The Savannah morning news. (Savannah, Ga.) 1900-current, 1904-06-26
By MApYR.P. HATCH. {
Author OF
"The Bank Tragedy"

he threw it to the wind, and his rea-
, son and common sense with it, when he
made his fraudulent claims to the
Hamilton estates, after having perilled
his life and soul with the murder of his
wife
Much more was said, but enough has
| been adduced to give some idea of Mr.
stones able and effective plea. There
I was no doubt it had been well consid-
cred and it evidently bore upon its
face the individual belief of the law
yer. At its close friends gathered
around him, and both he and Mr.. Ham
llton were Wamrly congratulated, for
! court had adjourned, it being near
noon
The claimant Edes came in for a good
snare of the popular attention during
| the plea, for he seemed instinct with
determination and defiance When al
fusion was made to Mrs. Hamilton he
was seen to clench his hand and start
| Wrathtully in his seat. and he leaned
forward to say to his counsel, Mr. Ste
vents, that he was glad she was not
present
MIR. Stevens was not glad. He felt
had she been in court Mr.. Stone S
speech must have lost some of it's acri-
mony, and that her calm, ladylike de-
, meanor would have presented a speak
t,
the opportunity had passed. and the
counsel for the prosecution trembled
for the result.
Mr.. Stevens began his argument at
about O'Clock, and he rejoiced when
he saw Mrs. Hamilton enter the court
room, for her presence nerved him to
greater effort and belief in the justice
of the cause he advocated
He spoke of the able and exhaustive
Of % h.
manner in which the evidence had been
presented to make it show to the best
advantage. mo, men know better how
to conceal weak points than they" but
in this case they had overdone the
matter.
In almost the same breath Mr.. Stone
had alluded to the initials found upon
the claimants linen and of the folly
Of supposing his client, had he been
Ashley, would have thrust his head
into the lions mouth by claiming the
estate when so well known to the
police. Yet he argued that this was
exactly what had been done. and that
furthermore, the initials had ben al
lowed to remain by a man perfectly
sane, and one who knew full we'll the
danger of such an accusation.
Was this good reasoning? Would
the claimant, If really Ashley, and not
insane, Lave submitted these tell
tale articles of the washing and iron
ing of Mrs. Fry if he were really Ash
ley, and knew what he was doing =?
Most assuredly not. The only course
to pursue was to believe what he said
about them,-that they were given
him by a fellow workman. Such an
one named Harrison Arkwright was
known to have worked with him, and,
no doubt, he was the person who
formerly owned the shirt and hand
kerchief. Mr.. Stevens owned to it's
| seeming absurd that the claimant
should profess to have lost his mem
DRY just as the respondent had done.
1t was strange, looked upon at that
point of view.
But there was another aspect of the
case, and true one, far more reason
able. When the two men met at
Portland depot-as they most assuredly
| did meet on the Friday in question
| the respondent had ample opportunity
| to see for himself the condition of the
| true claimants mind at the time. 1t
| was perfectly evident that he had
! forgotten his own name; and when
| after the supposed death of his victim
| he came here to take the place of his
brother, to fraudulently take possess
sion, what course would look so
plausible as to pretend he had lost his
memory, as he knew the other to have
done. This would account for the long
| absence, the probable manner of
Hamilton on his way to Portland, and
any inconvenient lack of knowledge
regarding people and events which
would of necessity recur to him. He