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5
JUDGE CONDlCrS Til CASE
PICTUEE OF THE CRIPPEN TRIAL
Trctrmtn aad prrd from Slart to
riaUh Part Taken ay Trial
Jidir In Ulrrctlijjt the
I ane.
i ( nil1 tij.on whether a mark on n viw
ff flh was tlie near of an operation or
rrifiely a mnrk our by ful.lint-' arvl
I ITfssuiv when bi-nemh the iirirku of tin-
Striking Feature, of Criminal Court
cellar floor. Th meillrnl expirts for tin.'.
Procedure in En2land crown brought cnTwh.lminK evidence to
" ' i'ioe the mark n war. an.i it win
' ! known that Helle Kltnoio hud n h a war,
the renult of an operation. J
"The medical witncKn for tln defense '
nave a flirertly opposite opinion. After
both counnel had finlHlieil with him the
JudKS took him In hand, prcss-d litm and
shook his v,dcnci. Thrn. expressing re
gret that the wltnexs had ab-nted him-
elf from the court lien the crown wit- I
neae gave their evidence, he called one!
of the latter Into the witness box and ,
made him demonstrate on a piece of skin !
and flesh his grounds for declaring thn j
mark must be a scar. This done the
Judge said to the witness for the defense.
'Now. after hearing and soelnjr Mr. Pep
per's reasons for declurlns the mark must
bo a scar resulting from such an opera
tion. Is not your opinion modified?
Sou not think It may be a scar?
"The witness adhered to his own opinion,
but when he left the ti'ltrvs hn there
was no doubt that his evidence had been
robbd of all value In ti:e Jury's eves.
"Earlier In the case, w hen numerous ex
hibits of the dead woman's Jewelry wero
produced for identification by witnesses,
the Judge examined all and selected a few
for the Jury to inspect, dismissing the rest
as of commonplace, ordinary appearance
and thus of no value for purposes of Iden
tlflcaton. so that It would only be a waste
of time for the Jury to examine them.
( hrrki on I. an rem.
"Again, when counsel for the defense
outlined the story of Crlppen's arrange
ment with the quartermaster to hide him
on board the steamship Montrose, after
the first sentence the Judge Interposed,
asking, To you produce the quartermas-
! ter?'
I " 'No, my lord.' counsel responded.
"The judge nodded, and th weak story,
I evidently shortened, fell Ineffective from
counsel's lips. Ho it was throughout the
trial; the Judge v. ould pull all counsel
j when, after receiving1 an answer from a
; witness they worked around to the same
question.
' ' 'lie has answered you,' lxrd Alverstone
would say, " and you mum take his an
swer.' "Frequently he would interpose, telling
counsel: 'It Is now time to press tills
point,' or to press another point as being
important. It was the judge's questions
that made Crippen contradict himself on
an Important question, the date of the
purchase and who purchased, himself or
his wife, the incriminating stilt of pyjamas
part of which were found with the remains.
Chief Conductor of Cur,
"Twice the Judge Intervened In behalf,
of Crippen, once when the prosecution
was pressing him as to what he meant by
the word 'it' when he said to Inspector
Dew of Quebec: 'It is only fair to say 1
told Miss In eve nothing about It.' Crippen
said he had meant he had told her nothing
of his series of lying letters and telegrams.
Defects in Nebraska's Taxation System
Sharp contrasts In the procedure of mur
4r trials In England and the T'nheJ States
ar brought to public attention by the trial,
conviction and sentenc of the American
doctor, Ilawley Ilaivev Crippen, In Lon
don. The promptness shown In securing
a Jury, the absence of leal pettifogging
and technicalities, and the dominating part
of the trial Judge in the examination of
witnesses, Is so different from American
methods as to call forth commendation for
the former and condemnation for the
latter.
The trial Judge was Lord Alver. tone, lord
chief Justice of England. In the ilavs of
Premier Sallsbui y he was Sir lU'liard
Webster, attorney general, and was chief
counsel for the London Times In the
famous I'arnoll trial, in which the gov
ernment and the Times wen: down In
humiliating defeat. The pi.s tve of the
lord chief Justice as presiding j'idge In a
criminal case is explained by the fact of
the prisoner being an American citizen.
A review of the trial as a whole, and the
part taken by the Judge In the proceedings
la necessary to a full understanding of
English procedure and the manner In which
It differs from the methods of American !
trial courts. The London correspondent j
jf the New York Sun presents this graphic
account:
Trial Seenes.
