Alma record. (Alma, Mich.) 1878-1928, 1915-01-28
Continued from last week

=
BEING only the mother OF the pris
oner. her frail body having brought
him into the world. Mrs. Montgomery's
Opinion OF him had no value in court
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 month in the TomDs
waiting trial. and the prison pallor. the
CHASTITY yellow tinge that would make
= saint look like convict. was upon
him. The spectacle Of his little mother
on the stand had shaken his nerve. and
mis- hand trembed rs he took the Bible
and made his oath His story was SIM
ole enough despite the havoc wrought
with ii by the district attorney.
When the factory closed he left Ny
ack and came 10 New York. bringing
bis kit OF tools with him He had new
or heard OF the Hell'S Kitchen section
and was asking work along tenth and
Eleventh avenues because factories
we're located there. He met man
who seemed to take an interest in him.
This man introduced him to another,
and they bought him his scoper at
restaurant near the river They told
him that they could get him work. but
he would have to work at night. They
looked over his kit of tools. and one of
them admired steel drill and said II
was a fine one.
After nightfall." Montgomery told
the jury. IL went with the men u num-
Der OF blocks east One OF them took
my tools and bade me wait at a corner.
] was beginning to suspect that some
thing was wrong when | heard IA dull
explosion as If in a cellar. A minute
after one of the men passed me. run
ming He dropped the kit of tools and
the wrench. My tools were all that
stood between me and starvation. II
they were lost l could not hope to get
work at my trade grabbed up the
wrench. threw it into the bag and
started to run away when ! was ar
rested
The cross examination furnished the
young prosecutor with excellent prac-
tee in those sophistries supposed to be
necessary In the practice of law The
boy was as wax in the hands of the
questioner before him. After an hour
of misery and bewilderment he was
excused from the stand.
The court and counsel conferred in
whispers. The arguments followed.
They were brief. While the rules OF
evidence would not permit the mother
OF the prisoner to beg for his life and
proclaim her belief in his innocence,
they allowed the prosecutor in his adj
dress to the jury TO paint him as des-
perate young thief. crouching in the
dark with a heavy iron wrench uplift-
ed and quick TO domurder for the sake
OF loot
CARROTS address was short and
weak. His vocabulary was that Of
the money hungry lawyer who sits in
hole in the great city shutting bonds
and mortgages through his fingers and
always nibbling away at the little
hoardings of ignorant clients His
sense of humanity and his appreca-
ton Of the pity and horror Of the
whole drama in which he was par
ticipating were nil
The judges instructions 10 the jury
were string of empty words mouthed
hurriedly and touelessly
The case was entirely circumstan
tial. There was one way for the Jury
10 avoid the risk of sending an limo
chair. They took it. The clerk order.
ed the prisoner TO stand and face the
jury and the jury to look, upon the
prisoner.
Gentlemen. have you reached YER
dictf" asked the clerk.
I'VE have" replied the foreman.
we find the defendant guilty Of muir
der i'm the second degree"
The country people who had jour
neyed to the metropolis to do what
little they could for the widows son
took Mrs Montgomery back with
them. What little brightness Of hope
had been within her during the trial
IF her boy vanished with his convic.
ton.
She had tried the day after the trial
80 reach the Judge and appeal 20 him
for mercy and light sentence. but
The importunings Of widows. wives and
children are avoided by The judiciary
IS much as possible The legal repre-
sentative of great banking imstiiu
ton or some mighty estate ct corprrn
ton has the open sesame TO the cham
i.ars OF the men wearing the ermine
NJ there is not such great numDeI