Gilded Age Newspaper Articles

REVIEWING THE EVIDENCE.

CONTUNUED FROM FIRST PAGE.

rested on Saturday evening, and if Marshal Melick is to be believed. offers of immunity were immediately made to him. He told him that if others were implicated that by disclosing who they were be would got off easier.

He was put in a cell, but I will not stop to detail the shameful conduct there. Jim Malone was there. He is the man who is looked to when evidence is wanted. He is a man of experince in such matters. He is schooled in intquity and be mafe this poor man beleive that there was a mob in waiting for him. Under this great stress the confession was made. This Carder to save him from this mob. There he was, scared to death, and the question then arose, how am I to save myself Under this condition he told his doleful tale. And then on Sunday about 11 o'clock the mayor and officers put him under this crucial test again.

" I need only point to you the imcrobabilty of that story. It is too revolting, too horrible to be true. Look at Mrs. Sheedy. She was a tender and loving wife, devoed to her husband. Considering this, can you believe this story. Is there a human being on earth that can say he belives it.

A refined and cultured woman surrounded with all the luxuries of life could so far fall from female delicary as to solict what this colored man says she did. It is untrue and should be spurned and scorrned by all impartial winds. The prosecution would futher makes you believe that this refined lady not only plotted the murder of her husband, but even put poison in his coffee. Can such be believed of the loving wife who was seen sitting in parlor with her husband only a few minutes before the assault. Judge Weir then dwelt for some time on the fact that no trace of poison had been found in the stomach, bladder or kidneys. He then insisted that therefore Mrs. Sheedy had been needlessly persecuted. He continued: " Dennis Sheedy should have called off the bounds of prosecution. The immortal spirit of John Sheedy cries out, " Stop the persecution of my loving and innocent wife!" At this Mrs. Morgan and Miss Baker burst into tears, but Mrs. Sheedy wore the same stony look that has characterzied her throrghout the enitre case. Captain Woodward, attorney for Monday McFarland, followed. He said: " I appear for Monday McFarland, my poerclored client, against whom there is a conspiracy as black and d---d as hell. I think I can prove it. I want to say that the methods adpted by the prescution are the most dammable that were ever used to take the lives of two innocent persons for money. Lets start out with a general propostion. Here's a woman without issue. If she is convicted $ 40,000 goes into the coffers of John Sheedy and nothing else. These men employed by the money of Dennis Sheedy should not be there. It is an outrage upon the law. The prosecution has divided the raiment of Christ. These fellows will follow Mrs. Sheedy up. Dennis Sheedy's blood monet lines their pockets. " After a few more remarks by Mr. Woodward, in which the line of evidence produced by the counsel was acouted, derided and condemned, the court adjourned until tomorow.

ENLIGHTENING THE JURORS.

Oratorical Attorneys Firing Eloquence at the Intelligent Twelve.

DRAWING THE SHEEDY TRIAL TO A CLOSE.

Picking the Testimony to Pieces- Ball's Address and Review of the State's Case-Defense Well Argued.

Lincoln, Neb., May 25. -Special to The Bee.]- The day in the great Sheedy case was devoted almost entirely to brilliant and pointed oratory. Captain W. H. Woodward ended his argument and attacked stronglt the evidence for the prosecution and intimating in almost as many words that the real murderers had not been arrested, and startled the great crowd by mentioning the names of certain persons whome he believed might have committed the murder. Mr. Frank M. Hall followed in a remarkable speech that consumed the greater part of the day, and held the spectators spellbound with its eloquence.

At 9 o'clock this morning Mr. Woodward resumed the thread of his argument, which was interrupted yesterday. He reiterated his statement that the alleged confessions were the invention of some mind other than that of Monday McFarland. He declared that had Monday McFarland borrowed for murderous purposes the revolver that was referred to in evidence, the negro would have remembered from who he borrowed it, but he does not remember from who he did get it. "I defy the gentlemen on the part of the prosecution," he continued, "to tell me why they had a shorthand reporter behind the curtain at the time that the alleged confession was made if they believe, as they claim, that my poor colored client is guilty."

The attorney then drew a very vivid picture, in which he endeavored to make it apparent that Special Officer Krause must have been the murder. "The fact that he was standing near a tree in front of the Sheedy residence," he continued, "waiting, as he claimed, for the electric car half a block away, is very suspicious. Why was Krause standing there at that time? He says that Sheedy fired at him once and he had to get behind a tree. He says that the man who assaulted Sheedy ran south to the alley and ran around the block, where he was stopped by two officers. Then he told the officers that Sheedy had been assaulted by somebody, and that somebody had run down through the alley. It was like the fellow who cried 'stop thief,' when he was the thief himself."

Mr. Woodward then declared that Hyman Goldwater never had the cane in his possession, and asserted that the whole story of the sale of the cane had been manufactured by Detective Malone and Goldwater. "The whole story," he continued, "shows the ability of Goldwater to lie. He wanted money, and that is what he was after when he dipped his tongue in perjury. Goldwater claims that in 1888 he sold the cane for the first time to Mr. Taylor. Where is Taylor? Why haven't they brought him on the witness stand? The prosecution has utterly and miserably failed to prove any part of the confession. They have failed to show that the curtain of the window looking out on the porch was up. They say that the fact that Stepney and McFarland changed coats signifies nothing, as that was a common occurrence, and the exchange was made on the preceding Tuesday. What witness is there who has sworn that the ring found in the pawn shop was the one given to Monday McFarland by Mrs. Sheedy? Mr. Hall," said the speaker, "tell me, if you can, where Frank Williams, the gambler, was on that fateful night. He is not in the city. 'The wieged fleeth when no man pursueth.' Where is Frank Williams, the short, chunky fellow, who corresponds in every way with the [desc-tion?] of the man who not only struck Sheedy but also shot at him a week before. Dr. Winnett, the physician who twirled the skull of John Sheedy so deftly, was put on the stand by the prosecution. The evidence of this doctor shows that he was one of the conspirators who are after the blood money of Dennis Sheedy."

