The daily morning journal and courier., 1903-08-22
A MARROW ESCAPE.

Jett and White, two of the murderers of James Marcun1 have for the second time escaped the gallows, one man out of twelve jurors in both trials prevent ing the imposition of the just penalty of Jett's crime.
 Such is the outcome of the defence's extraordinary efforts in behalf of those two assassins; such the utmost that could be accomplished by the Hargis gang, until recently all powerful in Breathitt county. It is shame that they could accomplish su much, yet it is some cause for satisfaction that they could not accomplish more. It was all most too much to hope that this hand of lawless men, fighting for the lives of Jett and White with all the desperation of self-protection, could not get a Jas per King on the Cynthiaan jury, as they got Burns Fitzpatrick on the Jackson jury. There are always such creatures in all communities, whose true natures are not suspected by their honest neighbors until it is too late to guard against them. That the Hargis band of anarchists, with their great re- SuuECGS, LllClI lIaitti C@AtillOiiS uiio their interruptions methods, should not fail to find that there was one such creature on the jury is not surprising.
 It is no discredit, however, to the prosecution that this man was admitted to the jury. Such types of humanity as Jasper King do not usually reveal them selves until it is too late to ward off the evil they inflict. But as much cannot be said for the attorneys for the de- fense. It is known, of course, that the men behind these attorneys are capa- ble of anything to save Jett from the death he so richly deserves, but the rna- jority of the attorneys in their employ have the reputation of honorable pro- fessional men. They were openly con- ceded this in the speeches of their op-
 ponents Judge Lafferty was singled out for special mention in this respect, and yet, if it is true that Jasper King is his cousin, Judge Lafferty cannot es- cape a share of the blame that Jasper
 King has earned. If Jasper King is Judge Lafferty's cousin, Judge Lafferty knew it when King was accepted as one
 of the jurors, and yet he did not open
 his lips to object to King. He did his
 best to prevent the jurors from doing their duty by trying to move them to set aside the law of the land which in-
 flicts capital punishment, but he was
 dumb when he had chance to protect
 himself from any imputation that he
 knew must be made against himself when it should be discovered that King
 was his kinsman. As to the other jurors they did the
 best that they could under the circurr1-
 stances, and the thanks of the people 0 the entire state are due them. They did their duty, and in doing it did not inter- bret their duty as the shielding of the guilty and tine ignoring or evading of the law they were sworn to uphold. The prosecution, too, are to be com mended for their vigorous and zealous effort in behalf of justice. Mir. Byrd merits special mention, because he had more at risk than his associates, and because his fearless work at Cynthiana was a continuance of his fearless worR at Jackson, which drove the entering and ultimately destroying wedge into LLlG OL LuC lCetIiiis1 SOehteJ outlaws. Let him but keep on, falter' ing not nor fearing. The people of Ken lucky are with him, and his course, il persevered in, is yet bound to redeem | the plague spot of the state.
 The verdict, while not what it should have been, and would have been if there
 had been no Jasper King on the jury, is yet encouraging, under all the circum ! stances, to the law-respecting citizens
 of Kentucky. It is the beginning of tht
 end of Hargisism.-Louisville Courier 1 Journal.