Grant County herald. [volume] (Lancaster, Wis.) 1850-1968, 1906-06-09
THUMB MARKS

A5 Ah4uCnCSo. 1u0 case sWdS
opened by the prosecuting attorney,
who said:
I'VE propose to show, your honor.
that the prisoner is the only person
VINO could have taken the money, that
ne spent a part of it, and the rest was
found on his person. Call Thomas
judd
A middle aged man whose counte-
nance and bearing did not accord with
the responsibility Of his clothes took
the stand and after stating that he
was merchant and the employer of
the prisoner, Edward Wright, gave ev-
1dence that on certain day he had
sent bis clerk to the Office of Charles
berkeley with a note and that Wright
had returned saying that he had found
no one in Berkeley's Office. but had
left the note -,.---.-
Charles Berkeley was called and tes-
tilted that on the day Wright had been
at his office he had gone out for half
an hour, leaving Inadvertently $500 on
his desk in an envelope. On his return
he had found Judd's note on his desk
and the money gone. He inquired of
Judd by whom he had sent the note
and the answer given was Edward
Wright. Berkeley having the numbers
of the bills gave them to the police,
A detective testified that he had
found one OF the bills in a jewelers.
store. He at once arrested Wright, and
the rest Of them had been found on his
person. - 81 's~'7s~'~"e-.-
The case against the prisoner was
perfectly clear, and the prosecution re-
Trained from burdening the jury with
any more evidence. Indeed, when the
counsel for the defense arose it was
expected that he would plead the pris-
oner's youth and the fact that this was
bis first offense to obtain a light SEN
tence. s'~-~r+*. s4~,,-, ,4,ts~ --v-.s.ssa
''Cail Agnes Gregory"
A girl of eighteen elbowed her way
through the crowd and took the wit
ness stand.
do you know the prisoner?'
Eyes"
''He is your betrothed?"
"He is"
Estate what occurred between you
and the prisoner the evening the theft
was committed
HE came to me in very high spir-
It's and told me that he had had an in
terview with his employer, Mr.. Judd,
to whom he confessed that he wished
to marry, but was unable to do so on
account of the meagerness of his sal
airy. Mr.. Judd made him a present of
$500 and promised that on the day o.
his wedding his salary would be dou-
bled."
"DO you know Thomas Judd?
eyes, l have known him since l was
a little girl. He came to my father
poor boy and was given a position in
his store When my father died Mr.
Judd took the management of the
business, the ownership of which had
passed into his hands. When 1 was
fourteen he said to me one day that he
wished that the daughter of the man
who had befriended him should have
her proper interest in the business, and
the only way to bring this about would
be for me, when l grew older, to mar
ry him. / promised to do so'
'Has he ever claimed the fulfllment
of the promise?"
mo. Since have been old enough
to think of marriage l have been en-
gagged to Edward Wright"
The prisoners counsel then called
Charles Berkeley, to whom he showed
an envelope with his business imprint
upon it, and Berkeley identified it as
the one which had contained the stolen
bills. The attorney next called Thorn
as Judd and asked:
did you ever see this envelope be-
fore?
mo"
ever touch it?"
IF have never seen it, how could
l swear that l had touched it?"
A litter ran through the courtroom
at the attorneys expense. The lawyer
smiled grimly and, dismissing the wit
ness, called Leonard Markham.
"Mr- Markham, have you ever seen
this envelope?
eyes"
State how you came to see it."
II am a microscopic. Miss Gregory
brought it to me for microscopical eX-
animation"
"When you examined it what did you
discover?''
Thumb marks Of several persons,
among them those of Thomas Judd"
There was a sensation among those
present, and Mr.. Judd turned pale. AS
soon as attention was restored the at
torney asked:
II asked Miss Gregory if she had
any paper that had been handled by
Mr.. Judd, and she produced a note he
had written her. The thumb marks on
the note are identical with those on the
envelope she had brought me to be ex-
amined."
The questions of the prisoners coun-
sci had been brief and the answers to
the point. Within a few minutes the
case had swung from prOSnoct of FS