Mr. Frank M. Hall then addressed the jury on behalf of the state. He apologized to the jury for appearing before them, as he had never previously been connected with a criminal case. He then launched forth into one of the most brilliant and stirring speeches ever heard in the district court room.

"The defense has been trying," said he, "to make you believe that the prosecution has been working in this solely for blood money. There has been more said about this than any action of the prosecution would warrant. I have naught against the prisoner at the bar. I would not lift my finger to harm them in any manner. But this is not a time for morbid sentimentality. You have a duty to perform, and so have I. I am willing to perform mine and have attempted so to do. Id there has been more vigor exhibited by me in the prosecution of this case than the defense had liked, let me assure you and them that it has been prompted by an honest motive.

"Our motives have been continually impugned by the defense at every opportunity. First they cry that a reward was offered for the conviction of the murderers. Are we to be abused and slandered because a reward was offered? Why, gentlemen, what would you expect would be done when a great crime has been committed? Must we do nothing for the apprehension and punishment of the criminals? This crime we believed was planned by a woman, and the negro McFarland was merely a tool used, to consummate this cold blooded assassination. She planned it in the silent hours of her meditation in her home, and we believe that Mrs. Sheedy is the woman who planned this terrible crime and Monday McFarland was her pliant tool in the accomplishment of her dreadful purpose. He had the physical strength to strike the terrible blow, but she had not. But she had the nerve, wicked intent and heart to have stood by that door and slugged her husband if she only had had the physical strength. I have some sympathy for Monday McFarland. My heart goes out in sympathy to any man who has lost the power of controlling his own wishes and desired for such a crime as this. Monday McFarland had no murder in his heart until it was put there by this woman.

"If you can find any mitigating circumstances in this case, in the name of God give it to Monday McFarland. Just think of the devastation that will be caused by this crime. Think of what it will probably bring to the home of Monday McFarland. The husband hung, the wife left a widow, the children orphans. Think of the want, distress and agony that will be brought to that home. This ought to deter any desperate woman from hiring a man, and particularly a man at the head of a family, to commit a murder. This crime was planned so that this woman could satisfy a guilty love. Her's was the mastermind, her's was the genius that planned and arranged this crime. You don't believe that Monday McFarland went there and murdered his best friend out of motives of revenge. There must have been some other motive. It was only when this woman infused the passion of her mind into the mind of the negro. This woman had the nerve of iron and from her own she steeled that of the negro, and when it failed at almost the last moment she strengthened it with liquor. But they say, such a crime is unnatural. Did you ever hear of a murder that was natural? Are not all murders unnatural? The community is shocked, your minds paralyzed to read the account of a great crime. You recoul when you hear of a woman planning the murder of her husband and aiding in the same. And yet such things have happened. And gentlemen of the jury does not the iron nerve and iron will of this woman and exhibited in this court room show that she was the required coolness in planning such a deed. But her face and expression are not a true story of the purposes that lurk in the heart.

"When a crime is committed you naturally look for the motive. What was the motive in this case?

I don't believe, gentlemen of the jury, that that there is one of you but who believes that Monday McFarland was induced by Mrs. Sheedy to commit this murder. The inducements offered for the commission of the crime were put in a more alluring form and shape that were those offered by satan to Christ. She first offered him money and sparkling diamonds, but these failed to have the effect on the negro. Her next step was to tell him how she was abused by her husband and thereby tried to work upon the sympathies of the black man. What next? She then offers to barier away her virtue and her womanhood for the purpose of securing the murder of her own husband. Great god! was virtue and womanhood ever bartered for such a damnable commodity? But the defense affect to abhor the idea of criminal intimacy between Mrs. Sheedy and the negro. Do you suppose that a woman who has murder in her heart would hesitate to commit adultery with a negro? She finally gained the poor negro's affections and prevailed upon him to commit the terrible crime. Monday said that it was easier to go forward than backward. Mrs. Sheedy had threatened to kill him if he failed her. It was death to him in either case. He was coaxed, coerced and pushed until this crime was committed."

Mr. Hall then reviewed the facts leading up to the murder, Mrs. Sheedy's intimacy with Walstrom, her alleged reasons for wishing to have her husband put out of the way. McFarland's confession and the certainty of its truthfulness, after which court adjourned until the afternoon.

In the afternoon Mr. Hall resumed his argument:

"Now the learned advocate who addressed you yesterday tried to convince you that this prosecution was being waged against Mrs. Sheedy a venal purpose, and he thought that if the spirit of John Sheedy could speak from the great beyond he would say to Dennis Sheedy, for God's sage, stop that prosecution of my beloved wife. If John Sheedy's spirit could speak from that place, he would tell a different story. I have no doubt that John Sheedy's spirit has visited this woman in her solitary confinement more than once since it took its flight, and I would to God that you might know the story that John Sheedy's spirit could tell. I would to God that you might know the story that John Sheedy's spirit could tell. He would tell a story that would stir a story that has not been told by the witnesses upon his stand. He would tell you what occurred in his home circle after he was assaulted and unless that spirit tells the story, I fear you will never know it since the only people who do know it, do not see fit to tell it.

