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CARLYLE W. HARRIS at Nineteen Years of Age. 
 
ARTICLES, SPEECHES AND POEMS 
 
 OF 
 
 CiRlYlE W. lAEEIS. 
 
 EDITED BY 
 
 "CARL'S MOTHER." 
 
 (HOPE LEDYAED.) 
 
 KEW YORK : 
 
 J. S. OGILVIE, PUBLISHEE,, 
 
 57 Rose Stiiekt. 
 
U.7 / 
 
DEDICATION. 
 
 To the thousands who have assured me ly petitions and 
 
 personal letters that they lelieve my loy was NO T G UIL TV, 
 
 I dedicate this book. 
 
 F. McOready Harris. 
 
 I want to thank eacli one who has comforted me by a personal 
 letter. Every letter and postal I receive telling me of a belief in 
 Carl is to be kept till I die, when the packages will make a pillow 
 for my tired head to rest on. F. McC. H. 
 
HISTORY OF THE CASE OF 
 
 CARLYLE W. HARRIS 
 
 This book must necessarily be a thing of " shreds 
 and patches." How many times my dear boy has 
 planned " my book," as we sat and talked together 
 through the iron bars of his cell door between us ! 
 Little did I think that 1 should sit alone and do this 
 work ! He never appeared to doubt that the time of 
 freedom would come, though I know now that the 
 brave boy was prepared for failure and defeat. He 
 would indeed have been a menace to those in authority, 
 for he knew, and they were well aware that he knew 
 how testimony is fabricated in important cases. He 
 knew that many a man walks out of the Tombs a free 
 man because he consents to bear false witness against 
 an important prisoner. Again and again has Carl 
 talked of poor " Frenchy " and how the testimony in 
 his case was manufactured. I know something of the 
 workin the District Attorney's ofKce in another way. 
 The first morning of my boy's trial I said to 
 
 Mr. : "Are you sure you can judge men well 
 
 enough to choose a jury ? " " Don't be afraid," was 
 the answer, " why, I have convicted men I knew to be 
 innocent ! " He added that in two cases he employed 
 
8 CAELYLE W. HAEEIS. 
 
 lawyers privately to free the men, but think of the 
 suffering involved ! 
 
 Yes, Carl learned of the lying and cheating that 
 goes on in the courts, and he was too dangerous and 
 gifted an enemy to live. Sliney could live. Meserole, 
 though he shot a man dead in the house of a prostitute, 
 had very little as to his moral character brought against 
 him, but a boy of twenty-one years and four months, 
 on the word of two men, related to each other and 
 related to Mrs. Potts, with no corroborative testimony 
 whatever, was denounced as a human wolf, and the 
 greatest libertine of the age ! 
 
 I will not say much as to my boy's early life — the 
 sketch he gives of that life is absolutely true in every 
 particular while the article " A Boy's Vacation," is a 
 perfect picture of his happy trips to Old Vir- 
 ginia. I want to say this, though ; he was a good son 
 — one of those who seem good without effort. He was 
 never demonstrative, yet always ready to deny himself 
 or do a kindness. When first the charges of immor- 
 ality were made against him, he said to me, " Well, 
 
 the girls that know me well, Marie and Delia 
 
 , and others know all that is false." I often re- 
 
 gretted his great popularity among girls, and won- 
 dered that mothers allowed their daughters to give so 
 many presents to him, and show him so many really 
 remarkable attentions. He had very little money, but 
 he could go to every lecture or concert he cared to — 
 there was always some girl who invited him, whose 
 parents never hesitated to trust their daughter to Carl's 
 care up to midnight and after ; and never was this 
 trust violated. It is true that at twenty years of age 
 
CAELYI.E W. HARRIS. 9 
 
 my son did marry secretly. Helen Potts was certainly 
 not more of a " girl wife," than he was a " boy hus- 
 band." A girl who had been engaged, to my own cer- 
 tain knowledge, twice before, and, by her boasts, four 
 more times was not so very childish! But Carl loved 
 her and married her — that shields her from criticism 
 from me. I will reprint at this point the appeal which 
 appeared in all the papers on January 22, 1893. This 
 statement was, as to substance, written the very night 
 of the day Mrs. Potts' statements appeared in the 
 papers in March, 1891, but Mr. Taylor would not allow 
 me to print it then — thus making the first of the 
 series of mistakes which ended in my son's conviction. 
 
 Again and again I have tried to be heard in my 
 boy's behalf, but my counsel insisted on silence ; now 
 with Mr. Howe's consent, 1 shall tell my story, 
 assuring the public that I am speaking as under oath 
 the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the 
 truth. 
 
 My son Carlyle had been my joy and comfort up 
 to Tuesday, March 18, 1891. My husband had not 
 been successful in business, and for years we had 
 known hard times. When Carl was thirteen years old 
 his grandmother, Mrs. B. W. McCready, who had sent 
 him to a private school and kept him at her house, 
 made arrangements to send him to the country for the 
 summer, as she had done the previous year. He was 
 a boy that delighted in all boyish sports — could swim, 
 fish, and hunt; but he said, " If any one goes to the 
 country let it be mamma, I'm old enough to earn money 
 during vacation." 
 
 He obtained a position as "boy " at Potter and Buf- 
 fington's at three dollars a week. He came home the 
 first Saturday night radiantly happy, and showering 
 the money (he had got it changed into silver) in my 
 
10 CARLYLE W. HAREIS. 
 
 lap, said, " There's enough to pay the grocer's bill, 
 raamnia.'"' 
 
 When the Fail came he refused the offer of further 
 education and l^ept on earning liis v/ay, always giving 
 me the money, till at sixteen I took seventeen of the 
 thirty dollars he earned each month and he took care 
 of himself with the rest. 
 
 Mr. Welluian said my boy was an actor for two 
 years. The truth, which he could have easily found 
 out had he cared to, is this : The boy belonged to a 
 literary club, and they started private theatricals. An 
 actor saw Carl's dramatic talent and advised him to 
 go on the stage. He consulted his father, and hoping 
 to earn a " great deal of money for mother," he studied 
 a part in " Paul Kauvar." He acted for one week, 
 but, as I was very much averse to it, he threw up the 
 position, although offered thirty dollars a week by a 
 traveling compan}'. He went back to business, serving 
 as assistant purser on the Old Dominion Steamship 
 line; but I saw, though he did not complain that he 
 hated business. 
 
 " Are you stage struck, my boy ? " I asked. ' 
 
 " No, mother, but I hate figures and want a pro- 
 fession." 
 
 " But why choose the stage? " 
 
 " It is the only one open to me." 
 
 " Perhaps not," I said. " What one would you 
 choose if you had your choice? " 
 
 His face lighted up for a moment as he said. " Oh, 
 medicine ; I've longed to be a doctor since I could 
 make a choice, but that can't be thought of." 
 
 " We'll see," was my answer, and in a few months 
 he had matriculated at the College of Physicians and 
 Surgeons. This was in 1888. 
 
 I took a cottage at Ocean Grove in the summer of 
 1889. There my boys met Helen Potts, my dear 
 daughter-in-law. I saV dear, not that I was very fond 
 of her then, but because two of my sons loved her and 
 
CARLYLE W. HARRIS. 11 
 
 still love her, one as his wife, the other as his dear sis- 
 ter. For myself I liked Helen very much, at first, but 
 I soon saw she had been spoiled from a child, and that 
 her mother, instead of ruling her was ruled by her. 
 Helen had been engaged to be married to Mr. Plarry 
 Brown, a young man who has recently died, but whose 
 family will corroborate my statements. They claim 
 that Harry broke off the engagement. Helen's people 
 claim that she did, but at any rate she had just broken 
 this engagement, and she had had love affairs before 
 that. Carl and Helen took to each other at once. I 
 excuse much that Helen did because she was an impet- 
 uous, willful girl. Understand me, she was not a bad 
 girl, but of a very warm-hearted, passionate, nature, 
 and had neveP learned self-control. 
 
 That winter went by. I never called on Mrs. Potts, 
 but in January of 1890, finding both boys were constant 
 in their visits to Helen, I proposed inviting her to meet 
 a dear young girl whom Carl was sincerely attached to 
 as a friend — there was never anything but warm friend- 
 ship between them. The two young girls took tea and 
 spent the evening at the house and all could see Helen 
 had no eyes nor ears for any one but Carl. Helen 
 stayed all night, sleeping in the front room on the 
 second story, I myself occupying the back room, and 
 Carl sleeping with his brother on the floor above. 
 Carl took the other guest home, having bidden Helen 
 good night. 
 
 I went up to the room with Helen, and moved by 
 some sudden impulse (the girl looked so sweet no one 
 could help feeling drawn to her) I put my hand on her 
 shoulder and said : 
 
 "Helen, dear, I see you love my boy and I believe 
 ho loves you, but don't try to win him yet. He can't 
 marry you for years to come. "Wait ; if God means 
 you to have my boy He will bring it about in his own 
 good time." 
 
 The girl dimpled and blushed, but gave no promise. 
 
12 CARLYLE W. HARRTS. 
 
 She was married to Carl by civil contract on the 8th 
 of the next month ! Now, as to the civil contract mar- 
 riage. Helen Potts was a member of the Methodist 
 Church and believed in a ministerial marriage and so 
 should never have consented to a civil marriage, but 
 Carl had again and again said that if he were married 
 it should be by civil contract. Carl gave Helen his 
 name of Harris ; she signed a false name. 
 
 Carl kept a cafe at Asbury Park during the summer 
 of 1890. One of the great mistakes of the former 
 counsel was in not airing this whole matter at the trial. 
 My mother's cook was engaged by Carl (during the 
 months the house in Twenty-third street was closed) to 
 make jellies, salads, etc., and he thought he was going 
 to make a great deal of money out of th'e venture, for 
 which he borrowed six hundred dollars from my father. 
 "VVe know now that Carl was anxious to make this money 
 so that he could have the means to pay his way at col- 
 lege and be able to acknowledge his marriage to Helen. 
 
 My poor boy, knowing what an honorable family 
 ours was, felt sure he would be disgraced if my father 
 knew of his contracting a secret marriage, no matter if 
 it was to " Queen Victoria's daughter herself," as the 
 boy said to Mrs. Potts. It was the dishonorable ac- 
 tion, not the girl, that he was ashamed of. 
 
 The Neptune club, which had started in 1889, offered 
 to take Carl's second floor, pay him good rent and 
 guarantee him a hundred dollars worth of custom in his 
 cafe. Here was his great mistake. He let them have 
 the rooms and they had liquors — in Asbury Park, where 
 keeping of liquors is prohibited — not for sale to out- 
 siders. But Carl was arrested for keeping a " disorderly 
 house " in August, which in New Jersey means selling 
 liquors, and he spent a night in jail before his bail 
 arrived. We all felt very sorry and yet knew he had 
 only made a mistake that any boy of twenty might have 
 made. He had worked hard, never going to bed until 
 every member of the club had left, and the last check 
 
CARLYLE W. HARRIS. 13 
 
 my dear mother signed was to let him go to the coun- 
 try, away from reporters. The boy took the name of 
 Carl Graham when he went to Canandaigua with my 
 full consent and knowledge merely to keep the re- 
 porters away. Why Mr. Taylor did not let me testify 
 as to this I cannot tell. Perhaps he did not know it, 
 for all that Canandaigua matter was irrelevant and un- 
 expected. But I had my boy's full confession months 
 before the trial. Mrs. Latham led him into that sin 
 and, like many another boy of scarce twenty-one, he 
 fell. 
 
 Then came Helen's death. Carl had arranged that 
 he should bring Helen to call upon me that Saturday. 
 They came about half-past two or three and spent an 
 hour or so with me ; my second son and little daugh- 
 ter were presence as well as myself. Helen was 
 radiantly happy and the boy and girl were such evi- 
 dent lovers that when my second son returned from 
 seeing them to the car 1 said : 
 
 " I give up the fight. She's had a poor bringing up, 
 but she loves Carl and I must help her to be a good 
 wife to him." 
 
 She lay dead the next day and the papers were out 
 with the heading, "Is This Murder?" etc. Death 
 sanctified Helen at once in my eyes. I mourned her 
 sincerely, for both my boys were heartbroken. Know- 
 ing Carl as I did his composure did not deceive me. 
 The more deeply he is moved the less he shows it. If 
 I had gone to the girl's funeral all might have been 
 made right, but I felt very delicate about intruding on 
 Mrs. Potts and so wrote her a letter saying that I 
 would come to her at any time. She answered it, put- 
 ting me off, and then I was asked to speak on the very 
 afternoon of the funeral in the place of a lecturer who 
 had been taken ill. I promised to do tiiis, and that 
 morning received a telegram from Mrs. Potts saying 
 " Come." 
 
 Oh, had I but known ! But my audience expected 
 
14 CARLTLE W. HARRIS. 
 
 me and I went to them, writing Mrs. Potts a loving 
 note. She never wrote again till on Tuesday, March 
 16, 1 received a letter accusing my boy of two murders, 
 drinking, etc., besides telling me of the secret marriage. 
 
 I saw Garlyle that night and he was willing to do 
 anything I proposed. Indeed, he seemed relieved 
 that I knew all. I went to Mrs. Potts' on Wednesday. 
 Poor woman ! She was nearly insane, and I could not 
 blame her. She assured me in one breath that Carl 
 could not have done it, while the next moment she 
 said : 
 
 " lie did it, he did it. I want to ruin him. He 
 sha'n't be happy when my daughter is in her grave, 
 lie sha'n't graduate. Send him out west," she ex- 
 claimed. 
 
 I tojd her that I even had to borrow money to come 
 and see her. Then she offered me fifty dollars to send 
 Carl west, but I did not take it, saying 1 would consult 
 Carl first. 
 
 Mrs. Potts said under oath that she gave the money 
 to me, but she did not. 
 
 When I reached home the news had come that Carl 
 had been appointed house surgeon at Charity Hospital, 
 the honor he had so longed for ! My two boys and 
 myself sat up for hours talking about Mrs. Potts' 
 accusations, and as she had written to President 
 McLean as to the whole matter we agreed to go to him 
 in the morning with the plan we had formed and be 
 guided by him. 
 
 I called on President McLean on Thursday, explain- 
 ing that I was Carlyle's mother and l)r. B. W. 
 McCready's daughter. I told him that I had written 
 notices of the marriage and of Helen's funeral under 
 her married name, which my son was to have inserted 
 in the papers ; that I thought it might be best to have 
 an autopsy, Mrs. Potts and myself each engaging a 
 physician, Mrs. Potts having said that unless more 
 than one-sixth of a grain of morphine were found she 
 would be satisfied. 
 
CARLYLE W. HARRIS. 15 
 
 Br. McLean told me not to publish the notices. 
 
 "The matter has not even come before the faculty," 
 he said, " and I advise you to keep quiet and do noth- 
 ing at present." 
 
 " Do 1 understand you to advise me not to publish 
 the notices of the marriage and death ?" I asked. 
 
 " Yes," said Dr. McLean, " not at present ; not till 
 you hear from me." 
 
 I have never heard from Dr. McLean since, and I 
 am told that he gave the matter to the public. 
 
 The whole scandal was published on Saturday, ac- 
 cusing ray boy of two murders. Carl immediately 
 went to the district attorney's office with his aunt, 
 and asked for an investigation of the case. He kept 
 saying to me : 
 
 " I don't need any lawyer. The district attorney 
 will send for you, mother ; he is my lawyer." 
 
 The district attorney has never asked me a single 
 question or seemed to care to find out the truth ! So 
 far from that, Mr. Wellraan, after receiving from my 
 hand a copy of the register of my boy's birth, Septem- 
 ber 23, 1869, allowed the papers to say that he be- 
 lieved him to be twenty-eight and that he was married 
 in 1880. 
 
 I employed a lawyer, an honest man, but not a 
 criminal lawyer. My boy felt sure any honest man 
 could establish his innocence, and I told Mr. Taylor 
 not to make up a defense, but to find out the truth. 
 If Carl were guilty I would stand by and let him die, 
 but I could not deceive for him. My boy was at large 
 for ten days and then his brother was arrested instead 
 of him. Carl hearing of this, at once surrended him- 
 self. Lawyers who knew what a chance a trial by jury 
 was advised the boy to disappear, but again and again 
 he said: "I won't do it. lam innocent and they'll 
 find I am." 
 
 And now I would speak of the trial, but for twenty- 
 two months my heart has been in a prison cell. For 
 
16 CAIILYLE W. HARRIS. 
 
 eleven months it was a light cell Avhere friends could 
 come and stand outside and talk to my boy. It was 
 awful, but then every month we were promised a trial 
 and we were so sure of an acquittal. For the last 
 eleven months my heart has been in a dark cell, be- 
 hind bars day and night. 
 
 Forgive me if I am not quite as clear as I ought to 
 be in speaking of my son's trial. I kept telling Mr. 
 Jerome that all that expert testimony was a fatal mis- 
 take, but neither he nor Mr. Taylor would listen to me. 
 Nothing had been proved, they said, and they were 
 right, but oh ! my boy had been blackened, and he 
 was not allowed to testify for himself. 
 
 He begged to get on the stand and he should have 
 been allowed to do so. There are many homes in 
 New York and Brooklyn where my boy was a constant 
 visitor. Why were not the gentlemen at the head of 
 those homes called to testify that not once had my boy 
 behaved wrongly in them ? But, poor as the defense 
 was, we still had an appeal to a higher court, and 
 through all these months Carl has kept up my courage, 
 for he was confident that, as the law expressly says, no 
 one shall be tried for anything but the crimes charged 
 in the indictment, and as he was tried for immorality 
 and not for murder, he would get a reversal. 
 
 The decision of the Appellate Court came last Tues- 
 day. Listen to that decision: "There was a motive 
 for the crime in the fear that discovery would incul- 
 pate him as a bigamist because of his previous secret 
 marriages." 
 
 I ask the public if Carlyle Harris' previous secret 
 marriages were ever proven ? I ask every parent whose 
 boy may be the next to be in this awful net of circum- 
 stantial evidence, whether the accusations made by 
 Treverton and his stable boy and nephew, Giver (both, 
 related to Mrs. Potts), which was never proved true in 
 ■the slightest degree, should be taken as proof of 
 motive? Have they found the boy who associated 
 with Carlyle as a daily companion who heard him 
 
CARLYLE W. HARMS. 17 
 
 talking in the lewd way Treverton and Oliver claim ? 
 -Would any uncle, be he ever so base, allow a young 
 man who had "brought this trouble on his niece," as 
 Treverton expresses it, to talk in that w^ay to him ? 
 Would he not have cowhided him then and there and 
 not let seven months pass without a word? Two 
 charges of bigamy were in the papers and both proved 
 absolutely false. 
 
 We have new and important evidence to present on 
 Monday next, affidavits which clearly prove that Helen 
 Potts was addicted to the use of morphine. I demand 
 another trial for my boy, and I ask every lawyer, 
 every doctor, every clergyman, every man and woman 
 who cares for justice to be administered, to demand 
 this new trial. Write your letters immediately, that 
 Recorder Smyth may know the opinion of the public. 
 
