Gilded Age Newspaper Articles

NEITHER OF THEM IS GUILTY

SUCH IS THE VERDICT IN THE SHEEDY CASE.

The Great Murder Trial Brought to a Close with a Surprise for All.

Monday McFarland and Mary Sheedy Liberated from Their Long and Agonizing Imprisonment and Inquisition.

A Pathetic Scene in Court

The closing scene of the greatest murder trial ever held in the state of Nebraska Friday afternoon was somewhat surprising to the public, in spite of the fact that the court's interpretation to the jury of the law governing the case had in a meassure indicated the probable result.

It was at about 3 o'clock that the rumor was noised about among a very few people that the jury was likely soon to come in, having reached a verdict. the attorneys, in the case, court attaches, defendants and press representatives were notified and soon assembled in the courtroom. It was 3:25 when the defendants came into court and resumed the seats they have respectively occupied during the fearful ordeal that has racked their physical and mental capabilities for almost four weeks. Mrs. Sheedy was accompanied by her three sisters, her brother-in-law and her uncle, while Monday McFarland was unattended except by Jailor Langdon.

Mrs. Sheedy was perfectly calm in her demeanor, although there was a slightly restless expression in her widely-opened, sad-looking eyes. There was not an indication that she indulged either fear or hope for the result. She was as unperturbed, to all appearances, as if she were sitting in a sanctuary nervously awaiting the opening song or the service.

Monday McFarland's features were actually lighted up by a succession of broad grins as he conversed in whispers with Mr. Woodward of his counself. He was evidently anticipating his liberation, but fearful that his anticipations were mistaken ones.

Hardly a minute had elapsed after their arrival ere the jury filed into their seats. There were less than 100 people present when Judge Field took his place upon the bench and the attorneys seated themselves around the table, as care had been taken to guard from the public the fact that an agreement had been reached.

"Open court," commanded Judge Field at 3:30, addressing Sheriff McClay.

"Hear ye! Hear ye! The honorable district court is now in session pursuant to adjournment."

"Call the roll of jurors, Mr. Clerk."

"James Van Campin."

"Here."

"George Albrecht."

"Here."

"J. C. Jensen."

"Here."

"Albert Ward."

"Here."

"Henry L. Willis."

"Here."

"Ed Young."

"Here."

"John Robertson."

"Here."

"C. S. Cadwallader."

"Here."

"Luther Batten."

"Here."

"Thomas Riley."

"Here."

"Gentlemen," said the court. "have you reached a verdict?"

"We have," replied Foreman John Robertson.

"The clerk will read it."

District Clerk Sizer stepped to the jury box and took from the hands of Foreman Johnson the roll of instructions from the court and a small white slip of paper, the usual form of a verdict.

The silence was oppressive as he returned to his desk, and it was noticed that neither of the prisoners flinched in the slightest. They were evidently nerved to bear the result cooly and bracely, whatever it might be.

"Gentlemen, you will listen to the reading of your verdicts as it will appear upon the records of this court," said Clerk Sizer, ere he read in clear but trembling tones the contents of the document.

"State of Nebraska. County of Lancaster. } ss.

February term, A. D., 1891, to-wit, May 29, 1891. State of Nebraska vs. Monday McFarland and Mary Sheedy.

We, the jury duly empanelled and sworn in the above entitled cause, do find the defendants, Monday McFarland and Mary Sheedy, NOT GUILTY as they stand charged in the information. John Robertson, Foreman."

The last words of the clerk were drowned in the loud shout of approval that went up from the few spectators present, and it took some time for Sheriff McClay to summon order from the reigning confusion.

As the words "not guilty" fell from the lips of the clerk, Mrs. Morgan, who at sat Mrs. Sheedy's left, with lightning rapidly, turned and folded both arms around her sister, whose head rested upon her shoulder as she showered her passionate kisses upon her If they uttered a word it was lost in the general aclaim. When Mrs. Morgan released that passionate clasp and Mrs. Sheedy raised her head, there was a gland of light in her eyes such as has never rested there. perhaps, for many years, if ever, and certainly never since that fateful night in January when John Sheedy met his tragic death. It was the light of commingled joy and gratitude which beamed upon her relatives and attendants as they clustered around her. Mr. Strode was hardly behind Mrs. Morgan in point of time, and though less demonstrative was probably nonetheless fervent in clasping her hand in congratulations.

As the words "not guilty" fell upon his hands in delirious applause, shouting his thanks to the jury in the very midst of the clamor. Messrs, Woodward and Philpott, his attorneys, fairly embraced him in the fervor of their congratulations, and amid it all the emancipated darkey actually looked as if he could not believe his ears, that the news was absolutely too good to be true.

Finally Sheriff Mcglay restored order and Judge Field addressed a few words to the jury congratulating them upon their liberation from the longest imprisonment ever undergone by a jury in the trial of a criminal case in Lancaster county and commending them for their attention during the trial. He then dismissed them, and turning to the overjoyed prisoners in front of him, he remarked:

"Monday McFarland and Mary Sheedy you are now at liberty."

Monday McFarland and his attorneys dashed at once from the room and were soon en route down into the city, Monday greeting his surprised acquaintances as they went along with an explanation of the verdict. An hour later he revisited the jail with Colonel Philpott was escorting him about the city exhibiting him with a great deal of apparent pride.

Mrs. Sheedy remained in court long enough to receive the congratulations of all present and to express her sincere thankfulness to the jurors, with each of whom she shook hands with grateful acknowledgments. Her sisters and attorneys did likewise, and it was noted that next in fervor to her thanks were those of her attorneys. Indeed Mr. Strode and Mr. Stearns looked about as triumphantly happy over the result as did their client and they were the recipients of about as fervent congratulations.

Mrs. Sheedy and her sisters returned to the county jail a few moments after the verdict and were seen through the grated window that bounded their sisters view of the world for so many weeks past evidently packing up her effects for her departure. In a half hour they entered a hack and were driven to rooms in the block on the northeast corner of Fourteenth and O. which the uncle and the sisters have occupied since the beginning of the trial.

The verdict was the topic of discussion everywhere last evening, and wide diversity of opinion prevailed. The opinion most generally expressed was that under the instructions of the court as to the law, the jury could hardly have rendered any other verdict upon the evidence.

It was learned that the jury, after retiring to its room, first took up the admissability of Monday's confessions in evidence. From the evidence offered on that point they concluded that it had been secured by promises of immunity and by threats of impending danger, wherefore they cut it out of their consideration entirely. Even then there were six in favor of conviction for Monday. All of them came around, however, at a little before 3 p. m. and the above verdict was agreed upon.

SERIOUS CHARGES BROUGHT

OMEGA MEDICAL MEN UNDER ARREST.

Patients in Their Cars at the Medical and Surgical Institute Alleged to Have Been Murdered.

Some Sensational Developments.

Omaha, Neb., May 29. -[Special.]- An investigation into the workings of the Omaga medical and surgical institution is likely to have the effect of cutting short the usefulness of that concern. The arrest to-day of President McLaughlin and his assistants, Drs. Sinclair and Williams, was the climax in the case and was brought about as the result of inquiries recently made by [?] Herrigan. The charge against the medical men is that of the murder od Miss Isabella Beaver, a young woman of Plattsmouth and a recent inmate of the institution, who died from the effects of an abortion and was buried in Plattsmouth. Yesterday Coroner Harrigan and Detective Haze visited Plattsmouth and disinterested the body. They returned early this morning and immediately began operations.

Dr. J. P. Williams was arrested at 2:15 o'clock at his house on SOuth Twentieth street by Sergeant Haze on a warrant charging him with murder. he was taken to the police station and locked up. Williams had $261 on his person, and he inquired if cash bail would be accepted. He was told "not for murder," and he was placed behind the bars.

The patrol wagon with a detail of police officers rolled away to the medical institute at 2:30 o'clock. The building was surrounded with police and officers entered carrying in their pockets warrants for the arrest of President McLaughlin, Drs. Sinclair and Hugheson.

Chief of Detectives Haze and Coroner Harrigan arrived from Plattsmouth in a special engine and at once repaired to the central police station, where Coroner Harrigan swore out the complaint of murder.

Haze and Ormsby roused President McLaughlin in his room and ordered McLaughlin to dress. The warrant was read to him and he was taken in the patrol wagon and escorted to the police station and locked up. Bail was refused in each instance. Stories of other criminal actions on the part of the defendants are coming to light. The institute has been closed.

