Evening journal., 1905-06-01
X RAY EVIDENCE
[Orlginal1

IL once, Dut dozen umeSs Mere IL
not for the repetition Of the prfense
your distinguished fellow citizenTwould
look leniently upon the theft and leave
you to your conscience. But you have
taken a dozen fat chickens which he
has reared, nurtured with tender affec
tion and brought to an age when he
could have sold them for broilers to a
good profit What have you to say in
your defenseT
II hab to say, mars lawyer dat l
hain't tasted chicken meat TO- two
years. Yo' see mars, rs too honest to
steal 'em, rs too proud to beg 'em
and de price has been goin' up so fas'
OBJ late date l can't afford to buy 'em.
Now. jist tell yo', mars lawyer, de
trouble VIII de kentry is de trus'. It's
de chicken trus' dat tax all de flavor
out OBJ de chicken in de col storage
and fills up de gap wifi de price. It's
dc trus' -
John Randolph" interrupted the at
torney. could the distinguished man
for 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 dis
sertation on chicken stealing would be
far 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 Franklin's hens"
"Yo' mistaken, sab. Dere amt no
question oh my innocences de only
question is OBJ my guilt
John" looking at the negro admir-
ingly, Il doubt if Randolph Of Roa-
noke ever spoke 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 I was snorin' i'm bed yo' might
prove I war robbin' hen roosts by dat
Circumstantiary evidence, sab. amt
WORT de-
"The difficulty Of eliminating your
fine analytical powers" again inter
rupted the attorney, lis great John,
admit. Nevertheless / must find means
to do so. If you again swerve from
the question I shall have to ask his
honor to commit you for contempt of
court"
Contempt Of cou't, sahl I hab con-
tempt of cou't! l hab de highest re-
spec 70 cou't Wha' innocent men ac-
cused oh stealin chickens gwine to do
widout de cou't, like TO know7'
''That is very cute Of you, John You
have the faculty of persuasive elo-
quence to a high degree. There is
something so 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 / can. John, did
you ever hear Of the Y ray?"
mo, sab: didn't neber hyar oh de
! y ray"
The Y ray is a light by which we
can look into mans body and see
what's there Now, I'm going to de
termine your guilt or innocence OF
stealing a chicken last night. Your
neighbor has testified to seeing you
chop the head off a chicken this morn
ing just before breakfast 1t is to be
presumed that you ate this chicken
But we don't know that. 1 propose tC
bring the y ray to bear ON your stom
ach and determine if the chicken /:
there"
John Randolph turned livid. So Ions
as words could be used to throw dusi
into the courts eyes he had maintained
an air of injured innocence. Now thai
science was to point out his guilt hs
Quailed. But only for a moment A
sudden thought seemed to strike him
and he braced himself for a continu
ance Of his case.
Bring in the X ray apparatus" the
attorney called to his assistant
An electric machine such as IS used
by invalids was brought in and, tC
make it appear more impressive, wai
placed on four bottles. The attorney
placed handle attached by a wire t.
the machine in each OF John Ran
dolphs hands.
"Now, prisoner" said the prosecutor
sternly, when l pull out this cylinder
you'll feel a slight shock. At the sam,
time can look into your stomach
The demonstration will be unnecessary
If you will confess"
"Go on wifi de demonstratlonary,
said the darky confidently.
The attorney pulled out the cylinder
The darky braced himself against th'
shock, but rolled his eyes around as Il
under a great mental strain. Mean
while the attorney folded a piece o.
paper into tube, placed one en-,
against John Randolph's stomach anC
his own eye against the other. He pre-
tended to look carefully for a few min
utes, during which the negro was in al
agony Of suspense. Then the gaze
dropped his telescope.
"Your honor" he said, 'T saw plainl.
the remains Of chicken in the prisoner
stomach"
"Yo' honor" said the prisoner, ga
him ef he kin tell wedder he saw Bel
Franklin's chicken or some udde
pusson's chicken"
. Whether the attorney would hav
, had the effrontery to declare that h
had seen the chicken in question OF no
. could not be determined, for the pen