Pullman herald. [volume] (Pullman, W.T. [Wash.]) 1888-1989, 1905-10-21
\ RAY EVIDENCE

ItlI
IL once but dozen times. Were If
not for the repetition of the ofranso
your distinguished fellow citizen would
look lenienuy upon the theft ana leovo
you to your conscience But you have
taken dozen fat chickens which bo
has reared, nurtured with tender afroc.
ZION and brought to an age when bs
could have sold them for broilers to a
good profit. What have you to say in
your defense?"
i nab to say, mars lawyer, dat |
hain't tasted chicken meat ro' tvo
years. Io' see, mars, Is too honest f.
steal 'em, Is too proud to beg ,em
and de price has been goin' up so fas'
Oh late date | can't afford II Nv ,o,n
Now, jist tell yo', mars lawyer, de
trouble wifi de kentry is de trus'. IFS
de chicken trus' dat tax all de flavor
out oh de chicken in de. col STORAGE
and fills up de gap wifi de price. IFS
de trus' -
John Randolph" Interrupted the at
torney, could the distinguished man
Ior whom you are named stand before
us and eXpatiate on this national evil
we would all listen with eyes and ears
open, but for our present purpose a dis
sertation on chicken stealing would be
Tar more acceptable. Nevertheless,
neither of these topics is in order
The question we are here to determine
Is your guilt or innocence of the charge
of stealing Ben Franklins hens"
"Ao' mistaken, sab Dere amt no
question Oh my innocence: de only
question is oh my guilt"
john" looking at the negro admir-.
ingly, Il doubt if Randolph of Roa.
noke ever spoke a truer sentence. Since
the accused is guiltless before the law
till proved guilty there is no question
as to your innocence. 1t is your guilt
we are to determine"
Dat depends, sab, wedder yo' tax
circumstantiary evidence Yo can
prove anything by dat evidence. Reck,
On if | was snorin' in bed yo' might
prove l war Robin hen roosts by dat
Circumstantiary evidence, sab, amt
WORT de-
The difficulty of eliminating your
tine analytical powers" again inter
rupted the attorney, lis great. John, l
admit Nevertheless / must find means
to do so. If you again swerye from
the question l shall have to ask his
honor to commit you for contempt of
court"
contempt of cou't, sab. | hab con,
tempt of cou't! l hab de highest re.
spec fo' cou't Wha' innocent men ac-
cused oh stealth chickens gwine to do
Widout de cou't, like to know"
THAT is very cute of you, John. You
have the faculty Of persuasive elo-
quence to a high degree. There is
something 50 honest sounding in your
protest that I'm almost persuaded to
consider you innocent My duty to the
state, however, requires me to prove
you guilty-that is, if l can. John, did
you ever hear of the Y ray?"
mo, sab; 1 didn't neber hyar OBJ de
X ray"
'The Y ray Is a light by which we
can look into a mans body and see
what's there. Now, I'm going to de-
termine your guilt or innocence of
stealing chicken last night. Your
neighbor has testified to seeing you
chop the head off chicken this morn
ing just before breakfast. 1t is to be
presumed that you ate this chicken.
But we don't know that. l propose to
bring the X ray to bear on your stom-
ach and determine if the chicken is
there"
John Randolph turned livid. SO long
as words could be used to throw dust
into the courts eyes he had maintained
an air of injured innocence. Now that
science was to point out his guilt he
quailed. But only for moment 4
sudden thought seemed to strike him,
and he braced himself for continu-
ance of his case.
Bring in the Y ray apparatus" the
attorney called to his assistant.
An electric machine such as is used
by invalids was brought in and, to
make it appear more impressive, was
placed on four bottles. The attorney
placed handle attached by wire to
the machine in each of John Ran
dolph's hands.
Now, prisoner" said the prosecutor
sternly, when l pull out this cylinder
you'll feel a slight shock. At the same
time | can look into your stomach.
The demonstration will be unnecessary
If you will confess"
go on wifi de demonstrationary,
said the darky confidently.
The attorney pulled out the cylinder.
The darky braced himself against the
shock, but rolled his eyes around as if
under a great mental strain. Mean
while the attorney folded a piece of
paper into a tube, placed one end
against John Randolph's stomach and
his own eye against the other. He pre-
tended to look carefully for few min
utes, during which the negro was in an
agony of suspense. Then the gazer
dropped his telescope.
"Your honor" he said, II saw plainly
the remains of chicken In the prisoners