Vermont phÅ“nix. [volume] (Brattleboro, Vt.) 1834-1955, 1902-12-26
Court stenosraphers Good judges.

ANY shorthand man who has been do
ing court reporting for a long time can
tell almost infallibly by his sense of
hearing whether a prisoner or a witness
is telling the truth OF lying" said a
Washington court stenographer, who has
grown gray In making and transcribing
pothooks in civil and criminal cases. ut
comes from experience, combined with
the abnormal development of hearing,
which all flrst-rate court and parliament
tary stenographers possess.
You know how abnormallyN the re-
naming senses of blind folks are de-
veloped, particularly their sense of hear
ing. Well. it's the same way with the
court shorthand man after he's ham
mered away at that sort of work for a
good many years. His ears become as
sensitive to the slightest infections and
lntonations of the human voice as a
photograph roller There's a certain
tremulous quaver in the tone of a man
or a woman who's lying in courtroom
that the stenographer catches when the
shrewdest judges, lawyers or jurors quite
fail to catch il. When he has his head
bent over his notebook he feels the jar
ring false note In the voice of the liar ev-
cry time, no matter how plausible or
convincing the testimony in itself may
sound. So frequently have / tested this
idea in the last u years that ] have come
to accept II as certain. when that almost
indstinguishable false tremolo is absent
from the tone of prisoners or a wit
nc sss voice that the testimony Is true.
"A few years ago. before l left Chicago
for Washington. | reported the trial of
young chap who was accused OF hav-
ing sandbagged a south-side teweler In
his store. and OF looting the establish
mcut The Young fellow was good look
ing and intelligent. with face as frank
dil, winning manner. ! looked him over
before The trial began. and I decided that
the accusation against him was outra-
p.oIs. When witnesses testified that
they'd seen him coming out OF the rob-
bed iewelry store ! strained my ears "a
catch the false intonation in their voices,
but it wasn't there. When the defense
opened the young man was permitted
to go on the stand In his own behalf
81 was stupefed to find that his voice
had the lying quaver In II right from the
beginning OF his story. His words vastly
impressed the jury and as vastly chag-
rined the prosecution. But knew that
he was lying nevertheless. He under
took to prove an alibi. In confederation
his married sister testified that her broth
er had been at her apartment from
o'clock in the afternoon until 10 O'Clock
at night of the day of the crime. taking
dinner with her and keeping her com
pany in the absence of her husband
Well, she was lying. too. She had that
tel-tale false ring in her voice that con-
WINGED me of this. despite her fine, frank
face and her obvious responsibility.
THE court adjourned for luncheon al
the conclusion of her testimony. I took
luncheon with the attorney for the prose
cution:-
=" We'll, what do you think of this
case?' he asked me when we sat down
Il guess we don't land him. eh?'
" He's guilty I replied briefly. He
was lying and so was his sister
THE attorney for the prosecution
looked me over out of the Sits of his
eyes, but I didn't say any more. Wher
court reconvened he asked for an ad.
journment until the next day, and the
Judge granted Il. On the following
morning the prosecuting attorney had
In court the janitor of the apartment
house in which the prisoners sister lived
The janitor testified that the prisoners
sister had not been In her apartment
from noon until late at night on the day
of the robbery.
THE janitor was still on the stand
when a detective walked into the court
room with the loot from the jewelry
shop. He had found II In a search OF
the prisoners sisters apartment that
morning. That settled the case. OF
course. The prisoners sister broke
down and confessed that she had beer
endeavoring to shield her brother. who
got 10 years for assault with intent &c
kill and robbery. "-GWashington Post.