Perrysburg journal. (Perrysburg, Wood Co., O. [Ohio]) 186?-1965, 1909-08-06

RKR kers betokened the coun-
Esyll IW&& try jurist of long expert
EsJiH kSM ence whose reverence for
Gasnt2SsASd the English bench caused
him unwittingly to assume the person
al appearance of 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
"Reminiscences of his long career and
would gladly furnish the story of the
evening. After the pipes of good fell
lowship had been burned for a space
Judge Tanner arose and began his
story of circumstantial evidence.
Il often wonder" he said, "if there
is a trial judge of any considerable
experience who has not carried some
one case as a 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 a 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 | 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 / believe is
as strange as any of record and which
for years, as l looked back upon it,
caused me to doubt the ability of man
ever infallibly to pass judgment upon
fellow creature. The parties now
are all dead and l tell it for the first
time. But to the story.
In a little city on the circuit in
which / have held court for more
years than | care to think of there
was at one time a hotel kept by a
very respectable man named Jona-
than Miller. 1t was the favorite stop
ping place for commercial travellers
and thus the most prominent and best
paying hotel in the city.
One evening jewelry salesman by
the name of Robert Conway arrived
at the hotel just before supper. He
instructed Miller to send his grips up
to his room and remarked in the hear
ing of several at the desk that he did
not care to have them left in the gen.
eral baggage room as he was carrying
far more expensive line of samples
than usual. He also asked that the
door be carefully locked and the key
brought to him.
Supper over, he fell in with a
salesman for shoe house and one
for clothing firm and they repaired
Ito the bar where they played cards
land drank until II o'clock, when they
jail 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
from the one occupied by the jewelry
salesman.
about two o'clock in the morning
the two roommates were awakened by
groans which seemed to come from
the room of their companion of the
evening across the hall.
"They arose and without stopping tc
dress hurried out to see what the trou
BILE was. You can imagine their hor
ror to find Conway, the jewelry man
dead, the bed blood-soaked, and stand
ing over him, dark lantern in one
hand and bloody knife in the other
Jonathan Miller, the landlord, who
trenybed violently and gasped inco
herently when they burst into the
chamber of death.
THE case seemed black enough
against him. There was not a sus
Ipicion in the mind of anyone in the
Icity that he could be otherwise thar
guilty. Yet when taken before a JUS
ltice for a preliminary hearing he mos
,stoutly maintained his innocence an(
told story which had it not pale(
into improbability by the side o.
damning circumstances against hin
would have been plausible in the ex
treme
He said he had just reached hi,
room after, as was his custom, sit
ting up until train due at half pas
one, came in. He had not had tim,
to remove his clothing when he, too
heard groans coming from the neigh
borhood of Conway's room. Like tn,
two salesmen, he had hurried to in
vestigate, and as a weapon of de
fense he had taken the knife. II,
also picked up the dark lantern whic!
he always used in making his las
rouRds of the hotel and which wa
still lighted.
When he reached the jeweler'
door he was surprised to find it stand
lug open The groans had ceased