Yorkville enquirer. [volume] (Yorkville, S.C.) 1855-2006, 1902-04-19
BETRAYED BY THEIR VOICES.


BETRAYED BY THEIR VOICES.
Liars Unable to Deceive the StenOg-
rapher's Ear.
"Any shorthand man who has been
doing court reporting for a long time.
can tell almost infalliby by his sense of
hearing whether prisoner or witness
Is telling the TRUTH" said a court stem
ographer who has grown gray In max
ing and transcribing pothooks in civil
and criminal cases. "It comes from ex-
perience combined with the abnormal
development Of the sense Of hearing
which all first rate court and parlia-
mentary stenographers possess.
"You know how abnormally the re-
manning senses Of blind folks are devel-
oped, 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 intonations Of
the human voice as phonograph roll
er, there's a certain tremulous quaver
in the tone Of man or woman who's
lying in court that-the stenographer
catches when the shrewdest judge. law
yers or jurors quite fail to catch it.
when he's got his head bent over
his notebook he feels the jarring false
note in the voice Of the liar every time,
no matter how plausible and convinc-
ing the testimony in itself may sound.
So frequently have I tested this idea in
the past fifteen years or so that I have
come to accept 1t as certain, when that
almost indistinguishable false tremulo
is absent from the tone Of witnesses
voice, that the witness is telling the
truth.
"A few years ago reported the trial
Of young Harlem chap who was ac-
cused of having sandclubbed Third
avenue jeweller in his store, and Of
looting the establishment. The young
fellow was ood-looking. intelligent,
with a face as frank as an eight-day
clock and as easy, candid. winning look
ing.
II looked the young chap over before
the trial began, and decided that the
accusation against him was outrageous.
When the witnesses testified that they
had seen him coming out Of the store I
strained my ear to catch the false in
tonation in their tones, but it wasn't
there.
when the defence opened, the young
man was permitted to go on the stand
in his own behalf I was astonished to
find the lying quaver in 1t right from
the beginning of his statement.
His words vastly impressed the jury
and as vastly chagrined the prosecu-
tion, but knew that he was lying new
ertheless. He undertook to prove an al
ibi for himself.
"In confederation Of this, the mar
ried sister testified that her brother
had been at her apartment from 3
o'clock in the afternoon until 10 o'clock
at night, taking dinner with her and
keeping her company in the absence Of
her husband. Well, she was lying, too.
She had that tell-tale, false ring in her
voice that convinced me Of this, despite
her fine, frank face and her obvious
respectability.
1.-THE court adjourned for luncheon at
the end of her testimony. I took lun-
cheon with the attorney for the pros
ecution.
"'Well, what do you think Of this
case?' he asked me when we sat down.
I guess we don't land him, eh?'
"'He's guilty I replied briefly. He
was lying, and so was his sister.
1.-THE attorney for the prosecution
looked me over out Of the Sits of his
eyes, but didn't say any more. When
court reconvened he asked for an ad-
journment until next day, and the
Judge granted it."
ION the following morning he 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
flat from noon until late at night on the
day Of the sandclubbing.
while the janitor was on the stand
a detective walked into the courtroom
with the loot from the jewelry shop.
He had found it in a search Of the pris-
oner's sisters apartment that morn
ing.
THAT settled the case, Of course. The
prisoners sister broke down and con-
fessed that she had been endeavoring
to shield her brother.
"Over ten years ago in Chicago 1 re-
ported the trial of an actress, who was
accused of having shot her husband,
who was also her manager. She was
an obscure star and scintillated with
one-night-stand road company of the
Ten Nights in a Barroom' variety.
"She was indicted for assault with In
tent to kill. Her husband told his
story. He had no witnesses, but 1
knew that the man was telling the
truth. as I took the notes, despite the
fact that he had shifty eye and a
hang-dog air about him. His voice
had the on-the-level ring.
THE woman was strikingly hand
some and a mighty smooth PROPOSE
ton. l never saw her act, but she must
have been pretty good at that work, to
judge from her acting on the stand.
"She got them all going right away
from the minute she opened her mouth.
She told of how she had stood for long
years of abuse on the part of her nus