Lincoln County leader. [volume] (Toledo, Lincoln County, Or.) 1893-1987, 1912-04-26
CHAPTER XII.

The American dearly loves sen.
sation. and the bigger and more blood
curdling 1t Is the better. Nothing is
more gratifying on arising in the
morning and sitting down to partake
of daintily served breakfast than to
glance hurriedly over the front page
Of ones favorite newspaper and see It
covered with startling headlines. It
matters little what has happened dur.
ing the night to shock the community,
so long as 1t satisfies ones appetite
for sensational news. It can be a
fatal conflagration, fearful railroad
wreck, gigantic bank robbery, a hor
rible murder, or even a scandalous
divorce case. All one asks is that 1t
be something big, with column after
column of narrowing details. The
newspapers are fully alive to what is
expected Of them, but it is not always
easy to supply the demand. There
are times when the metropolis Ian
guishes for news of any description.
There are no disastrous fires, trains
run without mishap. burglars 60 on a
vacation. society leaders act with de-
corum-in a word the city is deadly
dull. Further consideration of the
tariff remains the most thrilling topic
the newspapers can find to write
about
The murder at the aristocratic AS
truria. therefore. was hailed by the
editors as an unmixed journalistic
blessing. and they proceeded to play
1t up for all it was worth. All the
features Of first-class sensation were
present. The victim, Robert Under
wood, was well known In society and
prominent art connoisseur. The
place where the crime was committed
was one Of the most fashionable of
New York's hostelries. The presumed
assassin was a college man and the
son Of one Of the most wealthy and
influential of New York's citizens.
True. this Howard Jeffries, the son,
was black sheep. He had been
mixed up in all kinds of scandals be-
fore. His own father had turned him
out of doors, and he was married to a
woman whose father died in prison.
Could better combination of cir.
cumstances for newspaper be con-
ceived? The crime was discovered
too late for the morning papers to
make mention of 1t, but the afternoon
papers fired a broadside that shook
the town. All the evening papers had
big scare heads stretching across the
entire front page. with pictures of the
principals involved and long inter-
views with the coroner and Capt.
Clinton. There seemed to be no doubt
that the police had arrested the right
man, and in all quarters of the city
there was universal sympathy for Mr..
Howard Jeffries, Sr. 1t was terrible
to think that this splendid, upright
man, whose whole career was without
single stain. who had served his
country gallantly through the civil
war, should have such disgrace
brought upon him in his old age.
Everything pointed to speedy trial
and quick conviction. Public indigna.
ton was aroused almost to a frenzy,
and a loud clamor went up against
the laws delay. Too many crimes
OF this nature, screamed the yellow
press, had been allowed to sully the
good name of the city. A fearful ex-
ample must be made, no matter what
the standing and influence of the pris-
oner's family. Thus goaded on, the
courts acted with promptness. Taken
before a magistrate, Howard was at
once committed to the Tombs to await
trial, and the district attorney set to
work impaneling a jury. Justice, he
promised, would be swiftly done. One
newspaper stated positively that the
family would not interfere, but would
abandon the scapegrace son to his
richly deserved fate. Judge Brewster
the famous lawyer, 1t was said, had al
ready been approached by the prison.
er's wife, but had declined to take
the case. Banker Jeffries also was
quoted as saying that the man under
arrest was no longer son of his.
AS one paper pointed out, 1t seemed
farce and waste of money to have
any trial at all. The assassin had not
only been caught red-handed, but had
actually confessed Why waste time
over trial? True. one paper timidly
suggested that 1t might have been
case OF suicide. Robert Underwoods
financial affairs. 1t went on to say,
we're In critical condition, and the
theory OF suicide was borne out to
some extent by an interview with DR..
Bernstein. professor Of psychology at
one Of the universities, who stated
that he was by no means convinced OF