The Mount Holly news. [volume] (Mount Holly, Burlington Co., N.J.) 1891-1942, 1917-04-17
A Practical
Decision
Of Two Evils Choose the
Lesser
By ELEANOR MARSH

| lying mcn CAdHSeu WIFI some con-
temptible crime, the evidence Of the
mans guilt being overwhelming and
no explanation whatever being offered.
| Several such cases have come to light
when 1t has been suspected that the
accused was made a scapegoat to
screen some royal parsonage. have
one such case in mind that occurred In
England twenty years ago. A baronet
played baccarat with the heir to the
throne. The baronet was accused Of
cheating. No defense was offered. At
the height Of the excitement an Ameri-
can girl married the supposed scape-
goat. No explanation has ever been
made.
1t would be hard to find a case of
love sacrifice more pronounced, even If
the bride Is convinced of the innocence
| Of the husband,
A case something like this happened
in my professional life I was sitting
in my Office one morning when l re-
ceived telephone call that man who
had been arrested and was being held
at police station desired to see me-
went to the station at once and
found the prisoner in the garb OF an
ordained minister. The name entered
by the police was Jimmy Whittier,
alias the Rev. Miles Staples, alias Slip
perry Jim. learned from the police
that he was a sneak thief and conf
dence man, his last role being that Of
three card monte sharp travelling
with a circus.
The police had been looking for him
for some time, but he must have had
a confederate to keep him posted as to
their movements, for whenever they
proceeded to take him he was not
there. The night before I was called
for they had received a telephone mes
sage that they would find Slippery Jim
In canonicals at the Ackley hotel.
They went there and learned from the
clerk that a man in clerical dress had
come to the house during the evening.
Plotted by the clerk, a sergeant and
two men went to the reverend gen
tleman's room and knocked When he
opened the door and saw the police he
assumed surprise, which was to have
been expected. He was told to put on
his clothes and when he took them up
for the purpose feigned to be dazed,
wondering how they got into his room
and declaring that they were not his
and asserting that he was Arthur
Poindexter and had come to the city
late the evening before to visit his
fiancee, the daughter of one Hugh
Macdonald, merchant In high repute.
His name was on the register as Ar
thur Poindexter
Such is a synopsis Of the matter
from the time of his arrival at the
hotel to the moment of my arrival at
the police station. He was conducted
to private room, where / was left
alone with him. l asked him why he
had sent for me, and he told me that
he had asked the sergeant for the
name Of criminal lawyer and 1 had
been recommended
Notwithstanding the apparent com
plicated condition Of the case it SEEM
ed to me to be very simple. All he
had to do was to send for his fancee
or some member Of his family for iden-
ti6cation. proposed this to him, but
he did not seem to place the reliance |
on 1t that did. He said that during |
the winter he had made trip to Flori. |
da, where he had met the lady who |
had become his f1ancee. He had not |
yet met single member Of her family. |
Indeed, he did not see how the young |
lady herself could vouch for him. She |
had accepted him after couple of |
months sojourn at the same winter |
resort, her acceptance, of course, be- I
ing conditional upon his presenting |
satisfactory credentials and the ap- |
proyal Of her parents.
This certainly put a more serious
phase upon the matter Whatever
faith the girl might put in him, her
family would likely take the ground
that she had met a scamp, who had
fortunately been exposed before any
serious harm had been done. l chang
ed my mind about notifying Miss Mac
Donald or any Of her family until /
had had time for consideration. Indeed,
the prisoner seemed greatly distressed
at the idea of her being informed of
his plight until he was ready to prove
that he was not the man he was ac-
cused Of being.
The case was puzzling. He claimed
to have gone to the hotel in an ordt
nary business suit. When he was
awakened by the police there on the
chair on which he had placed his
clothes was suit evidently worn by
a clergyman. But the most damnine
proof against him was that in the
rogues' gallery was a photograph OF
the Rev. Miles Staples, and If 1t was
not photograph Of the prisoner it was
certainly very like him. I asked him
II he had brother who had gone ia
the bad, and he replied that he had nc
brother whatever nor was any member
Of his fathers family living.
It seemed to me that unless could
ind the party who had telephoned the
police Of his presence at the Ackley
House I would have a difficult Job to
prove he was what he claimed to be
I had no great confidence in the iden
tifcation Of his friends, for once throw
doubt on persons identity and one
may get evidence against him as vel
as for him. But the ultimate proving
that he was Arthur Poindexter was not
the fundamental point for he might be
Poindexter and all the rest of his ALI
asses as well.
I suggested attending to the matter
Of bail at once, and, this having been
of, took my client from the
jail, he bought other clothes and we
went to my Office. What was Of I'M
mediate concern to him was that he
was expected by his fiancee, and his
would trouble her and
count against him. Nevertheless we
both agreed that we had better get
together such evidence as would con-
vince her-if it were possible to con-
vince her-that her lover was what he
pretended to be and his arrest was
mistake.
The only evidence sought which my
client did not furnish was at the hotel.
I questioned the clerks there, but none
Of them had any special memory as to
Mr.. PoindexteF's arrival, and 1t would
not have counted for much IL they had.
Having made this investigation re-
turned to my office, where found my
client, who presented his credentials,
which were as follows: Arthur Pom
dexter was a gentleman Of means, CIV
en- to travel. He suggested my teie-
phoning his bankers, which did, and
they vouched for him. l also telephon-
ed several Of his friends in his home
city, whose stories all agreed. l be-
came convinced that he was what he
purported to be and that some trick