The Laurens advertiser. (Laurens, S.C.) 1885-1973, 1905-07-12
THE VOICE THAT LIES.
Court stenoEraphers, IL Is said, Car
Always Detect IL.

Away Detect 1t.
ANY shorthand reporter who has
been doing court reporting for Il long
time can tell almost infallibly by his
sense of hearing whether Il witness is
telling the TRUTH" said an old court
stenographer the other day. at comes
from experience combined with abnor-
mai development of the sense OF hear
Ing which all first rate court and par
hamentary stenographers possess. The
stenographcr's ears become as sensi-
tive to the slightest ~intiexions and in
donations of the human voice as Il
photograph roller. There's Il certain
tremulous quaver In the tone OF a man
or woman who's lying in court that the
stenographer catches when the shrcwd-
est Judges, lawyers or jurors quite fail
to catch 1t.
when he's got his head bent ovcr
his notebook he feels the Earring 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 1 tested this idea
in the past fifteen years or 80 that l
have come to accept 1t as certain when
that almost indist!nguishuble false
tremOlo is absent from the tone of q
witness voice that the witness is tell.
ing the truth.
"A few years ago 1 reported the trial
of u young chap who was accused OF
having sand dubbed Il jewcler in his
store and Of footing the establishment.
The young fellow was good looking,
intnlltUopf Will, a, po,n NJ. r,,,I. -, $50,
eight day clock and m easy, candid,
winning manner.
II looked the young chap Oven before
the trial began, and | decided that the
accusation against him was outrageous.
When the witnesses testified that
they'd seen him coming out of the
store 1 strained my ears to catch the
false intonation In their tones. hut It
wasn't there.
when the defense opened the young
man was permitted to go on tho stand
In his own behalf. L was astonishcd to
find that his voice had the lying Quavcr
in it right from the beginning of his
statement.
His words vastly impressed the
jury and as vastly chaGrincd The pros
ccution. lie undertook to prove an
alihi for himself.
I'm corrobor0tion Of this n married
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 keep
ing her company in the absence OF her
husband. Well, she was lying too.
She had that tclltalc false ring in her
voice that convinced me OF II despite
her fine, frank face and her obvious re-
spcctability.
"The court adjourned for luncheon at
he end Of her testimony. | took
luncheon with the attorney for the
prosecution.
well, what do you think of this
cascy' he asked mo when we sat down.
Il guess We don't land him. ch!'
lies guilty I replied briefly. He
WA" lying, and SO was his sister,
THE attorney for The prosecution
looked me over out of the Sits of his
eyes, but I didn't say smy more.
when the court rcconvened he asked
for an adjournment until next day.
and the Judge granted 1t.
"On the following morning he had In
court the janitor Of the apartment
house in which the prisoners sister
liv"d. The %jan!tor testified that tic
prisoners sistcr had not been IN her
fiat from noon until late at night on
tho day Of the sand clubbing.
while the ~janitor was on the stand
a detective walked into the courtroom
with the loot from tho iewelry shop.
lie had found 1t In n satchcl In the
prisoners sisters apartment that morn.
ing.
THAT settled the case, of course. The
prisoners sister broke down and con-
fcssed that she had been ~cndcavoring
to shield her brothcr."-St. Louis Globe
Democrat.