"You have ehar of the murder of King Claudius. how his spirit returned and chided his only son for not prosecuting his most cruel and fould murder. Do you believe Dennis Sheedy is prosecuting this case for the paltry amount that will fail to his share of the estate of John Sheedy? Why, if a wife can murder her husband in an enlightened, Christian community, and the brother would not raise his arm to defend it, to avenge it, to prosecute the guilty party, he would be unworthy the name of a brother, and I think John Sheedy's spirit would come back to haunt him and chide him for the brotherly duty neglected and unfilled.

"Mr. Courtnay tells what Dennis Sheedy did for this woman before she was suspected, before she was arrested, before the finger of suspicion pointed to her, that he arranged everything in the most systematic order. He replenished her bank account with $550 that he had collected from different people who owed his brother's estate. Did he sweep it down in his own pocket and skin out home?"

Mr. Hall spoke in this strain for about an hour longer.

Mr. H. D. Stearns, counsel for Mrs. Sheedy, next addressed the jury. He characterized the action of County attorney Snell in this prosecution as that of a bound-out boy. He scored him for playing a secondary part and not doing more questioning and cross-questioning. He condemned the alleged charity," said he, "when we remember that he took home with him a valuable gold watch and chain and other articles not belonging to him. This action is to be investigated later. What credence can you give to Goldwater's testimony after he told the story that he did to Burr about Jim Malone offering him a reward of $200? It would take a magnifying glass of 2,000,000 power to find the veracity of Goldwater, particularly if Jim Malone had polished him up. This man did as he did because he wished to stand in with the officers, and was after gain.

"A remarkable instance in this case is that several persons had passed and repassed on the porch, it had been scanned in search for blood spots, but the cane had not been found? Fully twenty minutes had passed before it was discovered there. Why don't the prosecution prove that the cane was not put there after John Sheedy was taken into the house? Another remarkable circumstance is the fact that the prosecution has not proved that the ring had been given to Monday McFarland. Could not they have proved this by half a dozen witnesses.

"The prosecution would make you believe that Mrs. Sheedy is a monster of wickedness. The face of Mrs. Sheedy indicates that of a cultured or at least refined woman. If you have scanned the face of Mrs. Sheedy you cannot help but see that it is a refutation of the scandalous, cruel and wicked lies that the prosecution are so glib in relating. You cannot find anybody who can believe the story of illicit intercourse with the negro. It could not have happened at all. It never did happen. Just think to what depths of degradation a woman would have to sink to be guilty of such a thing. Nature herself refuted, denies and condemns the awful story.

"Just think, gentlemen of the jury, of the absurdity of a lover being willing to kill a man so that another lover might supplant the man who did the killing. Is such a thing probable? And yet that is the way that the prosecution would have you believe. They claim that Monday McFarland, out of his love for Mrs. Sheedy, killed Mr. Sheedy so that another lover, Walstrom, might carry her away. It is out of the range of human reason.

"The presumption of good character [?] that of innocence is always held until proven otherwise, and the attorneys for the prosecution have no right to have you presume other wise."

PHILADELPHIA'S TREASURER.

The governor Names One and the City Commissioners Another.

Philadelphia, May 26. -The city commissioners met this morning and ignoring the appointment of Governor Pattason's successor to City Treasurer Bardsley, proceeded to elect Richard C. Oellers, business manager of the Record, to fill the office. The question as to who has the power to fill the office of the city treasurer has given rise to much controversy and it will undoubtedly he left to the courts to decide.

Bardsley is under guard at his house, his condition still being too serious to warrant his removal. He is unable to obtain $50,000 bail.

THE WEATHER FORECAST.

For Omaha and Viculty - Fair; warmer.

Washington, May 26. -Forecast [?] 8 p. m. Wednesday: For Missouri - Generally fair, except fair Wednesday in extreme southern portions; warmer by Wednesday night; variable winds.

For the Dakotas, Nebraska, Iowa and Kansas - Generally fair; warmer; winds becomin south.

For Colorado - Light showers; slightly warmer; winds becoming south.

News from Hawall.

San Francisco, Cala., May 26. - The steamer Zealandi arrived this morning, seven days from Honolulu. The Hawaiian Gazette announces the prospective appointment of Walter Hill, ex-journalist, as postmaster general of Hawaii.

Wenezuela [?] Exhibit.

Washington, May 26 -Venezuela has formally accepted the invitation to participate in the world's Columbian exposition.

NOT LACKING IN INTEREST.

Thousands Thronging to Hear the Arguments in the Sheedy Case.

ELOQUENT WORDS FOR THE DEFENSE.

Pleading for the Accused Weman- Was a Murder Committed?- Will Probably Go to the Jury Tomorrow.

Lincoln, Neb., May 27. -[Special to The Bee]- The oratory of the opposing attorneys in presenting their arguments to the jury in the Sheedy murder trial has proven a greater attraction than the taking of testimony. The great court room, ample for almost any extraordinary occasion, can accommodate only a fraction of the crowd that seeks admission to listen to the speeches. Every available foor of space both inside and outside the forum is occupied, and the crowd in the corridors look enviously at those who have standing room inside the court room. Some of the leading ladies of the city have been in attendance. Yesterday and today many of the fair sex stood up all the time, glad to get admission into the court room, and eagerly drank in the eloquent passages in the speech of Attorney Hall, laughed at Mr. Stearns' drolleries and smiled at Colonel Philpot's wit.