This evening a brother of Miss Beaver came up from Plattsmouth and held a consultation with the county attorney and police. He said he knew nothing of his sister's death save that she died at the institute. She told him she was being treated for tumor of the stomach. On learning of her death he took her to Plattsmouth for burial and ordered her baby buried here. He paid her bills at the institute.

To-night another murdered babe was exhumed from its grave in the rear of the institute. Information charging McLaughlin Sinclair and Williams with homicide by committing infanticide was filed this evening, the verbal charge of murder placed against them being withdrawn.

The prisoners were removed to-night to the county jail for safe-keeping. They will not talk. To-morrow they will be taken out for a preliminary hearing. I is probably that other charges will be preferred against them.

THE BEST SNAKESTORY OF ALL.

A man who kept a garden near the river Euphrates, had an adventure with a snake many years ago, has involved himself and family in trouble ever since. One result of this adventure was the sentence pronounced against the woman that "in sorrow thou shalth bring forth children." No doubt this sentence included the many ailments consequent on child-bearing, such as weak back, female weakness, tumors, irritations, irregularities, and the like. Divine wisdom, after this sentence, came to the rescue of woman, and provided remedies for her cure. Best of all is Dr. Pierce's Favorite Prescription - a woman savior - a soothing, sovereign remedy for all such troubles. Millions are using it, and blessing its author. It is the only remedy for these ailments, sold by druggists, under a positive guarantee of giving satisfaction in every case, or money promptly refunded.

WILL THEY HANG?

Query About Mary Sheedy and Monday McFarland.

THE NEGRO'S REMARKABLE STORY

To Be Tried Together-Trial to Begin Monday-The Poison Theory Not Abandoned-Walstrom in Europe-The Opposing Counsel-A Great Contest.

Can twelve men ignorant of the most stirring events happening in their neighborhood, non-readers of newspapers, steeped in stupidity and prejudice perhaps, insensible to the strangling of a fellow being with a cruel rope, be made to see in sweet, dimpled cupid a cause and in the murder of John Sheedy its effect? That is the problem to be solved in the trial of Mary Sheedy and Monday McFarland, which will begin before Judge Field next Monday. A venire of 150 jurors has been drawn, but there is no telling how long it will take to find twelve men who have heard nothing of the Sheedy case and otherwise are proof against the challenges that may be offered by the opposing sides. The indications now are that the trial will not be long drawn out. Dennis Sheedy had his brother's stomach analyzed, and the chemist reported no trace of poison. The prosecution will not drop the theory or poisoning, because morphine might have been used without leaving tell-tale traces. The state did not authorize the analysis made. It was a private undertaking of Dennis Sheedy, who engaged Dr. Holyoke, the coroner, to deliver the stomach to the chemist in Ann Arbor, Mich. It is presumed that Dennis will bear the expense of the analysis, though it may be saddled upon the estate.

Exceot for a so-called confession by McFarland, the colored barber, there is not evidence against Mrs. Sheedy and but a small amount of circumstantial evidence against the negro himself. As the case now stands the great contest will be over the admission of that confession. The defense will object on the ground that it was made under intimidation and fear of mob violence. The confession embodies such a remarkable story and plays such and important part in the case that Vanity Fair publishes it in full below, except small portions which will not bear publication. On Sunday evening, Jan. 18th, McFarland was taken to the office of Mayor Graham and told his story in the presence of the mayor, Marshal Melick and Detective Malone, Dr. Holyoke acting as his chief questioner. Myron Wheeler was concealed behind a screen and took a verbatim report of the talk in shorthand.

Monday McFarland's Confession.

Coroner Holyoke-Go ahead and tell us about the matter of the death of Mr. Sheedy.

I was afraid to tell last night. The reason I didn't aim to talk much last night was that my life has been threatened. I was afraid to talk.

You understand this and if you have to stand this thing alone it will likely go hard on you?

I will tell you the actual truth about it, and whatever the consequences is I suppose I will have to stand it.

Well, it will lessen the severity of the consequences.

Well, I was employed by Mr. Sheedy to treat his wife's hair, which I have been doing every since they have been here, or MONDAY M'FARLAND. she has. I got to going there a good deal oftner than usual on account of the falling out of the hair and dandruff and such things as that. He told me to come as often as she wanted me, and he would pay for whatever I did. During this time she would talk to me of course. She would talk to, and feel of me in different ways.

(Monday here told of how Mrs. Sheedy brought about the discussion of her most sacred domestic affairs and continued).

Still I never said a word to her out of the way. Well, I went away and she sent for me again in a few days, and talked of the same matter and told me about how she got hold of him and how she played it and won him, and she said she did it for the simple reason of getting his money.

To who did she refer? To Mr. Sheedy?

Yes, sir.

About how long since did these conversations on this subject begin between you and her?

About the middle of October.

About the middle of this last October?

Yes, sir.

That was after returning from the east, was it?

Yes , sir, after her trip to Buffalo.

Now in relation to this matter you speak of, what was said about it?

She said she never had anything to do with him and never intended to any more, and hadn't had for over a year; that he was dead stuck for her to have a child by him and that she wouldn't do it and didn't intend to.

That she married him to get his money, and that is the reason she married him in the first instance?

Yes, sir. They took a trip to New Orleans; that she lived with him two years before she married him; she had $200 of his, and after they had been there a while he wanted to come home and she said, "No, if you do not marry me I will not go," and he said a couple of weeks down there trying to get her to come back, but she wouldn't do it, so he turned in and married her and she showed me the certificate. Well, then I went away and she sent for me to come back again, and he came after me himself the most of the times. I stepped in and she closed the door and locked it.

When was this?

The second time I went there, after she came back, to treat her hair.

That was the second time that you went there to treat her hair after she came back from the east?

Yes, sir.

This was in October some time?

No, sir; the first of September, this second time.

After they came back from where?

From New York. I stepped in and she locked the door, and she said do you want to be sworn, and I said I don't care. I was not thinking, though, what she meant, and she said, "I have done a good deal of studying about you and I want to swear you. Hold up your hand," and I held up my hand. She said: "Will you swear you will not tell anything?" and I said, yes I will.

(McFarland here have the revolting position she made to him to sustain a criminal intimacy, and continued).

Well, she stunned me. I stood and looked at her for a minute and I said, "Why Mrs. Sheedy?" "Well," she said, "I expect you think I am crazy but I am not. I mean it. I wanted to tell you when you was her before, but didn't know whether to tell you or not."

(The narrator then related how he yielded to her wishes, and he then continued).

I came up to clean her hair and we had some wine a couple of times and then I wrapped up my things and came away. It was only a few days before I went down there again with some tonic to dress her hair with.

Where was Mr. Sheedy during this time?

Up town somewhere; he came over and told me to go down and I took a bottle of tonic and went down and dressed her hair and we maintained criminal relations again. Then we went into the front parlor and I sat down on the piano stool; she told me to take a seat there and I sat down there and she asked, "What would you do for $5,000?" I said, "I don't know what I would do." she said, "Do you love me?" and I said, "Yes, I do; I am completely stuck on you." She said, "What would you do for $5,000?" I told her I didn't know; it was a pretty large inducement; a man would do almost anything for it, especially a man in my fix just then, and she said, "I have got something I want you to do," and she said, "If you tell it, it is death to you," She said, "I will kill you if you tell it," and I said, "What is it." "Well," she said, "I want my freedom; I want you to help me get it." I said, "Mrs. Sheedy, that is an awful thing to tell me to do anything like that." She said, "I mean it; he treats me like a dog, and calls me a chippy and all those things and I want to get out of it." She said there was another man she dearly loved and it wouldn't be long before he would be here, some time between then and Christmas. Of course then it was about six weeks before Christmas. I told her that I could not answer her just then. I said, I will study the matter over; I can't say whether I will or not just now, because I am not at myself; I will study the matter and when I come again I will give you an answer. So it was only a few days until she sent for me again and I went down. I went there for the purpose of shampooing her but she didn't let me do any work. We sat down and talked and she pictured out everything to me, how it was, and the money I could have and the money she would have, and she would be a friend to me as long as I lived, and would give me $5,000 right away and set me up in business and give me money as long as she had it. I said, "I don't Know whether I can do it or not."

(McFarland told how they again renewed their intimacy, after which he said to her:)

"I will try it."

"Try what; the killing?"

"I will try to give you your freedom; try to help you." "Well," she said, "It has got to be done between now and Christmas; this man will be here Christmas to take me away," and so I couldn't do it by that time and time passed on and I couldn't do it; then she got sour on me and she sent for me again; and I went down there and she beat me and abused me and told me what I was losing and all of this and what I might as well have; that I was poor and had a big family and was poorer than Job's turkey, and had no money and how easy it was to make it.