 Fanny McCeeady Hakris. 
 
 The papers had much to say as to " lying affidavits," 
 "buying testimony," and now, when all is over, I wish 
 to say I myself interviewed almost every one of our 
 witnesses as to Helen's morphine habit. I did not pay 
 one witness ; I never paid any one but my lawyers, 
 and Mr. Howe has not been paid anything, neither has 
 he asked it. I did have false testimony offered me, 
 but I felt sure it was false and showed the people the 
 door in both cases. Look, on the other hand, at the 
 way the rebuttal affidavits were gotten up. Why was 
 it necessary that one man should write all the affidavits 
 and see all the witnesses ? If Miss Cookson or Miss 
 Carson had Avished to give fresh and new testimony 
 why could not a notary public in the town in which 
 each resided get up that affidavit? But no, Dil worth 
 Choate, a man who had been fined and imprisoned for 
 dishonest dealings, was paid seven hundred dollars to 
 
18 CARLYLE W. HAftHIS. 
 
 get up these rebuttal affidavits. To show how this 
 was clone, I print the following letter, withholding the 
 writer's name, but standing ready to substantiate all 
 that I quote. I grieve to say, this letter was not 
 opened till Carl was dead. 
 
 Sunday March 19th. 
 Wm. F. Howe, Esq. 
 
 Dear Sir: — This communication may not avail in 
 poor Harris' case, but the dastardly manner which has 
 been taken to secure evidence through a vile agent, 
 
 should have a public airing. Last Sunday called 
 
 at the home of Miss Kitty Cooke, m One-hundred-and- 
 thirty-fifth street, rang the bell, and the door was 
 opened by that young lady. He said, " How do you 
 do. Miss Cooke ? " and put out his hand. She, seeing an 
 utter stranger, drew back. Then he said, " I come 
 from the district attorney's office." She, being a 
 cousin of Mr. Piatt in the United States district 
 attorney's office said : " From Mr. Piatt ? " " No," 
 he said. " from Delancy Nicoll. You were a pupil 
 at Miss Jackson's school, knew Helen Potts? I 
 have spent a day at Madison, N. J., looking for you." 
 He entered, and kept the young lady under exami- 
 nation from one o'clock till four p.m. She got no 
 dinner, as they were about to sit down when he 
 entered. He took down several sheets of notes which 
 he wished her to sign, but before she did so her father 
 found that, by his wording of the matter, he made it 
 appear as though she had been two years instead of 
 two weeks, in occupancy of the same room as Helen 
 Potts. He then changed it, but upon reading it found 
 he had put it two months ; this they objected to and 
 he finally put it two weeks. Th"e following day, 
 Monday, Miss Cooke and her mother went to NicoU's 
 office, where were Mr. and Mrs. Potts and this agent. 
 They so badgered and confused the poor, nervous girl 
 that she really knew very little of what she said, or 
 
0A14LYLE W. MARRtS. 19 
 
 liO',V she affirmed at one inoineiit or denied at another. 
 For three hours they questioned and cross-questioned 
 her, telling her tliat her testimony was ol: the utmost 
 importance. The girl had occupied a room for two 
 weeks with Miss Potts, but in reality never saw her 
 take morphine or opium, all of which she could have 
 told them in five minutes. This young lady has re- 
 peatedly told me that she believed Helen Potts would 
 do anything, as she was a very wild and unmanageable 
 girl, and, being only a parlor boarder at Miss Jackson's 
 could do as she pleased whUe at Miss Jackson's 
 school. 
 
 Miss Jackson became somewhat suspicious of Miss 
 Potts' conduct and watched her, and found she had a 
 post office in one of the front gate posts, where a young 
 man, who attended Dr. Clarke's church, put letters. 
 The correspondence showed that Miss Potts had en- 
 tered into an engagement of marriage with him, and 
 Miss Jackson sent for Miss Potts and there was a great 
 row about it. Miss Cooke did not want to say any- 
 thing against Miss Potts nor did she want to do Harris 
 an injury. 
 
 But, as Mrs. Harris says in her letter in the Times 
 to-day, why was Mrs. Potts present at these examina- 
 tions? Her elegance seems to have overpowered the 
 Cookes, and stifled anything disparaging to the daugh- 
 ter's character in the giving of the testimony. 
 
 After three hours of badgering, Delancy NicoU, Mr. 
 and Mrs. Potts, Mrs. and Miss Cooke and the agent, 
 at the 'invitation of Mr. Nicoll, repaired to the Astor 
 House, where a sumptuous lunch finished the day. Miss 
 Jackson's testimony has been subjected to the same jug- 
 glery as Miss Cooke's. How can women, of no experi- 
 ence in giving testimony, combat the wiles of an expe- 
 rienced and unscrupulous man? Where is justice to be 
 had if such vile means are used to frustrate the blind 
 goddess i. Recorder Smyth is above reproach, but he 
 does not know how those women have been harassed 
 
go CAELYLfi \V. SARKIS. 
 
 and juggled with, till tlieir nerves have given way, as 
 in Miss Cooke's case, who took to her bed. No evi- 
 dence that I have read has proved Harris guilty. One 
 of the jurors said, in the hearing of a friend of mine, 
 that he had convicted Harris in his own mind before 
 the trial, and he knew others on the jury who had said 
 the same. "Was that an honest verdict? 4^ * ^^ ^^ 
 
 This is only one of several letters telling of this 
 agent's character, yet this man was employed to draw 
 up every (me of the rebuttal affidavits. What a hue and 
 cry would have been raised if Mr. Howe had emplo3'^ed 
 a man to draw up every one of the affidavits as to 
 Helen's morphine habit! But so far from that I, 
 Carl's mother, was led, as I firmly believe, by God, to 
 find clear proof of my dear boy's innocence. 
 
 I must refer to one of our affidavits which was lost 
 by our first counsel, and the affiant could not after- 
 ward be found. I firmly believe Mr. Potts has hept 
 Haman quiet since. But among the letters sent to 
 me since Carl's death is the following, proving that 
 Carl Haman was a real person ; I must add that Mrs. 
 and Miss Carman knew that Carl Haman was en- 
 gaged to Miss MoUie Meeker as did many others ; and 
 Mrs. Rhodes, the lady in whose house both Miss 
 Meeker and Carl Haman boarded, told me she and 
 some of hor boarders had heard Miss Meeker say she 
 knew enough to save Carl Harris'- life — but Miss 
 Meeker was too intimate with Mr. Potts to be reached 
 by us. The following letter makes Carl Haman a 
 fact and not a " myth." 
 
 Gentleman : — I herewith wish to inform you of a 
 fact that may throw some light on the Harris case. 
 
eiRLYLE W. HiilRtS. 21 
 
 Last May, a man who was at one time a fellow work- 
 man of mine, and who went under the name of Peter- 
 son, having to leave this city suddenly, came to me 
 and tried to borrow money, and vvhen I refused, he 
 begged me to do so, and still refusing he threw him- 
 self on my sympathy and told' me that his right name 
 was Carl Haman, and not Peterson. He gave as his 
 reason for leaving the city, and for traveling under 
 an assumed name, that detectives were after him for 
 an offense he had committed in New York. He also 
 told us (a friend of mine was with me at the time, and 
 heard everything) that if he had not committed that 
 offense, he would tell out a thing he knew about the 
 Harris case. I asked him what it was and he told us 
 he had bought morphine several times for the girl 
 that young Harris was accused of poisoning. Taut tnat 
 as he was sure Harris would be acquitted, he would 
 not go forward on account of that other affair. 
 
 I saw with great surprise in to day's paper (Sunday) 
 that Harris was to be sentenced to-morrow (Monday). 
 I did not think for one minute that such a thing had 
 already come about. 
 
 I only hope this may help his case. I and my friend 
 are willing to swear to above statement, and I also beg 
 you to understand that we do this in hope justice may 
 be done. 
 
 Yours respectfully, 
 Wm. WniTK. 
 
 1339 Park avenue, Philadelphia, Pa., March 19th, 18i)3.* 
 P. S. I can prove that he worked in this city. 
 
 I will not weary my readers and harrow my own 
 heart by dwelling on the long months of waiting for 
 the decision of the Appellate Court, a decision which, 
 as one reads it, reminds us more of the celebrated 
 Burdell trial (if we can forget that a human life is at 
 
22 garlvle w. HAfefeta. 
 
 stake) than any other summing up. Ilfet-g AV& S6V611 
 leai-ned men actually claiming that the motive for the 
 crime is found in the defendant's '^mr lest his biyaini.es 
 should be discovered ! As they have not yet been dis- 
 covered and his life has been sifted and scraped bare, 
 he must have been of a very nervous disposition ! 
 Again these judges actually claim that a man would 
 murder his wife to marry a prostitute! They actually 
 gravely quote the silly speech of a boy of twenty, 
 " Oh, I'll give you a pill to fix him," as a proof of a 
 murderous intention ! But let the foolish ruling of 
 the judges go ; new evidence was brought to light and 
 we asked Recorder Smyth to examine it. I will not 
 quote from the letters I have received since my boy's 
 death from those who kriow Recorder Smyth, but I 
 will simply quote one sentence of his decision, premis- 
 ing that The Commercial Advertiser of March 16th 
 says : 
 
 "With a curious refinement of cruelty the recorder 
 has stretched Harris on the rack of suspense as long as 
 possible ; he has added every possible bitterness to the 
 anguish of his broken-hearted, half-insane mother. 
 
 Recorder Smyth finished writing his decision yester- 
 day afternoon, as he told the Commercial Advertiser 
 reporter this morning. He held it until 1:18 this after- 
 noon and then made it public with sensational sudden- 
 ness. 
 
 The sentences quoted from the recorder's decision 
 will show whether he was fair or not. 
 
 In answer to the allegations contained in the affidavit 
 in which Ethel Harris states that she met the deceased 
 
CAKLYLE W. HARRIS. 23 
 
 in the summer of 1889, and while driving with her in 
 Asbury Park and Ocean Grove received a pill from 
 the deceased, both Mr. and Mrs. Potts swear that from 
 " July 1 to September 1, 1889, the deceased was not at 
 Asbury Park or Ocean Grove, but that she was then 
 absent from the state of New Jersey," and, " If the 
 defendant had produced the so-called newly discovered 
 evidence, or so much of such evidence as could have 
 been legally admitted upon the trial, it would not have 
 changed the verdict which was then presented against 
 him." 
 
 Now I examined Mr. and Mrs. Potts' affidavits and 
 find they made no such statement — they said 1890 — 
 Kecorder Smyth only altered a date ! As to the 
 second paragraph four of the jurymen had stated, and 
 their statements were in the recorder's possession, that 
 the evidence would have altered their verdict, and they 
 are still of that opinion ! 
 
 There was nothing now but to appeal to the governor. 
 Confident of my boy's innocence, and told by many 
 people that Gov. Flower, was fearless and conscien- 
 tious, we appealed to him. The mockery of the gov- 
 ernor's proceedings must be made clear. Many promi- 
 nent lawyers wrote to him, not only urging that he 
 look into the new evidence, but telling him plainly that 
 Carl's guilt had never been proven ; no motive had 
 heenfoimd. So the governor appointed Mr. Raines to 
 examine the new evidence. And what is his report ? 
 He will not accept Ethel Harris because she does not 
 bear an unblemished character! Yet Gardiner 
 languishes in jail through the testimony of a 
 woman who kept a brothel, and as an ex-judge wrote 
 Cloy, Flower, such wproeii vq quite as trustworthy 
 
24 CARLTI.E W. HARRIS. 
 
 as people in higher ranks of virtue. Mr. Raines finds 
 Mrs. Potts a " morbidly conscientious woman ! " Yet 
 she acknowledged before him that she had foresworn 
 herself at the coroner's jury, and had carried on along 
 deceit in placing her married daughter under her 
 maiden name at Miss Day's school, keeping the mar- 
 riage a secret even from her husband ! Mrs. Potts 
 morbidly conscientious ! ! ! After this we are pre- 
 pared to find that Mr. Raines never refers to the fact 
 that Van Mater acknowledged to false swearing on 
 the witness stand — oh, no, he takes Yan Mater's word 
 as excellent — Yan Mater, no doubt is, also, morbidly 
 conscientious ! — or is it Mr. Raines? 
 
 Yan Mater swore his drug store was closed on Sept. 
 15th, but when it was proved to be open till Oct. 15th 
 he swore that he remembered being present in the 
 store every hour of every day ! Mr. Raines says the 
 affidavits of the room-mates were not assailed in any 
 form, yet in the book he had before him, on page 41, 
 my poor son calls attention to the fact that these two 
 girls, one at Warren, N. Y., the other at Monmouth, 
 JST. J., give affidavits word for word sXiVe ; and further 
 that Miss Cookson's testimony on the witness stand at 
 the trial contradicted the affidavit Choate prepared for 
 her signature. More than that, he had a criticism of 
 Bertha E. Rockwell and Rachel M. Cookson where 
 attention is called to the fact that not one word was 
 ever proved by any witness on the trial in reference to 
 Miss Reid warning the girls to be quiet, and Miss Rock- 
 well, whose testimony a year later is so very damag- 
 ing, was not called as a witness for the people at the 
 time of tri?il. Yet Mr. Raines saj^s these eiffidavitg 
 
OAELTLE W. HARRIS. 25 
 
 were not assailed in any form ! Morbid conscientious- 
 ness on Mr. Raines' part, or another name might be 
 Tainmany wisdom. Again Mr. Raines talies note of 
 the affidavits of the prosecution when the affiants are 
 not brought before him, but he talces no notice of our 
 otlier affidavits — Mrs. Lewis' and Miss Wallace's, or 
 that of Anthony Scanlon, of Scranton, who declares 
 Treverton's true character. Gov. Flower received let- 
 ters from Scranton from physicians stating that Trev- 
 erton's word could not be believed even under oath. 
 More than this Mr. Raines had in the book of affida- 
 vits this criticism, by my boy, on Treverton's rebuttal 
 affidavit. 
 
 Dr. Treverton testifies (folio 65 — Nicoll's affidavits) : 
 " During her illness, as I testified on the trial. Dr. 
 Hand and myself gave her quarter grain doses of mor- 
 phine." Again (folio 63— Nicoll's affidavits): "The 
 narcotic effect was prompt and marked." 
 
 On the trial (folios 2065-2669) Treverton testifies 
 that this morphine had no effect except that it relieved 
 the pain ! Which time does he lie ?" 
 
 Yet Mr. Raines, with Mrs. Lewis' affidavit, stating 
 that Helen Potts told her she took mor])hine, before 
 him, knowing Treverton's character, and he, Trever- 
 ton, not appearing in person before him, says that " the 
 year 1890 seems to be fully covered by the evidence of 
 the Trevertons as to the summer months at Scranton !" 
 Four different physicians told vie, personally, that they 
 felt convinced Carl had nothing to do with Helen's 
 miscarriage at Scranton, as Treverton was known to 
 bring on such things for woraeQ when asked — each 
 
26 CARLYLE W, HARRIS. 
 
 said : " I believe he began, as he ended, the whole 
 thing." 
 
 I could add other proofs of Mr. Raines' evident de- 
 sire to side with the prosecution, but it is not worth 
 while. He said he could not take lunch with me or 
 allow me to call upon him, yet he wined and lunched 
 with Wellman, 
 
 Receiving Raines' adverse decision was Gov. Flower 
 left with no alternative ? I have not copies of the elo- 
 quent letters sent to the governor by such men as 
 Clarence F. Seward, Dr. R. O. Doreraus, Bishop 
 Hurst, D. L. Moody and others, but I find, among the 
 letters my dear boy received at Sing Sing, two copies 
 of letters sent to Flower, which with one from a doc- 
 tor which Mr. Howe pi'inted with the affidavits, I give 
 here. 
 
 To His Excellency, The Governor of the State of New 
 York : 
 
 Sir : The following questions present themselves 
 strongly to my mind upon reading the evidence of 
 medical experts in the trial of the Buchanan case 
 pending in this city, and are respectfully offered, lest 
 if similar error of analysis is proven in this case, were 
 admitted in proof in the Harris case, a judicial mur- 
 der be allowed to fasten upon our state. 
 
 Professor Vauglian swears that ptomaines (a poison 
 the result of decomposition m animal bodies) give, 
 upon analysis, the same result as does morphine. Did 
 it give the experts in the Harris case such result ? 
 
 w ere pure morphine crystals deducible in the Helen 
 Potts post mortem? If not, then the administration 
 is not proven either by Harris or herself. 
 
 Question : Was the jury in the Harris case influenced 
 to ftud a verdict against him, upon, analysis which in 
 
CAELYLE W. HARRIS. 27 
 
 the Buchanan case has been proved to be utterly 
 uni'eliable? I ara, your excellency's very respectful 
 and obedient servant, 
 
 William N. Lindsay, M. D. 
 
 169 East 99th St. 
 
 Hon. Roswell P. Flower, Governor of the State of 
 New York : ^ 
 
 Dear Sir : — Young Harris is innocent of the killing 
 of his wife. 
 
 Infamous allegations, wholly disconnected with her 
 death, have poisoned the mind of the credulous, pre- 
 judiced others and carried conviction to the jury. 
 
 Circumstances do not establish murderous intent, 
 while efforts to convict have been strained by the 
 same source, [New York World,] which hungered to 
 convict from the beginning. 
 
 Evidence for the state was not positive, and while 
 very doubtful, conviction followed, purely upon circum- 
 stantial tiieory, which alone served as the base tor 
 such finding by the jury. 
 
 Motive to hill is unquestionably lacking. 
 
 To kill, as alleged, must be an act inspired by cruelty, 
 or wicked design. 
 
 Neither was proven or even shown. 
 
 Harris was kind to his wife ; her comfort and happi- 
 ness were his. 
 
 It would have benefited him had his wife lived, 
 because of the heritage he was certain to lose by her 
 death. 
 
 He was ignorant of her morphine habit and only 
 knew it through sworn statements made by others. 
 
 This fact could have been fully developed during 
 trial and his innocence established, had Wm. F. Howe, 
 or some other equally alert and less self-conscious 
 lawyer been in charge of defense when convicted. 
 
 " The wicked flee where no man pursueth," and yet 
 ■ffliett charged with the crime^ Harris did noi run away, 
 
28 CAELYLE W. HARRIS. 
 
 but called upon the authorities and demanded that he 
 should be held pending investigation. 
 
 That was the impulse of an innocent man, not of a 
 murderer. 
 
 If Harris had lived the scoundrel's life alleged, his 
 criminal career must have commenced in babyhood. 
 
 Ilis astute mind and wonderful intellectual ability is 
 a direct refutation of a corrupt life. 
 
 Harris has been the victim of blunder, ignorance and 
 vicious prejudice. 
 
