The Washburn leader. [volume] (Washburn, McLean County, N.D.) 1890-1986, 1915-01-29

DEAD
By JOHN Y. LARNED

criminal lawyer, If there were not pc.
culiar secrets locked up in the breast
of a man of his profession. where
p o he told me the following story:
.If | hadn't been a criminal lawyer
think / should have been a detective.
Criminals never interested me especial
ly, and l never had much sympathy
with them. But here and there comes
I'D a person about whom circumstances
reveal what is hard to break through.
You have heard the fable of the lion
in the net released by the gnawing of
a mouse. Well. in such cases 1t Is
fascinating to be the mouse.
mot that I'm going to tell you a
story about getting off a person ac-
cused of crime by n Of those ingen-
ious methods we read of in detective
stories. I'm going to give you a case
where a man whom ! believed to be
guilty was condemned for murder, and
discovered that he was innocent too
shortly before his death day to war
rant my r%eopening the case in a legal
way.
"a murder was committed. The
murderer not only fed. but left articles
by which he was known. He made
good his fight and was not heard from
in three years; then he or a man who
was his double deliberately walked
into the town where the murder had
been committed. Being met on the
street by one Of those who had been
long looking for him. he was greeted
with the words:
"'For heavens sake. Collins. what
did you come back here for?
COLLINS! That's not my name!
mo reply was made to this. a pair
Of handouts was slipped on the stran-
gers wrists. and he was lodged in
Jail.
81 was the man who drew up the
case against Nathan Collins for the
state.
1.-The accused was an, Englishman
and claimed that his name was Lang
don. He admitted that he had been
wild and had been disowned by his
family. But when his attorney asked
him to call upon his family for identi-
6cation he said that he would take his
chances Of proving it without their as
sistance. adding that he had been
away from them so long that he doubt
ed If they would all swear that he
was their kinsman.
II had no difficulty in securing his
| conviction. and he was as much sur
prised at it as l would have been had
he been acquitted. was somewhat
staggered at his first remark after his
conviction. 1t
"'Weli. here's IL pretty kettle of fsh!'
THAT didn't sound like a guilty man.
1t seemed to me rather the remark OF
one who had got into a bad scrape and
had begun to realize his position.
"It seems singular to me looking
back at the case. that no further eff
fort was made to prove that lie was
what he claimed to he. He said that
it would be useless to apply to his fam
lily, for they would expect anything OF
him, even murder. Another reason
was that he had a cousin who would
be heir to his fathers estnte at his
fathers death were it not for the
black sheep of the family. At any
rate nothing was done to save him.
The truth is no mi was interested I
him. and he seemed tn have been
stunned by his position.
1.-The night before the morning ap
pointed for the execution Jim wilkins.
the condemned mans attorney. came
to me with a letter p~ostmarked Man.
chester. England. and addressed to Sir
Charles Langdon. 1t had been tent to
the, British consul general. How he
came to forward 1t we did not know.
lin and looked at each other with
eyes wide open.
81 wonder If d mistake has been
made!!' said Jim nervously.
".It's possible l replied.
..Well. we took the letter to Lang.
don. who as o as he looked at 1t
said: Dads gone and Ralph's gone.
and that rascal George must be knock
ed out or that letter would have
got to me
"He opened the letter. read it and
showed 1t to us. 1t was Il n announce
ment that by the death Of his father
and brother he had succeeded to the
title and estate.
Here was proof Of a mans identity
who was to be executed within a few
hours. Jim and I called up the gov
ernor BY phone. but couldn't get him.
What was to be done? The sheriff
was on hand. and we called him in for
consultation. Rather than execute an
innocent man. he agreed that II we
would stop the mouths Of the neces-
sary witnesses to the execution VIII
money he would execute a dummy and
turn the live body Of the prisoner over
to US. Sir Charles said he was rich.
So Jim and I advanced the funds.
There were only Ave persons to greasn
and they all knew the reason why
they were greased.
"Sir Charles Langdon went te Eng
land. legally dead in America. and \
believe became n steady country gen.
tleman and much respected"
After the finishing Of the story
asked my friend. the lawyer. II that
experience did not make him more
cautions in prosecuting criminals. His
reply WINS that a state attorney 10
! nuon1ovnd fn nnnvfct and a n~risOnorso