Catoctin clarion. [volume] (Mechanicstown, Md.) 1871-1940, 1898-09-15

money; q ticket Of-leave girl from the House
of Refuge and some officers on the outlook
for "ccsts." enacted farce in Frederick On
Friday and Saturday last, and space writer
in the Morning Herald made a good thing
out of the whole business.
UNusuAL.-On Monday evening last about
nine O'Clock there was an unusual auroral
display in the northeast heavens. 1t came
and went as q patch Of white light, some
times faint, sometimes bright 1t was Ger.
tainly electrical and was but peculiar man.
Hesitation of the light of the aurora borealis.
JAMES A. ELDER, one of Emmitsburg's
leading citizens, died ut his home in that
place on Saturday evening last, after a pro.
longed illness. He was at one time the DEM
ocratic leader in bis district and man Of
much influence in his party in the county
He was president of the Emmltsburg railroad
at the time of his death, having filed that
position for number OF years. The funeral
took place on Tuesday. The deceased was
IN his sixtyninth year.
JUDGE MCSHERRY's CHARGE.-Upon con.
vening the September term Of the Circuit
Court, Judge McSherry delivered the follow.
ing charge to the Grand Jury:
"Your powers are vast and sweeping. No
individual is 60 exalted as to be above your
reach, and no one is so humble as to be be-
meath your protection. The greatness Of
these powers carries with it corelative
responsibility, which cannot be evaded.
Grand Jurors, it has been said, are sentinels
stationed ON the watch tower OF liberty; and
they should be vigilant and sleepless senti.
nels. They arc no less charged with the
duty of protecting from groundless persecu'
ton the innocent who have been wrongiuly
accused than they are bound by an equally
imperative obligation to bring the guilty to
the bar of justice. Upon your fidelity and
fearlessness depend in great measure the
preservation of the public peace and tran.
guilty, the dignity and supremacy of the
law, the safety and protection Of the citizen,
the prompt indictment OF the criminal and
the speedy vindicatlon OF the innocent.
with these ends in view, you have sworn
to present no one from malice, hatred or i'll
will, and to leave no one unpresentcd from
fear, favor or protection. That no guilty
person may escape and no innocent one may
be needlessly Inundated by a false accusation
you are solemnly bound to keep secret the
councils of the State, your fellows and your
own-lhe proceeding of the jury room-and
this obligation for all time, unless the law,
which now seals your lips, should through
its appointed tribunals unseal them here
after in furtherancc of private right or public
justice.
"There will he laid before you four cases
of homicide. These serious ofienses have
all been committed within the last six
months During the preceding eighteen
months there were four other accusations Of
murder Eight hopcdes within period Of
two years! Such condition Of lawless dis
regard of human life is appalling. Not one
of the four cases which have been tried re.
suited in verdict of murder in the first
degree, though all the accused were convicted
of murder in the second degree or man
slaughter The heavy pcnitentary sentences
imposed upon the convicted parties have
apparently had ut't the slightest deterrent
effect.
"This frgh,ful increase of crime must be
checked. Penalties commensurate with tue
otfcl,se must he swiftly visited by the courts
upon the guilty Penalties for violations of
law are imposed with a two-fOld object:
First to punish the culprit himself, second,
and perhaps more particularly, to warn the
evil disposed and lawlcssly inclined, that a
like fate awaits them for like oticnsc, if
they commit it. To be effective the punish,
ment should in my judgment, be certain,
speedy and severe. But no punishment can
be inflicted until verdict of guilty has been
rendered Ivy a petit jury. If timldity, a
false sentiment Of pity or a lack of courage
influences q jury and causes it to shrink
from rendering verdict, that will be fol-
lowed by the death penalty when the death
penalty ought to have been inflicted, crime
will be stimulated rather than restrained.
And the safety OF the law.abiding, as well as
the protective potency of the law itself will
be seriously impaired and ultimately wholly
undetermined.
"A jury's duty is to ascertain the prisoners
guilt. If the accused be guilty it is the
Jurors duty to say 30, no matter what the
consequences of the verdict may be. He
has no right to look to the consequences in
reaching bis conclusions. Had some Of the
four cases, which had already been tried, re-
suited in convictions of murder in the first
degree, rs they ought to have been, the cul.
prits would have been executed, and l am
satisfied, these recent homicides, or ut leas,
some of them, would not have been com.
mitted and the lives of the unoffendng vic.
tins would have been spared. 1t is dan.
gerous condition for community If belief
becomes prevalent among the vicious tina,
juries are too timid or too lenient to convict
Of the highest grades of crime. 1t will be
your duty to prefer formal accusations
| against these parties, if the evidence war.
rants you in doing so, and it will then be fol
the petit jury to fearlessly render such yer
diets as the facts may justify, without being
swayed by passion or prejudice against the
accused and equally without being infu
enced in their favor by false sentiment Of
mercy, and without being deferred from O
| ripid discharpp of dutv nv timidity or Other