 Blunder of first counsel who failed to develop the 
 opportunity which has since forced itself to the surface ; 
 failing to put Harris upon the stand in accordance with 
 his wishes — and the vicious prejudice created by the 
 New York World, the self-assumed arbiter of every- 
 body, from the president down. This modern censor of 
 all things that move, breathe and have existence, has 
 sought with might and main to place upon this unfor- 
 tunate man the brand of " wife poisoner ;" it has relent- 
 lessly hounded him and still hounds him to the death. 
 
 If the judge who tried Harris was not prejudiced 
 against him, and / believe he was, he was most cer- 
 tainly, lacking in moral strength ; was afraid to give 
 Harris an opportunity, in a new trial, to establish his 
 innocence. Because, and only because, I firmly 
 believe that course would lay bare to the world very 
 grave error on the former's part and establish the inno- 
 cence of the latter. 
 
 I have no acquaintance with Harris, or any of his con- 
 nections, never met him or them, but I have carefully 
 pursued this case from its inception and thereby have 
 obtained a clear knowledge of all details, j^ro et con, and 
 am fully convinced that he has been most wrongfully 
 adjudged, and of my own volition, realizing that it is 
 my duty as a free-born American citizen to urge an 
 honest protest against so great a wrong as the infliction 
 of the death penalty upon Carlyle "W. Harris. 
 
 I most earnestly and respectfully beg that your 
 
OAELYLE W. HARRIS. 29 
 
 excellency will exercise the constitutional right, as 
 governor of New York, to interdict, by virtue of 
 your prerogative, the consummation of the death 
 warrant against Harris, and grant him a full pardon 
 — no commutation — because, and only because, your 
 excellency, he is an INNOCENT man. 
 
 Earnestly yours, 
 Sam. W. E. Beokner. 
 (A journalist of twenty -five years.) 
 No. 10 West 135th street, New York, April, 8, 1893. 
 
 April 3rd 1893. 
 To his Excellency , Gov. Roswell P. Flower. 
 
 Sir : — I have read the testimony in the Harris case, 
 and as one who has made a study of legal evidence for 
 many years in connection with my profession, I write 
 to your excellency to declare that I do not think it 
 possible for any unbiased mind, in the coolness and 
 freedom of its deliberations, and aside from the excite- 
 ment and incidents of the trial of Harris, to render any 
 other judgment on the evidence, than one of acquittal, 
 on the ground of douht, douM at every turn of the way, 
 douht always the property of the accused, unless our 
 entire system of criminal jurisprudence is a failure. 
 The crime was never brought to Harris' door, was 
 never proven. 
 
 Your excelleney will, I doubt not, reach a similar 
 conclusion upon reading of the testimony. 
 
 All this, without taking into consideration the new 
 evidence adduced in behalf of the defendant upon his 
 motion for a new trial, which, if it could have been 
 presented then, would, to say the least, have caused a 
 disagreement of the jury. 
 
 In view of these facts, it would be a dishonor to the 
 name of our fair state, should Harris be executed. 
 
 I am convinced that your excellency can in no way 
 jnore full^ subserve the interests of justice in the face 
 
30 CARLYLE W. HARRIS. 
 
 of these bristling doubts, than by granting the great- 
 est executive clemency possible. 
 I have the honor to be, 
 
 Very respectfully yours, 
 (Signed) John L. N. Hunt, 
 
 Counselor at Law. 
 
 To the Hon. Roswell P. Flower, Governor of the State 
 of New York. 
 
 Sir : — I wish to lay before your excellency what per- 
 sonal knowledge I have of the case of Carlyle Harris, 
 in the hope that it will have some weight in securing 
 for him clemency at your hands. 
 
 I am personally acquainted with two young ladies, 
 (sisters) who formerly lived in Asbury Park, and who 
 knew both Helen Potts and Harris well. One of them 
 was a schoolmate of Helen Potts; she has told me 
 Helen Potts was addicted to the opium habit and this 
 was well known among the scholars. 
 
 Since 1 came into possession of this information, I 
 have been endeavoring to induce the young lady to 
 make an affidavit, but she has shrunk from the possible 
 notoriety and calmed her conscience by arguing that 
 her affidavit would not be necessary, as there had been 
 several made to the same effect. 
 
 I shall immediately request her to write you person- 
 ally, but as the time is limited, I do not wish to wait 
 longer irT doing what little lies in my power in behalf 
 of a man I believe to be innocent. 
 
 As to my standing, I can refer you to Admiral James 
 E. Jouett, or Col. Robert A. Howard, assistant 
 attorney-general under Mr. Garland. 
 
 Very respectfully yours, 
 Louis L. Drigos. 
 700 Fourteenth Street, 
 
 Washington, D. C, April 11th, 1893. 
 
 I woqld add that the young lady in questJoji wrote 
 
OAftLYLte W. SAEfilS. 31 
 
 to Governor Flower. One more letter I will quote 
 form. The writer, Miss Fanny B. Welles, of Elraira, 
 N. y., I have never met, but her devotion to the 
 cause of justice in my boy's case, has made her my 
 warm friend, and one of the last letters my poor boy 
 wrote was to this firm, yet unknown friend, in which 
 he says : " I wish I could cheer you ! " Thinking more 
 of her sorrow than of his own. 
 
 Speaking of Judge Gray's masterly (?) decision she 
 says: 
 
 "I pity a man who, like Judge Gray, can see no 
 motive but lust for concealing the marriage of a boy of 
 twenty-one, with his degree not yet taken, with no in- 
 come, and living in a social circle where an income 
 must amount to several thousands to justify a young 
 man's taking a girl from a home of plenty. 
 
 " Yet Judge Gray maintains, in that important state 
 paper, that no motive but lust could explain Harris' 
 unwillingness to acknowledge his marriage. Another 
 position Judge Gray took was that he was tired of his 
 wife. The last time Mrs. Harris saw Helen was a 
 short time before her death, when, if Judge Gray is 
 right, Harris must have loathed his wife. Yet the 
 gentle mother saw only her boy's love for the girl and 
 spoke to her of it, while if the prosecution is right, he 
 was full of disgust and plots for her death. The very 
 day Helen Potts was found unconscious her mother 
 visited her and was shown the fourth capsule. She 
 told her mother she had taken three, and they hadn't 
 relieved her pain at all. She had a great mind to 
 throw this one remaining capsule out of the window, 
 and tell the teacher she had taken it. Her mother 
 advised her to take it, and Judge Gray guesses she took 
 her mother's advice (for it is all guess work). I have 
 as much right to guess as he, and (knowing the relief 
 
33 CARLYLfi W. fiAIlfilg, 
 
 from pain that morphine brings, as Helen did) 1 gUesS 
 she did exactly what she threatened to do — threw the 
 capsule out of the window and herself took a dose of 
 morphine. 
 
 " I never saw Mrs. Harris nor her son, but I am con- 
 vinced Harris should have the benefit of the doubt that 
 the new evidence arouses." 
 
 And so, never considering that hundreds had urged 
 him to pardon Harris because he had not been proven 
 guilty, never considering the fact that the boy stayed in 
 his cell when offered his liberty, Flower sent word that 
 Harris must die. And when the day came, when a 
 boy of twenty-three, whom thousands had learned to 
 love, was to die by his command, where was Governor 
 Flower? 
 
 Warden Durston waited till 12:45, hoping for a re- 
 prieve for the boy whom all admired, but Governor 
 Flower, according to the Tribune, spent Monday, May 
 8th, inWall street, and cleared $80,000 ! But even more 
 remarkable still. On Wednesday my youngest son 
 called at the Capitol for our dear boy's last statement, 
 which had been cruelly denied us before, and being there 
 he went up to the Pardon Clerk's room to get a new bag 
 we had bought for the first batch of petitions, 40,000. 
 Mr. Joyce walked across the room and began to unstrap 
 the bag, while in a row — unopened — were the different 
 bundles of petitions we had sent in afterwards. 
 
 "Why, you've never opened them ! " exclaimed the 
 boy. 
 
 " No, we had a list of prominent names, so it wasn't 
 worth the while / " Voters, remember the Harris peti- 
 tion when asked to put your name on Flower's ticket. 
 
CARLVI.E W. HAftfilS. 83 
 
 Carl has been cleared of the charge of murder, and 
 any fair mind who reads his verses and articles will 
 sav : " Not executed, but murdered by the state." 
 On all sides I am told " It could never have happened 
 in our state ! " Well, I'm glad to say I am no longer a 
 New Yorker ; a state with such a foul blot on its record 
 is indeed a shameful one. 
 
 I wish to place before the minds of all who read 
 this book a few editorial comments to show Carl 
 was not friendless, and then come my boy's own 
 words ; they are the clearest proofs of his inno- 
 cence. He wanted me to sell the original of his last 
 statement to pay his funeral expenses! That is too 
 precious to part with, but if any dime museum cares 
 to buy the diamond ring that Mrs. Pott's gave to Carl 
 by her dead girl's body, I will sell it. 
 
 I wish to state that Warden Durston until Carl was 
 dead, treated me with marked courtesy and trusted rae 
 and my boy as none have been trusted at Sing Sing 
 before. I never saw dear Carl in the death cell (this 
 alone should show the public how little they can trust 
 reporters) but sat by his side, his hand in mine in the 
 keeper's private room. Of those last hours I have 
 written, sitting at midnight while my boy's courage 
 and devotion seemed to give me superhuman strength ; 
 I cannot speak of them now. I receive letters breath- 
 ing vengeance, and actually cursing the judge and 
 governor. I have no such feeling. The worst punish- 
 ment they can suffer is to know of their mistake. 
 Carl is at rest, and in all ages innocent men have died 
 under wrong accusations. God's will be done. 
 
84 CAllLYLE W. HAEKIS. 
 
 EDITORIALS AS TO CARLYLE HARRIS. 
 
 In the Harris case the prosecution made a strong 
 point of the calmness of the accused in the death cbani- 
 ber of his wife. When the verdict of murder in tiie 
 first degree was announced this strange J'oung man 
 remained cool and collected, and his principal thouglit 
 seemed to be how to diminish the frantic anxiety of 
 his mother. Regarding his desperate interest in the 
 scene of last Tuesday night there can be no question. 
 Wherefore, by reason of his demeanor on that occasion 
 there falls to the ground the supposition that he must 
 have been a coldblooded murderer because he did not 
 become excited by' the passing away of another hfe 
 thi'ough his alleged procurement. A man who keeps 
 cool on hearing his own death sentence is scarcely to 
 be condemned because not demonstratively agitated on 
 any other occasion. This is one feature in the Harris 
 case upon which comment is not improper now that 
 the verdict has been registered. 
 
 The question of motive still puzzles many. The 
 trial failed to show any prospect of gain worth risk of 
 life to offset the clear advantage to the impecunious 
 student of a comparatively affluent marriage. Proof 
 of pursuit of murderous design seems defective to those 
 who did not share the jury's opportunities or respon- 
 sibilities. The alleged substitution by Harris of 'a pill 
 composed of morphine alone for one of those com- 
 pounded at the druggist's is an absolutely bare conjec- 
 ture. " If Harris killed his wife he must have done it 
 in that way" is the only reasoning to support this 
 mortal " begging of the question." Tiie keeping of part 
 of the pills got from the druggist might naturally have 
 been done by one solicitous lest a cherished patient 
 should take more medicine than would be beneficial. 
 There are many minor pieces of evidence capable of 
 other explanation than that assigned by the prosecu- . 
 tion — such as conversation common among medical 
 
CARLYLE \V. HAKRIS. 35 
 
 students — which would be strange as well as repulsive 
 on the lips of others. — JVew York Recorder, Feb. 4, 
 1892. 
 
 CAELYLE I-IAKRIS' PLEA. 
 
 Anything that Carlyle Harris said yesterday would 
 naturally have been dramatic in the extreme, yet, 
 even viewed apart from its thrilling setting, his address 
 was a masterly piece of public speech and indicated a 
 man of culture and ability. He touched only upon 
 those aspects favorable to his cause, and very cleverly 
 confined himself to the new evidence which has never 
 been thrust home on the sympathies of a jury. The 
 fact that Recorder Smyth did not deem it important 
 suggests that it would not have moved their intelli- 
 gences. Sympathic impulses, however, largely con- 
 trol jury-box conclusions. 
 
 The evidence introduced in the regular trial to 
 prove that Harris deliberately planned the poisoning 
 of his wife and did poison her has long since been for- 
 gotten. The prisoner is allowed to make the most of 
 ex parte testimony with no rebuttal save the grim fact 
 that a jury, the Court of Appeals and a remorselessly 
 just recorder have deemed him worthy of death. 
 
 Governor Flower is now the objective point, and as 
 Harris' only hope lies in exciting executive sympathy, 
 there will be no cessation of newspaper appeals, com- 
 ment and gossip until the young man is pardoned, his 
 sentence commuted or he is put to death. In the 
 meantime one cannot help wondering how many poor 
 devils, with no devoted mothers, no attractive person- 
 ality and no cleverness with pen and speech, are 
 hurried on to death, without enjoying the delays and 
 possible ultimate pardon or commutation which di- 
 versify this remarkable trial of Carlyle Harris. — Com- 
 mercial Advertiser, March, 21, 1893. 
 
36 CARLVLE W. HARRIS. 
 
 COMMUTE THE HAEKIS DEATH SENTENCE. 
 
 By the time these words reach his eye, Governor 
 Flower will have held the hearing in the appeal on be- 
 half of Carlyle W. Harris, all the arguments, papers 
 and petitions will be in his hands, and he will be stand- 
 ing face to face with a solemn and complex responsi- 
 bility. 
 
 It is not the thought that a human life is in his 
 hands that should give him pause. The executive of 
 this state is not responsible for the law prescribing 
 capital punishment. Were this young man convicted 
 of murder by absolute evidence, or even by such cir- 
 cumstantial evidence as left no room for doubt about 
 his guilt, it would be not only Governor Flower's legal 
 and moral right, but his bounden duty to let the 
 culprit go to the electric chair. 
 
 But young Harris at the most is probably guilty — 
 that is all. He ought not to be, he must not be, 
 executed for that. The presumption of his guilt is 
 strong enough to warrant his severe punishment, but 
 not his execution. 
 
 The state can afford to run no risk of perpetrating 
 an irremediable crime. It is Governor Flower's 
 prerogative and it is his duty to save the state from 
 this danger. 
 
 Sentimental and personal considerations have no 
 part in the solution of this problem. 
 
 It is not that Harris is young, intellectually refined, 
 has a worthy mother, has suffered, and would suffer 
 in the event of a life commutation most keenly for his 
 apparent crime ; it is not that Governor Flower per- 
 sonally does not favor the capital penalty. 
 
 The state simply has no right to take the life of a 
 possibly innocent man. 
 
 On this ground the Telegram, in the name of good 
 law and right sense, appeals to Governor Flower to 
 commute the death sentence,of Carlyle W. Harris, — 
 Evening Telegram^ April 10, 1893. 
 
OARLYLE W. HAEEIS. 37 
 
 The Carlyle Harris case is ended, except the final 
 catastrophe. From the beginning it has been one of 
 the remarkable cases in the history of criminal jui'is- 
 prudence. It has excited unusually strong feeling in the 
 community, both for and against the accused. The peo- 
 ple are divided between those who think Harris an inno- 
 cent man, persecuted to his death, and those who think 
 him guilty and deserving his fate. But even among these 
 latter there are many who condemn some features of 
 the case. They point to the fact that almost from the 
 beginning the prosecution has been tinged with the 
 spirit of the Corsican vendetta rather than with that of 
 the impartial inquiry into facts which the trial of one 
 accused of crime is theoretically held to be under our 
 institutions. 
 
 The most striking points in the long trial were. 
 First — The refusal by the presiding judge to grant a 
 new trial because nothing of new evidence offered to 
 sustain the motion therefore, would have affected the 
 verdict of the jury had it been offered on the trial — 
 and this in the teeth of the positive, sworn statement 
 by one of the jurors that one item alone would have 
 reversed his vote on the verdict. Second — Tiie extra- 
 ordinary course of the governor in ordering a special 
 commission and generally acting as if with a wish to 
 substitute some milder punishment, at least, and tlien 
 flatly refusing to interfere. Thousands of those wiio 
 think Harris guilty do not hesitate to characterize tliis 
 as brutal, with all that the word implies. Without 
 expressing any opinion on either of these points, one 
 may well say that they alone stamp the case as extra- 
 ordinary. 
 
 There is a curious periodicity in the administration 
 of criminal law in this country. For a long period it 
 will be almost impossible to secure a verdict involving 
 capital punishment, and then the tide will turn and 
 
38 CARfeYLE W. HAREIS. 
 
 men will be executed on testimony which during the 
 other period would not be held to warrant an indict- 
 ment. Just now we are passing through one of these 
 latter downward curves. Justice lies some>vhere be- 
 tween them, but each of these extremes aggravates 
 the other. — Commercial Advertiser, May 6, 1893. 
 
 A CAUSE CELEBEE. 
 
 That death is the poorest use the state can put a 
 citizen to, has long been the argument of humane men. 
 A consideration of this mild philosophy would have 
 determined the appeal of Carlyle W. Harris. The de- 
 tails of the tragedy which brought this unhappy young 
 scholar to the doom of the scaffold are probably known 
 to the whole country. He was charged and convicted 
 of poisoning his girl wife, Helen Potts. The accusa- 
 tion was based solely upon circumstantial evidence. 
 That evidence, in the opinion of judicious experts, 
 while sinisterly corroborative, was not conclusive. 
 The young man himself, it seems, was so confident that 
 the thin chain would prove vulnerable that he omitted 
 many witnesses on his trial, and only when the halter 
 hung over him bethought himself to summon eyewit- 
 nesses from various parts. These testimonies, gathered 
 from all sides, were submitted to the court, but the 
 magistrate, in a voluminous examination of them, feels 
 constrained to deny their cogency. Possibly this may 
 be true ; possibly the testimony of the dead woman's 
 girl friends, that she was addicted to the use of drugs, 
 may have no bearing on the things established in 
 court ; but even admitting this, justice, it would seem, 
 should g ve the circumstantially convicted culprit the 
 benefit of the vaguest doubt, siriould throw wide the 
 doors for every scmtilla of evidence that might rescue 
 an educated, refined, and, as has been shown, exemplary 
 young fellow from the odious martyrdom of execution. 
 The severest penalty of the law is intended as a pre- 
 ventive, not a punishment, and there are thousands 
 
CAELTLE W. HARRIS. 39 
 
 who have followed the Plarris case who are convinced 
 that the prisoner's guilt was not conclusively proven on 
 the trial. — The Illustrated American, April 5th. 
 
 SENATOR VOORHEES ON HARRIS. 
 
 Senator Yoorhees of Indiana, who is regarded as the 
 most eminent criminal lawyer in public life, said on 
 May 10th, concerning the Harris case : " If 1 had been 
 in Governor Flower's place that man would not have 
 been, placed in the death chair until every reasonable 
 doubt of his guilt was removed. Being naturally in- 
 terested in such matters, I have followed the case 
 attentively as an outsider and unprejudiced observer, 
 and there exists in my mind now a doubt as to whether 
 the man should have been executed. A number of 
 people who have not been proved disreputable have 
 testified that the dead woman was a user of morphine, 
 which ended her life. 
 