"Although a Hrltlsli court of Justice
where a murder trial is proceeding Is al- !
ways characterized by quiet, passionless I
decorum, combined with a steady, business- I
like dispatch, when one of these big murder j
cases Is being tried there nro always be- 1
neath the surface tense excitement and i
deep emotion, which only come to the sur-
face when the Jury retires and again on Its
return to give its verdict.
"Lord Alverstone, lord chief justice of I
England, Is the most Impressive and dig- !
nlfled figure on the British bench. Kobed i
In ermine and scarlet and attended by the I
' lord mayor and sheriffs wearing their of- j
flclal robes and gold chains of office, he !
is the personification of Judlciul strength. ;
oX which the black and - gold scabbarded I
word Is the emblem. Beneath him sat the !
black gowned, white wlgged clerk, and In !
the well of the court between him and the
prisoners' dc;k, where Crlppen's draper.
Insignificant figure was dwarfed by the
burly forms of three warders, eat gowned
and wlgged counsellors at a large table, at
which the Instructing solicitors with books
and papers were also seated.
1V- I
So far we have been speaking of reenter'
taxes taxes that become doe and delin-I
quent reeularly t dates fixed by law. j
Another kir.d of tax. called a special tax, i
Is levied avainst property on account of '
'peclul benefits to that property, such a i
street Improvements, sewers. sidewalks.
etc. Special (axes are now kept separate i
and distinct from other taxes. They are
kt In separute books, written on sep
arate receipts and one department of the
treasurer's office devotes its time exclu
sively to this kind of tax. Hence we have
now three kinds of real estate tax. and two
kinds of personal tax, each kept in a Sep
arate book, all five of which must be ex
amined before you can be advised as to
condition of your taxes for any one
. car. and as the men who take care of the
regular taxes have nothing to do with the
special taxes, after (oil have had your
regular taxes taken care of. you are
obliged to call at the special tax window
to pay your special tax. and If you fall
to pay any one of these three kinds of real
estatetax. your property will be sold for
taxes.
The most lamentable feature of our spe
cial tax svstem ' the fact that a special
tax may be lev ed at any dat? and will
become del nquent In fifty days from date
of levy. Regular taxes fall due at regular
dates, and It is possible for people to learn
these dates and be prepared to meet the
tax as It comes due, but no one knows
when a special tax Is coming unless he
follows closely the .proceedings by w hich It
is created. For example, the last regular
tax becomes delinquent July 1. At the
time you pay this tax you may co to the
upec'-al tax window and inquire whether
any special taxes is due or delinquent
asainst your property, and may be cor
rectly Informed that there Is not, and yet
your property may be sold In November
for a special tnx that came due subse
quent to your Inquiry. You may go even
further than this. At the time you pay
our last regular tax, you may Inquire
whether sny spec al tnxes levied are
charged ncnirist your property, and may
be correctly informed that there Is nothing
whatever on the books auulnst your prop
erty, and yet as late as the lHh of Au
gust a special tax may be levied aetlnt
your property which will become delin
quent September 3l. be advertised In Octo
ber, and offered for sale In November. It
Is hardly conceivable that such a condi
t on would be permitted to exist, and yet It
Is true. We have a striking Illustration
this year. After July 1 about twenty
ord'nances were passed levying a special
tax against about 1,500 or l.,oo pieces of
property. This tax became delinquent be
fore October 1, and some of this property
Is now being advertised, and there Is no
doubt that many of the owners of what
Is being advertised do not know that a
tax has been levied. It is true that thi:
tax was levied on petition of the property
owners and at their request that Is at the
request of a certain portion of them, and
yet many owners of vacant property, or
persons who hsppened to be out of town
had no part In this request. It Is also
true that notices are mailed out, but It Is
not always possible to get the correct ad
dress of property owners, particularly of
vacant property, and a notice may be sent
to a former owner Instead of a recent
purchaser, so that the actual owner may
have no actual notice of the tax. This Is
particularly true of a tax for opening
streets or Improving boulevards, etc.,
where there Is no visible evidence of any
Improvement until after the tax Is col
lected. We hare a recent example of
this. During this summer a tax was levied
on all property from Center street north
to Indiana avenue, and from Twenty-fourth
west to Thirty-eighth, for the purpose of
Improving the boulevard. This taxed sev
eral thousand pieces of property, and an
astonishingly large per cent of the owners
had no idea at all as to what the tax
was for when they received the notice,
and many of those whose card failed to
reach hem " never know that there
is such a tax. until they receive infirtr.a
tion In the form of a surprise, either at
the special tax window, or by finding their
property sold for taxes at some future
date.
