The daily morning Alaskan., 1902-11-07
TIE CASE AT
 CANE HILL
IcopyrIrht. lll9. by 2. D. LewIa.l

bank. Soon after a dead body was found and identified as that of VII ilams.
 John Carncs was arrested for the murder. He couldn't explain his whercabouts on the evening previous for good reason. He was robbIng a house Another man suspected of be- ing an ex-cohylct, Jog Flsber was ar. rested. who also could not give his whereabouts on that evening because be was robblng a freight car. It wos believed thut he and Carnes were part. ners In the crime.
 sun another man was arrested, a single man who kept house for himself. While no money was found, it was ar- gued that he had buried the sum se- cured from Williams, and for three days more than 100 people were ran saclling his house and barn and every foot of bis land in hopes to unearth the treasure.
 The name of he third party arrested was Black. He employed pe to defend hlm. My first idea naturally was to prove an alibL He claimed to me that he had not left bis house during the evening. Living alone, we had only his unsupported word for this, and by ac- cident Uscertnined that be was lying to me. Three different persons had call ed at bis house be:ween z Gnd 10 o'clock and found him absent Then Black made a confession to me. A farmer with whom be had qdaucled had a large barn on the farm three miles away, and Black had gone there Co burn it His intentions were bad enough. but the Gre hc klrdled went out and the barn did not burn. To clear himself of the one he must own up Co the other
 As lf Che case was not complicated enough. Che shCrln took another step. He worked a5 the two men first arrest cd until they "confessed' that Black planned thc whole afTalr, did the kill Ing and that they only watched to see that he was not interrupted. The pros ecuuou now felt assured that it had a straight case, while l realized that Black must run the gantlet for bis llfe The sheriff naturally wanted Co convict Black. and when Carnes and Fisher were pressed" they cooked up very plausible "confcssiDn."
 had verified BIack's story. 1 had gone Co thc barn and found a candle in box just where hc had told me to look for it. bad timed his Journey to and fro and found lt occupied the inter- val stated. had found mud on his boots which had come from a spot near the barn. However when the case was called ln the higher court was appalled, at the strength of the eyi. dence against my client.
 could only prove one thing in de- fcnse-prevous good character. Black boldly confessed that he had Intended to burn the barn and thus accounted for his time, but 1t only hurt his case. Everybody jumped to the conclusion that a man who would commit arson would not scruple at murder. It was shown that he was hard up financially. that certain men were rather afraid of him. that he had been heard to make dire threats, and they could not have painted him blacker had be been one of the Younger brothers.
 On top of all this came the "confes- slon." Carnes and Fisher had occupied the same cell for days and therefore agreed in all the details. They swore to meeting Black just outside the vll- lage. They entered the town to look for Williams md found him on the street. Fisher swore that he accosted him and directed him to the mill race, telling him that the owner of the mill wanted to see him. After the murder all went back to Blacks house. where the money was to be divided. He had given Carnes and Fisher $50 apiece and put on the division for a week. While neither saw the blow struck nor the body flung Into the water, both agreed as to what Black said on the way home. He had told them that Williams seemed suspicious and was about to run away when struck down.
 ! lost my case, of course. The jury went out simply for appearances sake and in seven minutes returned with verdict Of guilty You may ask what had been done to trace Williams Very little. He had said be was from Chi- cago. No one knew his full address. The affair had been published In. the Chicago papers, but no one had idenu- ded Williams as Williams. He seemed to have neither relatives nor acquaint- Rnces.
 Black was to be sentenced to death, and Carnes and Fisher were to get of with term in state prison. They had not yet been sentenced when Williams, the man who had been murdered and buried, returned 10 town ps quietly as any other traveller. He left town on the night Of the murder at Q o'clock, going to Milwaukee to see about a bank safe and other things. He was taken ill en route and left the train at a small vil- lnge where he had relatives. He had been sick with fever for weeks, and nothing whatever was known of the ease
 My case was won by the reappear- ance Of Williams. It was for bis mur- der tbat Black had been tried Who