 " Harris should have been allowed to live until these 
 people were shown to have lied. One man shut up in 
 a cell, away from his fellow creatures amounts to little. 
 His capacity for good or harm is restricted. The in- 
 terests of society or the stern demands of justice can- 
 not be affected by allowing him to draw breath for an 
 additional hundred days. The people who made the 
 affidavits in Harris' favor may have been liars or 
 truth tellers. If they were the former they should 
 have been proved so before the soul of the culprit was 
 torn from him. If they were the latter he should not 
 have been executed at all. 
 
 "The evidence upon which Harris was convicted 
 was altogether circumstantial. I have had a great 
 deal to do with circumstantial evidence. It is a mis- 
 take to suppose that circumstantial evidence is the 
 best that can be had because it cannot be bought. It 
 is as easy to manufacture this class of evidence as it is 
 to hire men to swear falsely. In fact, it is easier, 
 since there is less liability of being found out. 
 
40 CARLYLE W. HAEEIS. 
 
 " I have no desire to criticise Governor Flower in 
 any way. He has acted in the way which seemed to 
 him best, having no personal enmity toward the con- 
 demned. But 1 think that he and every other judicial 
 officer of New York directly chargeable with Harris' 
 execution have made a mistake. It would have taken 
 but little additional time to sift his new evidence and 
 have proved to the American people beyond the 
 shadow of a doubt that he was guilty if he was guilty." 
 — Washington Special. 
 
 THE HAEEIS VEEDICT. 
 
 The Recorder has brought to an end the publication 
 of the expressions of public opinion on the trial and 
 conviction of Carlyle W. Harris. It was one of the 
 famous criminal trials of the present decade of our 
 history, attracting the intense attention of the whole 
 country. From beginning to end The Recorder did 
 not express an opinion on the guilt or innocence of 
 the accused. It printed all that was said for him and 
 said against him more fully than any one of its con- 
 temporaries, and when sentence was pronounced it 
 asked 'its readers to say what they thought about 
 it all. 
 
 We have printed in response to that request hun- 
 dreds of affirmative and negative answers to the just- 
 ness of the verdict. The overwhelming majority was 
 that the evidence against Harris was not conclusive 
 as to his guilt. The Recorder agrees with the major- 
 ity of its voters that the verdict should have been, if 
 not absolute acquittal, " not proved." 
 
 Harris may be guilty. We do not say that he is 
 not, but the evidence adduced does not conclusively 
 show it. We believe in the old maxim, better that 
 ten guilty men should escape than that one innocent 
 man should be condemned. It is dangerous to form 
 precedents of this kind. We owe a duty to posterity 
 that cannot be ignored. Let us not send human 
 
CARLYLE W. HARRIS. 4l 
 
 beings from life into eternity on inferences and 
 presumptions. Let no man be killed by law until the 
 facts, established beyond all doubt or surmise, prove 
 that he deserves to be killed. — The Recorder of Feb. 
 22d, 1892. 
 
 This is of interest when we consider that the 
 Recorder approved of the Governor's decision. 
 
 I never could understand why Harris, any more than 
 any one else, should be asked to prove his innocence. 
 The law assumes that. The burden of proof rests upon 
 the prosecution. It seems to me the prosecution should 
 be asked to show the contents of the capsules, and to 
 prove who filled the pills. Constant reference has 
 been made, in the press and in the courts, by the law- 
 yers themselves, to Harris' inability to prove that he 
 didn't put the poison in the capsules. That's not fair. 
 It may have been shown, I haven't followed the case 
 at all, it may have been shown that he had opportunity 
 to put morphine in the capsules, but, as I understand 
 it, it was never shown that he did do so. I don't intend 
 to weaken the force of my suggestion by making any 
 other point in the case of Harris than this, that, having 
 been convicted on circumstantial evidence, he ought 
 not to be put to death. liaving been convicted of 
 murder, he deserves punishment. So far as he is con- 
 cerned, he is out of the question. It is the duty and 
 the dignity and the honor of this great sovereign state 
 which are involved. Can a state afford to put to death 
 a man convicted on technical, even though strictly 
 legal, grounds, there being a possibility that circum- 
 stances have unfortunately grouped themselves so as to 
 appear harmonious, when, in reality, they are at swords' 
 points and in discord with, the truth. — Joe " Howard" 
 February, 1892. 
 
42 CARLYLE W. HAEEIS. 
 
 THE CASE OF HAEEIS. 
 
 A young man named Carlyle W. Harris was last 
 year convicted of murdering Helen N. Potts, to whom 
 he had been secretly married. During the trial the 
 newspapers, we regret to say, finding that there was a 
 great deal of excitement in the public mind about the 
 death of the supposed victim, published daily all that 
 they could learn of the circumstances, with a vast 
 amount of current gossip bearing strongly against the 
 accused. It has been a theory with most of those who 
 are sound jn the law that in a trial of this description 
 any testimony concerning the former conduct of the 
 accused having no connection with the case in hand 
 should not be admitted to his prejudice. This rule 
 was violated Avhile Harris was on trial and the Court 
 of Appeals has justified the admission. It doubtless 
 prejudiced the jury strongly against the culprit and 
 may have been one reason for his conviction. 
 
 The testimony has been so widely published and 
 commented upon that we need not recapitulate it 
 here. It certainly bore strongly against the young 
 husband, but was entirely circumstantial. It seems 
 probable that he had put one or more capsules filled 
 with poison in a box containing quinine pills in the 
 expectation that his victim would take the potion and 
 lose her life. lie had :. strong motive, it would appear, 
 for desiring that she should thus pass away a.nd leave 
 him free from the entangling alliance. The jury were 
 men of unusual intelligence, and they came to the 
 conclusion that it was a case of murder, and not of 
 suicide or an overdose of poison taken by mistake, and 
 that Harris was guilty. The judge was evidently satis- 
 fied that Harris had committed the crime. It is 
 possible that neither he nor the jury were afi'ected by 
 the public clamor, which was loud and strong, although 
 we believe it was diiflcult for them to avoid the pre- 
 judice likely to arise when the newspapers are trying 
 the case outside of the courts. 
 
CAKLYLE W. HARRIS. 43 
 
 An appeal was taken, but without any favorable 
 result. There were not a few good lawyers who 
 thought that when the matter was brought into the 
 highest court the admission of testimony, which they 
 believed ought not to have had any weight in the 
 prosecution of the supposed criminal, would be held as 
 an error warranting a reconsideration and a new hear- 
 ing. They were disappointed when the judgment and 
 conviction were confirmed. The accused and his friends 
 then appealed to Recorder Smyth, for a new trial. To 
 effect this a large number of affidavits were presented, 
 tending, if credited, to show that the woman was in 
 the habit of using poisonous drugs, especially mor- 
 phine pills, at a date long previous to her marriage. 
 This was given as newly discovered evidence, sufficient 
 to furnish a reasonable doubt as to the guilt of the 
 accused. Some of these documents were evidently 
 not entitled to much consideration, but taken together 
 they could not fail of producing an impression on the 
 public mind. 
 
 These affidavits, contrary to the usual practice in 
 such cases, were submitted to the examination of the 
 prosecuting attorney, and the worthless character of 
 some of them was duly exposed. There was still left 
 a portion entitled to serious consideration, and the re- 
 corder has made them the subject of patient investiga- 
 tion. After a considerable interval he has denied the 
 petition for a new trial in a long and very able paper 
 giving the reasons for his decision. He does not 
 think that if all of the new-found testimony which re- 
 mained of any force after its sifting by the prosecuting 
 officials had been known and presented on the trial it 
 would have changed the result. He is doubtless honest 
 and conscientious in this judgment. During all this 
 long period from the death of the victim to the publi- 
 cation of the final decision, leaving the culprit no hope 
 save in executive clemency, we have refrained, as our 
 readers know, from expressing any opinion upon the 
 
44 CAELYLE W. HAEEIS. 
 
 guilt of the accused or the sufficiency of the testimony- 
 presented. This accords with the rule which has gov- 
 erned the conduct of this paper from the day it was 
 founded. When one has been indicted and brought 
 into court it is in our judgment no part of the province 
 of a newspaper to try him in its columns and either to 
 acquit or condemn him. 
 
 The law has had its course, and Harris has nothing 
 further to expect from it but the sentence of death. 
 "We have now felt free to give our views concerning 
 the trial and its outcome. It is generally safe to leave 
 the fate of a culprit in the hands of an intelligent jury 
 and to abide by their verdict. But the people have 
 found by long experience that juries and judges may be 
 mistaken, or that the strict letter of the law may not in 
 all cases conform to the best idea of justice. They have 
 therefore in all civilized countries made provision for a 
 possible revision of the judgment and a reversal or 
 modification of the sentence by some officer or board 
 appointed for this purpose. In this state the power to 
 soften or set aside the penalty which the law has im- 
 posed, if it is deemed wisest and best, is left by the 
 constitution in the hands of the governor. 
 
 The object of executing a criminal convicted of a 
 capital offense is not so much to inflict upon him the 
 vengeance of an outraged community as to deter evil- 
 disposed persons from similar offenses. It is essential 
 to the security of life and property that crime and its 
 penalty should be associated in every thought, and 
 that no guilty person should go unpunished. But if 
 there is any doubt concerning the guilt of the accused, 
 more harm than good is likely after all to follow 
 the execution of the sentence. Circumstantial 
 testimony is sometimes the very strongest evidence 
 of guilt, since the facts never commit perjury, and 
 are not led astray by passion or prejudice. But 
 in the case under discussion there was no such posi- 
 tive array of facts as in our judgment would entirely 
 
OAELYLE W. HAREIS. 45 
 
 free the verdict from an oppressive doubt in the mind 
 of one responsible for the fate of the accused. There 
 are many thoughtful and unprejudiced people in the 
 community who cannot free their minds from this 
 difficulty. Harris has not shown the best taste in 
 what he has said and done during his trial and since 
 conviction, but we think if Governor Flower should 
 commute the sentence of death to a period of impris- 
 onment, he would be sustained in such action by the 
 great majority of those whose judgment is worthy 
 of most consideration. — David M. Stone, in Journal 
 of Commerce. 
 
 It is the belief of the district attorney that within 
 six weeiis the death of Carlyle Harris will be publicly 
 recorded. It will be regarded as a victory for the 
 attorney's office, the more notably because of the pro- 
 nounced opinions of distinguished lawyers of this and 
 other cities that the evidence was improperly admitted 
 and the trial in effect illegal. The Court of Appeals' 
 decision covers every point of these objections, and the 
 contentions of the district attorney are in every point 
 sustained. Sentence must be pronounced within five 
 days. That there will be no further delay is thought 
 probable, notwithstanding the intention of the con- 
 demned man's counsel to carry the case to the United 
 States Supreme Court. 
 
 Yet there are some comments upon the decision that 
 are not kindly, lawyers venturing the opinion that the 
 text of the decision is a virtual exposure by the judges 
 of the mental process by which they arrived at the 
 verdict. After a reading of the evidence, the decision 
 says, there is no room left in the mind for entertaining 
 doubt of the young man's guilt. As the points sub- 
 mitted were on the question of the legality of the evi- 
 dence itself, the judgment upon the guilt or innocence 
 of the accused was not quite needed. It is further said 
 that the decision reveals that the judges do not seem 
 
46 CAELYLE W. HARRIS. 
 
 to have questioned the evidence. They took it for 
 what it was, failing to recognize the obvious and the 
 hidden imperfections alike. In other words, the judges 
 fell in with the prejudices of witnesses and prosecuting 
 lawyers, and delivered judgment with that bias as the 
 text of the decision shows. — Syracuse Daily Journal, 
 Jan. 18, 1893. 
 
 No motive for the murder of Helen Potts was 
 shown on the trial. The public at large thinks it was 
 shown, because the newspapers alleged a motive. But 
 the prosecution did not. 
 
 The variance in the expert testimony left the ques- 
 tions upon which it touched wholly undetermined. 
 So excellent an authority as the Medical Record says 
 that the long interval between death and examination 
 precluded the possibility of establishing pathological 
 lesions in the brain and kidneys which nlight have 
 shown that death was not due to morphine. And the 
 same authority points out that the substitution of a 
 morphine capsule for one containing quinine and mor- 
 phine " was not substantiated by any facts brought out 
 by the prosecution." 
 
 Again, while Harris' actions and conduct at the 
 time of the girl's death would tend to show his state 
 of mind, there is no evidence, beyond newspaper 
 stories, to give even the appearance of facts from 
 which inference to that effect could be derived. The 
 newspapers have supplied stories and have left the im- 
 pression that they were sworn to in court. But they 
 were not. 
 
 Throughout the proceedings the same general unfair- 
 ness of manner, of which complaint is made frequentlj'^ 
 in relation to the prosecution of criminal cases in New 
 York, bore heavily against the prisoner. It called at- 
 tention once more to an anomaly that ought not to 
 exist. The district attorney is a public officer. He 
 ought to be as glad to lose a case, by the establishment 
 
oarlyle w. haeris. 4T 
 
 of a defendant's virtue as to win one upon the opposite 
 showing. Nowadays, however, the public prosecutor 
 seems lo attack the docket as a go-as-you-please runner 
 aims at the record. He must show a score, whether 
 justice fails or not. — Part of editorial from Commercial 
 Advertiser, Feb. 1892. 
 
 THE HAEEIS CASE. 
 
 Carlyle "W". Harris, perhaps, did not help his case in 
 his last appeal to the court ; but the last word has not 
 been said. There are facts to be taken into considera- 
 tion : 
 
 1. The habit of excluding the most important evi- 
 dence because it is not in the strict formal sense legal 
 evidence, is ingrained in a certain class of minds so 
 cultivated in the law as to lose touch with nature. 
 
 2. With all due respect and the most sincere regard 
 for Recorder Smyth, who has been very laborious and 
 severely conscientious in the discharge of .his duties, he 
 has not sift'ed the new evidence presented in the peti- 
 tion for a new trial of Harris so as to comprehend its 
 importance. It cannot be dismissed as illegal hearsay 
 from the public mind, and should not be from the 
 judicial understanding. 
 
 3. There was evidence about the habits of the wife 
 ot Harris submitted that raises a doubt in the minds of 
 those who have closely studied the whole case, and are 
 not moved by sympathy. There is testimony that she 
 used morphine, and to dismiss it all with an austere 
 gesture is not justice. 
 
 4 The theory of the guilt of Harris is that he re- 
 moved from a pellet in which there had been placed 
 one-sixth of a grain of morphine, and four grains 
 ot quinine, and substituted an equal portion of 
 morphine, and so poisoned his wife. The conviction 
 of Harris turns upon the persuasion of the jury that 
 his wife was the victim of morphine poisoning. It was 
 
48 CAHLYLE W. HARRIS. 
 
 assumed that, if she was poisoned with morphine, 
 Harris was the poisoner. 
 
 5. Kow, if those who knew her knew that she was 
 in the habit of using morphine — and there are credible 
 affidavits to that effect — ^the case against the con- 
 demned man is weakened— in fact, broken at the fatal 
 point. 
 
 6. The people should not compensate themselves for 
 wasting sympathy upon ruffianly murderers, and saving 
 the most odious scoundrels from suffering the extreme 
 penalty of the law, by the utmost rigor in the case of 
 a man who has unusual intelligence and has the man- 
 ners and decencies of a gentleman. That is not the 
 way to pay the debt society owes itself for excessive 
 leniency toward bloody blackguards. 
 
 7. That which perhaps unconsciously influenced the 
 mind of the recorder in sifting and rejecting the new 
 evidence — for it was real testimony in fact, if not in 
 law — was the intuitive comprehension that on a new 
 trial conviction would be impossible; but that is a pro- 
 cess of reaching a conclusion that ought not to be 
 decisive. 
 
 The attention of the governor, we venture to say, 
 should be directed to the important part the prosecu- 
 tion, through the press, has played in this matter. It 
 is held, as if meritorious, that the reporters, as detec- 
 tives, have especially been efficient in digging up facts. 
 It IS claimed that they have unearthed the truth, and 
 several of them have been implacable through the 
 period during which Harris was struggling for a new 
 new trial in repeating in print as often as possible 
 that he was a murderer. There has been something 
 too much of this vigilance of aggressive virtue, however 
 deeply the sense of duty of the press to the public 
 may be felt. 
 
 The most rational suggestion is, the Governor should 
 not take it for granted that the evidence has been 
 sifted so as to separate all the facts from all the fancy 
 
CARLYI.E W. ttARfilS. 4ft 
 
 and falsehood ; that he should not consent to the idea 
 of one man's infallibility in a case so critical ; but that 
 he should give time and offer opportunity for a real 
 examination of the testimony as to the use of opium 
 by the wife of Harris. If she had the morphine habit, 
 Harris should not be killed in the electrical chair. 
 
 There is pathetic dignity in the last words of Harris 
 before the recorder proceeded to pronounce sentence : 
 
 " I know there is naught remains for me now but to 
 meet my great misfortune with that fortitude which is 
 the birthright of a gentleman and the prerogative 9f 
 an innocent man. If your honor wants any more 
 testimony about poor Helen's habits, there islots more 
 of it coming in all the time. Of course, it is unim- 
 portant hearsay, doubtless." ^Mukat Halstead in 
 Brooklyn, N. Y\ Standard Union, March 21, 1893. 
 
 TRIALS FOE PERJURY IN ORDER BEFORE THE PRISONER IS 
 
 EXECUTED. 
 
 Editor Post : Now that Governor Flower by his re- 
 fusal to interfere in the carrying out of the death penalty 
 in the case of Carlyle W. Harris has astonished nine- 
 tenths of the people who have followed the evidence, I 
 deem this a particularly opportune time to state a con- 
 versation I had with Senator Hill relative to the case. 
 I asked him to sign a petition to Governor Flower. 
 He said that he did not like to sign the petition for the 
 reason that he had been Governor Flower's predecessor, 
 andwas afraid that if he signed the petition it might 
 embarrass the governor. He said: "I will help you 
 in this way by suggesting a point that I have not seen 
 raised before. There is a way for the governor to dis- 
 pose of this Harris case and it is this : The district 
 attorney tried to prove the makers of the affidavits in 
 favor of Harris perjurers by bringing in affidavits of ser- 
 vant girls, who nad to sign with their mark, and other 
 such affidavits. On the strength of these the affidavits 
 
50 CARLYLE W. HARMS. 
 
 in favor of Harris were thrown out. Now affidavits 
 can't be disposed of on ex parte evidence like that. 
 The governor should grant a stay until these people 
 who have made affidavits in favor of Harris are 
 indicted, tried, and, if guilty, convicted of perjury ; 
 but Recorder Smyth proposes to execute Harris lirst 
 and investigate the perjury afterward." 
 