At 9 a.m. Mr. R. D. Stearns resumed his argument before the jury. He denied the statement of Mr. Hall that crime decreases in the ratio that it is punished. He gave statistics showing that in the time of Blackstone, when there was a gallows on almost every square in London, there was more crime than there is now. He then denied that John Sheedy had died like a dog, and declared that he had every care in his dying hours that kindness and love could devise. He denied that circumstantial evidence is sometimes the strongest evidence. He declared that some of the greatest mistake ever made have occurred through circumstantial evidence. It is the most unreliable testimony in the world. There have been hundreds and hundreds of judicial murders committed through the evidence. Two or three cases were cited in which persons have been hung for murders of which they were not guilty, just because of the circumstantial evidence against them. "There has been something said about poison," he continued, "but I do not see how you can consider it in the face of so much conflicting testimony in regard to it by the physicians. If they thought at the time Sheedy was dying that he was suffering from morphine poisoning why didn't they administer to him the appliances that would give relief? The whole thing has been concepted by the prosecution. They are all after money. The doctors didn't believe that it was morphine poisoning." He then proceeded to ridicule the physicians who were put on the stand, insinuated that they were ignorant of everything in their business except that relating to morphine poisoning. He further intimated that they had all been trained by Lambertson for this special case. "What have you," said he, "to base a conviction of Mrs. Sheedy upon? Simply because she knew Walstrom, because she went over to Mrs. Hood's once and told that lady that she and her husband had two spates. Is it possible that you will convict a pure noble, high minded woman as Mrs. SHeedy is on such flimsy evidence as that? I think that she can find an asylum in your justice. It is your duty to pry open the prison doors with your verdict and let this innocentwoman freed. You should do this quickly. Mrs. SHeedy is as innocent as the new born babe. Whether Monday McFarland is guilty or not it does not affect Mrs. Sheedy."

Colonel J. E. Philpot then followed. He first started to give a brief biography of Monday McFarland, stating that the negro was born of slave parents in Kentucky in April, 1861. At this juncture County Attorney Snell objected to such a statement being [-ade?], because it had not been brought out in evidence. The court sustained the objection and the biography suddenly ended. Philpot then said: "However much," gentlemen of the jury, "You may wish to use the confession, it is your bounden duty not to regard it unless it is proven that it was voluntarily given. The court has relegated to you the responsibility of passing upon the competency of that confession as evidence. When we came to cross-examine Kinney, a witness for the state, he proved to be our strongest witness. He testified that Jim Malone had been with Monday McFarland an hour and half on the morning of the confession. What was done at that time? You can trace the serpents trail throughout the confession. They worried him for two hours and again about noon. The major and marshal and Jim Malone were there, Malone, the astute caucasian. After two hours' work with him they failed to extort from him what they wanted and again they applied the thumb screws to him."

The colonel then proceeded to read several of the questions put at the time of the main confession. Among them were these:

"Nothing will save you but telling the truth." "If you want to bear the brunt of the whole thing just stop where you are."

The colonel the proceeded: "Gentlemen of the jury, can you go to your jury room and decide that this confession was given freely and voluntarily? Nay. What are the last replies of the negro? 'You have persuaded me to tell.' 'You told me it would be better for me to tell the whole story'

Philpot then dared Lambertson in the face of the manner in which the confession was secured to prove that it was not secured through duress and promises. He then tackled Dr. Beachley, declaring that that physician didn't even know the names of the bones of the head until they were put into his mouth by Attorney Lambertson. He then declared the Dr. Casebeer, the man who conducted the autopsy, was a tyro in his profession and he was the last man who should have been entrusted with it. "This fellow," said Philpot, "didn't know where the arbor vitae, an important part of the length of the medulla oblongata. The prosecution knew that they didn't have evidence enough and they hired ghouls for gold to fig up the body of the dead man without the knowledge of the coroner. Portions of the body were turned over to experts for gold. When Dr. Winchett was on the stand he admitted that when the body was taken up the first time for an autopsy no examination was made of the contents of the bladder and the kidneys. Those are the places to look for traces of morphine poisoning, are they not? Then why didn't they look there? They didn't know enough to do so until the prosecution told them to do so. Mr. Hall stands up here and looks aggrieved that anyone should charge that they are working for gold. But the Sheedy estate amounted to $75,000 and this is what creates the keen desire for the prosecution of this case."

At this point Mr. Jenson, one of the jurors, was taken suddenly ill and the court had to adjourn until afternoon, although it lacked an hour of noon.

At 2 p. m. Colonel Philpot resumed his argument. He said:

