The Washburn leader. [volume] (Washburn, McLean County, N.D.) 1890-1986, 1915-05-07
A Valued
Pocket Piece
By JOHN Y. LARNED

burg, on the I'd of July. was OLD
enough to remember the news of his
death and the military funeral that
was given him when his body was
sent home. Thirty years after his
death 1 was paid a silver dollar bear
ing date Of 1868. Since it marked the
date of my fathers death in battle. I
priced it. and. instead of parting with
it, l cut on it my fathers initials.
One day while travelling l fell in with
a young man. with whom l chatted.
On entering the station at Cleveland
the car door was thrown open and a
trainman called: cleveland! All QUIT"
The young man. surprised that the
train would go no farther. made ill.,
quiries and discovered that he must
stop overnight in Cleveland. He at
once began to examine the contents Of
his pocketbook and found that he had
barely enough to pay his bill at a hotel.
l asked him to permit ME to lend him
some funds. but he refused. saying
that he had just sufficient to get
through. l insisted on his taking more,
and he said if I had any loose change
in my pocket he would accept it as a
loan. The only coin, l had was my
pocket piece. After a moments hest
tation I handed it to him. He tried to
get my address III order to return the
loan. but we were leaving the train in
a crowd. and | hurried away.
Not long after this the newspapers
were filled with accounts of the muir.
der Of Richard Thornton. a wealthy
man. in Buffalo. The case was one OF
those mysterious happenings that at
tract widespread attention. A nephew
of the deceased. Edgar Thornton. was
accused of numbering his uncle in or
der to secure his estate. The murder
ed man was very old, a bachelor. and
his household affairs were administer
ed by a Mrs. Ferguson. a widow. who
the evidence seemed to indicate. was
endeavoring to induce him to make a
will in her favor. The state attor.
ney. by patching together bits Of evi'
dence. made a very good case. show
ing that the nephew. in whose favor
q Will udu ulkCNuy UCCu "0uCs 4IAA
that the woman would succeed in Sc
curing one giving her the property
had murdered his uncle to prevent his
doing so.
Mrs. Ferguson swore that Edgar
Thornton was with his uncle on the
night Of the murder. the two being to-
gether In the uncle's bedroom. She
claimed to have heard high words be
tween them. Edgar had left the house
at IL o'clock. She did not see Rich
ard Thornton till the next morning
when she found him dead. with a pill
low pulled over his face. A weak
point in the prosecution was that
some $500 that the deceased had
on hand in a desk was missing. The
state attorney declared that the &C.
cused had taken the money in order to
make it appear that the murder had
been committed for the purpose Of rob
berry.
read the newspaper reports Of the
trial. missing only n days report.
The next issue of the paper mentioned
that the accused had endeavored to
prove an alibi
The servants In the house were all
against Mrs. Ferguson. testifying that
she kept Mr.. Thornton in q sort Of i'm
prisonment. but they were persons of
no education. and their evidence was
easily pulled to pieces by the prosecu-
tor. Indeed. Mrs. Ferguson proved that
they had been literally tipped by Ed
gar Thornton whenever he, had called
on his uncle.
It did not take me long to make up
my mind that the accused was guilty.
He could not have been innocent unless
Mrs. Ferguson had perjured herself III
testifying that he was with bis uncle.
and the only person with him. on the
night Of the murder.
I read the summing up Of the case
by the prosecutor, and my attention
was attracted to these words:
The prisoner has claimed that on the
night the murder was committed he vas
travelling on a train between Cleveland
and Buffalo.
My meeting with the man to whom
l had loaned a silver dollar flashed
upon me. Could this Edgar Thornton
be the person I had met? That per-
son was to remain over, In Cleveland
at a hotel. The accused claimed to
have been on a train.
A human life might depend on my
action. I took q train for Buffalo and
when I arrived went to the courtroom
where the trial was being held. In the
prisoner l recognized my fellow trav-
eler. called for his attorney. told
my story and was put OH the stand. !
testified that. on a certain date-the
evening Of the murder-l had entered
Cleveland with the accused and had
loaned him a silver dollar. which I
described. The prisoner produced the
identical dollar l had given him with
the initials and date l had scratched
on It.
There was "a sensation in the court
ROOM. A man who was about to be
convicted Of murder was acquitted and
was heir to a fortune. When I asked
how he happened to have been on a
train instead Of in a hotel in Buffalo
he said he had found passage on q