Rock Island Argus. (Rock Island, Ill.) 1893-1920, 1911-07-01

Witnesses WHO mao seen the ffhbtsng.
set his wits TO work to dispose Of the
girl. But be did not act upon her di-
rectly. He proved by several wit
nesses that she was in love with Light
Fingered Jim" and badgere6 bar tnro
admitting that. though he had never
said word to her she was not sure
she had not worshiped him ftora a dis
lance.
Gentlemen OF the Jury. I'll ns,t IL TO
you," said the lawyer-.Is al Ar, who
is in love with a man who has been
killed in a fracas tit wieneIss against
his adversary"
There being no more witnesses. tn.
prosecuting attorney made 4 Iong
speech. picturing the enormity of the
crime so vividly that when be c,oset
every man OF the Jury arose hi bout
ed "Guiltyp
But the judge Informed hem that
counsel for the defense had 3omethinc
TO say about the matter before they
were to bring in verdi Fl At this
they sat dowt and coupse. dor the de.
Tense arose. he took the giound that
there had be.n an ordinary shooting
match between the two n en- which
nobody had ssen. Then hei proceeded
TO picture the innocent youb,g love for
the prisoner ia the part OF ellen Stur-
dy-She was not present to deny the
mpeachment-and the agony OF the
poor girl at seeing the man she idol
lied dangling Hfeless corpse. So ef-
fective was this part of his harangue
that sew eral Iurymen were moved to
tears. With his arguments and his
pictures fresh in their minds the jury
retired for CONSULTATION.
after ten hours' seclusion they sent
word 10 the judge that they were
ready to give a verdict Being recall
ed, the foreman asked:
Judge. air we to fad verdic' ac-
cordiD' to the facts er accordin' to the
evidence?'
The judge scratched his head and
knit his brows. Then be asked the
lawyers for an answer, and they both
declared that the verdict must rest on
the evidence. i
Then" said the foreman. I'VE find
that the prisoner was jist hayin' lit |
tie innocent scrap FER 6In and accI- |
~
Up jumps iounsel fsr the defense
Your hon r. the Hrdict being not
guilty. 1 m{ve the discharge of my
client"
"FelIer cit4 elns," sais the Judge. Lar
boring toll ganir, rom one condi-
ton to anoger is dangerous IN any
community. IEf n man swingin' from
branch to tdnch lets 30 one hand be-
fore he's ut a holt with the other
he's liable lrop. WE don't want to
let go of lnth law with both hands
to take a hit on court law. Fust of,
we better nt1 'em. The prisoner bav-
in been tritby court law and found |
innocent, w{ gtn now proceed to try
him by lynctaw and see II we can't
convict hin, All In favor of this hold
up their hang"
Every ba}went upl
The jury 3t had tu|t acquitted the
prisoner on he groupH that he had
been engagen an nnpcent scrap and
accidental eiiled a~-Enan were aD-
pointed toE ear evidence concerning :
the charged murder before Judge !,
Lynch. TIA the witnesses were re- 4
called, thdervices OF the lawyers /, Z
were dispfd with, and the Judge
asked the tstions.
"Biu Evd you seen the shooting"
"Yes."
Tell VIII GU seen"
'I seen t Fingered Jim walkin'
along the pet. Tom Flynn come
out OF thl loon. follered him and
shot him 4 back"
''That'n Abe wilkins, take the
stand. I'd cen the shootin'. How
did it hapf n
THAT what Bill Evans said"
"That'n Ellen Sturdy"
Ellen 81 confirmed the story
told by TIL Der two. Then the jury
without lei y their seats brought In
q verdict. loren an said:
Judge, D. said the prisoner was
innocent 4din' to law, we now
say he's 81 accordin' to fac"
mike d." said the Judge, 81
sentence } b be turned over to the ii
committeeke hanged" e.
The tr1a4upied FIVE, the hanging
about eigt4inutes.
1t was dtnine1 by the citizens of
Royal FL thereafter that they
would ret'Judge Lynch for awhile.
but be = deliberate. No one
should be vJcted without both sides
having behkard and should not be
hanged fCoskrder til the murdered
Verson halJd one week after the
murder tnrk or.