Barre evening telegram. (Barre, Vt.) 1898-19??, 1898-05-25
QUICK WITTED PATSY
HOW HE SAVED THE DAY FOR HIM
SELF AND HIS LAWYER.
ThouGhtlessly Signed an Affidavit With n
Name He sFyore Was Not His Own-Bus
He Won the Judge and His Point nv uis
Explanation.

' -" Ie" months after | was license
" writes Attorney B. M. jackson. III
- sheriff there, Captain w. I. Whit
as now dead gallant Confederate soldi,
and one of natures noblemen, met II
: on the street and told me there was
man confined in the county Jail VIII
wished to see me.
was then 81 years old, but woul
- readily lIavo passed for II. The client
" name was Patrick Donovan, but be wa
Il commonly called Patsy Donovan. Go
:. ing to the Jail, I found man from 3,
c to 30 years old, an intelligent, nic
;, looking, devil may care Irishman
i When l entered, he greeted me witt
Good evening, miss" Pretending no,
r to have heard him address me as miss
t and assuming much dignity, l told him
was the lawyer whom the sheriff had
promised to send him. For answer he
exclaimed, Well, I'll be DID," and
) burst out MISUNDERSTANDING uproar-
lously. l was irritated to degree bv
tins reception. II beg pardon judge,
IT'S 90. You do look pretty young,
but Tom (tho sheriff. says you are a
daisy. Get mo out of here, and NV
folks, who've got plenty, will pay YOU
well for your trouble"
He told me his story. He was a skill
eel mechanic from Keokuk, Ia., and had
been employed by the government in
constructing a lock on the Mussel Shoals
canal, near Florence. He had shot the
physician in charge of those works.
Inns physician was a brother of the
United States engineer in control of the
canal construction and it was evident
that the prosecution would be bitter.
sparing no pains or expense to secure n
conviction, entailing a long penitentiary
sentence. The doctor and my client
were 10th men of reckless courage and
overbearlng temper, both sometimes
looked on the wine when it was red
and both, | inferred, were striving for
the favor Of tho same woman. A clash |
between them soon came They had =
savage quarrel at their boarding houso
at dinner. The doctor being armed and
my client unarmed, the latter had TO
submit to unlimited abuse and would
nave been shot but for the interference
u several men who were present. Soon
utter nlshtfall Of the same dav nv
'llent went to the DOCTORS office and
sleeping room, about mile distant and
n secluded place, and, knocking on
he door, was biddon by the doctor to
ONE Ill. Entering, he found the doctor
uttlng On shirt, and thus for the
lohleht disabled, and, remarking, "You
ad the drop on me this morning. but
We got 1t on you now" fired, striking
ne doctor i'll tho neck and inhictipg a
anScrous but not fatal wound.
mo case soon came on for trial
'hlle the attendants version of the
as he had given it to me was
5ry dllloroAt from the one in the fore
'lhS' yet 1t was SO improbable in itself :
III so inconsistent with the attendant /
rcumstances that it looked as if a SEN
nee OF ten years was inevitable if the /
Sc was then tried. To gain post e
'hencnt an objection was interposed
the competency of the court on the
ouhd that he was related by affinity
the prosecutor. This failed. Next an =
fncst effort was made for a confirm ~ ~
CO. The state fought this aggressive 81 q,
thus giving warning Of what was to 81 .,
ne, and it, too, tailed. III
In sheer desperation 1 then WHISPERED ~
my client, "Your real name is Pat e.
X not Patsy, isn't it," The indict- 40 ="
Mt named him Patsy Donovan. Then. p
wing to quash the Indictment for the 10 10
'nomer, wrote out the defendants o u,
dayit in support. The affidavit stated ~.
t the defendants name was Patrick ALI
that he was commonly known and ,u
ed ny this name and not by the wy wv
ne OF Patsy Donovan. He took the GU
lavlt and read, or seemed to read. it LII
fully and, going to the clerks desk ou'
re to it and signed it "Patsy Done 1pl i'
- This, of course, was the way he ~, ,n'
ally signed his name, but he never 4 hn
'cted that to sign it Patsy this time Wv W.
to afford the strongest evidence of Ou
falsity of the affidavit WI
rgulng the case without looking at ' ~ u
aflidayit, didn It see how he had ~
ed 1t, but the state attorney had
'ed the signature and in his reply i
" ~ AAo d" oeIculiOu W III. In1S .,
losuro raised storm of laughter am
JecrlnS in the courtroom. was the
bundled and at the end of my re. ina
res. Not SO was Patsy. Realizing 1ocl
erll, that the slip was his own and ny l
he alone could retrieve it, he spoke prol
not whit abashed: II signed it oo'I
out of pure respect for your honor. the
not for me to give the lie to your ing
RS court papers. Your honor's they
paper says I'm Patsy, and I'll sign pack
tsy until your honor gives me leave zlhc
lite my own true name" sieve
court sustained the motion from WIN
admiration for Patsy. We now IN 3C
time to look about u.s. A few Tor I
IS later the case was tried, the supe
falling to agree. The bal, bond. read.
had been fixed at high figure, 0erl
then reduced to a reasonable sum. sooo
ave the bond, saying he had "lost
lose, - but he never returned to
another trial, although his bonds Sh
we're promptly reimbursed, and tho He
was generously remembered, re- felloN
&, as l now remember, $500. L you.
often been curious to know what Sht
@ OF the game, rollicking, impor- Well
nc Patsy. Memphis Commercial then
!. mista
The Essentials.