"The prosecution would have you believe that Monday McFarland was the man who fired at John Sheedy a week before the final assault. But Mrs. Hosman swears that the man who fired at John Sheedy was a white man. Her husband saw the man more closely. He says that the man was a white man, wore a cap with a visor and had a brown overcoat. In the alleged confession it is stated that Monday had on a slouch hat and did not have on an overcoat. The story about the attempted shooting of John Sheedy was detailed in full in all the newspapers and how easily Monday could have manufactured the story, but he would fall down when he came to the description of the dress of the man who fired the shot. But the fact is that the story was put into his mouth through android questioning. The prosecution would have you believe that there were only three persons at the Sheedy residence the night of the assault. We say that there were four. According to the testimony of Mrs. Dr. Wood, the blind was up all the time until after the assault. This is the converse of what the prosecution claims - that the blind was down until just before the assault, when it was raised. When Mr. Mays heard the fifth shot fired he testified that he saw two men running, one to the east around the house and the other on the west side of the house. The boys, Currie and Hitchcock, say that they saw two men running south on twelfth below the alley. The two fugitives could have met at the alley and run south. See how the prosecution has sought to break down the evidence of this boy. The only thing that they have disproved is that he did not see a patrol wagon. This is a very small matter. In no other way have these boys crossed themselves. What strengthens the testimony of Matthew, Mark, Luke and John concerning the Savior. It is because their stories are not exactly alike. Mrs. Sheedy ought to be here today not as a defendant, but to prosecute the murderers of her husband. Why are you attorneys on the defense put to the extremity of proving an alibi for Gleason, the gambler? By Whom do you prove it? By a partner of Fleason. But the men who committed the deed could have committed the crime and gotten back where they were when they were seen. Why did John Sheedy hire Ab Carder to protect him? To watch Monday McFarland? No. What did John Sheedy say after he was struck - that McFarland struck him? No; that it was the larger man that struck him. Now when you go to your jury room the first thing you are to consider is the competency of the confession as evidence. If it was extorted by undue influence remember it is to have no bearing whatever on the case. The prosecution called your attention to a certain discoloration of the skull. This discoloration might have been caused by a slight clot of blood after the body had lain in the grave for four months. Further, gentlemen of the jury, when this poor negro came into the court, freed from the influences and fears of the sweat box, he would not forgeit his manhood by causing this innocent woman to suffer for a crime of which she is not guilty."

Mr. Jesse Strode, attorney for Mrs. Sheedy, followed, he declared first that the only reason the prosecution had for arraigning Mrs. SHeedy was because they were after the money that was in it. If John Sheedy had died a poor man, he insisted that there would not have been any prosecution. He commenced his talk in a gentle, sympathetic voice and said that he had watched the curl of scorn upon their faces as the prosecution had proceeded. In the press, he declared, there had been some the "most damning lies that could be concocted by newspaper reporters." he then said he would refer only to Snell, because Snell opened the argument and the other attorney had merely reiterated what Snell had said. He next declared that the first violator of the law whom he knew of when he came to this city was John Sheedy. John Sheedy was a gambler.

"There has been many a home," said he, "in which the actions of John Sheedy has caused ruin and sorrow because of the business in which he was engaged."

The speaker the referred to the fact that Mrs. Coll, who testified that she had often seen Monday McFarland standing on the corner of Thirteenth and P before the assault, was an enemy, and to Monday McFarland.

"The prosecution," he continued, "speaks of a number of witnesses whom they say we didn't put upon the witness stand. Dennis Sheedy, ar., left on the pretext of some telegram of 'important business,' 'family sick,' or some such invention. Dennis Sheedy, Jr., the young man who was at the Sheedy residence almost constantly for two years, and who was at the Sheedy home all the night following the assault, has not appeared. Why did he not appear? He has been spirited away."

Mr. Strode then commenced to tell about a trip that young Dennis SHeedy had taken to Wilbur. Mr. Lambertson objected and the objection was sustained. This angered Strode and he declared bitterly that Lambertson and his co-counsel had received money collected from the gamblers to give to Mrs. Sheedy. "It does not do for Lambertson and Hall to talk about charity," said he. This made Lambertson's eyes flash fire for the first time, and he retorted:

"And it does not do for this gentleman who got this money from the gamblers to talk in such a manner."

Strode got pale and angrily replied: "Did Anna Bodenstein, the domestic, testify as you wish?"

"Of course she didn't" Lambertson thundered, "you bribed her to keep her mouth shut!"

Peals of laughter followed and the court called the crowd to order. The judge then said: "Gentlemen, we will have a straight argument of this out of the evidence. If you depart from it again I will have to fine you."

Strode then intimated that all of the property that John Sheedy possessed at the time of his death had been acquired since this marriage, and then, turning to Lambertson, demanded if that was not true why the prosecution had not proven that it was not.

"We didn't need to," replied Lambertson, "we had Monday McFarland's confession to that effect."

"O, Monday McFarland's confession? Don't you know that it is not to go in as evidence as far as it concerns Mrs. Sheedy? And yet you have tried to use it as evidence."

Mr. Lambertson smiled and said nothing.

Mr. Strode then proceeded to tell how Mr. Sheedy had at one time corrupted the city council with money.

Mr. Strode next showed that the only evidence against Mrs. Sheedy was the confession of Monday McFarland, and this, he declared, could not go in as evidence. He then affirmed that the prosecution had spoken of clandestine meetings, but there were no meetings testified to except the two at the Carpenter residence. That criminal intimacy with Walstrom had been asserted but not proved. There were not evidence of conspiracy. The curtain signal had not been proven. He next dwelt at some length on arguments proving that the confession had been extorted from Monday McFarland. He read questions from the confession to prove this. He then exclaimed:

"Who had scared Monday McFarland? Who had made him believe that there was a mob coming? Who extorted the confession? Jim Malone! If what the mayor, the marshal and other witnesses present at the confession say are true, how can you use the confession in evidence? We asked Kinney if he did not say to Monday on that Sunday that if he told who the other parties were who were connected with him in the crime it would go easier with him? He answered 'no.' Why didn't they put Him Malone on the witness stand again so that we could cross-examine him about this matter."

"Why, Mr. Strode." interrupted Mr. Lambertson, "we did put Malone on the witness stand again, and you not only had a chance of cross-examining him, but you did so."

