Omaha daily bee. (Omaha [Neb.]) 187?-1922, 1910-06-10

Following a policy announced last WINTER
Of assigning high class legal talent to de.
fend poor people charged with capital
crimes In New York City, Judge Malone
designated Bourke Cochran to conduct
the defense of Victor Nelson, a negro, ac-
cused of the murder of Claude Humphreys,
another negro, last March. The trial ended
last Saturday in a verdict Of acquittal,
the jury compllmentlng counsel on the
eoquence Of his closing argument, and re-
questing a copy of his address In defense
OF his client.
IL can scarcely expect you to treat this
negro as peer. Then treat him like
dog" said Mr.. Cochran in his summing
up of the case. Eyes, treat him like dog
II you must. A dog that bites wantonly
we kill, but a dog that bites trr- defense
Of his own masters home we protect. Men
have given their lives In defense of such
dog. Give my client the same shrift
you would give such n dog"
II was the theme of Mr.. Cochran's two
hours of oratory In behalf OF the prisoner
that Nelson had shot and killed Humphreys
in self-defense. The evidence showed that
Humphreys had been killed by bullet that
entered his body and Travelled in an up
ward course
Mr.. Cochran said that this fact abso-
lutely proved the truth of his clients tes-
timony that he had been kicked down three
steps by Humphreys, and that when he
recovered himself he found Humphreys
pointing a revolver at him.
Mr.. Cochran had two of his clerks take
positions on the steps leading to the wit
ness stand in court, to illustrate his idea
of the shooting.
The evidence showed that both negroes
were attentive to Mrs Marie Josephs, and
that jealousy existed between them.
The killing, according to Mr.. Cochran,
was the outgrowth of the social and eco
nomic conditions in this country. He said
that his client, while a high school gradu-
ate, had tried TO secure decent work in
this country, but had finally found himself
driven to accept work as scullion in the
house where Humphreys was introduced
to him. He closed with a strong plea that
the jury find "justifiable defense"
! An express train came into the station
on the down side of Seventy-second street
in the rush hour practically full, but there
was the usual large crowd in waiting, and
as many as could push or be pushed
through tho various doors boarded It,
Among the women who squeezed into q
side door was one with monster hat, the
edge of which threatened the eyes OF
little man who stood just next to her
The passengers nearby saw his predica-
ment, and some laughed, while others
seemed to be indignant. One of the latter
managed to tear from his paper the London
paragraph stating that women were asked
to wear moderate sized hats and no long
hatpins on the day Of the funeral Of the
king, in order to avoid discomfort and
accident. Politely taking off his hat, he
handed the scrap of paper over the head
of the little man to the woman with tho
big hat. She glanced at it, but not by
look or word did she betray any feeling,
and at Forty-second street she was swept
| from the car with the crowd.
ut is comparatively easy to serve per-
sons at banquet up to the number for
which a hotel has seating capacity, but it
| is not easy to have the dishes hot" said
the manager of the dining rooms in the
Hotel Astor when he was asked how they
managed to give bauquets in the new
ball room with what seemed like ease.
"One thousand persons dining at time
in one room is fair number. Tonight we
have a small dinner party-500-so you can't
see the thing working in its perfection.
But here is the way 1t is done"
He led the way to the rear promenade,
and there two sections of the floor had
been raised to permit the free running Of
oblong and electric dumbwaiters, which re-
volve and carry swinging shelves, Before
these stood a line Of walters carrying off
the dishes as fast as they appeared on the
half dozen platforms of each machine. Six
of these elevators for service can be put
into use when necessary.
| Lii, halo ofsrI,N
men and women feeding each machine,
each trained to do one thing. One man
did nothing but put potatoes on a plate
while a woman placed the slice of fish
and another man dropped a slice of lemon
and green decoration In this way not a
second was lost.
On the roof of the Hamilton Fish park
branch of the public library in New York
Is a chlldrens paradise, with gayly striped
awnings to protect against sun or showers,
and on the newly painted green tables big
vases of lilac and dogwood bloomed. The
garden was opened to the children with
fairies In the receiving line.
over in one corner Hans Christian An
dersen's story of THE Ugly Duckllng
was read out OF a big blue and gold fairy
book by Miss Eva Wheelock, the assistant
| librarian, who rejoices In the nickname
of Peter Pan" Twenty-Five small children
on twenty-five small bamboo stools sur
rounded Miss Wheelock, and at exciting
crises in the tale the tiny stools would tip
up away forward till their back legs were
lifted several inches in the air When the
exciting moment was past down they set
tied with a thump. only to rise again n
few minutes later.
"And yet" laughed Miss Wheelock after
ward. this story isn't by any means a
thriller to them, 1t hasn't any princesses>
That's what they like quantities of regal
splendor and pearls and diamonds of beau
tiful beautiful Processes
! "Once or twice a week we have story
telling afternoon for the children. There
are three groups, the littlest boys and
girls. who get fairy tales and a few nature
stories; the middle sized ones, to whom
arc told old Greek myths and the older
ones, who listen to histories. There are
generally from twenty-five to fifty in each
group, but sometimes they run as high as
eighty"
! II visit the night court quite often" said
la sightseer, but the other night / got
there before court convened and was sur