Who did she send for you?

She sent Mr. Sheedy.

To see you?

Yes, sir, and I went down-during this time that I was doing this for her she hired me to watch two houses (giving the names of the feminine occupants thereof) because she had letters showing that he was intimate with these two women and she wanted to catch him there, and if I saw him going to either one of these places to come and tell her and she would pay me for it; and I watched and watched and told her I didn't see anything and she said I was defrauding her and said then she was not going to have anything more to do with me until I done this. I said I had not opportunity, so I couldn't do it unless I went right out on the street somewhere and killed him and then go and kill myself, and she said no, she didn't want me to do that; she wanted it done in a way so it would be all safe. "Now," I said, "how do you say it could be done?" She said, "If you do like I say to do it will be all right hen, of course." Consequently I was stuck on the woman, and on account of the inducements she made to me, I agreed to do it; she said "If you do like I say to do it will be all right then, of course." Consequently I was stuck on the woman, and on account of the inducements she made to me, I agreed to do it; she said, "Now I am not going to have anything more to do with you," so I went off that day, and the next day I came along there and she called me in and cried, and pictured everything as she did before, and on top of this she said, "If that is not money enough, just name it-any amount-it is unlimited for you, providing I get over $50,000." She said, "I may not get that much; if I get over that twice the amount is not anything too good for you." She said she would buy me a diamond ring, a diamond pin, and a fine suit of clothes and give me a fine horse and buggy and set me up in business. I looked at that because it was a big inducement, and me being a poor man, it would naturally induce a man to do it; and then she gave me a limited time. She said, "I will give you until New years day."

What time was this when she gave you the limited time?

Just a little while before Christmas. This man was here, then.

What kind of a looking man was he?

A little fellow (probably he would weigh 150 pounds), with black hair and black mustache, and wears a soft hat with a turn up around the edge, and with a black band on, and a black smooth overcoat; and to convince me that this man came here for her-this was Christmas week-she told me that she would see the man that night, and that he was there; she told me to go to a certain spot; that the man was coming after to go out walking with her, because she did not dare to have him come to the house. Well, I went there, and saw this man on the corner of Thirteenth and P streets. She met this man, and they walked together on north; this was about 8 o'clock. She was gone probably three-quarters of an hour or an hour. I saw them come back together, and then I went away. The next day I went by there, and she called me, and she said, "Did you see him?" and I said "Yes." "Now," she said, "It is no use now? If you you are not going to do this, tell me. It is going to be done. It is time to act, and if you are not going to do this, tell me, because other parties are waiting to make the money. He (meaning Walstrom) would do it himself if I would let him; but I don't want to let him. He offered to do it." I said, Mrs. Sheedy, I will try it; if my nerve don't fail me I will do it. So she said, "You have nerve enough; if you have not I will give you a little money to buy some whisky, with which to brace you up. I will help you in any way I can." So it went on the until New Year's day, and I don't do it, and I got afraid to go by there any more; so there was a day or two before I went by that way again. One day I came down on the north side of P Street, from the shop, and she saw me, and came out on the porch and called me, and I went right across the street over there, and she said, "You God d-n black s- of a b-, you are trying to rob me, but you're not going to do it. I've a good notion to shoot you anyway. You have robbed me, and got all the money you can, and now you want to lay around for the reward." And I said, No, if I don't do this I don't want any of the money. She said, "Don't think for a minute it is not going to be done; if you don't do it somebody else will, and they're waiting for to do it; if you, or if I don't I will have it done," and I got scared. I didn't want to shoot him. She said, "I want you to get a heavy cane and club him," and she gave me the money to go and get it.

You made the first attempt to do up Sheedy, didn't you?

No sir, I didn't.

Didn't you do that?

No sur, I didn't. She gave me money to go and get this cane; I had nothing to shoot with; then she gave me money to go and buy this can. I told her where the cane was and she gace me the money, adn I went and got it, and took it out and showed it to her the same evening, and she said, "I will give you until Sunday night, and if this is not done between now and Sunday night, all I ask of you is to come and bring the cane to me." She said, "It will be done that night."

Did you show her the cane when you got it?

Yes sir. I took it down and showed it to her. When did you buy the cane?

I think it was a week ago Tuesday night.

Where did you get it?

Goldwater's, I think is the name.

Where did you keep it all this time; where did you did you hide it?

Down to the shop, and so she said, "All I ask of you is, if you don't do it, I want you to bring this cane and leave it here, and I will have it done; it will be done." She said, I am not going to give it up now, as much planning and scheming and trouble as I have went to gave this thing accomplished. I am going to do it, because I have no chance to go away from home, because he (Mr. Sheedy) said if I tried to go away from home he would kill me; and he has abused me and called me a dog and a chippy, and I am not going to let this man go away without me."

She told you what this man's name was?

Yes, she told me, but I can't remember it, and I told her I would do so. And when I went I was scared; I was scared to death, and was afraid, but I went.

When did you go?

Sunday evening, about half past five.

Where did you secrete yourself until half past seven?

I was at home, between there and home. After I left there I took the cane to her.

Which way did you go in?

I started in the dining room door, but she said, "Go around to the kitchen," and I walked round to the kitchen.

Was there anyone in the kitchen?

No.

Where was the girl-was the girl there?

She said she was not. And she staid there and talked to me a little bit, with

(Continued on page four.)

THE SHEEDY TRIAL.

(Continued from first page.)

the porch just after firing that shot, and very strangely both Mr. and Mrs. Hosman testified that after firing the shot the man whom they identified as a white man fell down at the corner of the porch. He claimed the utter fallacy of their positive assertion that the man was white by quoting the assertion of Mr. HOs man to the effect that when the man fell down, although it was late at night and the fugitive was thirty feet away in the darkness, the witness could see that he wore three or four days' growth of beard. He said that it was very likely that the supposed growth of heard was none other than Monday McFarland's swarthy complexion, else how did Monday McFarland long are it was known that Mr. and Mrs. Hosman would testify in the case at all, know that the man who fired that shot fell down at the corner of the porch, or any of the other facts as related by him and afterwards proven?

Of the two boys who had told of seeing two white men run south on twelfth street after the shooting, he called the attention of the jury to their hand-dog looks and behavior, and after calling attention to some discrepancies in their testimony dismissed them with a wave of his hand. He reverted to the fact that four of the six physicians had testified that Sheedy's death was due to morphine poisoning and not to the blow although they had to admit thereby that their first opinions in the case, prior to the autopsy, was in error.

In closing he said that it would have been simply impossible for anyone to have made the assault on John Sheedy as it was committed unless he had a confederate inside the house to signal him when Mr. Sheedy was coming out, just as Monday McFarland claimed Mrs. Sheedy signalled to him by raising the window blind. The plot will show that the north end of the house is but about twelve feet from the sidewalk. The testimony shows that Mr. and Mrs. Sheedy were sitting in the north room near the north windows, the curtains of which were up. The east window, opening out of the next room to the south, could afford no view of them. It would have been impossible for an intending assassin to watch their movements through the north windows, and he would have certainly been detected by the people passing along that much traveled street. It was too light upon the porch for an assassin to have escaped observation had he chosen to crouch there while waiting for his victim to come out. Any loiterer about the porch or front windows would certainly have attracted attention. But back about thirty feet or more from the fence, directly on the east side of the house, was an arbor, behind which the assassin must have secreted himself, just as Monday McFarland says in his confession she did, when he stepped upon the porch and struck that blow with the case. And what does Mrs. Sheedy say in her testimony before the coroner? The east window that opens upon the porch opens out of the sitting room, which is just south of the parlor. To get to the kitchen from the parlor one passes through the sitting room. Mrs. Sheedy says that she helped John on with his overcoat add hat and then started for the kitchen. Then it was that she raised the window curtain in the sitting room to let Monday McFarland know that her husband was coming.

Judge Weir's Effort.

The next speaker was Ex. Chief of Justice Weir, of Boise City, Idaho, who had come all that distance at the instances of his friend, Colonel Biggerstaff, Mrs. Sheedy's uncle, to assist in the defense of the unfortunate woman.

The judge began by commending the chief counsel for the defense for the honest and faithful work they had done for the prisoners. He complimented the jury for the careful attention they had given to the evidence, and finally complimented the state's attorneys for the manner in which they had conducted the case. Incidentally he paid a fine tribute to Judge Field and the various officers of the court for the impartial manner in which all things had been conducted.