"I believe you are right," said Strode, and then proceeded:

"Now, gentlemen of the jury, before we can considered the second confession, we must have positive proof that the influences used to secure the first one had been removed."

The speaker then showed that after the negro had been questioned for about an hour and twenty minutes at the second cinfession, he declared that he had had nothing to do with the murder of John Sheedy and attempted to throw the entire blame on Mrs. Sheedy. This, Mr. Strode declared was evidence that the negro still feared that mob at that time and was trying to shield himself. The speaker then declared, after reading a number of the questions in the confession, that a confession obtained in such a manner could not be free and voluntary one. He dwelt on the fact that every time a confession was made Him Malone was present. He impressed upon the minds of the jurors the fact that if there is a doubt whether or not Monday McFarland was sworn at the time of the coroner's inquest that the confession should not be considered in evidence. Said he: "Take the confessions out of the case and nothing is left to prove that Monday McFarland murdered John Sheedy except the cane, and that has been poorly identified."

Court then adjourned until 9 a. m. tomorrow. Mr. Strode will continue his argument tomorrow morning and will be followed by Mr. Lambertson on behalf of the prosecution, which will close the arguments. The case will probably go to the jury sometime tomorrow afternoon.

IN THE HANDS OF THE JURY.

[Olcas?] of the Arguments in the Great Sheedy Murder Trial.

REVIEW OF THE CASE BY THE JUDGE.

He Delivers Exhaustive Instructions -Scene in the Court Room- A Tilt Between the Attorneys.

Lincoln, Neb., May 28. - Special to The Bee. - Long before the time for opening the doors this morning, the corridors and halls of the court house were packed and jammed with a restless mass of humanity eager to get a chance to listen to the great legal battle which will determine the fate of Mrs. Sheedy and Monday McFarland, the alleged murderers of John Sheedy. All day the court room was crowded almost to suffocation and the eager spectators had the pleasure of hearing some splendid oratorical efforts and listening to some exciting passages at arms between the two opposing giants in the case Lambertson and Strode.

During the two hours at noon hundreds of people did not go home to dinner but remained in the court room so as to hold their seats. Fully three-fourths of the great crowd was composed of ladies.

Mrs. Sheedy was sick the greater portion of the night, so her attorneys say, but she wore her usual composure today and only once showed evidence of weeping.

Mr. Jenson, one of the jurymen, has not recovered from his prostration and this afternoon a sofa was brought in for him to lie on.

When Mr. Strode took his place before the jury this morning he related a story of the supposed murder of a man named Jesse Calvin in Vermont and how two brother-in-law of the murdered man were arrested on the charge of having killed their relative. Seeing that conviction was certain they made confessions of the crime so as to get a sentence of life imprisonment and save themselves from the gallows. Before the day of execution an advertisement was inserted in a paper asking for the whereabouts of Jesse Calvin, and the result was that the man supposed to be murdered was found alive in New Jersey. The points in which the confessions of those brothers and the confession of Monday McGarland were similar were brought out skillfully by Strode and a most forcible impression was made on the jury. Mr. Strode the directed his attention to Mr. Hall, saying that he was a member of a firm of railroad attorneys. At this Mr. Hall arose and said that it was unfair to work thus upon the prejudices of the jurors,who might all be members of the farmers alliance.

"It's true, just the same," said Strode.

"Your honor," said Hall, "I denounce such a course as a cowardly, unprofessional and unmany appeal to the prejudices of the jury."

This created a sensation and before strode could reply the court informed Mr. Strode that such appeals could not be tolerated.

Mr. Strode then proceeded to tell how he knew Mrs Sheedy when she was a flaxen haired girl, the favorite of her companions and referred to her bed-ridden mother, who in another state, was awaiting the verdict that would free her daughter. The pathetic manner in which these things were related brought all the ladies to tears. Mrs. Sheedy's sister became convulsed with sobs and the fair defendant herself soon after was melted to tears.

In regard to the poison theory, he declared that the liver, bladder and kidneys showed no evidence of poison. He asserted that Mrs. Sheedy had told him that she had never bought any poison at any drug store in the city.

"You'd better put her on the stand and let her testify," ejaculated Lambertson, "instead of testifying for her."

Mr. Strode then took the locks of her hair placed in evidence as having been taken from the head and body of Mrs. Sheedy. He declared that he believed that all the hair had came from the head. He then said suddenly:

"Why. I don't believe that that hair is Mrs. Sheedy's. It is darker than hers." He then threw open one of the shutters so that a ray of light fell upon Mrs. Sheedy's head and then walked over to where she sat and place one of the locks of hair against her bangs.

"Now, gentlemen of the jury," continued Strode, "I wish to have you come here and notice whether this lock of hair is from the head of Mrs. Sheedy."

"No you don't!" thundered Lambertson, now thoroughly aroused. "You can't sneak such testimony in on us."

"Yes, you cut the hair from the heal of somebody else," said Strode.

"I denounce you as an infamous liar!" thundered Lambertson.

This created intense excitement in the court room and Strode appealed to the court if such language was to be permitted in the court room.

The Judge then said: "Such conduct is unbecoming is a gentleman and I am surprised, Mr. Lambertson, that you should be guilty of it."

A burst of applause and cheers followed from the great crowd. His honor frowned and declared that should such a demonstration follow again he would have the court room cleared entirely of spectators.

Mr. Strode then impressed the jurors with the fact that although some of them had read the newspaper accounts of the crime they had formed no opinion from the same, the testimony brought out in court, he insisted, did not add a scintilla more of evidence than had been published in the papers.

