The Birmingham age-herald., 1916-06-27
BASEMENT TRIAL
 OPENS IN LONDON
Jury Is Completed and the Prosecution Opens-NO
 Inkling of Defense

London. June 26-Sir Roger Case
 ment. chief conspirator in the Sim Fein
 revolt in Ireland. faced today trial for
 his life on a charge of high treason
 in the high court of justice
 No indication was given by his coun-
 sel as to what would be the nature of
 the accused mans defense. Francis R.
 Doyle of Philadelphia who has been
 retained by Easements family, has re-
 fused to say anything beyond denying
 report that his client would throw
 himself on the mercy of the govern
 ment.
 Sir Roger Easement has been in jail
 here since April 25. when he was cap-
 tured on the west coast of Ireland, aft
 CT having been landed from a German
 steamer which was attempting to ruu
 the British blockade and land cargo
 of arms in Ireland for the protected
 revolution The steamer was blown up
 by it's crew when they found it's cap- ture by a British patrol boat was in-
 evitable, according to statement.
 Before the war broke out, about a
 year ago, Easement had been in the
 consular service, in which he served a total of IS years He had attained wide celebrity for his exposure of the rubb ber dIIOClll0S III bTdZll. ana also III CnO
 Congo. Shortly after the outbreak ce the war Easement went to Berlin
 where he opened negotiations for aid for an Irish rebellion.
 On his arraignment before a magis- trate, following his capture, Irish pris- oners of war Who had been exchanged testified that he had endeavored to per-
 suade captured Irish soldiers to join a revolutionary force which was to be des- patched to Ireland.
 The Sim Fein revolt broke out in Dublin the day before the capture of Easement It was suppressed after bloody fighting, principally in Dublin, in which several hundred people were killed and large portion of the busi- ness section of the Irish capital reduced to ashes by artillery. Nearly a score of the ringleaders were summarily exc cuted by court-martial following the crushing of the revolt.
 More than 1000 of the rank and file of the rebels were transported to Eng fish jails, where large numbers are still held many under long term sentences. At lilo o'clock the jury was completed. Each juror took the oath separa tely ito true deliverance make between our sov- ereign lord. the King, and the prisoner at the bar'
 The jury is composed of middle-aged
 
 and clerk class. Samuel Saunders, be- ing Jew, took the oath with his hat l on. The jury was sworn three-quarters of an hour after the court sat. Sir Frederick Smith. the attorney general, made the opening address for the government. He dwelt on the gray 1 ity of high treason and said the jury would have to decide whether there were any eXtenuating circumstances CT the offense was an aggravated one against the sovereign he formerly served and the country against which he struck"
 | After unimportant evidence had been given the court was adjourned. Veteran lawyers say that probably 1 in no other important case during the | past century have there been so many challenges of jurors summoned. The custom in British courts Is to accept virtually all those called. It was mo- ticeable that the government chal- lenged all talesmen with dfstinctively | Irish names. The defense. however, | challenged the greater number.