White Pine news. [volume] (East Ely, Nev.) 1920-1923, 1921-09-11
JOHN STACK RECEIVES
A SEVERE SENTENCE

John Stack of McGill Is realizing
that the poet was right when he
transcribed the immortal words that
the mills of the gods grind slow
but grind exceedingly small. John
was hailed before the kangaroo court
conducted by the Stray Elks of
McGill last week. found guilty of
murder in the first degree and was
sentenced to life Imprisonment aud a
fine of 800 Some of Johns ac-
cusers insisted that the 'crime" was
nnwarraAted and they demanded cap
ital punishment, but others insisted
that this was the first time the de-
fendant had ever killed anything and
they pleaded for lighter sentence.
The sentence was finally reduced to
fine of 81.
The complaint. which was signed
by Jim Atkinson. ] Thurston and II
Nicholos. says that We, the under
signed, after going over bylaws Nos.
I'll, hook 999,999, page 23, find
that one of our members. the said
John Stack. committed q very grave
and serious offense against the clib.
and after several meetings held in
an endeayor to avoid bringing the
lndlltT DtlOTt tnc lheulDtIS VI Tic
club IL was decided that tc withhold
the charges any longer would con-
stitutc the committing of serious
offense against ourselves"
The charge against John Stack was
That on the first cay of August, in
the year 1921, somewhere under a
tree in the state of Nevada, at IL a.
nj. said John Stack did shoot until
dead three defenseless and harmless
chickenhawks. The only excuse he
has been able to give for so doing Is
that he mistook the chickenhawks
for sagehens, and that upon being
approached by members from Tono-
pah lodge he cut off their heads mot
the members heads). pulled out their
feathers. removed their innards and
ate the fathers to destroy evidence OF
his guilt of such an outrageous act,
and We ask that he be placed on trial
to be proven guilty or not guilty.
The trial followed, with Williams
and Doull conducting the prosecution
and McGhie and Chin on the defense
Douli, with mastery oratorical effect.
argued that Stack was smoky prop
ositicn in any case; that he had no
license to shoot chickenhawks under
any circumstances, and that a man
who did what he was accused of do
ing was just as liable to take a shot
at street chicken" in the quiet
precincts of McGill as he was to shoot
at a chickenhawk in a tree. He might
even. not knowing what he was
shooting at. take shot at moon
shine"
Williams ably backed up his asso-
ciate In the prosecution, referring to
the defendant as would be hunter
who was probably half shot himself
before he shot the chickenhawks, and
II allowed to continue in his wayward
course would be taking shots at the
flock of local Fords and then enter
the excuse that he mistook the Fcrds
FOR sagehens.
Chin's appeal for the release of
the defendant was enough to make
anyone weep as he referred to his
client as an irresponsible person
whom the squirrels and chipmunks
had often taken for a nut, and that
no intent of committing murder had
been proved: and il is no offense to
take shot at / in the morning.
provided the shot is ready to be
taken. as this shot evidently was.
McGhie seconded Chin's motion for
the release of Stack on the ground
that following an acquaintance of
years with the defendant he was
fully convinced that his client did
not know enc end of a shotgun from
the other. Said Mr.. McGhie: If
the defendant could have put salt on
the tails of those unfortunate chick
enhawks he might have been able to
climb the tree and kill them with a
club. But with gun-never.
have frequently seen him fussing
with a shotgun and trying to put the
shell in the end of the barrel instead
of in the shell chamber The dead
chickenhawks found under the tree
were undoubtedly struck by light
ming. Stack never could have hit
them"
The defendant. called to the stand
in his own defense, visibly affected
with emotion. denied the charge--the
charge alleged to have been fired by
him. II said as he was passing under
the tree he saw someone else taking
a shot, and that all he did after the
shot was to climb the tree and bring
down the chickenhawks and and
clean them. Asked IL he had eaten
the feathers he appeared uncertain.
and when asked IL feathers tasted
like fur, which frequently
has a dark brown flavor, he was mo-
tionless.
rhe verdict of guilty was reached
after two hours deliberation. The
was released on his own
iecognizance after promising to dig
up the two dollars.