He then discussed the two principal propositions of law involved in the case. The first principle, one upon which counsel would all agree, was that the law presumes the defendants innocent until they have been proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt; not a doubt that might be conjured up, but a doubt that is reasonable. He quoted many principles and maxims of the law designed to serve as a shield for the accused and thoroughly fixed in the minds of the jurors the duty of considering the accused innocent until convinced of their guilt. After discussing these principles he attacked the theory advanced by the state as to the motive of the crime. He said that state endeavored to show that John Sheedy and his wife lived in great discord, and that the latter was therefore anxious to get rid of her husband; that to that end the state had shown that on one occasion she had said she had wanted to get a divorce. This was the strongest evidence shown by the prosecution on that pojat; that up to July last she was afflicted with a disease peculiar to women; that she was solicited to go east and put herself under the treatment of skilled physicians; that she did go, accompanied by her husband who left her there; that while there she met and fell in love with a young man named Walstrom, and that she procured him to come to Lincoln. And the theory of the state was that it was because of her love for Walstrom that she was led to imbrue her hands in the look of her kind and affectionate husband. He said that the state had failed to bring any evidence, except a few isolated facts, in support of their theory, and all in the nature of circumstantial evidence. He explained at great length the distinction between direct and circumstantial evidence, and urged the necessity of the establishment of a continuous chain of circumstantial evidence in order to convict, from which there must be missing not a single link.

He then discussed Sheedy's life as a king among the gamblers of this city; and told of the troubles he had had with other gamblers and the enemies he had made, and claimed that the most reasonable theory of the crime was that he was killed with by or at the instances of some of these jealous enemies. He quoted the threatening letter received only a few days before Sheedy's death. He said that it was not until some days after the tragedy that some circumstance fastened suspicious upon McFarland and at once the policemen and detectives saw a chance offered by this tragedy to make money. He dwelt a length in criticism of the methods adopted by the officers is extorting the alleged confession from Monday, and said that although God, in His inscrutable wisdom, he made him black, he was a human being, endowed with a human soul, and was entitled to the protection of the law, which was in this instance denied him. He urged at length the incompetency of the alleged confession because it was obtained by threats, violence and promises of immunity. If the jury was of the opinion, from the evidence, that the confession was obtained by threats or promises, then the court would instruct them, they must exclude it from their consideration. To prove that it was so obtained he referred to the fact that Marshal Melich at the very time of making the arrest, had made the first promise of immunity. He said: "If you make these disclosures it will be easier for you." He referred rather less courteously for Detective Malone, who, he said, seemed to be the centre of the prosecution and was called upon for testimony whenever testimony was needed, and related the testimony of W. C. Carder to the effect that Malone had endeavored to make Monday believe that a mob was being organized outside of the jail to hang him, and that as soon as it reached a hundred it would come for him. Actuated by the fear thus engendered Monday had made the alleged confession. That was early Sunday morning. Later in the day this poor creature, feeling that he was deserted and that his life was in danger was brought before the mayor and the marshal and Denis Sheedy, with a short hand reporter behind the curtain, and there, still laboring under his violent sense of fear, had related the story introduced in the testimony. The speaker also referred to the repetition of the confession before the coroner's jury as having been similarly obtained by threats and promises, all having been practically a part of the same transaction. He contended that there was testimony to show that Monday was sworn when he recited the confession, and said that if the jury so found from the preponderance of testimony, that confession should not be considered by them. He then cautioned the jury not to place to high an estimate on the testimony of detectives, as they were hired to make evidence and were not over scrupulous as to how they did it. He especially contended that this confession whether true or false, could not be considered as evidence against Mrs. Sheedy. "But," said the judge, "it is not true; it is against human nature; it is preposterous, and should be spurned with contempt from the consideration of every upright, honest, unprejudiced and impartial man." The theory of the state is that Mrs. Sheedy, in connection with the negro, murdered her husband; that while he was lying upon his bed languishing and dying from the effects of that blow, she was so lost to the sentiments of humanity that she mixed the fatal dose of coffee and unknown to the physician in charge, administered it to her husband. He dwelt upon the probability of such a theory because of its repugnance to the idea of widely affection. Then followed the autopsy and the analysis of the contents of the stomach in which no poison was found. Then they brought a chemist from Chicago, took up the body again, submitted other portions of the body to an analysis, in their zeal to fasten the crime upon the wife, yet all the appliances of science had failed to reveal the presence of morphine poisoning or any other poisoning. He thought that at this point the prosecution would have paused to reflect up on the persecution of this woman and that Dennis Sheedy, who appeared to be furnishing the means therefor, would have foregone further prosecution, and in a burst of eloquence denounced the course of Dennis Sheedy as a malignant effort to persecute and destroy the beloved and innocent wife of his dead brother. He denounced the inference that there was any criminality in the acquaintance with Walstrom, and contended that the state had wonderfully magnified her little attentions to him into a crime in order to show that she had a motive to murder her husband, and had committed the unnatural crime of adultery with the negro to secure that end. It was a preposterous theory and yet it was the theory upon which the state would ask the jury to convict this woman of the awful crime of murder, a crime punishable by death.

"Can you in view of these few and isolated and innocent expressions of friendliness," asked the judge, "can you put the brand of infamy upon her? Can you because of them fasten the awful crime of murder upon this ill-used and persecuted woman?

He denounced the prosecution as the result of the love of money, the root of all evil, and said that he did not believe that jurors could not be utilized as factors in the perpetration of such persecution. "Down there in the little home," said Judge Wier, "it was not majestic in its appointments, it is true, but it was a home in which this loving husband and this loving wife had spent many happy years together."

The speaker drew a sentimental and eloquent picture of the relations of husband and wife, referring to the testimony that showed Mr. and Mrs. Sheedy sitting side by side in the cheerful parlor just before the assault, and that showing her beside his bed the next day calling upon him to speak to her, and said that history of criminal jurisprudence told of no case that would equal this if she were guilty.

Judge Weir's talk lasted about two and one half hours and was one of the ablest ever delivered in this county. During the pathetic recitals of happy home life experienced by Mr. and Mrs. Sheedy, she burst into tears and her frame shook with paroxysms of grief. The effect was contagious and there were many tear-bedimmed eyes in the house when concluded.

Colonel Woodward's Argument.

Colonel W. H. Woodward, one of the attorneys appointed to defend Monday McFarland, was especially happy in his eloquent remarks, and not only made friends for himself as the able lawyer and advocate that he is, but made friends for his client as well. He began by announcing that he expected to show that this prosecution was the result of a conspiracy as blacks as hell itself. he was not so lenient with the state's attorneys as Judge Weir had been and charged that in the opening of the case they had resorted to practices fare more damnable than any that had been unearthed beneath the bright canopy of heaven. Money, he declared, was the moving power in all this work. Mrs. Sheedy was a woman without issue and by the law was entitled to one-half of her husband's fortune. But if she was convicted of this crime the whole of this property would go to his heirs, and she would not get a cent. Dennis Sheedy, who coveted these defendants and absorb the whole property. When the second analysis failed to reveal the presence of poison, the attorneys in this conspiracy come into court still contending that poison had been administered but that it had passed out of the system and could not be found.

Colonel Woodward next discussed the confession and its admissibility. He argued that in the first place it was inadmissible because persuasion, inducements and threats had been used to extort it, and second, it was not true, and he analyzed it and brought out its inconsistencies. When Malone told him that he had better make a clean breast of it as the mob was coming to hang him if he didn't and those in the office walked around heavily over the floor to simulate a mob, Monday protested that "If they hang me they will hang an innocent man." He analyzed the language of the alleged confession and comparing it with the language used by McFarland on other occasions show that it was not his. He paid his respects to "Jim" Malone, and called attention to the testimony in reference to his methods and claimed that Lausner had testified that Malone had imprisoned him for two weeks and refused to liberate him, trying in the meantime to get some statement out of him against Mrs. Mary Sheedy.

Mr. Hall interrupted the speaker to say that there was no such think as that in the testimony, but Mr. Woodward contended that there was, and denounced the act as a "high handed outrage which ought to subject Jim Malon to punishment. And this is the man whom this miserable blood-thirsty prosecution would have jurors believe to be a quiet, lamb-like gentleman, as gentle as a dove, who would not have done anything to injure or frigten this miserable negro, Monday McFarland, into telling this miserable story.

