Pine Bluff daily graphic., 1906-03-18
Ali sorts Of things hay

@.s.-le true. Ali sorts of t1In@s have boon fo"otold in drean,
 Probably many members of the Psychic Research society would have agreed with that last statement but none of them were summoned to give tAelr views on premonitionS and pre- sentiments, and the defense made much Of the improbability of Mays vision and the far greater likelihood that, having concocted plan to get money out Of the railway company. his expectations had led him to make in- cautious statements There is no doubt that Mays dream story weighed against him with the jury.
 The bulk Of the defense consisted in the cumulative evidence of small i'm. probabilities arraTed against the eX- feedin@ improlthilitF that a man would voluntarily place his legs on q railway track to get lis feet cut off by | trdin for the saka of what compen- saton he might e'1ttia. He weighed over 21a pounds. The train from which lfo alleged that he had fallen Was going &t the Fate of twenty miiss au hour Yet tAe en.F Hja,rY le could show as proof th9t h. t5fi fa.fi$ pitched head 3eaS eat of ! Ig5a moving at t44t sF@eG N3s q ~.i.=llt srHaa Il ea the e}Hsel Ii Nas a44Hea tast il Was V4lI Hi-h Impossible 5lrs5t =tl4e daa} of the compartment would have aiyea WAY eEeH had he haan thrown against it. Several witnesses sNore tbat there was no &WerHe Of the tfaia such as would have caused him 10 be thrown aeaiuSt the dooI. Ii was improbable tat q man occupying his position would have tlaveled second class. On the other band. it was contended it was natural he should have pretendetl that Ie had ridden in q second class carriage, as had he alleged that he rode ill a third class carriage he might have been con- frohted with proof that all such car riages on that particular train had sev- eral passengers. IL was shown that his total stock of handkerchiefs con sisted of only four. and it was main tained il was improbable that he would have taken three of them with him un- less he had in mind some such device as he resorted to to prevent the mut lation proving fatal Both feet had been severed at the same distance be- low the knees, and it was declared it was highly improbable that would have happened had he fallen upon the track from q moving train.
 It was shown that May was a poor Man aud for poor man heavily in debt: hence it was argued. he had strong motives for seeking 10 raise money. even at the cost of being crip pied for the rest of his life. Shortly before his legs were cut off he had purchased several copies of weekly publications which issue insurance pol ieies against railway accidents, and this was referred to to strengthen the railway company's theory that the loss of his legs had been deliberately plan ned
 All things considered, the case was one of the most plZZlng which Il jury has ever been called upon to decide. 1t is small wonder that the jury before whom it was first brought disagreed. It is surprising that another jury has agreed upon a verdict and one which many people will continue to think IS hardly justified by the evidence.
 That man no matter of what iron nerves he may be composed- should decide to part with his legs to see what price they would fetch from a railway company must be set down as one of the strangest freaks to which the thirst for gold has evec yet com pelled mortal man.