 Since the above remarks were made by Senator Hill 
 the makers of the affidavits mentioned have made the 
 same statements, only more in detail, on the witness 
 stand, and the district attorney has brought affidavits 
 in rebuttal. . 
 
 Druggist Lefferts stated that he had sold Helen Potts 
 morphine in large quantities, and Druggist Van Mater, 
 for whom he formerly worked, made an affidavit con- 
 tradicting him, and Van Mater's own sister made an 
 affidavit contradicting him. 
 
 Druggist Kinmouth made affidavit and declared on 
 the stand that he had sold morphine to Helen Potts, 
 and the district attorney brought forward some prohi- 
 bition bigots to discredit the testimony of Dr. Kin- 
 mouth. When pinned down by cross-examination these 
 witnesses admitted that all they had against Dr. Km- 
 mouth was that whisky had been sold at his drug store. 
 
 From the evidence it is evident that somebody has 
 lied, but is it fair to assume that all the prevarication 
 has been in favor of Harris, and the district attorney's 
 office is the only temple of truth? 
 
 Governor Flower says in his decision : " The evidence 
 of Dr. Kinmouth, Miss Waddell, and Miss Jackson might 
 all be considered as establishing that Miss Potts was a 
 morphine eater, but the affidavits of all these would 
 weigh little against the affidavits of her schoolmates 
 and one of her teachers as to her utterances on the 
 night when she took the fatal pill." 
 
 One of the teachers testified that Plelen Potts asked 
 that she be not disturbed, as her doctor (meaning Har- 
 ris) had, on a former occasion, after giving her the same 
 
CARLYLE W. HARRIS. 6l 
 
 Jmedicine, said that the reason why the medicine had 
 had no eifect was that she had been disturbed after 
 retiring. 
 
 According to Miss Potts' own statement, Harris did 
 Hot give her the above directions when he gave her 
 the last lot of pills, but on a former occasion, when the 
 pills had failed to relieve her headache. How does 
 the above statement of Miss Potts show that she did 
 not, having in mind the impotency of the former dose, 
 take several pills to ensure relief ? 
 
 I say, before Harris is executed, let Dr. Kinmouth, 
 Leflferts, Miss Waddell, and Miss Jackson be convicted 
 ot perjury. L. L. Deiggs. 
 
 Washington, May 4,1893. 
 
 From Washington Pbst, May 5, 1893. 
 
" The law considers every man innocent until he is 
 PROVED GUILTY." 
 
 "A man is not required to prove his innoce7ice — the 
 prosecution must prove his guilt." 
 
ARTICLES WRITTEN IN 1892-93. 
 
 I FEEL that one proof of my boy's innocence is in the 
 style of letters that for two dreary years he wrote from 
 that cell. These letters are almost too sacred to give 
 to the public, but my one desire being to show my 
 d«ar boy in his true colors, I sacrifice my own feelings 
 to a certain extent. The first quotation is of interest 
 because it shows the difficulties he contended with in 
 writing in a cell where candle light was needed at noon- 
 day, and from which he riever went out into the fresh 
 air, except on his rare trips to court and at last to 
 Sing Sing. On March 13th, he writes : — (I cannot give 
 the whole letter for it is too tender and personal.) " I 
 want descriptions of places with any tale, ghost story or 
 legend that is local in character and will lend interest to 
 a descriptive article. I've instructed Mac to buy me a 
 dictionary of synonyms and a book of polyglot quota- 
 tions if he can find such a thing. If you think I write 
 too easily, you are much mistaken. I can formulate very 
 readable matter in my mind, but the writing hampers 
 me very much and the surroundings do not tend to an 
 exuberance of inspiration. Still Mac says the editor 
 is very much pleased with my work and so I guess I 
 can be a reporter, when I am given the chance to be 
 anything. You see there is no one here I can ask 
 when at fault for an expression, or when doubtful as to 
 grammar or idiomj so I'm afraid I Qannot do wore 
 
5(i CAELYLE W. HARRIS. 
 
 than improve in descriptive facility. I can scarcely 
 gain much in grace of style. Then too I need a refer- 
 ence library, etc., etc. 
 
 " You had best wean your mind from the hope of see- 
 ing nio in the counsel room. Mrs. "W". saw me there 
 once,b\ii it was because visiting hours were over and siie 
 had a special introduction from the commissioner. You 
 can asli, of course, but you may only lose me some of 
 the amenities at present vouchsafed me. Aunt Mary 
 has to come to the cell door you know, and it is against 
 the law for me to visit the counsel room. 
 
 " Give my love to A and J 
 
 " Yery affectionately, 
 "Caelyle." 
 
 Februaey 7th, 1893. 
 
 My Dear Little Sistee : — Mother was in to see me 
 to-day and we are getting ready to go into court on 
 Monday. Mr. Howe is very sure we will win because 
 we can now prove that Helen was using lots of mor- 
 phine all the time. Y^ou see such evidence is entirely 
 new and very important in the case. Mamma will 
 
 probably go back to N , for a rest as soon as we 
 
 have a new trial ordered, for she has worked very hard 
 and IS all tired out. 
 
 Father writes that you are quite well and I hope 
 you will remam so, and be able to cheer mother all the 
 time when she returns. You needn't worry at all 
 about the case, because the new evidence proves me 
 entirely innocent, and they will have to give me a new 
 trial or discharge me altogether. 
 
 You must keep at your studies, for I shall expect to 
 
 find a very wise little sister when I come to N . 
 
 your d^vot^d brother, 
 
CAKLTLE W. HAEEIS. 57 
 
 [This is his last letter to his darling sister. He wrote 
 to all the others a day or two before his death, but the 
 firm heart failed — he could not write " cheerfully" he 
 said, and so he^ let it go. My last letter from him fol- 
 lows — the last words are significant. — F. M'C. H.] 
 
 May 4th, 1893. 
 
 Deab Mother : — I was very much relieved yesterday 
 afternoon by receiving the balance of the minutes from 
 Mr. Howe, and learning that the hearing had finished, 
 as it began, in our favor. I am now not at all nervous 
 and can calmly await the result, which we should hear 
 to-day or Friday. 
 
 The chaplain would have shown me the arbutus 
 [Picked by his sister for him — the next was picked for 
 his grave ! — F. M'C. H.], but it never reached him. He 
 can't write fo the governor or to any newspaper, be- 
 cause it is against the rules and he would probably be 
 discharged if he did. 
 
 The best thing about the whole hearing is that the 
 prosecution would not produce any of their unimpor- 
 tant witnesses ! "Where were Cookson, Rockwell, Tre- 
 verton. Hand and Choate ? You see you were ready for 
 these people and they did not dare produce them in 
 court. [Oh my God ! the bitterness of copying this. 
 Raines' "morbid conscientiousness" allowed him to 
 treat their affidavits as \t never questioned! — F. M'C. H.] 
 We had ninety per cent, the best of it all the way 
 
 .through. If you come here on no account bring J 
 
 under any circumstance. 
 
 With love 
 
 CAELrLE. 
 
 That night I went to him ! 
 
 My son had never written a line for publication, 
 until he wrote the " Abuses of the Criminal Code." 
 He bad turned ^ f^w verse? for the awuseraent of hi? 
 
68 \ CAELYLE W. HAEEIS. 
 
 boy and girl friends, but we did not dream of the 
 power he had with a pen. The money he received for 
 this first article was sent to me, with a letter full of 
 boyish delight at giving it me. " Be sure you spend 
 it on luxuries," he writes ; " don't stint yourself, for I've 
 plenty more articles in my mind." As the dreary 
 dark days wore on he found it harder work to write 
 than he had expected, and not many papers would 
 publish his articles ; but until the decision of the 
 Appellate Court came down he struggled on, writing 
 articles and verses, more pleased to give me pleasure 
 than to hear any praise from the public. Mr. J. 
 Clarence Harvey became interested in Carlyle and 
 wished to publish a volume of his poems, but as long 
 as he lived he would not publish any of the personal 
 ones, and so more were needed to make up a book, 
 and after his bitter disappointment in January even 
 his heart failed, so far as verse making went. " Wait 
 till I'm out, mother dear," he would say, " and then I'il 
 be so happy, sitting by our open, fire, or roaming through 
 the fields with my dear old girl, that I'll write reams 
 of po'try." That open lire ! I had it all ready for him 
 the very day I received the telegram, to go to him, to 
 say good-bye. And, even then, with all he had to 
 bear, my boy thought of that little thing, and said, 
 " Now, mother, dear, you won't let my fate spoil the 
 home you have just prepared \ " " No," I answered, 
 " I'll believe you are with us." 
 
 " No, no," he interrupted, " if you do, you'll grow 
 morbid ; you must try to forget me," as if that were 
 possible ! 
 
 ]3ut perhaps this is as good a place as any to saj^, to 
 
CAELYI.E W. HAEKIS. 
 
 59 
 
 the hundreds who have written to me, do not call 
 down curses on his murderers. I have no such feeling. 
 Leave them to God, who, I trust, will let my dear boy 
 be the one to teach them and clear their vision in that 
 world where revenge and recrimination cannot enter. 
 One mis-statement I would correct here : Mr. Potts is 
 reported to have said I left two five-hundred dollar 
 certified checks in Asbury Park ! I am safe in offer- 
 ing any amount for those (canceled) checks as I never 
 made out a check for that amount in my life, and the 
 only check I left in Asbury Park was one of ten or 
 fifteen dollars, which Mr. Parker, with whom I boarded 
 two nights, kindly cashed. 
 
 F. M'O. H. 
 
60 CAELYLE W. HAEKIS. 
 
 ABUSES OF THE CEIMmAL CODE. 
 
 For nearly a year I have had daily before my eyes 
 the workings of the code of criminal procedure. For 
 nearly a year I have been brought in unavoidable con- 
 tact with men deprived of their Hberty, in most cases 
 justly, in some I believe unjustly. These men were all 
 aware that I had studied medicine, they knew me as a 
 student ; hence I have often had their confidence thrust 
 upon me and have been consulted as an oracle on mat- 
 ters involving questions of medical science. Many 
 prisoners In the Tombs are not awaiting trial, they 
 have been already convicted, but are here on a "stay 
 of proceedings," pending the decision of their appeal. 
 
 Now, since all that is human is fallible, human laws 
 may sometimes be at fault, and if, in reading the 
 printed " code " and watching (as I have said), its prac- 
 tical results, I have come to the earnest conclusion 
 that it contained elements of gross injustice, and if I 
 take this occasion to call public attention to an instance 
 in point, I trust no one will deem me so immodest as 
 to set my opinion against those learned gentlemen 
 who have voted us our laws and who so often combine 
 the practice of local politics with the dispensing of 
 national beverages. 
 
 The average intelligent citizen who plunges each 
 d&Y into th? maQl§trom of speculative business,.or floats 
 
CAKLYLK W. HARRIS. 6^1 
 
 through life on the more placid current of a clerkship 
 or profession, knows but vaguely of the laws that gov- 
 ern him. He leaves the framing of these laws to those 
 who study law. He leaves their amendment and pas- 
 sages in the legislature to the devoted gentlemen 
 referred to above. It is a beauty of our institutions 
 that a fairly moral man can, on most occasions, follow 
 the law of common sense as suggested by his individual 
 reasonings, because the laws as framed are meant to be 
 a consensus of the individual reasoning of the majority 
 A foundation principle of all our laws is that they 
 shall apply equally to rich and poor, to millionaire and 
 mechanic, to landlord and laborer. 
 
 I have chosen for the subject matter of this article 
 a part of criminal procedure, which applies in no way 
 to my own case. I can thus, I trust, approach my 
 subject with that dispassionate calmness which is 
 absolutely essential to the ends of a just argument. 
 
 One of the earliest supplements to the institution of 
 trial by jury was the privilege of appeal from that 
 jury's decision to the judgment of a higher court and, 
 to-day the right of appeal is among the standard bul- 
 warks of our national liberty. It stands a bar to 
 verdicts founded upon prejudice, a bar to the oppres- 
 sion of the weak, a preventive of that most terrible 
 injustice which would otherwise rob suffering inno- 
 cence of all that makes life sweet. So when, after 
 some study and much discussion with men of wider 
 knowledge, I say that the right of appeal is 
 denied the poor and possible only to men of means 
 (except where the conviction is of murder in the first 
 degree), I feel that I am laying at the door of legisla- 
 
62 CAELYLE W. HARRIS. 
 
 tive enactment a charge that is most grave. But I 
 hear you say : " This cannot be ! Twelve long decades 
 of liberty and progress cannot have let'L this blot upon 
 our statutes." Permit me to explain. Where a con- 
 victed man desires to appeal he must procure at his 
 own expense (1) the stenographer's minutes of his 
 trial, which cost from $25 to $200 ; (2) a printed copy 
 of these minutes and the briefs of the case, the cost of 
 this being from $100 to $500. This applies to every 
 case except convictions of murder in the first degree. 
 Only where a man's life is involved does the state pay 
 the necessary cost of the appeal. I am not including 
 in these figures any account of lawyers' fees. The 
 state presumes every man innocent until convicted 
 and always able to pay his counsel. I ask you to con- 
 sider at this point that an innocent, penniless 
 unfortunate may be sentenced to imprisonment for 
 life without the possibility of appeal ! 
 
 I ask you, would not any brave man, unjustly con- 
 victed, infinitely prefer immediate death to a long life 
 of shame and imprisonment? Comparatively few of 
 the cases tried in our lower courts are taken on appeal, 
 but of these cases the percentage is very large. I do 
 not state how large, for 1 may be misinformed. 
 
 There are now at penal servitude in this state over 
 four thousand men. Of these it is safe to say two thous- 
 and have by reason of poverty been denied the right of 
 appeal. How large a percentage of these men is in- 
 nocent or has been illegally convicted ? Let us put 
 the figure as low as reason and the history of cases 
 on appeal will permit, let us say three per cent. 
 
 Po yoa, can you realize what this nie3,n§ ? 
 
CARLYLE W. HARRIS. 63 
 
 If what I here have said be true, can you grasp the 
 horror of this pitiless injustice ? Sixty men illegally 
 condemned to shame ! Sixty men forced by "man's 
 inhumanity to man " to a miserable existence of brutish 
 monotony for years, perchance for life. The prison 
 garb, the lockstep, each leaden day a mirror of seem- 
 ingly countless days to come, each night passed upon 
 a pallet of straw amid the vermin that always Infest a 
 jail. Each hour throughout the night the prison-keep- 
 ers go their rounds, flashing their night-lamps on the 
 pallid, sleeping faces of sixty tortured innocents. Shut 
 out from the world, the very newspapers forbidden 
 them, their only hope from day to day is a dulling of 
 the sensibilities, a sinking into apathy. 
 
 Let me state a case — I select this one because it is 
 known throughout the civilized world, although it only 
 partly illustrates my meaning — I mean the case of 
 Ameer Ben Ali, or "Frenchy." This man was tried 
 in June, 1891, for the murder of "Old Shakespeare." 
 He was convicted of murder in the second degree and 
 sentenced to life imprisonment. Without entering into 
 detail I quote words spoken by the judge who tried 
 the case : "The evidence would have warranted a ver- 
 dict of murder in the first degree." How many people 
 who attended that trial and listened to the evidence 
 believe that man to be altogether innocent? This be- 
 lief found expression, and loud expression, in the public 
 press. Has his case been appealed? He is penniless 
 
 If this man be guilty he should die according to law. 
 But if the poor, friendless outcast be innocent, is not, 
 in the name of God's justice, his sentence a most awful 
 crime? He should have the right to demand that ai 
 
64 CARLYLte W. HAfiRia. 
 
 high judical court pass upon his case before he he 
 shut out of the sunshine and air of heaven forever. It 
 is the opinion of able lawyers that there are legal 
 errors in his case sufficient to secure a new trial, but 
 the minutes of his case and the printing would cost 
 some $500, so how can he appeal ? 
 
 Can this wrong, if wrong it be, be righted ? It will 
 be argued that innocent men are seldom convicted and 
 that the state could not afford the expense of frivolous 
 appeals. A trial by jury is expensive and often slow, 
 so why try poor men at all ? I am informed (perhaps 
 incorrectly) that in England, Austria, and even in 
 despotic Eussia, a citizen may appeal through all the 
 courts even to the person of his sovereign, without it 
 costing him a cent. 
 
 I know that reforms are not won in a day. I realize 
 that my name is a reproach and that I am condemned 
 to die. My diction is not grand, my talent is unworthy 
 of this cause, my voice is but an echo from a prison 
 cell ; but if I have written of a real wrong ; if what I 
 say be true, this breath may raise a ripple on the sea of 
 Truth, which, borne along by greater power than mine, 
 may swell into a tidal wave to cleanse the very throne 
 of justice. Oakltle Hakkis. 
 
CARLYLE W. HAftRlg. 65 
 
 VIVISEOTIOK. 
 
 An article upon vivisection recently appeared in a 
 New York paper. It was not a criticism ; it was not 
 a discussion of the subject ; it was a wholesale attack. 
 This article stated that experiments in this branch of 
 science have been, and are, conducted in an inhuman 
 manner, and that their only result is a collection of 
 disconnected facts which have so far been of no pro- 
 gressive importance to mankind. 
 
 If the result of centuries of vivisection be absolutely 
 nil, research in this department should undoubtedly 
 cease, for though anaesthesia has removed its horrors, 
 it is a prodigal waste of valuable time. But is this 
 really the case ? 
 
 Every schoolboy has read of Harvey's discovery of 
 the circulation of the blood. By this discovery medi- 
 cine and surgery were both advanced by one giant 
 stride from the chaos of quackery into the realm of « 
 the sciences and all their progress from that time until 
 the present made possible. Yet this discovery and its 
 demonstration were, and could be, possible only through 
 vivisection. At that period in the world's history an- 
 aesthetics were unknown, but can any one say that the 
 value of that brilliant discovery, which made the name 
 of Harvey a landmark in the history of human pro- 
 
66 CAKLYLE W. HARRIS. 
 
 gress, was not commensurate with the pain he undoubt- 
 edly inflicted upon the subjects of his experiments? 
 
 However, science is not called upon to-day to defend 
 a system of torture upon the lower creation, for there 
 are but few experiments that physiologists find are 
 clouded as to results by the use of anaesthetic, and the 
 question becomes one of whether or no these results 
 are worthy the loss of a moderate number of homeless 
 dogs, cats, etc. 
 
 Perhaps in no branch of the subject has vivisection 
 led to such remarkable results as in the localization of 
 brain functions. Let me illustrate : A patient is 
 stricken by apoplexy,, lies comatose for hours, but at 
 the end of a week recovers with the exception of a 
 paralysis of the lower leg and foot. Any well in- 
 formed physician can, by adding the symptoms of the 
 original attack (which I spare you) to the symptom of 
 local paralysis, determine the exact position in the 
 brain of the small blood clot left by the primary hem- 
 orrhage (in this case the upper part of the Fissure of 
 Eolando), and a competent surgeon being called in an 
 operation removes the irritating cause. So the patient 
 is shortly restored to his family in entire health instead 
 of dragging a useless limb about the world. There 
 have been many of these cases successfully treated, 
 and though the lessons of the autopsy table have done 
 much for brain surgery, more is certainly owing to 
 vivisection. 
 
