The Evening statesman. [volume] (Walla Walla, Wash.) 1903-1910, 1907-01-18
THE INfxPEDltNCY
OF AN UNTRUTn

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ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
lOriginall
The difficulty Of establishing a truth
IL at times 50 great that we are often
tempted to produce the effect Of
truth by establishing an untruth. This
Is especially so In the law. once had
client who gave me a story Of why
he killed man so unreasonable that,
though believed 1t, saw no hope of
convincing twelve other men In tho
jury box Of 1t. I therefore put In a
plea Of my own invention. I erred In
doing so, and / have never repeated
the device.
Edward Barton, my client, stoker
On railway, was on trial for murder
ing the engineer of his train while the
train was in motion. 1t was cOnsideta:
bly, ahead of its time when it pulled mp
at station within twenty feet Of an
other train standing on the same track.
The engineer was lying unconscious In
the cab with fractured skull. He
never regained consciousness and died
in few hours. Barton's sweetheart
was the only person who saw the mur-.
der and was obliged reluctantly to tes-
tify against him. She was accustomed
when his train passed the house in
which she lived. near the track, to
stand in the doorway and throw him a
kiss. On the day of the murder, hear
ing the train coming, she ran to the
door in time to see the train dash past
ut a much greater speed than usual.
The engineer stood with his hand on
the throttle, and Barton, instead OF
looking out for her, stood behind tho
engineer and dealt him Il blow with
huge iron poker. The girl tainted and
the train dashed on.
l exercised all my ingenuity In con-
cocting a scheme Of defense, which Is
not necessary to my story, so l do not
give 1t here. ! could not very well put
my client on the stand, for he could
only tell a story far different from the
one 1 was attempting to prove He was
convicted. The day he was sentenced
TO be hanged told him to tell his story
as he had told it to me.
You ask me, Judge, why sentence
should not be passed upon me-. !
killed the engineer, and l did 1t for
good reason. Before we started on the
run ! noticed that he was acting
strangely. We had no sooner got I'M
der way than he asked ME for more
coal There was plenty in the furnace,
and told him so. He turned upon mo
like fury and ordered ne to do. as ho
had hidden. put In more coal, and he
put on more speed. l begged him to
slow yr little. but he paid no atten-
ton to me. Our train was through
train and made no stop for an hour.
Meanwhile we were getting ahead OF
our time and liable to meet other
trains The engineer was big, strong
man, and it would have been impOssi-
BILE for me to get him away from tho
throttle. / was in an agony of doubt
and fear. The man had gone mad.
Noticing that we were approaching
station, 1 looked through the cab
window and saw but half a mile ahead
q train standing dead on the Same
track we were on. The lives Of It's
passengers as we'll as those on our
own train depended ON me. l thought
that the safety Of the many was OF
more Importance than the life of one. /,
1 did not have time to think that II l.
killed the engineer / would likely be
hanged for murder. 1 did not know
that l was passing the home Of my
sweetheart. There was no thought IN
my brain except to prevent a slaugh- 8,
ter. stepped behind the engineer and
brought my poker down on his skull
/ did not think of stunning him. I
would take no chances l intended to
kill him. He fell like log. l threw
back the reverse lever and whlstlel
down brakes, all within few seconds
The train stopped within two lengths,
and terrible wreck was averte1 J
glory in the death l am about to die. I
give my life for many Others"
The moment he began to speak saw
my error in not relying upon the truth.
Not only his words but his manner
were convincing When he had told
me his story he told it haltingjy.
When he told it to the Judge he told u
as a martyr. The effect was absolute
ly convincing. The prisoner was re-
manded, and the Judge called me to
him for consultation. After discussing
q new trial and other plans we de-
cided upon attempting tn secure a
pardon. The Judge wrote a strong
recommendation to that effect, and it
was not long before the prisoner went
forth a free man.
Barton married his sweetheart, who
had put me to shame by telling the
tfUst~ while l had relied on a lie. a
number of persons who were saved
made up purse for wedding pres.
ent amounting to several thousand
dollars and a gold watch, on the case
of which was an inscription telling
how he had saved the donors freIa
death or mutilation. A committee
made the presentation in the house
from which the groom's sweetheart
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