Our Fpeciul taxes are subd vldn' into
five different cla.-sts, and we have five
different khids of special tax districts.
fH, Street Improvement districts. (Including
paving and cn-htng). (?). sidewalk districts,
t"), sewer dlstr'cts, H. grading districts.
n. miscellaneous districts (including boule
vard Improvements, opening streets, etc.)
Taxes for (treet Improvements are paya
ble one Installment each year for ten years,
ami each of the others Is payable In fifty
days from date of levy. It seldom hap
pens that all five kinds of special taxes
are charged against the same property
at the same time, but It would be entirely
; possible for this to happen, with each
tax becoming delinquent at a different
! date, and If one owns property In different
! parts of town. It would be entirely possible
ble under our present system to have a
tax becoming delinquent every month In
the year or even oftener. In fact some of
the large real estate owners keep a spe
cial tax account on their books, and pay
a list of special taxes the first of every
month with as much regularity as they do
their gas or 'phone bills.
This condition certainly ought to be
changed. It ought to be made possible for
the property owner to know where he
stands In tax matters. In my Judgment
special taxes should be Included with the
regular taxes, so that one Inquiry and the
examination .f one book would answer all
questions as to taxes on your real estate
for the whole year. Instead of being obliged
to search three books, and be on guard
continuously for new developments
throughout the year. If special taxes were
Included with the regular taxes It would
make It possible to dispense with the spe
cial tax department altogether, without
materially Increasing the work of the other
departments, and thus make possible a
Ereat saving In the collection of taxes, as
well as add nir to the convenience of the
tsxpa yer
U Is true that several things must be
taken Into consideration In making this
chsnee, but none of them offer Insur
mountable obstacles. The great number
of different districts suugest one problem,
but this can easily be taken care of An
other problem Is suggested by the fact
that If a special tax were levied too late
to be Included with the regular tax for
that year. It might have to stand over a
year before It would be collected. This
could be largely overcome by keeping in
mind the proper time to make the levy,
so as to get It Included In that year's tax.
Or It would be possible to make th levy
at any time and Isrue warrants against
the fund before It Is collected, as Is now
done by the county with the county funds.
In some respects this would be a desirable
plan, as It would make It possible to Issue
warrants as soon as they were ne"ded and
would save collecting money In advance
and hnv'ng It lay Idle, and would give the
taxpayer the use of ills money until It was
actually needed for the purpose for which
it was levied.
However, it is not out tiurose at this
tlnv to work out details li is our purpose
rather to suggest food for reflection. We
have pointed out in a rencrnl wav what
the defects of our tax system are. and
bow they operate to the detriment rnd in
convenienoe of the taxpayer, and have
made renewal suggest. ons as In what
should be done to correct existing condi
tions. The details of the solution must be
worked out through state legislation. Our
local officials and local law making bodies,
such as the city council and county com
missioners, are powerless In most of these
matters. The relief must be had through
the state legislature. In our next paper
wo will give a brief review of the laws of
other states, show'lng what states have
adopted laws similar to the suggestions
we have made, flOYI) HYSART.
Mastntf of n C'Tnle.
A woninn is a'most as much afraid of
a mouse as her husband is of a milliner s
bill.
Charity begins at home, but unfortun
ately you can't always find It there when
you call New York Times.
NEGRO DREW FIVE PENSIONS
tine of Them Mas Ills. l Othera
Were t, bat He Got Them
Kegalarl?.
For many ears there lived In rhlUideV
phla a negro veteran of the civil war
named lee Wilton Laws, the Janitor of th
tiiand Army of the ltepubl c headquarter.
Ills dutbs In this connection occupied a
part of bis time; the rest of It was pretty
well occupied In drawing four pensions,
One of them was his own. Put the others
were those of other men two dead, on
living. Ueing rather keen on pensions
I-nws furthermore had his wife draw an
annuity which was not rightly hers-mak-Ing
five pensions In the family.