He called attention to the fact that the law books show the names of a hundred people who have been executed upon circumstantial evidence in cases where subsequent evidence proved them to have been innocent. He referred to the recent attempt at suicide of William Windnagel, the Randolph street butcher, who was found nearly dead in the rear of his shop with his throat cut, while a man named Carr was seen in the room with a bloody knife in his hand, and as soon as some one entered he started to run. He told how, if Windnagel had not recovered to tell that he had attempted suicide, the man Carr would have fallen a victim to circumstantial evidence. Mr. Woodward contended that it was possible to conceive that John Sheedy was never murdered at all. "I have grave suspicion," said he, "that if no medical gentleman had ever crossed the threshold of John Sheedy's home that night he would have been alive today."

He told of the discrepancy of the expert testimony as to the cause of death, and ridiculed unmercifully the inaccuracy of the medical theories advanced, but in any event four out of the six physicians introduced had sworn that the blow administered by Monday did not cause death. He dwelt upon the possibility that the druggist might have given Dr. Hart something other than sulfonate, or that thirty grains of suifonal, taken in connection with his many wounds and diseased organs, might have caused his death. Certain it was that the doctors had not definitely found the cause of Sheedy's death. First they had declared it to have been caused by compression due to the blow, and after the autopsy, when they found they had made a mistake in their diagnosis, they had to find an excuse for that mistake. The speaker then took up the confessions of his client and endeavored to show that many of the things he was reported to have said were very impossible. He ridiculed the idea that Mrs. Sheedy had ever frightened Monday as the latter claimed in that confession she did, and contended that it was very improbably as Monday must have known that had he gone to Sheedy and told him all, Sheedy undoubtedly would protect him. He read from the confession wherein Monday had told of having once borrowed a revolver with which to commit the murder, but had returned it and didn't remember from whom he borrowed it. He contended that this was improbably, because the detectives had never discovered from whom Monday had borrowed any such weapon, which they certainly would have done if he had ever borrowed one.

He dwelt in ridicule and denunciation upon Monday's story of how Mrs. Sheedy had beaten him and referred to his client as "this poor, miserable negro," to the confession as "this poor, miserable statement," and to the state as this "this blood-thirsty, miserable prosecution."

Continuing Colonel Woodward said: "Was there any body else connected with this assault? I claim that the evidence points to the fact that there was, that it points more unerringly toward somebody else than it does toward my poor client." He reverted to the fact that no one saw Monday McFarland around the house at the time, but on the contrary Henry Krause was seen running, not toward the alley, but the southwest corner of the yard, and he had said the man ran down the alley. How did he know Krause says that John Sheedy shot one at him, but that he got behind a tree. The testimony of Krause wherein he explained how he came to be at that point was commented upon in ridicule. I don't say that Mr. Krause had anything to do with the assault, but I do say that his conduct on that occasion cannot be explained upon any other theory than that he was connected with it. The speaker took up the testimony of Hymen Goldwater and contended that no credence should attach to it whatever; that he never saw that cane and that his testimony was manufactured by Jim Malone. He showed the cane found in Monday's possession after the assault, how similar it was to the cane found at the Sheedy residence, and contended that Malone had procured Hymen Goldwater to identify the cane found as the one he had sold to Monday. He dwelt upon the testimony of L C Burr, wherein that latter claimed that Glodwater had told him that he had never had the fatal cane in his shop.

The gold ring which they harped on had never belonged to Mrs. Sheedy. It had never occurred to the state that he could have had a ring of his own.

He then took up the testimony of Krause again referred to the testimony. Implicating Oleason, John, Bradeen and Williams in the suspicious entertained by John Sheedy. And there is one thing I want to ask the counsel for the state, continued Colonel Woodward, and if they know it will take very little time for them to tell this jury. Where was Frank Williams on that eventful Sunday night? Where was he, I say? Have they told us? No. One witness says he was at work at Bradeen's and another that he was somewhere else. Now, where was he? I don't know where he was at, the time of the assault, but I know where he was a few moments afterwards. Across the street, not a block away from the Sheedy residence, at the same place where Monday McFarland was also, at Bud Linsey's. Don't you believe gentlemen of the jury, that Frank Williams knew something about that crime? I don't believe that Gleason had anything to do with it. Ab Carder swears that Sheedy meant Gleason when he said the "big man." I don't believe it. If he had meant Gleason he would have said the tall man. When he said the big man he meant the heavy set man. And it is a little remarkable that Frank Williams, as the evidence shows, skipped to Denver when his prosecution began.

He harmonized the evidence of Mayes and the two boys Hitchcock and Curry and continued; Ah Carter had said that Sheedy had hired him to watch two men, Gleason and Williams, and after the assault when Sheedy said that it was the big man of the two he meant Williams. The same man who fired that shot on the 9th of December was the one who committed that assault on the 11th day of January, and it was a white man. Which would you believe in reference to that matter--the confession of Monday McFarland that he did it or the testimony of Mr. and Mrs. Hosman to the effect that the assailant was a white man? Is not the latter statement much the more reliable; and is it not clearly proven that that shot was fired by a white man? The speaker commended the identification of the fatal cane by W. W. Carder as compared with the identification of the same cane by Goldwater, reasoning that if that was Carder's cane it could not have been the one which Goldwater sold to Monday Mcfarland. The testimony of George Bradeen to the effect that William Gleason was in his place at the hour of the assault was probably true, but nowhere did Mr. Bradeen show that Frank Williams was there at the time, although it was shown that Williams was an employee there. It was a little remarkable that the evidence shows that at the gambling room, twenty-five minutes after the assault, it was stated that the gamblers had something to do with it. How did they come to say that? Was there not some foundation for that assertion?

Colonel Frank Hall's Plea.

Colonel Frank M. Hall, who is supposed to represent the Sheedy estate and to have been employed by John Fitzgerald, one of the administrators, made his maiden effort in addressing a jury in a capital case, and all sides unite in saying that it was one of the many brilliant speeches in this remarkable case. He defended the state's right to exhaust every possible avenue for the purpose of apprehending the proper parties and gathering evidence to convict them. Speaking of the murder, he charged that it originated with Mrs. Sheedy and that McFarland was simply her pliant tool. He said:

I think that Mrs. Sheedy had the nerve and wicked intent of purpose and the heart to have stood opposite that door and slugged John Sheedy as he came out if she had had the physical strength to have done it. If you think for a moment that she did not have the courage you do not know the woman. This murder of John Sheedy was not a murder in a fit of passion. It was not the murder of revenge. It was committed as a matter of pure dollars and cents. Now if you can find any palliating circumstances any mitigating facts about a murder that has been concocted, that has been planned, that has been schemed for three or four months before it is carried out, apply them to Monday McFarland.

It seems to me that the attitude of Mrs. Sheedy in connection with this murder ought to be enough to paralyze the strongest heart, to break down the strongest mind, either male or female. Why in the name of God, look at the devastation that has been caused and spread behind this murder. Who was Monday McFarland when he was employed to commit this murder? You are told he was a barber, that he has a family. What is to become of him? To be hung? What is to become of his family, a widow and orphan children with the farther punishment for crime? Why it seems to me that the very thing itself out to deter a woman or anybody from ever hiring a man who, so far as we know, had been an honest, upright citizen up to that time, to commit a murder, and for what? Aye, for the purpose of enabling this woman to satisfy a guilty love. Here was the master hand, hers was the master mind, hers the genius that planned this murder and laid out the manner in which it should be carried out. It is beyond my comprehension how a man can get through the facts in this case honestly and carefully and reach any other conclusion. You do not believe for a moment that Monday McFarland went there and murdered the best friend he had on earth out of a spirit of revenge or in mood of vengeance. No, you do not believe that.

I will tell you what I think it was induced him to do it, I think it was the prisoner, Mrs. Sheedy; and how did she do it? Why, she appeared to him in more alluring form and shape than did satan when he tempted Christ on the mountain. She first holds up to him the alluring temptation of money. The price that he was to receive; the amount that as to be counted out for him, which would have made it a mere matter of dollars against ounces of blood. "oh, most pernicious gift, can thus seduce." He did not take kindly to the scheme. Then the next thing, after she had dazzled his eyes with the gold, and with the sparkling diamond after she had dazed his senses with what he expected to receive--he was to become rich--her next step was to unfold to him her deplorable condition. She was abused; her husband had threatened her life, thus arousing the man's sympathy for a woman's wrongs. What next? Knowing that she must have this man in her power completely and absolutely, after she had appealed to his cupidity, after she had held up to his gaze the allurements of wealth to barter away for murder, she then offers to barter away her virtue and her womanhood; and for what? For the murder of her husband. Great God, was every womanhood and virtue thus bartered away for such a commodity?

