Coeur d'Alene evening press. (Coeur d'Alene, Idaho) 1907-1929, 1910-02-09
4 THWARTED PLOT.
ey LAURENCE FOSTER CHURCH.
lcopyright. 1903. ~ American Press Asso-
cfatfon

tSopyTight, 1903. BY American Press AnBo-
eiation.I
Not far from the close of the eight
eenth century there lived in a small
town in New .Iersey--it is now a city,
Raymond Doane. a man very much
respected and Of a peaceful DISPOSE
ton. His house stood near the main
street or road. considerable grounds
behind and on either side Of 1t. On the
lot next adjoining lived Samuel Whit
ford, who was Doane's antipode. II
he but once conceived 4 grudge against
any one be would pursue him to the
bitter end. He quarreled with nearly
every one In the town, and there was
none to speak good word for him
but Raymond Doane, who always
stood for peace and constantly endeav-
ored to allay the prejudice against his
neighbor.
But one day horse OF Doane's got
into Whitford's premises and destroy
ed lot Of vegetables growing in the
garden. Though Doane offered to
make suitable reparation, Whitford
would not be pacified. From that time
he made the lives Of Mr.. Doane ana
his family miserable and went so far
as to injure one of Doane's children
he found on his grounds. This was
too much even for the quiet Mr..
Doane's patience Meeting Whitford,
ne protested. Whitford attacked him,
but Doane. being the better man, g0t
him down and rubbed his nose In the
dirt.
After this the Doanes expected worse
treatment than before. but Whitford
let them alone and finally surprised
them by offering the olive branch. It
was accepted. but without confidence.
Mr.. Doane had man doing unim-
| portant jobs about his place named
Silas Moore, who had received an In
jury in childhood which had impaired
his intellect. One night Silas was
heard screaming "Murderg' in the
back of Mr.. Doane's place. Doane got
up and went out to see what was the
matter. He found no one and went
back to bed. Silas was not again seen
In the town.
Mr.. Doane reported what he had
heard, and there was much wonder
ment in the matter. Whitford said
nothing for some time, then intimated
that he might say great deal were it
not that the people were all against
him and would not believe him. This
got to the ears Of the authorities, and
Whitford was called upon to give tes-
timoDy. With apparent unwillingness
be said that on the night in question.
hearing the cries. he had got up and
gone to the rear of his yard. The
cries had then ceased. Whitford was
about to return to the house when ne
saw a figure through the darkness
dragging some object. He followed
and saw the figure dig a hole, into
which he thrust what he had been
dragging. filled the hole and spent
much time destroying the marks Of
the grounds disturbance. Whitford
followed the figure and saw 1t go into
Doane's back door.
No citizen of the place would have
paid any attention to this story, but
the police, of course. must visit the
spot and examine it. Whitford led
them. and after digging in several
. places they came upon corpse so dis
figured that they could tell nothing
about it except that 1t was about Silas'
height and the hair was the same
color.
The matter now passed into the
courts, and Doane was arrested for
the murder Of his hired man. The
+ clothing on the corpse was examined,
and several pieces were found to have
belonged to SiIas. Though the body
, was unrecognizable. the clothing prov
ed conclusively that Silas had been
. murdered. Whitford's evidence was
not sufficient to convict Doane. but a
. stranger appeared at the trial who
. swOre that he had driven into the town
: late on the night of the murder and
had heard angry words in Doaue's
/, barn. He had refined in his horse to
listen and saw two figures walk to the
back of Doane's place. Then he had
: heard the cries and had gone and seen
Z what Whitford had seen from another
point
9 Even this would not have convicted
Doane before a jury Of his fellow
J townsmen. but the prosecuting attor
ney, realizing this. took change Of
: venue and tried him elsewhere. ThC
result was that the peace loving Mr.
Doane was convicted Of the murder Of
his half witted servant. In this, al
0 in every mysterious murder case, ther'
were those who believed in the gull
Of the one being tried for it and thos'
e who did not so believe.
A hanging in those days was open d
: the view of every one. From dayligh
= till noon on the day the culprit was L
y be swung of all sorts of vehicles wer'
!. driven into town loaded with people
: The condemned man was brough
y forth and given an opportunity 4
i speak, which he declined. The nOos'
= was being adjusted when some one II
2 the crowd cried:
: Hold ont"
: Every eye was turned to the speak
er. who was pointing In a certain dl