He then concluded his argument with an earnest plea for Mrs. Sheedy, for her life and liberty.

Mr. Lambertson then stepped forward to address the jury, and a hush fell upon the great crowd, as it had been noised abroad that his was to be the great speech of the trial. He said:

"Murder is the most awful deed that mand can commit. So foul and unnatural is it that it smells to heaven. This is true when doen in heat, 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 his 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; [clews?] were followed; but every circumstance, every trace, pointed as unervingly 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 who had taken to his bosom, as the authors of the deep damnation of his taking off.

"It is a significant fact that the defendants stand together in their defense. Although the white woman ignores the black man - never speaks to him in the court room, yet their defense is one. The negro is not her to say the woman did it, and the woman is not here to say the woman did it, and the woman is not here to say the man did it, but both are here todefy for themselves, and each other, any complicity with the crime. They are both innocent. If, then, the theory of the defense is to prevail, you must excuse both these defendants from participation in the crime. You must find the murderers to be other than Mary Sheedy and Monday McFarland."

At this point court adjourned for noon. At 2 o'clock Mr. Lambertson resumed his argument.

Circumstantial evidence was exhaustively discussed, and in an invincible argument showed that in the vast majority of cases where applied, circumstantial evidence is the strongest, because unbiased and [allently?] unprejudiced. What is circumstantial evidence? If you awaken in the morning and hear water rippling down the street, and see dampness upon the leaves, you know it has rained, though you may not have heard the patter of the drops nor seen the rain. Again, upon going out in the winter you see ice formed and the ground frozen. You did not feel the chilly atmosphere during your sleeping hours, but you know it has been cold, though you have not seen the cold. In passing down the street at noon I saw a large pile of brick, lumber, mortar and iron: I did not see the building, but I know one will rear its handsome front in that locality soon; I did not see the building, but I know it will be erected. If you see a man cautiously stealing from a lady's room at night under suspicious conditions you do not know absolutely that anything criminal has transpired, but the very natural inference is that a criminal intimacy has existed.

Mr. Lambertson talked until 5 o'clock. The followed the instruction of the judge to the jury, which required over an hour to read. The judge first said there were four counts of the original six to consider, the first two having been withdrawn. The third count, and the first for the jury to consider, charged Monday McFarland with inflicting a mortal wound with a cane and that Mrs. Sheedy procured, aided and abetted McFarland in the act.

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

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

The judge then proceeded to instruct the jury as to what constituted murder in the first and second degrees and manslaughter. The substance of the instructions is as follows:

"To consistitute murder in the first degree, the evidence must establish beyond a reasonable doubt that the killing was done purposely and of deliberate and premediteted malice. If a person has actually formed a purpose maliciously to kill and has deliverated and premeditated upon it before he performs the act and then performs it, he is guilty of murder in the first degree, however short the time may have been between the purpose and its execution.

"To constitute murder in the second degree, requires that you shall find from the evidence beyond a measurable doubt, that the killding was done purposely and maliciously, but without deliveration and premeditiation.

"You are instructed that it is incumbent upon the state to establish by the evidence every material allegation contained in any one of the counts as set forth in the information beyond a reasonable doubt, and if the prosecution has failed so to do, then the jury must acquit the defendants upon such count, either one or both of the, as the rule of law applies to either or both."

The judge then proceeded to instruct the jury that if by word or sign Mrs. Sheedy aided or abetted the crime that she was an accessory. That it was not necessary to prove what kind of poison was used. That the defendants were supposed to be innocent until proven otherwise.

The remainder of the somewhat voluminous instructions were in the maind a reiteration of the last proposition. The case was then given to the jury.

INCENDIARY CATTLE THIEF.

He Has His Revenge on a Former Employer.

Alliance, Neb. May 28. - It has now been discovered that the man who burned the ranch of Bill Watkins, the stockman and beef contractor whose troubles in connection with cattle stealing from Wyoming are well known, was Felix James, who was the foreman of the Watkins cattle outfit, and who is badly wanted in Wyoming for deep complicity in the cattle stealing for which McKinney and Kingen have been convicted in the Cheyenne, Wyo., courts. About a month since, James, who has been in hiding from the officers, made his appearances at the Watkins home ranch, a short distance from alliance, and demanded money from Bill Watkins. The demand of James was refused, and a bitter quarrel ensued between the two men, at the cessation of which James left.

That night Hames visited Alliance secretly and set on fire the Watkins slaughter house. He then, on the next night, burned down the houses on the Watkins home ranch, and a few nights afterwards, he fired the buildings on the Watkins Indian creek ranch.

James was determined that the flames should do their appointed work, and used coal oil in all three of the fires, even pouring the inflammable fluid over the horses in the stables, five head being destroyed, including two very valuable stallions.

James left a note tacked on one of the fence posts at the Indian creek ranch stating that he "would come again." Wakins offers $1,000 reward for James. The firebug and range criminal went south from Indian creek accompanied by an unknown companion.

DEATH OF A FAMOUS HORSE.

Old Mortimer Shot to Relieve Him of His Misery.

New York, May 28, - Old Mortimer is dead. He was lead out like a soldier and shot. For over a year he has been an invalid said it was to put an end to his misery that Mr. Withers permitted him to be destroyed. Mortimer was twenty-six years old and died full of honors. On the race course and in the stid he was one of the greatest horses of this century. Pierre Lorillard imported him about twelve years ago, buying him of Count LaGrange for $25,000. He ran forty-eight races in his career on the French, German and English turf, winning twenty-six of them. He would win at six furlongs today and at two and one-half miles tomorrow, and was up to any weight, 140 pounds being only a steadier for him. He career is a romantic one. It came near being the cause of international dispute. At the breaking up of the Racocas stud Mortimer became the property of Mr. Withers at Brookdale. He was the sire of many well known race horses, the most conspicuous in recent years being exile. Where at the height of his fame Mortimer was pronounced by Admiral Rone seven pounds the best horse in training in the world. It was the declaration that induced Mr. Lorillard to buy him.

