The Julesburg grit-advocate., 1909-08-06

MI try jurist OF long expert
ence whose reverence for
the English bench caused
him unwittingly to assume the person
al appearance of a wearer Of the wig
and ermine Of BlackstOnian days.
Judge bennett introduced him as
Judge Tanner and assured the club
that his guest was primed with many
. reminiscence Of his long career and
would gladly furnish the story of the
evening. After the pipes of good fel-
lowship had been burned for q space
Judge Tanner arose and began his
story Of circumstantial evidence.
Il often wonder" he said, If there
10 trial Judge of any considerable
experience who has not carried some
one case IS load on his mind and
conscience for years after the verdict
OF the jury is in and the condemned
led away to execution. 1t is q wise
provision Of the law that makes the
jury the judge both of the law and
the evidence, and the judge but the
medium through which the law
reaches the twelve: and I cannot con.
ceive the condition Of mind Of those
early English Judges. before whom,
when they had arrived at . conviction
Of guilt. even the jury was power
less. 1t was from their arbitrary and
unreasonable rulings. now happily not
held within the power Of the Judge,
that most Of our records of miscarried
justice have resulted.
within my own experience there
has come one case which l believe is
{ ~ strange as any of record and which
Z for years, ~ looked back upon it,
q caused me to doubt the ability of man
ever infallibly to pass judgment upon
4 10 fellow creature. The parties now
arNell dead and tell it for the first
tine. But to the story.
In . little city on the circuit in
which I have held court for more
years than I care to think Of there
vas at one time hotel kept by q
perry respectable man named iona.
than Miller. 1t was the favorite stop
ping place for commercial travellers
And thus the most prominent and best
8paying hotel in the city.
"One evening jewelry salesman by
the name Of Robert Conway arrived
Nat the hotel Just before supper. He
INSTRUCTED Miller to send his grips up
ITO his room and remarked in the hear
4ing of several at the desk that he did
not care to have them left in the gen.
y eral baggage room as he was carrying
Il q far more expensive line of samples
than usual. He also asked that the
door be carefully locked and the key
4 brought to him.
y Supper over, he fell in with a
a salesman for a shoe house and one
for q clothing firm and they repaired
to the bar where they played cards
and drank until II o'clock, when they
all retired. 1t happened that the hotel
was we'll filled and the clothing man
and the shoe man had been forced to
take a double room together This
room was directly across the hall
q from the one occupied by the jewelry
salesman.
4 About two o'clock in the morning
I the two roommates were awakened by
Sgnnps which seemed to come from
the room Of their companion Of the
aevening across the hall.
\ "They arose and without stopping to
dress hurried out to see what the trou-
bic was. You can imagine their hor-
ror to find Conway, the jewelry man,
gdead, the bed blood-soaked, and stand
ling over him, dark lantern in one
hand and bloody knife in the other,
Jonathan Miller, the landlord, who
atrembled violently and gasped inco-
aherently when they burst into the
chamber of death.
THE case seemed black enough
3against him. There was not a sus-
4picion in tte mind of anyone in the
4city that he could be otherwise than
3guilty. Yet when taken before a JUS
Atice for a preliminary hearing he most
astoutly maintained his innocence and
told a story which had it not paled
into improbability by the side of
damning circumstances against him
would have been plausible in the ex.
IRENE.
He said he had just reached his
room after, n was his custom, sit
Fling up until 4 train due at half past
7Dne, came in. He had not had time
to remove his clothing when he, too,
beard groans coming from the neigh
borhood Of Conway's room. Like the
wo salesmen. he had hurried 10 in
vestigate. and as weapon of de-
ense> he had taken the knife. He
also picked up the dark lantern which
hs always used In making his last
founds Of the hotel and which was
a&in lighted.
Phen he reached the jewelers.
aoor he waa surprised to And It stand
(Asoopen. The groans had ceased,