River Falls journal. [volume] (River Falls, Pierce County, Wis.) 1872-2019, 1914-06-18

ecutor as one of the tools found in The
kit taken from the prisoner.
You made a careful examination o.
this implement. did you not?' asked
the assistant district attorney.
Il did"
Tel the jury what you found there
Il found a spot about two inches long
by a half inch wide and by laboratory
tests found it to be a spot of human
blood"
What else did you find!"
IL busted the wrench with a white
powder and found the prints Of q
thumb and two fingers"
The prosecuting attorney placed the
wrench in evidence as Exhibit A and
then offered as Exhibit B an enlarged
photograph of the prints found upon it
Il offer you for identification this
document, which is the Bertillon rec
ord Of the accused taken at pr dice
headquarters following his arrest
said the prosecutor.
The expert examined it.
What do you find in this record
that bears upon the case before us!'
The thumb print and the prints OF
the index and middle fingers of the
right hand i'll this record are the same
prints shown upon the wrench with
the spot Of blood"
That is ALL said the prosecutor.
with a smile and an air of triumph.
He was young and eager for a record
of convictions. He looked significantly
toward the jurors as if to say. 1T is
now up to you, gentlemen, to send the
prisoner to the chair"
This trump card of the police brought
to James Montgomery a realization of
the utter hopelessness of his plight. and
his face became a chalky white. Death
i'll the electric chair was before him.
He was but a boy, and his patient, old
mother was sitting beside him, her
hand clasping his.
Fortunately she could not compre-
bend what was going on. She had
never heard Of the Bertillon system.
Montgomery choked back the sobs OF
despair that kept rising in his throat
and returned the pressure of his moth
er's hand.
The witnesses for the defense were
put on in quick order. They told in
homely language what they knew Of
the accused. He had been a faithful
son and the support of his mother. He
was working as an apprentice nachin-
list in a factory in Nyack when hard
times caused the factory to close.
Work was scarce and he had left
home to seek employment in the city,
The mother took the stand. She
turned in the chair and looked to the
judge appealingly. as d wounded bird
would look up to the bOugh from which
it had fallen.
lust tell the jury about your boy"
said Garrett. standing and twirling a
heavy gold watch charm.
MY son was born in the cottage in
which | now live near Nyack"- she
began.
You must speak louder" the judge
instructed.
She finally raised her voice and told
her story. The mother love sang III
every word she uttered: it glistened
with the soft light Of holy candles III
her faded eyes,, and it fairly trembled
forth from her fragile body as she told
of the life Of her only child and OF
their mutual struggle.
at is not in the nature of my son to
harm n one" she started to say, as
her story drew to a close. The young
prosecutor popped from his chair as If
a powerful spring had been released
beneath him.
81 object..' he cried wrathfully. 81
ask the court to have that remark
stricken out as irrelevant, incompetent
and immaterial. 1t is not evidence"
"Gentlemen of the jury" said the
court, after rapping with his gavel.
you are instructed to pay no attention
to the remarks just made by the wit
ness. They are not in the nature OF
evidence, and they are ordered stricken
from the records"
Being only the mother Of the pris-
oner. her fraiI body having brought
him into the world. Mrs. MontgOmery's
OIluHDu III Hill udd hO IL
There was no place in the trial for an
account Of maternal trust and love.
Garrett took her from the stand. the
prosecuting attorney declining. with an
air Of scorn. to cross examine her.
The prisoner was then sworn. he
had spent nearly a month in the Tombs
waiting trial. and the prison pallor. the
CHASTITY yellow tinge that would make
d saint look like a convict. was upon
him. The spectacle Of his little mother
on the stand had shaken his nerve. and
his hand trembled as he took the Bible
and made his oath. His story was sim
Pile enough despite the havoc wrought
with it by the district attorney.
When the factory closed he left Ny
ack and came to New York. bringing
his kit of tools with him He had new
or heard Of the Hell's Kitchen section
and was asking work along Tenth and
Eleventh because factories
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