 Now, how do vivisectionists work ? What do their 
 experiments look like ? Come with me to the College 
 of Physicians and Surgeons, in Fifty-ninth street, and 
 let me take you into the upper amphitheatre. It is 
 
CAELYLE W. I-IAPEIS. 67 
 
 about 10 o'clock in the morning and the benches are 
 crowded with students, two hundred or more. Some 
 in the back rows have opera-glasses. All are eager 
 and expectant, for this is the " star " demonstration of 
 the course. A young steer has been etherized, 
 tracheotomy performed (an opening into the windpipe), 
 and a small bellows attached to the tracheotomy tube. 
 Now the chest wall is opened, the ribs are drawn 
 forcibly apart, and you see the animal's heart pulsing 
 rythmically. 
 
 Ghastly sight, isn't it ? Does not the poor beast 
 suffer? Not in the least. Although this demonstra- 
 tion enables each year some two hundred embryo doc- 
 tors to study the living heart and to learn the wonder- 
 ful mechanism which causes those sounds to which they 
 must later listen with ear upon the patient's chest, the 
 animal suffers absolutely no pain and not even fright. 
 It certainly suffers both in ordinary process of butchery ; 
 so is this yearly demonstration inhuman ? It is one of 
 the most colossal ever attempted, and since the animal 
 does not suffer, is it not better to sacrifice it for the 
 instruction of this class than to cut it into roasts and 
 sirloins ? 
 
 But is not unnecessary pain sometimes inflicted by 
 scientists upon helpless animals? Not by scientists. 
 There exist gentlemen with more enthusiasm than judg- 
 ment, I am told, who may occasionally overstep the 
 line which science has so clearly drawn, but is this a 
 reason to close so fertile a field for research and 
 instruction, a field which has so repeatedly yielded 
 abundant harvest? Medical experts sometimes make 
 grave mistakes, mistakes which have cost human life 
 
68 CAR1.YL15 aV. flAERlS. 
 
 and even sent innocent men to the scaffold, but here is 
 no reason for branding upon the profession of rnedicine 
 any mark of discredit or of scorn; individuals must 
 often suffer that the race may learn. 
 
 I ask that before the medical fraternity be judged 
 lacking in humanity, it be borne in mind that their por- 
 fession devotes more time and effort to practical 
 charity than all other professions combined ; that any 
 physician or surgeon, if worthy the name, gladly in the 
 cause of humanity faces disease and even death ; that 
 for the cause of science he will calmly bear the keener 
 pangs of calumny, misrepresentation and public scorn. 
 Is it not safe to leave the question of vivisection for 
 such men to settle for themselves ? 
 
 There lives within our borders a class or sect whose 
 tenets teach that to butcher animals at all is uncivil- 
 ized and wrong. These men and women pursue their 
 ruminating way and preach three times a day their 
 doctrine to their friends. Still the slaughter-house is 
 not abolished, nor is it likely to be. There is, in the 
 aggregate, more animal suffering in one large slaughter- 
 house in one day, humane though the process be, than 
 in all the laboratories this country boasts throughout 
 the entire year. 
 
 Let the man or woman who thinks vivisection should 
 be abolished, study a little elementary physiology and 
 then attend a course of demonstrations. He will leave 
 a bugaboo behind, but he will bring away a new and 
 endless interest in life and all that lives. He may 
 enter an atheist and vain, but he will leave with humbled 
 pride and a realization that there is something man 
 can neither grasp nor analyze. Oaklyle Hakeis. 
 
OARLYLE W. HAKEIS. G9 
 
 LIFE m THE TOMBS. 
 
 Two blocks from Broadway and within pistol-shot 
 of the City Hall there stands a building. Its history 
 might be called Mosaic ; its architecture Moorish, 
 perhaps ; it is named the Tombs. The main building 
 faces Center street and contains the police court, the 
 old walls of which creak curiously, six days in the 
 week, to the witticisms of Mr. Duflfy and his popular 
 confrere, Mr. Divver. From the northern side along 
 Franklin and the southern along Leonard street, extend 
 high walls. These are joined by a third, which fronts 
 on Elm street. Thus with the back of the court 
 building a quadrangular yard is formed, within whose 
 narrow boundaries three prisons have been erected. 
 They are the " old," " new," and " boys' " prisons ; a 
 fourth, the " women's," being in the court building. 
 Fifty years ago this site was a pond. To-day it is a 
 slough, into which thousands of the criminals and 
 unfortunate fall each year. Men charged with serious 
 offenses are confined in the old prison, which is the 
 largest ; the new prison harbors disorderly and 
 vagrancy cases, while the other two are named with a 
 pathos that explains itself. 
 
 These prisons are superintended by the Commission 
 of Charities and Correction, in whose appointment is 
 
7() CARLYlE W. SAERIS. 
 
 their official list and in whose nominal custody is 
 every prisoner to and from court and state prison, 
 prisoners being in the custody of the county sheriff. 
 
 It being my intention here to describe the old prison, 
 in which for eleven months I have lived and moved, 
 I will dismiss the others with the remark that the 
 new prison is inelegantly spoken of by the keepers as 
 the " louse house," the deep entomological significance 
 of this requiring no further comment. 
 
 So now if you will step up to that little Avicket gate 
 on Franklin street, ask for Warden Fallon, and then 
 wait a few minutes, perhaps you can secure a pass to 
 visit me. You will meet a gentleman of about forty 
 who with dignity and great courtesy will inquire into 
 your antecedents and business. You will of course 
 explain that you are a relative of mine and your visit 
 one of importance. If this is satisfactory and you 
 have shown no symptom of unsound mind, Mr. Fallon 
 will write you a pass and turn you over to a keeper to 
 be " searched." This process is not at all an alarming 
 one. Not having a battle-ax or shotgun on your per- 
 son, you are walked down a broad, lovv-ceilinged hall- 
 way, to your left being two interesting legends ; one 
 makes the unorthodox statement that " Cleanliness is 
 Godliness," and the other says, " Intemperance Has 
 Caused the Fall of Many Kings." While still blush- 
 ing from this last insinuation, you cross a bit of yard 
 and we meet each other on the main floor of the old 
 prison. As you stand here you can look up through 
 the skylights above, seeing on each side of you four 
 tiers of cells. Each tier has a corridor, like a balcony, 
 on either side, the ends and middle being connected 
 
CARLYLE W. HAEEIS. Yl 
 
 by bridges. That hearty-looking old man is Deputy 
 Warden Mark Finlay. He has been a keeper here 
 since 1850, and is said to visit three places each day — ■ 
 home, church and the Tombs. In this triangular 
 oscillation he is marking off the years of a useful and 
 respected old age. Mr. Finlay is relieved at night by 
 the second deputy, Mr. John Orr, who has also served 
 the state in this department for forty years. 
 
 On the tier above us you can see a cell numbered 
 52 ; it faces the bridge. I vi^aited ten months in that 
 cell for trial. How did I bear it? Two things, my 
 friend, philosophy and innocence. There is but one 
 foe fatal to a brave philosopher and that is remorse ; 
 the man who has never invited this last may suffer, 
 but should never be completely miserable. 
 
 Now let me tell you how the day is divided here : 
 First a walk around the corridor from 8 to 9 ; then 
 the newsboy comes with the daily papers, charging an 
 extra cent for " delivery at your residence." At 10:30 
 visitors are admitted, and are passing in and out until 
 2 in the afternoon. Between these hours the curtain 
 is raised upon one act of many tragedies. You cannot 
 help but hear the sobs of mother, wife or sister as she 
 kisses between those poor bars the trembling lips of 
 one she loves and in whose service she would gladly 
 die. The privilege of privacy or a last embrace is out 
 of the question. She may stand in the corridor and 
 touch his fingers and his lips — no more. Some of these 
 scenes are intensely pitiful, because many of these men 
 are sent to far-away Auburn or Dannemora prison, 
 and women who are alone and poor cannot spare the 
 time and money for long journeys, so this may be a 
 long good-by. Men often die in prison. 
 
T2 CAELYLE W. HAEEIS. 
 
 I call to mind a man who was for many months 
 upon the same tier as myself. He was wretchedly 
 poor and glad to burn my candle ends to light his cell 
 at night. Eventually tried, he was convicted and sen- 
 tenced to serve twenty years. Three girls, his daugh- 
 ters, were his constant visitors. The day before sentence 
 was passed upon him he came into my cell during 
 
 exercise hour. " Mr. H ," he said to me, " you 
 
 have studied medicine. I want you on your honor to 
 tell me if I'will live to die at home." The man was 
 fifty-five years old and looked nearer seventy. His 
 chest, cheeks, eyes and hacking cough meant but one 
 malady — consumption. The sentence, with commuta- 
 tion for good conduct, meant twelve years and eight 
 
 months. Could he live that long in prison ? " J , 
 
 have you no friends who cbuld help you to a pardon ? " 
 
 " I understand, Mr. H , and I thank you, sir. No, 
 
 I ain't got no friends, nor my girls ain't neither." He 
 offered me his hand and I forgot he had broken a wise 
 law protecting property. I could only see that gaunt 
 figure in whose eyes shone the knowledge that he 
 must die away from wife and children, alone and in 
 prison. That afternoon I had to hear his daughters 
 bidding him good-by. No, I can't tell you his name. 
 Some nights ago a keeper saw two of his daughters on 
 the street ; they were well-dressed, their cheeks were 
 scarlet with shame, but not with blushes. 
 
 It is thus society wars upon itself. 
 
 At 2 o'clock a bell is rung notifying all visitors to 
 leave. Then follows another hour of exercise and the 
 day is over, for it is night in many of these cells by 
 3 P.M., and if a prisoner is too poor to buy a candle he 
 
CARLYLE W. HAEEIS. 73 
 
 must sit in the dark until the following day. A very 
 large proportion have to endure this. 
 
 On Sunday there is a slightly different timing of the 
 day. No visitors are allowed, but services are held 
 both morning and afternoon on the bridge in front of 
 No. 52. The Rev. Sydney G. Law conducts the first 
 service, with the tuneful assistance of a volunteer choir, 
 whose members sometimes interfere with one another's 
 singing in a way that would warm the blood of the 
 descriptive Mr. Nye. These choristers are all enthusi- 
 astic tract distributors and the nearest cell, which 
 happened to be mine, was always visited with a per- 
 fect snowstorm of those militant publications. The 
 preacher himself is a gentleman of large sympathies 
 and of narrow doctrine. IVIr. Law is regular and un- 
 tiring in his missionary work among the prisoners, 
 distributing annually about 20,000 back numbers of 
 the Zion Herald and kindred publications. 
 
 The afternoon service is conducted under the au- 
 spices of the Episcopal Missionary Society by the Eev. 
 J. C. Zillman. Mr. Zillman is an Australian, and was 
 the first free-born native of Queensland. He is a 
 splendid specimen of muscular and intellectual Chris- 
 tianity, and much beloved by the prisoners, among 
 whom he is a constant visitor, his hearty " Keep up a 
 good heart, my boy," echoing cheerily down the sad 
 old corridors. Possessed of a remarkably fine voice, 
 his sermons reach the farthest cell. Being of a rare 
 simplicity and finish, they are listened to with an at- 
 tention which is unexpected when one considers the 
 average character of his audience. These afternoon 
 services are made especially enjoyable by the singing 
 
74 CAELYJLE W. HAREIS. 
 
 of Mrs. Taylor, a contralto soloist of note. Such num- 
 bers as " The Lost Chord," sound strangely here, but 
 are \yonderfully appreciated, the prime favorite, how- 
 ever, being, " Where Is My Wandering Boy ? " and 
 when the chorus is reached it is swelled by hundreds 
 of hoarse and beer-stained voices. A number of ladies 
 attend on Sunday afternoons, and are allowed to 
 distribute reading matter to the prisoners. Some 
 strangers are also admitted, and these last take occa- 
 sion sometimes to speak to those in the cells. Often 
 these encounters are very amusing. I remember one 
 time a very dignified old gentleman, wearing gray 
 ■whiskers on either side of a most aristocratic nose, 
 stopped at the cell next my own and asked, " What are 
 you accused of, my poor fellow?" The lucid reply 
 was: "Wei], yer see dey say I wuz out on de dipp, 
 see ? An' dat I touched a gent fur his leaver and 
 weeded it, see ? But I'm dead innocent. Dat ain't my 
 graft; it. wuz annudder one of de gang, see? I 
 wouldn't squeal tho', not much, huh! but the sucker, 
 he raps to me an' I've got ter take me bit and do it like 
 a little man, see ? " And the dear old gentleman leaned 
 against the rail while he gasped out that " he was 
 sorry it was so bad as all that, really very sorry, in- 
 deed ! " Then he asked the keeper what the charge 
 was against the man in No. 41, and was told highway 
 robbery. 
 
 Many charitable women choose the Tombs for a field 
 of labor. Among these are Mrs. M. E. Studwell and 
 Mrs. Walters, who have both been regular visitors for 
 more than twenty years. These experienced workers 
 distribute paper novels and illustrated newspapers, and 
 
CAELYLE W. HAEEIS. 75 
 
 endeavor to lead fallen men into paths of honest live- 
 lihood — nor are they always unsuccessful. Some visit- 
 ors, however, are peculiar in their charities. I recall 
 one lady, introduced to me by the chaplain, telling me 
 one day she was about to purchase some books for her- 
 self and would be happy to make me a present of any 
 volume I wished for. I thanked her but explained 
 that I was kept very well supplied with reading mat- 
 ter, " However, madam," I said, " there is a poor man 
 in No. 41 in need of nourishing food and a change of 
 underwear. I can recommend him as a most worthy 
 object for your kindness." 
 
 " Oh, but Mr. H ," she replied, " I have seen him 
 
 and he's so uninteresting." Yes, Avhen a man is old 
 and ill and hasn't a change of underclothing for months 
 he is uninteresting, but I think a certain Nazarene 
 would have bid him share his meal for all that. Chris- 
 tianity to-day as preached from gilded pulpits seems to 
 differ from the sermon on the Mount. 
 
 On holidays there is usually some attempt to hold 
 services. I say " attempt " advisedly, because the in- 
 mates do not encourage preaching on week days. A 
 memorable service was celebrated on Thanksgiving last. 
 It began with a duet by an old gentleman and his wife, 
 their choice being that hilarious hymn of Longfellow's 
 " The Day is Dark and Dre-ery." This was followed 
 by the reading of a letter from a man who was always 
 expected to " shuffle off " giving his ante mortem ideas 
 of paradise, which were very gratifying. From this 
 epistle was preached a sermon on " Death," and then, 
 instead of the Doxology, was sung " As "We Walk 
 Through the Valley of the Shadow." Only the first 
 
Y6 CAELYLE W. HAEEIS. 
 
 verse of this last was rendered, however, enthusiastic 
 invitations to " shut up and stay to dinner " raining so 
 fast and loudly on the heads of the devoted choir that 
 they were forced to seize their wraps and hie to shelter 
 from the storm. 
 
 On the afternoon of every New Year's Day an en- 
 tertainment is given under the direction of the soloists, 
 Mrs. Taylor and Mrs. Studwell. On this occasion ap- 
 plause is allowed ad libitum, and when a musician or 
 reader pleases the multitude he is made keenly aware 
 of the fact. Imagine, if you can, a picked crew from all 
 the "peanut galleries" in town, each armed with a 
 tin pan to pound on, and you may have some idea of 
 the noise. The programme for New Year's Day, 1892, 
 was a very good one and the volunteer talent excellent, 
 but that audience was an entertainment in itself. 
 Things progressed with moderate decorum until the 
 third number, which was a banjo duet. When those 
 banjos began to plunk, three hundred pairs of heels 
 beat accurate time on the stone floor, and the effect 
 was of an army dancing a clog.' And the encore ! I 
 thought it would never be equaled, but it was. A 
 singer sang in a fine baritone voice, "The Wearing of 
 the Green," and there was pandemonium at the end of 
 every verse. It was terrific ; it was also touching. 
 One incarcerated son of Erin howled out in a voice 
 hoarse with tears, but which was heard above all the 
 din, " God bless yez, Casey !" 
 
 The day following Thanksgiving was signalized in 
 the newspapers by descriJDtive articles purporting to 
 give accounts of how the holiday had been observed in 
 the Tombs. These articles were statistical, stating 
 
CARLYLE W. HARRIS. 77 
 
 that SO many barrels of onions, potatoes and cran- 
 berries, and so many turkeys had been prepared for 
 the enjoyment of the prisoners ; then ran on a vivid 
 description of the kind-hearted Warden presiding at 
 the table, which was overhung with boughs of ever- 
 green, followed by the statement that such and such 
 well-known prisoners asked for a third help. 
 
 Now as a matter of fact the prisoners were served in 
 the morning with dry bread and bootleg coffee, and in 
 the late afternoon with more bread and corrosive tea 
 as usual, the only difference being that the midday 
 "soup" contained pieces of chicken instead of the 
 every-day beef. 
 
 Speaking of the fare here I would say that the coffee 
 is hot but absolutely tasteless, and as for the tea, after 
 it stands awhile there forms a precipitate which is 
 excellent for cleaning brass. The midday soup, how- 
 ever is eatable except on Friday, when an alleged "fish 
 chowder" is served, which would turn the heart and 
 stomach of a most devout Catholic. It is the privilege 
 of prisoners with money to buy their meals from the 
 prison "caterer," and as his prices are set by the com- 
 missioners, and set very low, almost every prisoner 
 can afford a square meal once in awhile. This caterer 
 is a good-humored Teuton wearing an enormous apron 
 and a tremendous pair of shoes. His name is "Joe," 
 but his gait is so rapid that every one calls him " the 
 Flying Dutchman." His politics may be summed up 
 in one historic word, " Bismarck." Another character 
 is the prison barber, who visits us every morning and 
 bleeds his customers with the precision of a mediaeval 
 " leech," at 15 cents a bleed. His path through the 
 
78 CAELYLE W. HARRIS. 
 
 building is marked by groans and gore and he has a 
 record of seventeen operations (he calls them " shafes ") 
 in twenty minutes. 
 
 Let me show you the inside of a cell. You see it's 
 about 12 feet by 6, furnished luxuriously with an iron 
 cot, bedding, a tin cup, a saucepan and a metal spoon. 
 No knives or forks are allowed, so the prisoners grind 
 the side of one spoon to an edge and another (to be 
 had for the asking) to a point, and — there you are \ 
 Now look closely and you will see some finely de- 
 veloped specimens of the Blotta indicus, or cockroach. 
 This interesting exosheleton attains magnificent pro- 
 portions here. There are other invertebrate fauna in 
 the Tombs, but these are by far the most prominent. 
 Powder and a gun are furnished by tho, keepers at any 
 time and we have a hattue about once a month. Such 
 creature comforts as a chair, piece of carpet, etc., can 
 be brought in by permission of the warden, but the 
 average inmate sits, eats and sleeps on his bed with his 
 feet on the stone floor all day; thus he is able to flavor 
 his diet with a daily bottle of cough mixture. One 
 cell on the first tier is fitted up for use as a chapel, 
 and there the good Father Gilenus administers to the 
 spiritual necessities of Catholic prisoners. He must 
 hear some strange confessions. 
 
