Forest City press. (Forest City, Potter County, D.T. [S.D.]) 1883-19??, 1915-11-10
llII lln uu

I cussed. And you can't give a squirrel
paregortc k o can q baby.
And now you have an idea what ma
ture had begun to do for Jabez Carr.
But l am getting ahead of my story.
Ada Carr did not recover his speech
until after h brief. p~erfunctory trial
young man stood honorably acquitted.
The defendants story was not even
assa1led by the commonwealth. There
was no voice to dispute his claim of
self defense. no witness to cast the
remotest doubt upon the statement he
made. The only human being who
might have spoken for or against him.
was powerless to utter an ineligible
sound.
When John Payson entered the sick
room and calmly announced to his
mother that the jury had discharged
Eric without leaving the box, and on
the advice Of the court himself. Adam
Carr opened his eyes and spoke aloud
for the first time since he was stricken
the week before.
II knew they would" he said with an
effort. but quite distinctly. to the great
amazement of the doctor and the nurse.
Inc Widow Payson and John were not
surprised. They understood the in
scrutable ways of the man..
A AAdCliA1AcIy -O1 lN0. law never
worked SO fast as in the case Of the
State VS.. Eric Midthorne. Five days
after he surrendered himself to the
sheriff. his case was called for hear
ing. The court room was crowded. for
the Courier had announced the trial
day n hour No one was there in the
hope of finding fresh sensations. but
lips of the victor himself.
Inside the railing sat the entire bar
OF the city. Judge Oswald Bright came
over from the capital and occupied a
seat on the bench beside the court. His
daughter sat with Mary Midthorne at
the defendants table. Horace Blagden
and his wife had seats 80 close to Eric
Der In his ear. an oft repeated act
which sent a thrill of appreciation
through the big audience. and had q
moral though utterly wasted effect on
the jury.
The preliminaries were brief. Mr..
States Attorney Collins read the aft
davit on information and belief and
called his only witness-the sheriff of
the county. who merely testified that
the prisoner al the bar was the man
mentioned in the instrument and that
he had openly confessed to the Staying
Of Chetwynd Blagden. The state rest
ed. The audience leaned back with an
audible breath Of relief.
The defense very naturally moved to
quash the indictment. on the ground
that the corpus deficit had not. been
established. but formally withdrew the
motion a moment later. as a part of the
program. to permit Eric Midthorne to
tell his story on the stand. The audi
ence listened with GREATNESS interest
to the recital. dividing it's attention be
tween the young man in the box and
h grey haired parents of Chetwynd
Blagden. watching with eager yves for
some sign Of animosity on their part
III the peOple expected or hoped for q
Demonstration they were disappointed.
n sat very still and erect.
their pinched backs to the multitude,
their heads twisted slightly toward the
witness. from whose face their gaze
was not once removed during the un-
Interrupted recital At it's conclusion
n turned expectantly toward the
states attorney.
Horace BlaRden's figure straightened
%perceptibly. A moment later his own
name was called. He arose slowly
at any other time we would have said
pompously-and slipped into the wit
ness box. A stir swept through the
crowd. Here was a! sensation. after all
Facing h Judge. the great man OF
Corinth took h oath. his right hand
uplifted. 1t did not tremble. He then
testified to the reputation Of the de-
PENDANT for truth and veracitv. and tn
his standing in the community. That
was all. He gave it clearly. unfalter-
ingly. He was not asked J. he were the
father Of the deceased. It was as the
first citizen Of Corinth that he testified,
ing at the theatric display OF self re-
gard that overshadowed the real inten-
ton of the man. The great man of
Corinth was speaking. No one could
have asked for o than that.
Horace Blagdens did not mean tn
place himself in a false position. He
was intensely sincere in his desire ia
dissipate all doubts in the minds OF the
t~ownspeople rs to his attitude toward
his nephew. No more convincing wav
could have presented itself. he argued
than this opportunity to publicly re-
peat the sentiment embodied In his
earlier newspaper expression. Adam
Carr. when he heard Of the act. uttered
an opinion that no one else dared to
voice:
"Old Horace simply can't help it. It's
born in him. When he dies. by the
grace. he'll lie in state. And. no mat
ter how dead he is. he'll know hes ~
ing in state"
The Judge instructed the Jury to find
for the defendant. and Eric was dis
charged from custody almost before
you could have counted IL.
The whole affair was SO palpably
predestined that 1t savoured Of trav-
esty. and vet there was a seriousness
about 1t all that could not be mistaken,
The law itself did not come in for much
consideration. So far as the real legal
aspects of h case were concerned. all
presidents were violated. But no one
cared about that. Not a single soul In
all Corinth desired the punishment OF
Eric Midthorne. Corinth. therefore. was
the law.
Eric's trial was much the same AZ a
few YER important minutes and then
eYerYhndY going ahnlif hin nnzn hnai