The bee., 1909-03-25
THE AUCTION
FLAG
BY F. l. GARDNER.

Presently the lawyer came out OF
his private Office, humming the chorus
of the song: Some Day When Dreams
Come True"
THAT tune" he said brings TO my
mind the hard struggle and ups and
downs of the first year of my profess
sional life After being admitted to
the bar / opened an office in a sub.
urban city and hung out my shingle.
Aside from a few petty cases my time
was mostly spent in day-dreams. After
studying up some of the prominent
cases of the time would stand at my
desk, and with an imaginary court
room, judge, jury and spectators,
would plead the case from my point Of
view-and of course It was always
decided by my argument-'Oh, said
to myself one day, IL dreams would
only come truel But dreams will
not give a man the wherewith to keep
the wolf from the door, and felt as
though would like to so out and shoot
man and then plead my own case.
when I had about concluded that
reform wave was sweeping the coun.
try my star OF destiny began to ascend.
It's an old saying that It's an III wind
that blows no good At this time
circumstance arose that put me on
the road to success. and eventually
realization OF my dreams.
Zone day while sitting in my ONCE.
! felt so blue and discouraged that +
concluded a little outing would be
of benefit to me and make me feel
little more cheerful Taking my
camera in hand. started on to take
some views of the falls and stepped
into the drug store to purchase some
cigars. Hello. Frank exclaimed the
proprietor, you are just the man l
want to see. A friend of mine has
sent me a new brand OF plates. l
have not the time to use them just
now. II 1t will not be too much trou-
BILE, | would like to have you take
this plate and holder and try It on
something that suits your fancy After
several hours spent at the falls start
ed to return home, and just as / was
about entering the village of W
/ bethought of my friends plate, and.
glancing at the sun, ! found that
would have to work quickly, as thun-
der-stOrm was fast approaching. Fo-
cusing the camera upon the main
street of the village, made the expos
ure and felt aggravated when / noticed
a large auction flag floating from a
building in the foreground; but per-
haps the Objectionable feature could be
remedied in development.
Shortly after | reached home all
thoughts of photography and auction
flags were driven from my mind by the
thrilling report of a horrible murder.
Nellie Blank, a beautiful SCHOOLGIRL,
was accused as the murderess. From
the first day that her father had
brought a new wife to his home moth
er and stepdaughter had formed a
hatred for each other. On the day OF
the murder hot words had passed be-
tween the two. I'll kill YOU ex.
claimed the girl in passion; and then,
mounting her bicycle. she rode away.
1t transpired that a passerby over
heard the threat. Shortly after the
elderly woman lying dead in a pool of
blood In the kitchen. Circumstances
seemed to point to the girls guilt,
and her admission that she made the
remark overheard made the case seem
almost conclusive.
ITO make a long story short, / was
assigned as her counsel. All the evil
denee the girl could offer was that
she had ridden away on her bicycle
and only heard of the murder on her
return home. Your honor / said
as ! arose to plead for the defense.
III you will permit this photograph
TO be used as evidence, l will prove
that the prisoner was far away from
the scene of the murder and is as limo
cent of the crime as am. The pic
ture shows her standing beside her
bicycle drinking from a wayside spring
in the village OF W, ten miles
from the scene OF the crime. The
| hands of the clock on the town hall
indicate half-past three, the exact time
that the tragedy occurred
can audible murmur sounded
through the court room. Your honor
said the counsel for the prosecution,
after the photograph had been admit
ted and examined, 4 coincide with the
evidence as submitted by the other
side. We know that the picture was
not made after the murder, but what
proof have we that It was made
the day that the crime was commit.
ted? 1t would have been possible TO
have made II ON yhs day before. The
opposing counsel may have made a
mistake in his recollections Unless
II can be proved that the picture was
made ON the 25th Of August the eVi.
dence amounts to naught'
"'Your honor, | said in reply. the
old blacksmith shop shown in the pic
ture was sold at auction on the 25th
of August. The auctloneer's assistant
is prepared TO prove that the flag was
| placed In position early In the fore
noon. and remained transfxed until
after the sale at 4:30 p. m The case
was then given 10 the jury, who rem
dered a verdict of not guilty
| "a few wears later the real murderer