I-aws and bis wife lived in the So)th
End of Philadelphia, whe-e for several
years there resided with them an old neirro
pensioner named Itob nson and his wife,
Susan. Robinson died; his widow, Susan,
began to draw the pension Then she died.
The pension bureau never beard of Susan
Kohinson's death, for Mrs. !ce Wilton
I :ivvs could sUn a voucher .bis! ns well as
Si'sim Robinson herself. So for four yenrs
the government every three months handed,
Annie Laws a snug little sum on account
of the fact that an old nt'snt nnmed Hobln
son had once served In the army.
I'ee Wilton long liv ed happ ly In receipt
of bis own annuity and of the pensions
which the government thought it was pny
Ing to William Lewis and James O. Parks,
both of whom were dead, and of Ocorgei
Harrison, a feeble-minded veteran In the
almshouse. Laws received his various
checks at different addressee, the homes
of friends of his. Johnny I'lman, Ninth,
and locust streets, atid at the shop of a
Jewish clothing dealer in South street.
Eventually the pension commissioner wa
Informed. Il was an easy matter, ones,
attention was directed at the rascal, ta
convict hint. Ills sentence was three yenrs
In the federal prison at Atlanta, where h
languishes today.
Ann'e Laws got uwny. No one suspected
her. The investigation of her husband wa
riot extended to Include bis family. World's
Work.
'TIipm loud knoeka behind the 1iide's
Mt warned the court of the chief Justice's iThe J1"38 male counsel accept the answer,
entrance, preceded by a mace bearer and j mu ln '""lining up he drew attention to
accompanied by the officials already men
j the weakness of the explanation. Again
tlon.d. The Judge and the standing court j he refused to put a question a Juryman
aiiriK'-nLQu ifvi'aucvj, netiu u, il is miner
argumentative.
exchange bows, and forthwith the trial
na TwaIv rriAn fllfl irttn thn liirv hnx
nd sr. .worn nn. hv on. ta sve lustice ! "ln fttCt- 11 hardly too much to say
between "Our sovereign lord, thn king"
and the prisoner. Three jurors, and this
Is very exceptional, are rejected by the
prisoner's counsel. It Is done by an almost
inaudible word. The men's personal ap
pearance was sufficient explanation of their
rejection. Three others are brought ln, and
wihln eight minutes of the Judge's . rn
tjance the Jury Is empanelled, the prisoner
ll arraigned and the clerk reads the In
dictment to Crippen, who pleads not
Kullty. (
Down to Business
" "Mr. Muir,' says the judge, and the
leading counsel for the crown stands up
and begins Ms statement of the case for
the prosecution ln calm, passionless lan
guage, without a gesture, without the
slightest attempt at rhetoric, with no trace
of feeling against the prisoner, frequently
vN even pointing out facts which may tell ln
the prisoner's favor. In eighty minutes
counsel gave a lucid masterpiece of nar
rative, throughout which he confined him
self to the admitted facts of the long story
of the relations between Crippen and his
wife and his mistress.
"Once only ln the four and a half days
did counsel protest at anything that hap
pened. This was done by counsel for the
defense, who objected to the Introduction
of a crown witness after the case for the
crown had been closed. The Judge said:
'I will admit the evidence so far as It is
justified by the prosecuting counsel's opeo
tas statement.'
"Counsel for the defense remained stand
log a moment In further protest.
" 'I will take care of you Mr. Tobln.'
said the Judge. Counsel bowed and took
his seat.
"The Incident occupied hardly a minute.
"Not a single witness was examined or
cross-examined by counsel on either side
without the Judge's Intervention, some
times requesting counsel to make his
question clearer, sometimes helping the
witness to couch his answer! always
snaking every effort to save time. It
mattered nothing whether it was a crown
or defense witness, when counsel had
finished with him or her the judge would
say: "Now I want to ask a few ques
tions." Then ln three or four lucid ques
tions he would elicit In plain, concise form
what counsel would take twenty minutes
and Innumerable questions to get out. Then
the judge would ask a few questions, al
ways straight to the point, which counsel
had overlooked or did not desire put.
Jilt Takes the Case.