WANTED TO LYNCH HIM.

Exciting Experience of a Butte Street Railway Official.

Butte, Mont., May 28, - George F. Woolson, manager of the Butts electric railway and cable company, narrowly escaped the vengeance of a mob last evening which followed him and his escort to jail, several hundred strong, throwing brickbats and shouting "Lynch him," all the way from his office to the county prison. Main street was filled with men, and it seemed that their presence there was by some preconcerted arrangement, so suddenly did the crowd block the streets. Conflicting stories are told as to what incited the demonstration. Wools on found Conductor Boyle of the cable line on his car drunk and unfit for duty. He was ordered off the car and requested to go to the officer and get his time, which he did. The office is on the second floor, which he reached by a flight of stairs. Boyle was picked up at the bottom of these stairs later, it is feared fatally hurt about the head. Woolson said Boyle fell down the stairway. Bystanders said Woolson threw him down. Friends of labor quickly espoused Boyle's cause. As soon as the crowd dispersed Woolson was admitted to bail.

BOTH GIVEN THEIR LIBERTY.

Mrs. Sheedy and Monday McFarland Found Not Guilty.

VERDICT WAS REC IVED WITH CHEERS.

Some Hisscs, However, Were Mingled with the Shouts-The Court in an Uproar for a Few Minutes.

LINCOLN, Neb, May 29. ----[Special Telegram to THE BEE.]---At 3:25 this afternoon the jury in the great Sheedy murder case filed into the court room and it was then known that they had agrreed upon a verdict. All day an eager crowd of pepole had been in waiting expecting a verdict and they were not disappointed. The sealed document containing the fates of Mrs. Sheedy and Monday McFarland were handed to Mr. Sizer and as he opend it the result was awaited breath- leasly.

The clerk then read the papers through and annonced the verdict for both, " Not guilty. " A wild cheer went up at this and it was some time before the court could rusume its operation. A number of hissos wore mingled with the cheers. Mrs. Sheedy's sisters grasped her hands and cried for joy, while Monday McFarland showed more emotion than he has displayed throughout the trail. The judge then asked the jurymen one by one if this was their verdict and each ponded in the affirmative. The judge then declared that Monday McFarland and Mrs. Sheedy were relased from custody. The two were immediately surrounded by their friends and tendred something of an oration. The verdict was as follows: " We, the jury, duly impanelled and sworn in the cause of the State versus Mary Sheedy and Monday McFarland find the defendants not gully as they stand charged in the information. JOHN ROBERTON, Foreman." Three of the jours were seen immediately afferward and they said that all but two were in favor of acqulting both defendants, and those two were Roberstson and Cadwarlader. The major portion of the morining was spent in reading the instructions of the judge, and in the discussion over them the two dissenting jury men were won over to the majority. Robertson was seen and he said: "There was no evidence to convict the woman, and if she escaped the darkey should also, Outside of the confessions of McFarland there was nothing to convict. The judge instructed us not to consider the confession so far as it affected Mrs. Sheedy, consequently as there was scarcely any other evidence against her we had to acquit her, according to out oaths. The judge futher insturcted us that unless we could believe beyond a reasonable doubt that the confession had not been exterted from Monday McFarland through threats or promises that we must bring in an acquital. So whatever out suspicions might have been, we had to act according to instrictions. Until yesterday I had suspicions that Mrs. Sheedy was guitly, but when that hair was produced I began to behave that there was a plot against the women. I don't believe now that even the hair alleged to have been taken from her body is that kind of hair. " The acquital of Mrs. Sheedy was expected by most citizen who have watched the trial, but the acquital of the negro was a suprise. It is generally conceded by many persons who have been seen that the negro should be acquited since Mrs. Sheedy, the alleged instigator of the crime, was forced. The jury men give as their reason for acquitting the negro the fact that the confession was the stumbling block. The were not convinced that the confession was obtained righfully, and consequently they could not convict the negro, because the other evidence was not suffcient to convict Mrs. Sheedy. Mrs. Sheedy is stopping with her uncle, Colonel Biggerstaff at Fourteenth and P streets. It is needless to say that Messrs. Strode, Stearus, Billingsley, Woodward and Philpot, who have championed the defense, are delighted. Detective Pinneo and Crowe aslo simile. Mrs. Sheedy will leave in a day or two for Iowa to visit her mother. Monday McFarland was seen this evening and he declared that he was confident all the time of acquittal. He asserted that as far as he knew Mrs. Sheedy she was a pure woman. When asked about the confession, he said: " Supporting that the officers should tell you that a mob was after you and you could take your choise of confessing who had prompted the crime or be hung in fifteen mintues, what would you do!" Monday showed a great fluency and readiness in talking. This was the first time that a reporter has had a chance to talk with him since his arrest. Monday says he will go to White Cloud, Kan to visit his mother in a few days. Mr. Strode, the attorney for Mrs. Sheedy. is to get a 12,500 fee for his services. He first was to receive $ 15,000, but Colonel Weir of Boise City strongly opposed such a fee and $ 2,500 was lopped off.