignment. waive
time and plead guilty to the charge and
receive sentence of ten years imprison-
ment in the states prison.
That was the program. but it didn't
go through. When kid" Thompson
made his bow before Justice Young, in
the township court, and in accordance
with the pre-arrangement was to stand
up and acknowledge the corn, he refused
to do anything of the kind.
II can't do 1t. gentlemen" he said to
his counsel; they may hang me ifthey
like. but I'm not going to plead guilty
to something 1 didn't do
Attorneys Goodrich and Harris there
upon intimated to him that in such case
they were out of it: in other words, that
they washed their hands of the case.
Il don't give d." the Kid" re-
niied, 'if all the attorneys in the city
7old me to do it. I'm not going to, and
that's all there is to it."
That broke the slate. The kid" was
taken back to jail and, needless to say
will not come before Judge Smith this
morning to do the rush" act and receive
sentence. OF course this plucky defend
ant is taking heavy chances; he will
tither 60 to the gallows or, if convicted
IN the second degree. to states prison
for dife. or go free. To make conviction
In, anyway certain the district attorneys
mice will have to put forth every exer-
zion. and the kid" knows it and is now
bahking on the law of chance. the odds
against him being much reduced since
hiD last trial