 The majority of the prisoners here are not interest- 
 ing ; they are of a type. Men of the class I refer to 
 are known to the police as "crooks ;" they are thieves 
 to the core and spend their idle hours in jail planning 
 new knaveries against the time of their release. These 
 men seldom reform. An honest living, however readily 
 within their reach, has no charms, their ambition being 
 
OARLYLE W. IIA&EtS. 79 
 
 to secure fortune and renown among their fraternity 
 by some brilliant cou-p. 
 
 Some of this class are intelligent, smart, even well 
 educated, and when the prison has been overcrowded 
 (as it often is), I have had them for roommates. 
 Their schemes and confidences would fill a volume. I 
 may speak of them another time. An incident con- 
 cerning one of my roommates was very amusing ; he was 
 arrested for burglary and pleaded guilty. Pending 
 sentence he had to wait in the Tombs, and as we were 
 " doubling up " all around befell to my share. Now 
 if a man is clean he is endurable, and as each tier has 
 its bathtub there is no excuse for his being otherwise. 
 This fellow was thrust upon me on a Wednesday, and 
 I came to the conclusion (no matter how) that he 
 needed a bath, so I explained to him that it was the 
 custom for each new prisoner to bathe on Thursday ! 
 He complained that he had had a bath but a week or so 
 before, but I told him that made no difference. I 
 thought all would go well, and the next day took my tri- 
 weekly plunge, offering him the use of a bath towel on 
 my return. " Oh, no," he said, " I ain't going to take no 
 bath!" "But it's the rule," I insisted. "'Taint no 
 sich thing," he replied, " I asked the keeper ! " How- 
 ever, I explained things to the keeper and a change 
 was effected that gave me a roommate with less dread 
 ol aqua fura. I am glad to render this most just 
 tribute to the keepers in the Tombs ; they have made 
 my unfortunate imprisonment as endurable to me as is 
 possible within the rules, and my treatment is by no 
 means the exception. Men here are not suffering 
 penal servitude ; they are awaiting either trial or 
 
80 CAELYLE W. HAftRIS. 
 
 appeal, and their guilt or innocence is still sub judice. 
 This is appreciated by the keepers to a degree that is 
 unexpected when one considers the harsh and harden- 
 ing nature of their duties. 
 
 It is not my intention at this time to speak of indi- 
 vidual cases, however amusing or pathetic they may be, 
 but I may surely grant myself one exception. The man- 
 ager of a female baseball club was arrested on a charge 
 of abduction ; he was subsequently convicted and later 
 granted a stay of procedure by the Supreme Court. I 
 refer to Sylvester F. Wilson, whose case excited con- 
 siderable popular interest at the time of his trial. On 
 the day of his incarceration he at once transformed his 
 cell (No. 37) into an editorial sanctum, from which he 
 issued several numbers of a publication he called 
 WilsorCs Weekly World. This alliterative periodical 
 was devoted to denouncing his enemies and was circu- 
 lated among his friends. An average man is content to 
 plead his cause in prose ; not so Mr. Wilson, and whole 
 columns were devoted to rhyme as innocent of iambics 
 and dactyls as the virgin records of the Ptolemys. 
 For instance : 
 
 " Christian, as you pass the door of hell, 
 Look into cell 37, this is where I dwell \ ' 
 
 And again : 
 
 " My life is free from shame, my heart from crime. 
 So why should I be arrested and my name covered with slime? 
 "Why am I here, and my liberty in peril, 
 For doing a noble act of charity to a poor little girl ? " 
 
 It will be seen that a truly inspired poet can at 
 
GAJtLYLfi W. HARRIS. 81 
 
 times burst the enthralling bonds of metre, and the 
 shackles of rhythm, while we poor mortals gape and 
 gaze, but cannot understand ! 
 
 Under the existing circumstances it would not be de- 
 corous for me to criticise the aspect of this state toward 
 its criminal population, though that there is ample 
 ground for criticism no one can deny ; yet there is a 
 scene enacted here each morning at 7 o'clock that is, in 
 my opinion, a disgrace to our institutions. Every week 
 a number of young men and boys are convicted of crime 
 for the first time. The majority of these are sentenced 
 to the Elmira Reformatory and are between the ages of 
 sixteen and twenty ; they are not beyond the pale of 
 moral influence. They may still retrieve their mis- 
 take and develop into worthy citizens. The fact of 
 their sentence to a reformatory instead of to penal ser- 
 vitude is in recognition of this idea. Hence every in- 
 fluence brought to bear upon these boys should be of a 
 nature to increase their self-respect and, as far as pos- 
 sible, win them to a horror of all that is criminal and 
 vile. And yet these boys are taken to the reformatory 
 in chains. Each is handcuffed to his companion, his 
 legs are shackled and a chain of steel connects his wrist 
 with those of the prisoners in front and behind him. I 
 believe this practice begets a tendency to that criminal 
 bravado and despair which once engrafted on the 
 mind can never be eradicated- There is an excuse for 
 this, but yet it is not necessary. 
 
 I have not told you anything about myself, because 
 it is not wise for one to think of himself in here ; it 
 tends to that peculiar state of mind we call insanity, 
 "which is perhaps the only thing a brave man neecl ever 
 
82 CABLYLE \V. HARRIS. 
 
 really dread. But some day, if ever that truth which 
 is now so deep within the well of legal verbiage finds 
 surface, I may put a few miles of sunshine between 
 myself and these dreary walls, and then tell you of 
 what I have seen, and heard and thought and felt dur- 
 ing this time, that seems so strange to me and so very, 
 very long. Caklyle Haeeis. 
 
CARLYLE W. HARRIS. B3 
 
 CONDITION OF THE TOMBS. 
 
 [The following article was written before an extra term of the 
 court had been decided on, but was kept over by the editor. 
 
 F. McO. H.] 
 
 With summer upon us and the courts of Oyer and 
 Terminer and General Sessions about to close their 
 doors for the heated term, a state of overcrowding and 
 wretchedness will soon obtain here in the Tombs, to 
 which I would call public attention ; first because it is 
 entirely avoidable, and also for a reason to be discussed 
 further down. This closing of the courts causes a con- 
 gestion in the Tombs that is absolutely appalling. 
 Many of the cells are mere boxes measuring but seven 
 feet by four and ventilated only through the grating 
 of the door. Overcrowding necessitates an allotment 
 of two men to each of these wretched quarters and a 
 consequent sum of discomfort and sufferings that beg- 
 gar description. 
 
 I refer more particularly to what is known as the 
 " new " prison, where ordinarily only those charged 
 with misdemeanors are confined and where the period 
 of delay in trial is usually short. But the courts once 
 closed, the " old " prison soon fills, and the overflow 
 must await the pleasure of the court amid almost un- 
 bearable horrors of heat, foul air and vermin. That 
 
84 OAfeLTLfi W. MAEElS. 
 
 many of these men are criminals, is true, but the ag- 
 gregate of the innocent is by no means inconsiderable, 
 and though many are, even under our beneficent insti- 
 tutions, foredoomed to unjust conviction and unde- 
 served disgrace, a speedy trial is their right, and the 
 suspension of this department of the public business 
 seems to me without excuse. 
 
 In the " old " prison there is some attempt at venti- 
 lation and the cells are larger than those I have de- 
 scribed, averaging five by eight feet in size, with a slit 
 of window through which a rat might, and sometimes 
 does, crawl. But under this prison there is a subcellar 
 boasting at all times a fluid floor, which maintains 
 throughout the entire building some 90 per cent, of 
 humidity. 
 
 Has wretchedness always a humorous side? The 
 effect of this moist heat upon the apparel of some of 
 the inmates would startle a Ceylonese. A breath of 
 fresh air in the prison yard is a luxury never granted 
 to any one, not even when ill, but there is a dress 
 parade of these unfortunates every afternoon in the 
 corridors during exercise hour. Five articles of dress 
 are but little below the average, and two of these may 
 be politely characterized as half-hose, or quarter-hose, 
 perhaps. Many poor fellows show a constancy toward 
 their upper garments that can only be explained upon 
 the theory of necessity. In some cases this peculiarity 
 is so marked that the atmosphere is changed in con- 
 sistency if not in color by contact. A prevalent fancy 
 for wearing braces after the fashion of drapery adds to 
 an ensemble that for exaggerated forlornness I have 
 never seen equaled. 
 
CAfiLYLB W. MAURIS. 85 
 
 As the supply of water for the prison is drawn from 
 a tank situated immediately under the roof, that con- 
 vivial beverage is of a temperature excellent for bathing 
 infants, but scarcely so for assuaging thirst ; and not 
 one prisoner in one hundred can afford the luxury of 
 ice, for they are deprived of all means of support. 
 
 Not many weeks ago, when, instead of being hot 
 and humid, these cells were cold and damp, a man was 
 taken ill with pneumonia. Every effort to secure his 
 transfer to a hospital, where he could enjoy proper 
 food and attendance, was made by the visiting physi- 
 cian, by the warden, and by the chaplain. Dr. Zillman. 
 But as the man was awaiting sentence for a minor 
 degree of larceny, the judge insisted that he remain 
 where he was. Devoured by fever, he was denied the 
 ministrations of any but the palsied pauper who hap- 
 pened to be detailed to watch him. His wife could 
 see and speak to him only through the grating of the 
 door. Delirious, alone, he died without the solace of a 
 hand upon his brow — without a friend to wish his bark 
 Godspeed upon that tide which ebbs for every man 
 but once. Surely the recording angel is not less pitiful 
 than I ! and if his eyes were dim as mine are now, I 
 think a trembling line erased the record of John 
 Newton's larceny. 
 
 Each week young men are brought here charged 
 with larceny by 'their employers, whom they have 
 robbed to gamble in the pool rooms that at present 
 adorn our thoroughfares. The majority of these cases 
 confess, plead for judicial clemency and are sentenced 
 to from one to ten years penal servitude. 
 
 It has been my unhappy lot to witness many of the 
 
SS OlfiLtLE W. HARltlS. 
 
 results of crowding men together in a prisofi. Vices 
 unspeakable are bced and fostered, vices which figure 
 Upon the state statistics of insanity and death. Tlie 
 loss of honest ambition is everywhere seen, racn sitting 
 for hours staring into a vacancy that for them is 
 peopled only with the phantoms of regret. 
 
 Will this modest article reach the eye of any young 
 man about to stake his earnings on a " sure tip ? " I 
 hope so. 
 
 Need our courts be closed from June until September ? 
 I think not. Only a tithe of this suffering is neces- 
 sary. 
 
 There are four judges in the Sessions and only three 
 courts, hence, even if all three courts transact business 
 throughout the entire year, each judge enjoys three 
 montlis' release from the burden of administering law 
 four hours per day on five days of the week. I have 
 no doubt that the strain upon a conscientious judge 
 must be at times very severe. No one can intelli- 
 gently read the penal code and doubt this. Still are 
 not three vacations, of a month each, enough even for 
 a judge ? I do not for one moment presume that any^ 
 of these learned gentlemen would object to court being 
 held in two of the three parts during the heated term. 
 This would allow to each an added month of holiday 
 to the three I have already referred to. I do not sug- 
 gest that their present condition of desuetude during 
 the summer is their choice — it is merely misfortune of 
 precedent, and only a fair volume of public sentiment 
 is needed to effect a change which, I am sure they will 
 each agree, would be a wise one. Though members 
 of the grand jury occasionally visit the Tombs I have 
 
CAELYLE W. HAEEIS. 87 
 
 never heard of a judge doing so, nor of one interesting 
 himself in the census of those awaiting trial. I do not 
 write this in a spirit of criticism, but I am sure a judi- 
 cial visit in July would work a needed change. 
 
 Having spoken of the disastrous consequences of long 
 imprisonment, and being so well aware that what I 
 see around me gives but an inkling of tlie degradation 
 to be found within the walls of state institutions, I 
 cannot forego a word upon the subject of penal servi- 
 tude, although I have neither space nor inclination for 
 a discussion of the subject here. 
 
 Surely fresh air, sunshine and daily contact with 
 nature are divine simples for the cure of vice and 
 crime. Contact with mother earth, the tillage of the 
 soil, have always bred a race morally as well as phy- 
 sically strong. Surely there are many islands on our 
 shores, sufficiently isolated to prevent escape, where 
 those who have for the first time erred might be 
 taught to battle honestly for a livelihood within the 
 borders of our newer states. I do not plead for those 
 who justly bear the brand of Cain. But since the 
 dark cell, the paddle and the strap have failed, is it 
 not time to test a milder code? Criminals sent by 
 England to Botany Bay suffered horrible outrages at 
 the hands of uneducated and brutal officials, but are 
 not their descendants to-day among the honored in 
 Australia ? Yes, and in many instances their ;fathers 
 won honesty and respect — from out the soil ! Kead 
 about it. Think about it. The fact that we can neither 
 cure our criminals nor prevent crime is a menace to 
 civilization, and a growing menace. 
 
 CAKtYtB HaeR}§. 
 
CAELYLE W. HaEEIS. 
 
 PLANS FOR PRISON REFORMS. 
 
 Harris knew a great deal when he entered the 
 Tombs prison. He has studied and observed much 
 since that time. While he was talking through the 
 iron bars a man was brought in by a keeper to be as- 
 signed to a ceU. Harris glanced at him for a mo- 
 ment only and said, with perfect confidence, " That's 
 an ex-convict. " 
 
 The statement proved to be true when the keeper 
 was questioned. 
 
 " That's not at all a hard thing to do," said Harris. 
 " Nine times out of ten I can tell at a glance ever^'^ 
 ex -convict that comes to that desk. There is some- 
 thing about a man who has been in the penitentiary 
 which sticks to him no matter how long he has been 
 out or how prosperous or wretched he may have be- 
 come in the interval. It is this fact which helps de- 
 tectives so much in their work of catching professional 
 thieves. They can tell the ex-convict as soon as they 
 see him no matter what part of the country he may 
 come from. I can't tell what it is that stamps them. 
 It is something in the eyes and something in the man- 
 ner. They never get rid of it any more than a clergy- 
 man or a priest rids himself of the expression which 
 his profession stamps on his face." 
 
 Carl^le Harris h^§ views about prison lif§ and tbe 
 
OAELYLE W. HARRIS. 89 
 
 treatment of prisoners which are decided. He believes 
 that the prison system in force m this country is a 
 most admirably arranged machine for the production 
 of criminals. 
 
 " Very few men," said he, " are really thorough 
 criminal until they have been to prison. Yielding to 
 temptation or bad surroundings, they steal. This 
 indicates a latent criminal quality which the state 
 hastens to take advantage of as promptly as a proud 
 parent seizes upon any display of artistic talent in a 
 child. The citizen who has shown that he has in him 
 the making of a thorough-going criminal, is sent 
 promptly to a school where every criminal instinct 
 will be developed, and where past-masters in the art 
 of crime will finish him off and fit him for all grades 
 of work. If there were any government schools for 
 art or science, as successful in the average of its pupils 
 as the government schools for crime, great artists and 
 profound scientists would soon be as plentiful in 
 America as distinguished burglars and forgers, which 
 is saying a great deal. 
 
 " I have seen a young man come in here frightened 
 to death at the thought of what he had done. He 
 was sentenced, sent to prison for a short time and 
 then brought back on some technicality to a new 
 hearing. The change in him must have been very 
 gratifying to those in charge of the institutions for 
 the development of criminal tendencies. The young 
 man had already developed two schemes :. One was 
 for the robbery of the sub-treasury by a sale and 
 easy method, and the other was a plan for the whole- 
 sale stealing and shipping to England of the best 
 hors§§ in New York," 
 
90 CAELYLE W. HAEEIS. 
 
 Harris' scheme to do away with what he considers 
 an evil system would provide for a sort of Botany 
 Bay arrangement. 
 
 " They tallc about hereditary crime," said Harris, 
 "but look at the fine men who have descended from 
 the criminals sent out to Botany Bay. A human 
 being is a creature made up of various passions and 
 impulses. What he does in life and what his descend- 
 ants amount to, depend upon the development of good 
 or evil qualities. There is no such thing as an abso- 
 lutely bad man. What criminals want is contact with 
 the soil. Let them dig in the dirt and get out among 
 the trees in the fresh air. Half at least of the four 
 hundred men shuffling around those galleries have 
 never seen the country life. If the chance were 
 offered them they would rather dig and worli and 
 get a living than sleep about the slums, stabbing and 
 stealing. If instead of the prison at Smg Sing this 
 state owned an island at a good distance from the 
 shore where prisoners could be sent to work we 
 should not be breeding criminals at the present rate." 
 
 Of all the things which he has observed since he 
 was in prison Harris appears to be most affected by 
 " prison insanity." 
 
 "After men have been in the penitentiary for a 
 short time," said he, "thirty or forty out of a hundred 
 at least are prison crazy. This is a mild form of in- 
 sanity — one from which, I do not think, a, man can 
 ever completely recover: It comes from the horrible 
 routine of prison life, and is characterized especially 
 by a tendency to exaggerate the smallest trifles. If a 
 door is opened m an unusual way, if a prisoner who 
 
CAKLYLK W. HAEEIS. 91 
 
 has had certain liberties is partly deprived of them, 
 if there is a change in tlie food, or any other trifling 
 break in the monotony of life, the unfortunates who 
 are prison crazy brood upon the detail and worry 
 about it for da^^s. Even keepers who are over the 
 prisoners and share their lives sometimes become 
 prison crazy. Think of the lives such men will lead 
 when they get out of prison, and what must be their 
 contribution to the generatioiis following them." 
 
 Harris talks remarkably little about his own case, 
 and, while he loses no opportunity of putting before 
 the public any fact favorable to himself, he appears 
 fonder of philosophizing on the things he has seen and 
 in commenting upon the human life around him, than 
 in going over his own troubles. He is interested at 
 present in the case of a lonely Italian who was 
 wandering about with a tattered coat and a 
 woebegone expression. The Italian, charged with 
 assault in the second degree, which assault con- 
 sisted in gouging out a man's eye, came to prison 
 some time ago the proud possessor of two saloons and 
 a soda-water factory and a fortune amounting to 
 thirty thousand or forty thousand dollars. His name 
 is Alfonso Brocco and at present poverty compels him 
 to mix up his food in a little tin pan in his cell. 
 Friends and the law have dissipated the result of years 
 of Italian thrift. Harris sympathizes with Mr. Brocco 
 and thinks he is not guilty. "While Harris was describ- 
 ing him the unfortunate Italian received from a mes- 
 senger a very thick pamphlet of two or three hundred 
 pages. It was the record of all the evidence 
 and other doings in his case, with the appeal, stays, 
 etQ, 
 
92 CAELYLE W. HAEEIS. 
 
 " The poor devil," said Harris, " will b egin to read 
 that now, and read it all night over and over until he 
 is half crazy." 
 