There is an old saying, I believe, that is fraught with great truth. That is the proposition that "murder will out." It is true that crime may go unpunished for a time, but tardy justice will o'ertake it soon. So in this case, there was the fatal mistake that was made in connection with this murder, like every other murder, almost. There was the terrible mistake that Mrs. Sheedy made when she entrusted the murder of her husband to Monday McFarland. When she thought that Monday McFarland's mind could be made the safe storehouse for that secret. There is where she made the mistake. There is where she made a blunder in thinking that such a diabolical crime as that could be locked in the mind of Monday McFarland and nobody should ever know of it.

Great God, in all this universe, has not made a single nook or corner where can be ever safely hid the crime of murder. The human mind is so situated that murder in the mind of heart is repugnant to every other natural faculty or natural thought. It is at war with your very nature, and when a man thinks he can commit murder and because, forsooth, he does it in the night, when no man sees, when man knows, that therefore it is locked from the world in his own brain and heart, he makes a mistake.

Col. Stearns for Mrs. Sheedy.

Col. R. D. Stearns, who next spoke, began by stating that Dennis Sheedy was not here, it is true, but his money was and was serving every purpose that his presence could. The great effort was to deprive Mr. Sheedy of her right to the half of that estate. In this had to be done by convicting her of the murder of John Sheedy, it would be done if hired detectives and bribed witnesses could accomplish it. Somehow, Mrs. Sheedy did not please the counsel for the state. She sat quietly in her seating taking a deep and intelligent interest in the progress of the trial and they called her a woman of iron nerve, and therefore capable of committing any crime. If she had given way to the feelings in her heart and spent her time in weeping, they would have referred to her as a deceitful being whos hed crocodile tears for effect on the jury.

Mr. Stearns then offered to read them Judge Maxwell as to the duty of a public prosecutor, but the state objected and the court ruled it out, to which the defense expected. He contended that the duty of a public prosecutor was as much to prevent the persecution of the innocent as it was to secure the punishment of the guilty, but in this instance the county attorney had sat there like a bound boy without an effort to direct the case and taken a secondary part in the proceedings. He denounced the sort of brotherly affection spoken of by opposing counsel as having been exhibited by Dennis Sheedy. The $550 he had put in the bank to her credit had been obtained by the transfer of some property he had no authority to transfer; he had taken away John Sheedy's gold watch worth $300 or $400 and all of the dead man's clothing. Mr. Stearns took up the confession and pointed out the fact that Monday claimed that Mrs. Sheedy met him on the back birch that fatal night, hugged and kissed him and gave him a goblet of whiskey and did a number of other acts which it would have been impossible to perform in less than ten minutes, and yet the testimony shows that in less than ten minutes before the assault Mr. and Mrs. Sheedy were sitting in the parlor together. He said further that the testimony of William Chinn would show that Monday's story was untrue and that his presence at Chinn's place as Chinn told of it could not be accounted for upon the theory that he had struck that blow, which was struck between 7 and 8 o'clock.

He then took up Jim Malone and denounced his method in general. In referring to Hyman Goldwater and his boy he denounced them. He said that Malone and Goldwater had conspired to hang an innocent woman to secure the reward, and recited the testimony of L. C. Burr to show that Goldwater had admitted that Malon had offered to pay for the identification of the cane; that he had admitted to Burr that it made no difference whether or not he had ever had the fatal cane in his shop, he wanted his money all the same. He quoted the testimony of Carder and Barnes to show that the cane was formerly owned by Carder instead of the one Monday had purchased from Goldwater. Goldwater had testified as he did because he wanted to stand in with the officers. So with the ring. It was claimed that it was also found in the possession of a pawnbroker, and this pawnbroker had joined in the conspiracy that he might stand in with the police. He thought it not a wonderful coincidence that Monday knew all of the facts necessary for him to make up this story, as they had all been made public by the press. He claimed that every fact needed for Monday to make up that story and make it fit the surroundings could have been obtained from reading the newspapers prior to Monday's arrest.

He took up the fact as shown by the evidence that that cane was not found on the Sheedy porch for some twenty minutes after the assault and that the officers had previously looked all over the porch with a lantern for traces of the blood of the assailant.

He reverted but briefly to the methods employed in securing Monday's various confessions and said he was content to leave the competency of them as evidence entirely with the jury. He believed the testimony was sufficient to convince them that it was incompetent, but even if it were some things in it that stamped it as totally unique. Some portions of that confession are so contrary to every principle of human nature, so opposed to anything that one every encounters, that they are beyond the power of belief upon any evidence. The counsel had depicted Mrs. Sheedy as a woman devoid of refinement. The hand of the Holy Father was always legible. The pictures that he draws and the lines he writes upon the human countenance are always easily read, and he pretended to say that no one could look into the fact of Mary Sheedy and say that she was not a cultured woman endowed at least with the instincts of her sex. He went on to depict the revolting nature of the accusation against her and contended that all nature refuted them. He contended that there was no record of anyting so revolting as was charged. He ridiculed the idea that Monday, whom they charged with being heels over head in love with Mrs. Sheedy, should kill John so that Walstrom, another lover, could come in and take her forever away from his sight and his embraces. That was hardly lover like.

Had Mrs. Sheedy been desirous of a separation it would have been an easy matter of her to have gone to the courts of a divorce and secured it. John Sheedy was an all-around sport and had his little loves in many quarters. She would not have had to murder him to get her freedom.

Mr. Stearns said that in view of the conflicting nature of the testimony in relation to poisoning, he did not think that the jury were prepared to believe that John Sheedy was ever poisoned. The doctors who were in the pay of the prosecution had been enabled to change their minds about what caused death because of the money there was in it. If they had noticed those symptoms they claim to have noticed on the day of their consultation, why in the name of God didn't they do something to relieve the sufferer? The speaker roasted the physicians unmercifully and claimed that they had been trained by "Dr" Lambertson, especially Dr. Winnett, who, Mr. Stearns contended, had been trained by Lambertson to hold up John Sheedy's skull in court daintily, like a bouquet in the hands of a school girl as she tripped to school, to create a sensation, while Lambertson's bull dog grinned through the open door at the cunning of his master.

He contended that Monday McFarland's confession was not true, and if it were true the jury should never fall to remember that it was powerless to affect Mary Sheedy,

(Continued to page 5.)

THE SHEEDY TRIAL

(Continued from page four.)

He characterized the evidence connecting her with the crime as too remote, too uncertain, too slight to ever permit of a thought of her conviction.

The Confession Reviewed.

When Col. Philpott took his turn at the argument he reviewed the circumstances under which McFarland's so called "confession" was made and maintained that it was extorted by means of threats and promises. Then he raked the doctors fore and after for their conflicting testimony, hinting that Sheedy's death might be due to malpractice. He pointed out that financial interest that Dennis Sheedy must have in the prosecution, and how the attorneys he had employed could well afford to remain in court for four weeks looking after this prosecution. They had two strong incentives--first the desire to win this great suit, and second the money there is in it. This money would be inconsiderable sum, and it must come either from the pockets of Dennis Sheedy or the estate of John Sheedy. He complained bitterly that Dennis Sheedy had not been brought into court for examination on behalf of the defense in compliance with the promise of the attorneys for the state. He inveighed against the assertion of Mr. Hall that the prosecution of Mrs. Sheedy could come from brotherly duty on the part of Dennis Sheedy, alleging that it was a persecution to secure the share of the estate that would otherwise fall to her.

The Colonel picked numerous flaws in the case of the prosecution. He reverted to the fears that Sheedy had entertained--not for Monday McFarland--but for two gamblers. When asked by Ab Carder after the assault who had struck him he had replied "the big man." The state had shown that when Monday McFarland had struck that blow he had on Stepney's overcoat, but John Sheedy said the man had on a short coat.

The speaker closed his argument with a forcible explanation of his refusal to permit Monday to turn state's evidence, and said that he had in his thirty-five years of practice never perjured himself or been guilty of subornation or perjury, and he would never have permitted his client to perjury his would to hang that woman. The colonel had talked for two hours in an earnest, forcible manner and made a strong plea for his client.

The Defense Closed.