"A good example of the manner ln which
Lord Alverstone took the cuse into his
own hands was his dealing with the medi
cal witnesses for the defense. The Iden
tification of the mutilated remains, apart
from the fragments of timnti hiirlAH
With them and from mere Inference, de-
he was the chief conductor of the case
both for the crown and the defense. What
little could be suggested In Crlppen's favor
ho pointed out ln summing up. What
points might 'be considered debatable and
they were ' very' few he stated, saying It
was for the Jury to decide on them. But
his whole lucid retelling of the story from
the evidence Could not have been more
damning had It come from 'the . mouth of
the prosecuting counsel. Incised, Its Im
pressive delivery and Its aloofness from all
personal feeling made It far more con
vincing of the prisoner's guilt than the
final MdUress of the prosecution to the
Jury."
SOME HUMORS OF THE CENSUS
Omaha Woman Contributes a Mite
to the t.alety of the
Questioner.
That the divorce question met with con
siderable trouble In other sections of the
'country as well as ln the east is evident
from several other stories that reached the
ears of the metropolitan census talrors.
There was a woman ln Omaha, Neb., for
Instance, who flatly refused to commit her
self one way or another on the question,
and who only complied with the enumer
ator's request when threatened with arrest.
Then, to the surprise of the census man,
ehe said she had not only r.ever been di
vorced, but never married. Her rebellion
against the question consequently puzzled
the census man greatly until he learned
that the woman, who had come to town
only recently, had been posing In the com
munlty as a divorcee with a large alimony
Income for the evident purpose of obtain
ing credit on a considerable scale from the
local merchants. A second story has to do
with a woman named Allison of St. Iuls,
who was actually taken to the police sta
tion before she waa made to realize the
necessity of complying with the census
rults. "What's the trouble?" asked tho
sergeant. "She won't tell whether or not
the has been divorced." came the com
plaint. "You must answer all the ques
tions," was the command. "Well, then."
said the woman, "I was divorced a year
ago, but us my husband and I are thinking
of making up again soon I don't see why I
have to be labelled as a divorcee. hate
the sound of It." The third story comes
from Toledo, O.. where a woman told the
census man that If he failed to chronicle
the fact that she had been allowed the cus
tody of her children and that her husband
was a brute she would see to it that he
"lost his Job." Harper's Weekly.
Many a man never turns over a new
leaf because he allows the pages to get
gummed up.
Are They Tight?
Your windows nd doors will ae'p
out rain, dust, cold nd wind. It you
will lt us install
Monarch Metal Weather Strips
Old and new buildings Bhould be thus equipped,
and especially old ones, because the windows
are so loose.
HKSIDKM'KS AM OFFICES.
No storm windows necessary.
Sunderland
1014 Hariwjr Stret.
f
u, W e Hub
f -
t Vacate eir EMlldHsusf
January First
$250,000.00 stock of Furniture Carpets, Rugs, Stoves, Crockery,
House furnishing Goods, Mens and Women s Clothing, Hats, Shoes,
Furnishing Goods, Etc., must he sold at once.
Omo -TBufiipal to irne Mai HIE fit
A Special
Opportunity.
for hotel and roominghouse keepers to pur
chase in large lots at less than factory cost.
Complete
me
r?
fir"
Mo
Outfits
A most opportune time for those contem
plating furnishing their homes complete to se
cure a HOME OUTFIT at a saving of fully 50
per cent.
Cash or Credit
Why We Must
Move
The United States National Bank bought
the Farnam Street section of our building
last spring and the Brandeis Company bought
the Annexes on the west side of our building,
which, we have occupied for years.
Our negotiations to renew our lease,
which expires January 1st, have failed and
we were notified by W. Farnam Smith of
Omaha, the agent of the building, that we
must positively vacate the building not later
than January 1st.
Where we will move this enormous stock
we don't know. Hence this sale.
Former Cost and
Selling Price Not
Considered
A splendid buying oppor
tunity for cash purchasers.
v The biggest and grandest
values ever heard of, are pre
sented to you in this sale.
Nothing Reserved.
Everything Must Go.
r
The Greatest Compulsory Sale Ever Held in Omaha.
In Order to Unload This Enormous Stock We will Sell for Either
CASH mi
m EASY PAYMENT
Positively nothing to compare with this sale, has ever before been
Dresented to you in Omaha. A chance of a lifetime to furnish your
lome or clothe your family at about one-half price. Come early and
get first choice.
35 extra sales
people engaged to
serve you. No
waiting.
n
1612 & fARNAM STREETS. OMAHA.
Prompt Delivery
Service
Extra waqons and de-
,P9
'I liuervmcn (tnaaaad tn nt
sistin prompt deliveries, i
7 T"
