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READY FOR THE ARGUMENTS.

End of Hearing Evidence in the Great Sheedy Murder Trial.

SPECULATING ON THE JURY'S VERDICT.

General Belief That the Woman Will Be Acquitted - McFarland's Confessions Repudiated - Testimony in Rebuttal.

LINCOLN, Neb, May 23. - [Special to THE BER.] - All the testimony in the great Sheedy murder trial is now in and on Monday the case will be argued by the opposing attorneys. Monday McFarland was not put on the witness stand. For the first time the wife of the negro came to the court room and took a seat near her husband. There was also a perfect cloud of sable faced friends of McFarland clustered about him. Throughout the entire morning McFarland's little year old baby sat in her father's lap and for an hour or two the little bright eyes looked with wonder about her, but finally she dropped to sleep in his arms. The presence of his child had a softening effect on McFarland and for the first time he wept:

Mrs. Sheedy showed her usual composure but there was a gleam of satisfaction in her eyes and she looked happier than she has at any time during the long trial.

Now that all the testimony is in there is considerable speculation as to what the verdict of the jury will be. It is generally believed that it will result in the conviction of the negro and the acquittal of Mrs. Sheedy. Some believe that both will be acquitted, but none that the woman will be convicted.

The evidence of the protection has been almost entirely corroborative of the three confessions of Monday McFarland, which he now repudiates. The efforts of the defense consisted mainly in attempting to fasten the blame on Frank Williams and Frank Gleason, two gamblers supposed to be at outs with John Sheedy. The two main witnesses used to confirm this line of argument were two boys named A. Hitchcock and George Currie who claimed that they saw two white men running away from the Sheedy residence immediately after the assault on John Sheedy. Strenuous efforts were made by the defense to impeach the testimony of Hyman Goldwater, the pawnbroker, who testified that he sold the cane to Monday McFarland which was found on the porch immediately after the assault. Testimony was also brought to contradict the evidence of the state which showed that Mr. and Mrs. Sheedy did not live together very happily. Some stress was also laid on an alleged threatening letter received by Sheedy two or three days before his death. Such evidence of the defense as had not been anticipated by the prosecution in their testimony in chief, caused a general rustle among the latter attorneys and yesterday and today they have been endeavoring to rebut this evidence.

Mr. Strode, attorney for Mrs. Sheedy, asked that he be allowed to put Mr. D. G. Courtnay again on the stand, although the defense had once rested. The request was granted. Courtnay testified that John Sheedy was in the office of witness two or three days before the final assault. Sheedy gave witness a letter he had received. It was an anonymous letter. The letter in substance was:

"Unless you let up on the protection of the gamblers and don't stop trying to run the town it will be only a question of time that you will be killed."

Witness did not know what had become of this letter after he handed it back to Sheedy.

Officer Kinney was put on the witness stand to rebut the testimony of the two boys, A. Hitchcook and George Curry, who testified that just after the shooting on the night of January 11 they saw two men running south on Twelfth street. Kinney testified that he and Officer Otto were standing on the corner of Twelfth and O, near the Burr block, the time they heard the shots. Both officers ran north to the alley and east through the alley to thirteenth street. Witness did not see any men come out of the alley and run south.

D.C. Topping, a blacksmith, testified that he was standing near the opera house on Twelfth and O on the night of the assault. He went north of Twelfth but saw no men running south on Twelfth from the alley.

Captain Otto was called. He testified that he was standing talking to Officer Kinney near the Burr block. The two ran north towards the Sheedy residence. Just after passing by the alley they were met by Krause who told them that somebody had shot at Sheedy and ran south to the alley. Witness went into the alley a short distance and seeing nobody there came back and went north to the Sheedy residence. Mrs. Skinner testified that she has rooms looking out on the alley just south of the Sheedy residence. She was put on the stand to prove that she saw Monday McFarland running east through the alley just a few moments after the shots were fired. She recognized the man as Monday McFarland. When the defense learned what was up they fought fiercely against the witness testifying. Stearns claimed that her evidence could not go in as rebuttal, and if it was testimony in chief the name of the witness should have been endorsed on the original information.

Mr. Hall said that such a course was impossible as he had learned yesterday for the first time that this witness was possessed of such information. Mr. Hall then commenced to tell what be expected the witness would testify to. This caused Stearns to jump up and pour out a flood of invective of Hall's head for giving the testimony away in the presence of the jury. He denounced such an action as underhanded. The judge finally sustained the objection of Stearns and the witness was excused from the stand without testifying. Woodward demanded that the judge inform the jury that they were not to consider the disclosure made by Hall. His honor said this, of course, was understood by the jury.

Ex-Mayor Graham was put on the witness stand to prove that nothing had been said by him to Goldwater about giving Goldwater a reward for identifying the case. Witness declared that no such conversation or meeting ever occurred.

Marshal Mellck testified to the same effect. Witness further declared that neither he nor Malone, as far as he knew, had ever promised any reward to Goldwater to identify the cane.

After this the wheets of justice stopped grinding for over half an hour, awaiting the arrival of Bob Malone, the driver of the patrol wagon. He testified that the patrol wagon was not at the Sheedy residence the night of the assault. This was in impeachment of Currie and Hitchcook, the fellows who claimed they saw two men run south on Twelfth street.

Captain W. W. Carder, who had change of the police force the night of the assault, corroborated Malone's statement.

The state had one more witness Mr. Scroggin, but as he could not be found the state rested its case.

The object of putting Mr. Scroggin on the witness stand was to prove that D.G. Courtnay was mistaken in some of his statements concerning the alleged threatening letter received by John Sheedy two or three days before his death.

When the state rested Judge Field then declared that the case was ended and no more testimony would be admitted from either side. "On Monday," said he, "I will listen to the arguments on both sides of the case."