Attorney Strode made the closing argument for the defendants, and did it in a manner which met the high expectations of the audience. He pointed to the failure of the State to call Dennis Sheedy and his son, although the prosecution had promised to put them upon the stand. Young Dennis was at the house during the tragedy and surely was an important witness. Old Dennis had not appeared because he knew the domestic relations of John Sheedy and his wife; because John Sheedy had recently told him how happily he had been living with his wife; he had not been put on the stand because he had settled up John Sheedy's affairs after his death, had gone and settled with the gamblers and got his money from the safe, and nobody knew how much money there was in that safe.

Mr Strode denied that there was any evidence that Mrs. Sheedy had married for money. There was no evidence that John Sheedy had any mony nine years ago. He showed that there was no evidence of clandestine meetings between Mrs. Sheedy and Walstrom. Then he turned to the manner of getting McFarland's confession, going over the details at length to show that it had been extorted by threats of mob violence and promises of leniency.

Referring to the charge of poison Mr. Strode told the jury that if it was administered it must have been while John Sheedy was on the sick bed, and the only person who was present when every does of medicine was given was endorsed on the information by the prosecution, but had not been brought into court--a significant fact that spoke volumes. Relying upon the intentions of the state the defense who hoped and expected to use Dennis Sheedy, jr., were deceived--he was spirited away, kept out of the reach of the defense. He then recalled how Mr. Hall apologized at the close of the state's testimony and stated as due to the defense that no poison had been found in the stomach. Then he dwelt upon how they, with Dennis Sheedy behind them, like thieves and ghouls, sneaked to the grave yard and took up the liver and other organs, took them to Chicago in the hope still of convicting that poor broken-hearted woman for the number of her husband--for the purpose of getting the property of John Sheedy.

Taking the hair alleged to have been taken from Mrs. Sheedy's body it was exhibited to the jury, the speaker dwelling upon his belief that it was a concocted scheme against his client, a comparison of it was made. He turned to Mr. Lambertson and charged the whole thing as an infamous plot of the detectives and prosecuting attorneys, meanwhile asking to allow Mary Sheedy to walk up the jury box and submit the hair of her head to a closer scrutiny by the jurors, that a truer comparison might be made.

Mr. Lambertson objected and in defending himself from Mr. Strode's charges of a combined plot of attorneys and detectives, shook his fist at the speaker and said "You are a liar, Mr. Strode, and you know it."

Judge Field expressed surprise at Mr. Lambertson's language, and reproved the distinguished lawyer with earnest emphasis.

The crowded court room broke into a round of applause and when the disturbance was quelled the judge gave notice that another demonstration would result in the clearing of the room.

Mr. Strode continued his remarks to the jury, addressing them as to what had been introduced as evidence and their duty in its consideration, holding the state had not made a case that would bear the test.

After admonishing the jury that the court would instruct them that they could not consider the confession of McFarland as against Mrs. Sheedy, but hoping both defendants would be acquitted, he closed his arguments with some beautiful quotations feelingly delivered to the jury, bringing tears to the eyes of many. His peroration was remarkably effective bit of oratory, and Mr. Strode's argument is regarded as one of the most powerful and hateworthy in the legal annals of the Lancaster bar.

The Last Speech.

Hon G M Lambertson, counsel for the prosecution, closed the arguments.

"Murder is the most awful deed that man can commit," he said. "So foul and unnatural is it that it smells to heaven. This is true when one in beat, but the horror is more profound when the victim is struck down, dastardly and relentlessly, in cold blood. On the second Sunday in January last, as the twilight was deepening into night, John Sheedy, in the peace of God, on his own threshold, in the heart of this populous city, within call of a score of men, was struck a death dealing blow by an assassin that lurked within the shadows of his own porch.

"Suspicion was abroad with an hundred eyes; lynx-eyed officers were alert; claws were followed; but every circumstance, every trace pointed as unerringly as the finger of fate to this dark-skinned man and this white faced woman; to this negro whom he had befriended; to this woman he had taken to his bosom, as the authors of the deep damnation of his taking off."

In a fervid speech of three hours Mr Lambertson reviewed the testimony, drew conclusions and backed them with the fine oratorical powers for which he is noted.

Given to the Jury.

It took nearly an hour for Judge Field to read his instructions, and the case was given to the jury at six o'clock Thurday evening.

The court said that it was that it was for the jury to decide whether or not McFarland's confessions had been obtained by threats or promises and consider or reject them accordingly. He also instructed them that the negro's confession could not be considered as evidence against Mrs. Sheedy. He explained at great length the difference between the two degrees of murder and manslaughter.

There are four counts against the defendants. The first charges Monday McFarland with inflicting a mortal wound with a cane, and that Mrs. Sheedy procured, aided and abetted McFarland in the act.

The next charges Mrs. Sheedy with administering poison to her husband with murderous intent, aided and abetted by McFarland.

The next charges McFarland and Mrs. Sheedy with jointly assaulting Sheedy with a cane and with administering poison, and that death resulted from both causes.

The last charges Mrs. Sheedy and Monday McFarland with the murder of John Sheedy by assaulting him with a cane.

There is very little positive evidence against Mrs. Sheedy outside of McFarland's story, and it is generally believed she will be acquitted. The darky's fate is uncertain.

Both God Free.

The Jury came in shortly after three o'clock yesterday afternoon with a verdict of not guilty for both for Mrs. Sheedy and Monday McFarland. They are said to have thrown out the so-called confession of the negro for the reason that it was extorted by threats and promises. Outside of that confession there was almost no evidence, as VANITY FAIR has maintained from the first.

Mrs. Sheedy received the verdict with the composure that has marked her demeanor all through the trial. Monday's ebony face responded to the good news with a grin, and he responded to an inquiry with the remark that he "felt a good deal better, but he was pow'ful scared during the trial." The crowd in the court room cheered.

Dennis Sheedy and his brothers will not gobble all of John Sheedy's estate, and Dennis will have a handsome bill to food in meeting Attorney Lambertson's fee. Mrs. Sheedy will have the queer experience of paying half of one of the attorneys who used all his ability and eloquence to hang her. The lawyers and the papers that harped on the yarn that the negro was to be sacrificed to save the woman have been in a ridiculous light,

Poke Suspended.

GRAFTON, Neb., May 20--The little village has been very quiet for a few weeks past. Every one is afraid he might get his name in VANITY FAIR. They seem to have a holy horror of that. They even began a collection of ancient hen fruit which they were going to donate to your horrible correspondent if they discovered him. He seems to be the most sought after man in town. Wonder if they will succeed.

The items from here caused the suspension of several quiet little Sunday games of poker, but we are afraid it wont be for long.

Our dude is now quite a frequent visitor to the saloon. We suggest that he should be more careful as his parents might catch on.

Editor W. still continues his frequent trips to Lincoln. Wonder if he visits that little brown cottage each time?

That good deacon should be very careful that no one sees him when he visits the saloon by the back door it might be unpleasant for him if his name was known.

E H had better be careful and not get into trouble with that country girl.

Faubble Cries Quits.

DAVID CITY, Neb., May 29--Now, Van, brace up and pay for the suit and be one of the upper teus. Keep away from the north part of town. Why do Chiester's clerk and the tooth extractor spend their evenings with Katie! Limk, hubby is coming, look out.

Why did the boys make a break through the alley? Why did Dutch's sand box run dry and go for hom? Jim and B, keep on your shoes. Six day race, go as you please--Hartson in the lead, McAllester second, Cook distanced. Time, two-two. Faubble says he will keep still if the VANITY FAIR will quit. Why does John Schramek go to that house in the south part of town?

He Thinks He is Smooth.

HASTINGS, Neb., May 29--He is a fat man with burnsides and wears a blue uniform. He entered the jail corrider, turned down the gas and tried to work the female prisoner from Carleton, on the evening of the 21. She would not have it that way. And after a second attempt he retired. Hereafter such prisoners will be safe, as the door supports a new Yale lock with no duplicate keys out.

Whiskers, you had better come off the perch, or your wife may find the correct number of the room next time, and then you might find a situation as chambermaid in your wife's boarding house, where she can sing to you all the time.

For perfect pictures visit the Studio Le Grande, 124 South Twelfth street.

Do you want to know where to buy cheap millinery? Yes. At Thornburn Sisters' new store, 1242 O Street.

TGETNG A JURY.

For the Final Trial of Mrs. Sheedy and McFarland.

THE WOMAN'S COMPOSURE NOTABLE

Two Panels of 300 Men Drawn to Get Twelve Jurors - A Dry, Wearlsome Work - Able Counsel on Both Side Contesting Every Point - Scenes in the Court Room - Several Female Spectators.

