The evening times., 1897-12-21
FoREMAN=or THE JURY.

handsome, wesl1sewed woman on the
charge Of robbery ltie opened his eyes in
amazement Thtrs were two handsome,
well-dressed s-a{ei, and one said to hin:
Officer, this PERSON has robbed me of
jewelry to the value Of $4,000. and 1
want hei arrested at once"
The other looked at him in a cod,
naughty way aud made a gesture Of con-
tempt az she replied:
"officer, this wusnan's Charge is false,
and If yor detatn me 1t will be. at your
PERIL
my rame,'' Continued the first, "is
| Mrs. join wickhan,. OF New York city. l
am on my way to Chicago to visit Iela-
! tives. This person boarded the trim at
Buffalo, and We became quite friendly.
| lad the jewelry in q small satchel. Late
last night OF early this morning rhe OBJ
! tained possession OF 1t. l wish to Lave
her arrested and searched"
III you dare to do 1t I will ha &c You
| sent to prisonr' exclaimed the other.
Here was Is straight charge and a firm
denial, and the detective was nonpi pilssed.
II the woman had stolen the jcwelry, she
must have the plunder about her ,'erson
or I'm her haggagc.- He asked her ( She
was willing to be searched, and sBe
promptly replied:
Not only willing, but ! demand It, III
| order to clear myself. Afterwards l viii
deal with this womant'
TIE two ladies left the train md W re os-
cGrtcd TO a hotel. Mrs. wickham Identified
herse.f as the wife OF a New York million
aire. ard sent a telegram to her husband 10
corne at once, and a search Df ,he other
proved her Innocence. None of she missing
jewelry wds found upon her. She gave
her name as Mrs. James Taylor, OF Buf:alo,
and she limited that her husband would
deIhand the fullest satisfaction for the
iusul. forced upon her. BY the advice
OF the chief OF police, Mrs. wickham
attempted to get out OF the affair as hest
she could, but Mrs. Taylor stood On her
dignity and wanted $40, 900 for heI
injured feelings. She must either have
$50 G0e IN cash OF she would hue for
$50 600 damages. Perhaps the TWO
womcr might have reached some sort q. a
compromise but for the advent Of Nj.
WIcklam. He hea rd his wife's story boCt
the los of the jewelry. and realizing tiat
he was IL a box he tried binfr game IN
Mrs. Taylor. He estruck the weak spot at
once hy demanding her husbands address
In Buffalo. She refused To give II, and
her refusal aroused suspicion that some
thing was wrong. When pressed To give
her idcrtity she positively refused, ana
the result was a'fofinal Charge and her
arrest II due FORM
When the alleged thief was arraigned
circumstances were so much against her
that she was held for trial in tie higher
court. She cent ihued TO give the same
name and address as a. fret, AMI added
that she would see the ease through with
out any aesists nee from her husband. Her
policy was .ne Of, haughty Independence
She had a fine wardrobe, considerable
jewelry and war also bound fer Chicago.
Her ca shin ban da ounted TO ies = than S1Cu,
but no sooner had, she procnred a LAWYER
than uione, was sent him to make desC-:
ate fight for her acQuit:aI. Wickham was
not uuly an aggresfiye man. but he had t.
Convit the wcmanso or gay damages. He
therefore aided tie police in e, cry available
way
buffalo was turned upside down witho 1t
finding Jar.es Taylor to fit TIE Gaze
Every effort Nas made 10 locate the
woman, but beyond the fact that she had
taken tic tram at Buffalo nothing could
ne learned. There were plenty who said
she was an adventures and was guilty of
the theft, bot there were man also who con
tended hs she belonged to some hon ofable
family and was seeking to sfield the name
from scanda, by giving false one and
Withholding information. She ,lidn't seem
to wor ryat all during her commitment. and
when the case firally came to trial she
was in the hest of spirits
l an: Ii quiet, st-auy iiIau OF family, not
in the ha bit of reading the ewspapers much.
II l had not been drawn Oh the jury for
that term of court doubt IL / should have
ever heal d OF the case. As a juror had to
listen TO ana weigh all The evidence, ani
FOR three days the accused woman sat
within ter feet Of lie. The evidence WAS
purely circumstaEtfel, but not particularly
strong as circumstantial evidence. Nrs.
wickhan had section No. and Mrs. Fay
lor had section No. 8. Roth had hand bags
Mrs. Wicl ham had said nothing about her
jewelry, hut the bag in which 1t was stor.d
had disappeared. There were only four pas
sengers in the sleeper. The third was an
old y-the fourth the president Of IN
Eastern college, aud therefore TO he con-
sidereG above suspicion. II the car porter
had tai Ell the bag he had passed it to son.
one during the night. but the defense did
not even hint that he might have stolen it |
Il was singular and yet a strong de
fense. If the prisoner preferred to fight |
the case out without revealing her identity |
that was to her credit and could not be |
used against her. As she lid not know |
the contents of the missing bag why should |
she be tempted? II she had taken it. what /!
had she done with 1t? She was perfectly |
willing u be searched. and nothing hal |
been found. The old lady might haze
taken it b mistake--even the college pr,si |
the train conductor, the car conductor Ind |
the porter. AS the bag had not been |
opened by its owner between New York |
and Toledo, how could she swear TIM. the |
jewelry was in 1t at Buff alo and be ;onI? !
Mrs. Wickham could only say that no "ne
Use but Mrs. Taylor could have taken the
Tag, and in ali but one thing the prosecu-
tiUn made out a very poor case.
The accused had persistently refused TO |
reveal her identity 1t was argued that
4 she were ali innocent woman she would
not do this. She would give no part of |
her history say nothing whatever .> cept |
that she was the wife Of respec. able
md wealthy man. 81
/ had been made, foreman of the Jury,
and when we retired found myself 7alt-
ng between two opinions. No legal proof
had been advanced that Mrs. Taylor stole
The bag, but If there was nothing wong
about her why should she conceal ler
IDENTITY? I was almost of the belief that
She was an adventures, but yet 1 lad
swo:n to be guided by the evidence. On
,ur first ballot We etood seven for c0nvic-
ion and five for acquittal. On that ls l.
10. voted for conviction, but fire min
ties later ] was using arguments against
such verdict. Deep down in my heart
believed Mrs. Taylor to be the thief, tut