The Jersey City news. (Jersey City [N.J.]) 1889-1906, 1901-06-25
Great Speculation as to the
Severity Of Judge
Blair's Sentence.
KELLER MAY INTERPOSE
fearful Meeting Between Mrs.
Barker and Her Husband
Possible Bondsman.

What will Barker's sentence be? This
is the question in everyone's lips, as the
day draws near for Judge 5lair 70 impose
the laws penalty on the assailant of Rev.
John Keller
The fact that four days have elapsed
since the jury returned it's verdict of
guilty and as yet no effort has been made
in the direct.on of securing the release of
Barker ON bail, leads to the belief that no
appeal win be made, but that the friends
of the would-be murderer win concentrate
their efforts to secure as low a sentence
as possible for him.
AS has been told at the time Barker
committed the crime the maximum pen
atty was seven years and 5000 fine. He
was indicted under this law, which was
shortly afterwards repealed and the pen
atty fixed at ten years and 5000 fine. 1t
is conceded that the punishment will be
under the old law.
The prevalent impression now is thas
Judge Blair will not impose the maxi
mum penalty on the assailant of the Ar
lington clergyman. 1t is believed gener-
ally that he will not get over five years,
and that there will be no fine as part of
the punishment.
Ii is said that the Rev. Mr.. Keller,
through Counselor Joseph Parker, Jr. his
close friend and adviser, has expressed
the wish that the courts sentence of his
assailant be tempered with mercy, and it
is thought that this together with the
fact that public opinion is now inclined
to the belief that Barker was almost as
much of a victim of the tragedy as was
Keller may induce the Court to be LEM
lent.
The visit of Mrs. Barker to her hus-
band in Jail yesterday afternoon created
quite a sensation in the neighborhood of
the Court House The coming of the
woman whose story almost cost GRE man
his life and resulted in the Imprisonment
of her husband was expected, and there
was quite crowd in front of the jail
when the coach in which Mrs. Barker,
Miss Germonde, with whom she boards,
and an elderly man and woman, whose
identity was not revealed, drove to the
jail door.
Mrs Barker, who was dressed in light
cloth skirt ard white shirt waist, wore
ven that covered the upper part of her
face. In her hand she carried large
bouquet of roses and wild fsNers. She
stepped lightly from the coach and waited
on the sidewalk while her companions
alighted Together the party then pro-
ceeded to the consultation room at the
rear of the Jail office. which opens in the
corridor in which Barker's cell is located.
The office was thronged with newspaper
men, but Warden Sullivan refused to all
low any of them to disturb husband and
wife during the hour they were together.
Barker was brought from his cell into
the consultation room. Miss Germonde
and the elderly couple were present dur
ing the entire interview. Mrs. Barker
wept and her husband tried to comfort
her. When she left the Jail her veil had
been discarded and her eyes bore evidence
of tears.
This morning Mr.. Sumner, the Airing
ton FRIEND who was on Mr. Barker's bail
bond before the trial, called at the Jail
with a strange man. They conversed
with the convicted man for about an hour
but refused to say when they left whether
their visit had any bearing on the possi-
bhity of Barker's release on bail.