250

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.

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.