Rock Island Argus. (Rock Island, Ill.) 1893-1920, 1910-02-22

I sweetheart when thpy learned OF INC
real charge that had been made
against the son of the one and lover
Of the other and that they had put II
out Of theiT power to prove an abb
for him and in this way establish his
innocence. They were visited by Rob
prt's attorney and questioned II was
pTidenr to them that he did not be-
lieve the reason they gave for telling
his captain that they had not seen him
during the night of the murder. and 1t
would not have made any difference if
he had believed them. They had made
a statement and could not contradict
it before jury and expect the contra
diction TO be considered evidence.
Nancy Alvord. after her terror at her
lovers position and her chagrin at
having denied that she had been with
him had in a measure subsidized. began
to think of some way to prove the I'M
truth of her first story. This led her
to read carefully the newspaper ac-
counts Of the murder. and she saw
that Murphy's watch, which was
found In his vest pocket, had stopped
at thirty-seven minutes after 10. She
remembered hearing a clock strike II
while on the car returning from the
island. This was fixed in her mind by
the fact that she expected a scolding
on her return home for having stayed
out so late.
The civil authorities considered that
Murphy's watch marked the time of
his death The murder occurred in an
upper room used for card playing. no
one but the murderer and the muir
dered man being present That there
had been a scufiie was evident from
the shred of uniform and buttons
picked up on the floor. The watch had
undoubtedly stopped during this scuf-
fe. At thirty-seven minutes after 10
on that eventful evening, with limit
of ten minutes either way. Robert and
Nancy had been among the shows at
Coney Island. They had passed Muir
| phys saloon at about twenty minutes
past II. Had Nancy not been handi-
capped by her first statement she
could have told a perfectly straight
story that would have Tailed with the
facts and exOnerated her lover.
The next move she made was TO go
| TO Coney Island and visit the attend
/ ants upon the various shows with a
| view to finding some one who had
! seen her there with a soldier and If
possible to secure that soldiers identi-
fcation as Robert Hammond. She
went over the ground, but found no
( one who remembered her or her sol
/ der escort
| AS the day for the trial drew near
+ the result looked black for the young
+ soldier His mother was in agony over
the situation, which was rendered
/ more excruciating by the fact that in
her effort to shield her son she had
put it out Of her power to save him.
/ The morning before the trial Nancy
was sitting by her open window over
looking the lower bay. trying to think
1 of her problem. A woman cane TO
window Of the house opposite and
/ hung a parrot cage containing a par
rot beside the window. The woman
left. and the parrot began TO chatter.
Nancy jumped from her seat. dashed
into an adjoining room. seized her hat,
few downstairs out into the street
and boarded a car for Coney Island.
What she did there will appear at
the trial, which was called in the
criminal court the next day.
a jury had been impaneled and the
/ prosecutor had stated the case for the
.
They were but few and stated only
what has been thus far given. Then
the prisoners counsel took up the case
for the accused, calling him to the
witness stand. He asked Robert a
/ number of irrelevant questions not ap-
parently bearing on the case. requiring
him to give long explanations. Final
" the state attorney objected 10 the
questioning as irrelevant. and the
Judge sustained the objection. Then
the counsel called Nancy 70 the wit
ness stand and pursued exactly the
same course with her till another OBJ
lection was raised and sustained.
Where were you" asked the coun-
sci OF Nancy. ION the night of the 10th
OF June between 10 and II o'clock?"
AT COney Island"
"Who was with you?'
THE accused, Robert Hammond"
That will do"
At a sign from the attorney a phOno-
graph was brought into court and set
on table. An operator put its ma
chinery in motion. and a voice. plainly
Nancy's began to talk. What had
been spoken in the machine was Of
no Importance. detached sentences ex-
pressive Of the pleasure to be derived
at visiting Coney Island.
Then another voice was switched on.
Every one started It was the voice Of
Robert Hammond
I'm soldier. | am. Got leave till
o'clock. and here am at 1920 talking
into a phonograph machine I'll be
broke tomorrow. ! will. My chevrons
will come off, and I'll serve the balance
Of my enlistment as n high private in
the rear rank Come. Nancy; let's get
along to the next show"
Your honor" said the counsel for
the defense. II made the jury famil-
far with the voices Of my two wit
/ nesses that they might recognize them
in this phonoGraph. which ! propose