The Washington times., 1925-02-23

With The
.Alibi Artists
IA Cross Section Of the
Daily Grind in Judge
McMahOn's Court.
Read EN- and Weep
By DONALD McDOUGAL.
By DONALD McDOUGAL.
What PrcA Whiskey.

We've been more than usually
interested In the case of the car
that ran over the loading plat
form at Twelfth and the Avenue
the other day. because we were
standing on that same platform
about twenty minutes before the
catastrophe.
During 1928 and 1924 there were
only two cases of automobiles run
ming over loading platforms, and
both times the machines went over
cross wise, and that isn't so dan
gerouS
But recently this maneuver
seems to be a monthly custom,
like paying rent, and the drivers
are ambitious. They go over EN-
lengthwise, and cover larger ter
ritory.
That's why we went down to the
morgue Saturday to see what an
inquest is like, and get some first
hand information on the subject,
so we'll know better how to dodge
when our turn comes. :.
We got there just as the patroi
wagon drove up. A policeman
wound his fingers in the defend
ants sleeve with the. familiar
twist we've seen 'em use while
holding drunks at the call-box, ana
steered him into the office.
There were quite lot or
vacant chairs in the auditorium,
and we grabbed one in the front
row. Several workmen in white
overalls and plaster bespattered
caps were roaming around and
making a lot of noise. and we
wondered what that was for.
Making Room For More.
We're not quick at sizing up
things we don't know much
about, and when realization
comes into our skull. 1t sort or
breaks through, with a bang,
like smashing an empty box.
1t banged into our conscious
ness that they we're building an
addition to the morgue, and little
streaky chills ran up our spine
and off into space, similar to
fugue on the treble end OF a
piano. We turned our coat
collar up and watched the jury
file in, and the spectators.
There was a certain grimness,
tenseness, a pre-occupied attitude
through the place, that somehow
reminded US of a third party
meeting we saw down in Georgia
last October.
An attendant led the defend
ant in, holding him by the
.1A L. AAGAIlS
clutch. and backed him into the
next seat but one from U.S.. 81
Just within our field of vision In
the next room. where the work
men were hammering. we could
see a wicker affair that we thought
at first was a large laundry basket,
and we wondered what they needed
that in the morgue for. 1t was OF
an unusual shape for a laundry
basket, and as we looked closer,
forgetting momentarily that we
were at the morgue, the idea &C.
cured to US that the thing. what
ever 1t was, could best be described
as summer sarcophagus.
Viewing the Victim.
At that same instant that we
realized the reason for the sarcopha'
gus shape. a sepulcharal voice
groaned Gentlemen of the jury
will please step this way"
The gentlemen Of the jury filed
in there, to an invisible corner,
there was a scraping noise like
pulling a loaded drip-pan from under
a refrigerator, and above the clat-
ter of hammers and saws the
voice groaned again.
This Is the body of-bang,
crasb--you do solemnly swear to
try this case-rattle, buzz-so
help you God"
The deputy coroner testified
that the deceased came to his
death by having his chest caved
in, a broken rib penetrating his
heart and lungs, rupture of heart
and lungs from pressure on the
chest, and that the right arm
was broken above the elbow.
There were some other things,
too, but we went out to get
some fresh air. and were thank
full that the morgue was located
so close to the river.
After quite q long time the
defendant came out. his sleeve
still in that deadly clutch,
dragged himself over fifty
yard Gethsemane spiked by a
hundred or so pairs Of eyes
along the line or march, and
perhaps another hundred from
the upper windows and front
doors Of the neighborhood. the