UNDER the sway of the biblical story of Eve and the forbidden fruit some credulous souls net only regard our common mother as the author of all human ill but see in every woman the incarnation of the willy tempter who figured in the garden of Eden. Happily, in the light of experience and civilization the modern world has found in woman the tenderest hearts, the warmest sympathies, the purest virtues and the noblest lives among mankind. If, unfortunately, now and then one of the tender sex goes astray from the narrow line of conduct laid down by the world, we know she is an exception, and instead of charging her sin or her weakness to her sisterhood, we give her the benefit of our cold pity. We seldom offer to lift her up, but the world is growing in grace and the time may come when we can tender a helping hand without meeting the condemnation of society. After the publication of the alleged confession of Monday McFarland, detailing what purpoted to be the story of the murder of John Sheedy, the first umpulse was to condemn Mrs. Sheedy as the instigator and accomplice in that awful crime, [?] has come to assert itself, calmer judgement shows there may be some terrible mistake, and the woman will undoubtedly receive a fair and impartial trial.

The Sheedy murder case came up before Judge Field Monday morning, and most of the week has been consumed in the effort to a secure jury. Mrs. Sheedy is dressed in a widow's garb, and the face whitened by confinement makes a strong contrast with her sombre apparel. She is accompanied on her journeys between the court room and the jail by an uncle and two sisters. The uncle, J W Biggerstagg, is from Boise City, Idaho, having gone to the territory nearly thirty years ago. He has accumulated a handsome fortune, and is now engaged in stock raising. He believes his niece to be innocent of the terrible charge against her, and he has come on to give her such kindly attention and protection as he can. Mrs. Sheedy leans upon his arm four times a day in passing between court room and jail, and during the proceedings he sits near by watching everything with keen attention.

The two sisters are Mrs. Morgan, who has come from San Diego, Cal., to remain during the trial, and Mrs, Dean of this city. Mrs. Sheedy sits between them, Mrs, Morgan always at her right and Mrs. Dean at her left. Three chairs are arranged in a row to face the elevated chair occupied by witnesses, and are always left for the ladies.

Mrs. Sheedy's deportment thus far has been so quiet and unobtrusive as to disarm the most captious criticism, Her eyes are either cast down, doubtless in sad reflection, or fixed upon the person on the witness stand. The head is never turned aside except to answer one of the sisters, and it only at rare intervals that a fleeting smile is drawn out by the greeting of one of her counsel or some friend. Her composure has excited comment. On Wednesday morning her eyes were moistened with tears several times, but it is explained that she was suffering from illness. There was nothing hysterical or demonstrative in the occurrence, and indeed so quiet was her conduct under the ordeal that her weeping did not attract attention. There has been nothing of the defiant, the hysterical or the sensational in Mrs. Sheedy's demeanor. She has displayed a demureness that might become any lady, and her deportment has won her the respect and sympathy of those who have been in attendance at the trial. Her sisters conduct has been unexceptional, and their devotion is the subject of much kindly comment.

Monday McFarland has attracted even less attention than Mrs. Sheedy. He is as black as coal, and is dressed unobtrusively. He is generally surrounded by attorneys or court officials and, being a man, is hardly noticeable from a distance. He has conducted himself quietly and kept his eyes on the persons in the witness box.

The trial has brought out a great array of legal talent. The state is represented by County Attorney Snell and Hon. G. M. Lambertson. The latter is recognized as one of the ablest criminal lawyers in the state, having been United States' prosecuting attorney for eight years. They are assisted by F. M. Hall, who was employed by John Fitzgerald, administrator, to represent the estate.

Mrs. Sheedy's attorneys are R. D. Stearns and J. B. Strobe, both of whom have been prosecuting attorneys for the county and are recognized as shrewd criminal lawyers. McFarland's case is in the hands of Billingsley & Woodward and Col. Philpott. Capt. Billingsley has a remarkably successful criminal practice, and Col. Philpott scored the first success in this case by knocking out two counts of the indictment. These gentlemen were appointed by the court to the negro's defense because he had no means himself to employ counsel.

In the largeness of his heart Mr. Biggerstagg brought a distinguished lawyer with him to assist Mrs. Sheedy;s attorneys if necessary, and at least to watch the proceedings and see that no point in her favor is lost. This gentleman is Hon. H. W. Weir of Boise City. In 1888 this gentleman was appointed by President Cleveland as chief justice of Idaho. He served two years, and settled at Boise instead of returning to his old home at Pittsburg. He is a small man whose white hair and intellectual face would attract attention anywhere.

Up to the time of writing absolutely nothing of a startling or sensational nature has occurred. The time has been consumed in securing a jury, which has taken longer than was expected. Early in the proceeding Judge Field ruled that under a law of 1889 a juror could not be challenged for having formed an opinion from newspaper accounts of the tragedy. On Tuesday morning, after further investigation, he reversed his ruling, expressing the opinion that the law of 1889 did not repeal the old law in its application to counties having 70,000 population. He excused four of the nine jurors, and another was challenged.

The first panel of twelve jurors was filled Wednesday morning, and the peremptory challenging then began. Ordinarily the state would ahve six and the defense sixteen, but as Mrs. Sheedy and McFarland are being tried together their attorneys found authorities for giving them sixteen each, and the court allowed their claim. That made a total of thirty-eight challenges, and as the defense took numerous exceptions they had to exhaust their challenges. The panel of 150 jurors was exhausted Wednesday with only nine peremptory challenges, and another panel of 150 was drawn Thursday morning. The court then excused the witnesses until Saturday morning.

The work of securing a jury is slow and tedious, and the lawyers take turns in quizzling the gentlemen put on the stand. Each side began with a set of formal questions, written out on a typewriter, but it is often necessary to depart from these. There are three questions which prove the principal stumbling blocks to most of the rejected jurors. Some have formed fixed opinions from reading the newspapers. Others are unalterably opposed to hanging under any conditions. A third class would not bring in a verdict of death on circumstantial evidence.

A number of men are suspected of trying to evade service on the jury. Wm. A. Green, the banker, claimed that the summons sent him by registered letter was sent to another Green, although he had a notice in his box to call for such a letter. J. A. Emmons, editor of the Democrat, [ead?] the word "forthwith" as "fourteenth." C. N. Crandall, the capitalist, has formed the opinion that both the defendants were guilty. Willis Clark, the grocer, said he had been in the court room all the time but did not hear his name called. Several other prominent business men had fixed opinions and were promptly excused.

The selection of the jury is a dry, wearisome proceeding for all concerned, and must be exceedingly uninteresting to the spectators because the examination is scarcely audible twenty feet away. The court room has never been crowded thus far and there has been but a small sprinkling of ladies. At adjournment Thursday evening the defense had used nineteen peremptory challenges and the state three, making a total of twenty-two out of the thirty-eight. This indicated that the [taling?] of testimony might not begin until Monday.

The prosecution has subpoenaed seventy two witnesses. The chemist at Ann Arbor, Mich., to whom Dennis Sheedy sent his brother's stomach for analysis, is not among them. He failed to find any traces of poison. This result has justified the county commissioners in refusing to go to the expense of that analysis. The state, however, has employed Prof. Haynes of Chicago, the noted toxicologist, and one of two other experts on poisons and their effects, and will undertake to prove that John Sheedy was dosed with morphine, a poison which would soon pass from the stomach without leaving traces behind.

Several sensational rumors have been in circulation. One was that the prosecution offered to let McFarland go free if he would turn state's evidence against Mrs. Sheedy. Another was that the negro's attorneys proposed such a deal to work on Mrs. Sheedy's fear and bleed her for a fat but of blood money, but his attorneys promptly denied the yarn. Mrs. Sheedy's attorneys were accused of a purpose to take the biggest part of her legacy in case of success, but they settled that talk by stating their fee had been agree upon and was considered reasonable by Judge Weir, who acted as a referee in the matter.

Among the curious things developed in the examination for jurors was the fact that one of the men selected, an elderly gentleman, was once himself convicted of murder. While living in Wisconsin or Minnesota he was tried for that crime and found guilty, but on an appeal the judgement was reversed and he was set free. He was let out by the prosecution on its first peremptory challenge. Among the men examined was george Cox, who has been known as a chicken thief and has been in the pen twice. He showed a desire to be on the jury, but was excused.

It will take most of today to fill the jury, and the court will then adjourn till Monday. Mrs. Sheedy has been joined in the court room by a third sister, Mrs. Baker of Saline county, who is also accompanied by her husband.

"Imperial Millions," the fascination serial by Julian Hawthorne will begin in next week's Vanity Fair. Don't Miss it.