 Harris is much cheered just at present by the evi- 
 dence which his lawyers possess, and which goes to 
 show that the wife, of whose murder by morphine 
 poison he was convicted, was an habitual user of the 
 drug. Numerous witnesses have been found, Harris 
 said, who swear that Helen Potts before and after her 
 marriage took morphine frequently. The capsules 
 which Plarris gave his wife to quiet her headache were 
 supposed to contain one-sixth of a grain each. If 
 filled with pure morphine, without any quinine ad- 
 mixture, they might have been made to hold from three 
 to five grains. But this amount, as Harris points 
 out, could not have had any dangerous effects upon an 
 habitual taker of morphine. It is upon this evidence 
 that he relies for a new trial and acquittal. 
 
 One of his witnesses turned up in a very romantic 
 way. One fine day a lady and her daughter, the latter 
 a pretty girl, called upon Warden Fallon of the 
 Tombs, and asked permission to try to identify a 
 prisoner who they believed had stolen the young 
 girl's diamond ring. While they were going about 
 through the prison the young girl asked of Warden 
 Fallon : 
 
 " Does Carlyle Harris live here ? " She went on to 
 say that she did not know Harris, but that she knew 
 his wife very well and knew that Harris did not 
 murder her. Harris' wife, she said, took morphine 
 regularly and had once administered an overdose of 
 the drug to her which nearly proved fate^l, 
 
OARLYLE W. HAEKIS. 93 
 
 The warden took the address of the mother and 
 daughter, and a very valuable witness, according to 
 Harris' lawyers, has thus been secured. 
 
 While Harris was discussing his case Commissioner 
 Sheehy of the Board of Charities and Correction, came 
 in to look over the prison. He shook hands with 
 Harris and said, " Young man, I hope you will pull 
 through this." Afterward he said, as he stalked through 
 the prison corridors with humble keepers bowing right 
 and left, " I do not believe that young man is guilty. 
 From what I know of the case I am convmced that 
 the young woman took drugs of her own accord, and 
 I don't think Harris ought to be killed under such 
 circumstances." 
 
94 CAELYLE W. HAEEIS. 
 
 LAST INTERVIEW AT THE TOMBS. 
 
 [As an instance of my dear boy's devotion to me, on 
 Monday afternoon, after he had spoken for one hour 
 and fifty -five minutes and endured hearing the sentence 
 of death pronounced upon him, his friend Mr. Brisbane 
 sent in and said that, if he would grant him an interview 
 he would see that his mother was paid for it. He 
 turned to me and said : " One more chance to get you 
 a little money, dear old girl " (the tone made this a 
 very sweet name and not at all impertment), " I must 
 do this for you ! Read and think of him— tired, with 
 death confronting him, and judge between him and his 
 enemies.— F, McC. H.J 
 
 When the reporter saw him in his prison he was 
 seated in a camp chair, facing the iron-barred door to 
 his cell. He sat in a natural, easy manner, and accord- 
 ing to his invariable custom, carried in his right hand 
 a half-smoked cigarette, which he occasionally waved 
 around to emphasize various points in his conversation. 
 He looked like an ordinary hard working young man 
 who had been in the habit of sitting up late at night, 
 there was nothing in his appearance to show that he 
 had been confined a very long time in prison. His face 
 was pale, from the lack of sunshine, but not at all hag- 
 gard. His hands were not thin, as has been reported, 
 eind his ejes were quite cle^r. Hamg himself points 
 
OARLYI.E W. HARRIS. 95 
 
 to all these evidences of a sturdy constitution to argue 
 that he could not have been the physical wreck that 
 he was alleged to have been by those who said his 
 early life had been a fast one. The muscles of his 
 arms are hard. lie allowed the reporter to feel thera. 
 
 " You would be surprised," he said, " to know how 
 strong I am. Very few men would have passed 
 through this ordeal and come out in such good con- 
 dition. Ordinarily I feel tired, with no inclination to 
 move about, even if I had the opportunity. I have 
 not had any chance of exercise, and I feel more like 
 a dead than a live man. But I feel certain that, if I 
 were attacked by an athlete or pugilist, I could give 
 him all he wanted." This was said with all that pride 
 peculiar to the young male of the human species when 
 talking about his physical power. 
 
 It is well to correct a number of false impressions 
 that have gone abroad about Harris. It was said that, 
 while he was in the Tombs, after having been re- 
 sentenced by the recorder, the keepers took away his 
 shoe-strings, his neck ties and everything with which 
 he might possibly put himself to death. It was also 
 ajleged that every one who went to see him had to be 
 searched. The truth of the matter is that Harris was 
 treated more like a distinguished guest, than a prisoner 
 under sentence of capital punishment, awaiting trans- 
 portation to the death department of Sing Sing. He 
 had plenty of shoe-strings and neckties, but he did not 
 wear them, because they made him feel uncomfortable. 
 There was a big stove directly in front of his door in 
 the Tombs. This stove is calculated to heat up the 
 whole of Murderers' Kow, and made it so very warm 
 
96 eXELYLE W. HARRIS. 
 
 where Harris was, that he is not to be blamed for wish- 
 ing to get rid of as much superfluous clothing as pos- 
 sible. And, besides, if he had contemplated suicide, 
 these articles, as you will see, would have been entirely- 
 unnecessary. His keepers had perfect confidence m 
 him. Mr. Jim Skelley, who had the distinction of 
 keeping guard over Harris' cell during his last seven 
 months at the Tombs, announced to the reporter that 
 the condemned man was a perfect gentleman. 
 
 " If you could 'a' seen him day and night, like I 
 have," said Mr. Skelley, " you wouldn't have thought 
 that he was guilty. There isn't a keeper here who 
 thinks that he committed that murder. This is where 
 the recorder ought to have been instead of sitting m 
 court. That man don't act like a murderer, and I 
 have seen lots of murderers. Usually a murderer, 
 after he has been here a few weeks, thinks he owns the 
 place. He gets proud and orders the keepers around. 
 Harris never did this. He always spoke polite, and 
 spent his time reading, while the others were bossing 
 or growling." 
 
 The reporter can vouch that Harris was treated 
 with every consideration at the Tombs. 
 
 " I was just wondering when you came in," he said, 
 " why, if the public believe me guilty, as Recorder 
 Smyth does, of an atrocious crime, they did not lynch 
 me when they had a chance. I said to Burke, the 
 deputy sheriff, as he was taking me back to the 
 Tombs, after I had been re-sentenced : ' If people 
 think I murdered my wife, why in God's name 
 don't they string me up ? ' Instead of that I heard 
 many persons sympathize with me and tell me that 
 
OiELYLE W. tlAftRIg. 9? 
 
 I would get the best of the recorder after 
 all. That doesn't look as if the people think I am 
 guilty, does it ? 
 
 " I was careful when T made my last plea in court 
 not to rant against Recorder Smyth, because I am 
 perfectly aware that that would do me no good. But I 
 must say that I don't understand how it is in keeping 
 with justice that the recorder should have been the 
 one to decide whether or not I should have a new 
 trial. Just before the recorder sentenced me for the 
 first time" he said that he thoroughly believed me to 
 be guilty of the foulest crime that man could com- 
 mit. Do you think that a man who has expressed 
 such an opinion could enter upon the consideration of 
 evidence submitted for the purpose of getting a new 
 trial with an unprejudiced mind? And yet the law 
 requires that the appeal for a new trial must be made 
 before the judge who presided at the first one. 
 
 " It is an outrage," he said, excitedly. " Oh, it is a 
 horrible outrage, and yet I shall not have been made a 
 victim in vain. Those were true words that I spoke 
 to the recorder when T said that this would be the 
 last of schoolgirl expert testimony. How unfair it 
 was to allow the statements of mere children to out- 
 weigh affidavits which must have had due weight with • 
 the people, if they did not with the recorder." 
 
 Harris continued to talk rather bitterly about the 
 unfair treatment he had received. It is not surprising 
 that this is his favorite theme. Yet for a person who 
 thinks he has been greatly wronged, he contained 
 himself very well; probably others in his position 
 would have been disposed to rail at the alleged author 
 
98 OARLYLE W. H1KE18. 
 
 of their grievances. After he had gone on in this 
 strain for some time, the reporter approached as 
 delicately as possible a more interesting question. He 
 asked him whether he intended to commit suicide. 
 This was suggested by the fact that Harris has been 
 repeatedly reported to have said he could easily make 
 away with his own life, if occasion should require. If 
 he has really ever contemplated such a thing the 
 present occasion seems as appropriate as any. 
 
 " You may say for me," he exclaimed, " that my 
 greatest satisfaction is in knowing that I have cleared 
 myself before the eyes of the public. Suicide would he 
 the last thing I would think of. I have no reason 
 to kill myself. It would be a sort of confession of 
 weakness. No, sir ; I want the recorder to bear the 
 full responsibility of my death. I will not rob him of 
 that distinction." 
 
 ""Well, granting, Mr. Harris, that you have no inten- 
 tion of committing suicide, would you care to state for 
 the satisfaction of the public what you consider the 
 easiest and most effective way of putting an end to 
 your own life ? " 
 
 " Why," he said, thoughtfully, " there are several 
 different methods, all of them more or less feasible. 
 Of course, I don't intend to adopt any of them, but 
 if I wished to put myself out of the way without the 
 chance of detection, my knowledge of anatomy would 
 help me a great deal. For instance, when I go to bed, 
 I might get down under the bedclothes and bite the 
 arteries of my forearm. Probably you would not 
 know where to bite, but I could do it so as to bleed to 
 death in a short time. In the morning the keepers 
 would find me a corpse. 
 
OARLYLE W. HAERIS. 99 
 
 "There is another way which I have suggested 
 before. If I had matches and water I could mix them 
 together so as to make an efficient phosphorus poison. 
 But aside from the difficulty of obtaining matches, this 
 would be a very painful death. The victim of phos- 
 phorous poisoning dies in great agony. 
 
 " I have heard it said that some persons have com- 
 mitted suicide by standing on their heads and stopping 
 the circulation of the blood, but I think there must 
 have been some mistake about this. Such persons 
 could not have been under a death watch. The 
 keepers would be sure to see them, and besides this is 
 a clumsy method, which would' only be adopted by the 
 ignorant." 
 
 It was here suggested that a person might hold his 
 breath until the heart stopped beating. Harris scoffed 
 at this. 
 
 " That is all gammon," he said. " Even if you had 
 the will power, you would find that impossible. The 
 breath of life which God has given us is too precious 
 to be stolen away in such a manner. If such a thing 
 were practicable you would find that victims con- 
 demned to death would invariably cheat the gallows. 
 
 " It makes very little difference to me, though," he 
 said, "how I am to meet death, if I am going to die. 
 Death by electricity seems to me very horrible, but 
 no more so than by hanging or burning at the stake. 
 They are all ignominious. They are the vengeance 
 of the people for a crime committed against society. 
 Being an innocent man, I cannot discuss this question 
 as a murderer justly condemned would. Probably 
 such a one would prefer one way to another, but X 
 
loo CAIRLYLE W. HAEEIS. 
 
 assure you it is uttei'ly immaterial to me. Why, if 
 I were going to die to-night I would feel better than 1 
 do now. I am weary, absolutely weary, with all these 
 attempts to get a new trial and obtain a show of jus- 
 tice. If I am to be put to death for a crime that 
 I never committed, I would just as soon be tortured as 
 sit in the electrical chair." 
 
 Harris was then asked to discuss the question of his 
 prospects after death He does not seem to have given 
 this matter as much attention as might have been 
 expected from one in his position. He says he devotes 
 very little thought to himself and his misfortunes. His 
 mother and his family are the objects of his solicitude. 
 
 " Death," he said, after a moment of thought, " is 
 one of two things. It is either annihilation or eter- 
 nity. If it be eternity, then I shall be glad to enter 
 the same plea there that I have entered here. This is 
 a plea, not for mercy, but for justice. Up to the time 
 I was made a prisoner I had not thought much about 
 a future state. You see, I am only twenty-three years 
 old, and such serious subjects do not ordinarily occupy 
 a yoi^ng man's thoughts. But, if the dissolution of the 
 body means eternity or an everlasting future state of 
 existence, then I hope, earnestly hope, that I shall 
 find a place in that eternity. 
 
 " Persons are apt to think that what I may say as a 
 prisoner condemned to die will be more or less influ- 
 enced by ray position, but I think I may be believed 
 when I say that capital punishment is a mistake. It is 
 not necessary as a preventive of crime, in a modern 
 state of civilization. There was a time when sheep- 
 stealing was punishable with death, but those days are 
 
CAELYLE W. HAEEIS. lOl 
 
 over. There are more sheep and more people and 
 more poverty now than there were then but there 
 is less sheep-stealing. 
 
 "At the same time," he said, quickly, seeing how 
 this remark might be construed as being a plea for 
 mercy, and, therefore, a sort of acknowledgment of 
 guilt, "if a man is guilty beyond all doubt of the mur- 
 der of an innocent girl who loved him, I'd pull a rope 
 to hang him." He said this excitedly, waving his 
 half-smoked cigarette about m his outstretched hand. 
 
 "I see that Mr. Potts has been criticised for bis 
 behavior of late. Well, I know that Mr. Potts has 
 been going around with a gun ready to shoot any one 
 who offered to give evidence that his daughter was in 
 the habit of taking morphine. He even took his gun 
 into court, and I know that some valuable witnesses 
 for my case have been intimidated by these actions. 
 
 " .et," he continued, smiling pleasantly, " if Mr. 
 Potts, thoroughly believing that I have murdered his 
 daughter, should meet me on the street and shoot me 
 mortally, I should forgive him with my last breath. 
 Of course, if I saw him preparing to shoot me I would 
 defend myself, and shoot him if necessary. Why 
 shouldn't he kill me if he thought I was guilty of this 
 murder ? I entertain no hard feelings against Mr. 
 Potts. I know him very slightly, and he knew scarcely 
 anything of me. It is true that he was aware that 1 
 was courting his daughter, but he seldom saw me, and 
 we never spoke familiarly." 
 
 Harris looked studiously at the ground for a moment, 
 and then said : 
 
 "It has been a source of great satisfaction to me 
 
102 CAELYLE W. HAEEIS. 
 
 that I was able completely to expose the methods of 
 the prosecution." This was his favorite topic, and he 
 constantly reverted to it. "The methods that are 
 practiced in criminal trials might be expected in 
 China or any heathen country, but they are cer- 
 tainly out of place in a civilized community. One 
 man is fallible. The recorder is a pope in the law. 
 Pie has greater prerogatives than the pope ever 
 claimed. He says he has seen testimony on which I 
 have been condemned to die. But I have never seen 
 it. Is not that an awful injustice ? Yet he was able 
 to seal my doom. He did not transgress law, but he did 
 transgress justice. I am satisfied that if I die that, 
 after such a death, I will not have died in vain." 
 
 There was no tremor in Harris' voice when he 
 talked. He seemed completely self-possessed, and, ex- 
 cepting when he referred to Kecorder Smyth, con- 
 versed as one who was entirely disinterested. At 
 times he would laugh, and then his eyes would 
 brighten up intelligently. He referred now and then 
 to his mot'her, calling her his dear girl. "While Harris 
 was in the Tombs the World reporter was present at al- 
 most the last interview he had with his mother. Harris 
 caught sight of her the moment she entered Murderers' 
 Eow, and cried, " Ah, there comes the poor girl now." 
 The two embraced each other warmly. There was no 
 scene, no shrieking, nor any of the things which might 
 have been expected from an ordinary murderer's 
 mother. There seemed to be a real love between 
 them. But, even in referring to her afterward, Harris 
 betrayed no sign of emotion. " If I am pardoned," he 
 said, " it shall be the aim of my life to provide for my 
 
CAELTLE W. HARRIS. 103 
 
 mother. "When I get out of prison, if I do, I shall go 
 to work. I think the newspaper business would suit 
 me. I had intended to engage in that before my ar- 
 rest. I owe everything to my mother. She has made 
 herself poor on my account, and though I have been 
 able to earn small sums now and then in prison, by Avrit- 
 ing for the papers, I have not come near compensating 
 her for the money she has spent in trying to get 
 me released." 
 
 The writer of this has known Carlyle Harris ever 
 since he came prominently before the public. He has 
 followed him through his trial, his long imprisonment, 
 his vain efforts to obtain a new hearing and up to 
 Sing Sing, where the state requires him to take up a 
 temporary residence before he shall sit in the electric 
 chair. During this period of acquaintance the reporter 
 has observed, what the public has learned through see- 
 ing it repeatedly stated in print — that the most remark- 
 able feature about this strange young man is his abso- 
 lute self-control. 
 
 " Do you know," he said, leaning over, as though very 
 much interested, when he was asked to explain his seem- 
 ing indifference to his fate. " I am rather a puzzle to 
 myself ? I don't quite understand myself. I do not 
 see how a man guilty or innocent, could hold out as 
 I have. I am conscious of my innocence, and that 
 would bear most men up for a long time, but the very 
 consciousness of innocence would tend to break a man 
 up when he got to that last stage where hope had failed. 
 I should think that a young man like myself would 
 dread to die, but, as I have said to you, the question of 
 death never worries me in the least. 
 
104 CAELYLE W, HARRIS. 
 
 " I will quote you a few lines, if you wish, which 
 may possibly explain why I ana so self-possessed." 
 
 Harris repeated the following lines slowly ; he had 
 learned them, he said, long before he was sent to 
 prison : 
 
 " ' He that has light within his own clear breast 
 May sit i' the center and enjoy bright day ; 
 But he that hides a dark soul and foul thoughts, 
 Benighted walks under the midday sun ; 
 Himself is his own dungeon.' 
 
 " Those lines are from Milton's ' Comus,' " he said, 
 " and they appear to fit my case very well. You know 
 I like poetry very much, and have committed a great 
 deal to memory. In fact, I have a very remarkable 
 memory. I remember reading, when a child, a very 
 interesting little story about Napoleon Bonaparte, which 
 may have had an effect on my life. Napoleon had said 
 that his mind was a series of cabinets which he opened 
 at his pleasure, and when he shut them all up he fell 
 asleep. Once, while he was on a campaign, he said to 
 one of his lieutenants, pointing to a body of soldiers 
 marching in the distance: 'There goes a detachment 
 of Tlussians. When they have reached that point, 
 which is six miles distant, wake me up.' Then he lay 
 down and went to sleep. I always wished that I could 
 do that. A man with such perfect control of the cabi- 
 nets of his mind appeals strongly to my admiration. 
 
 " I feel that if I could get myself properly appreciated 
 I could lie down and die peacefully. Possibly I am 
 sustained in a great measure by the consolation I feel 
 
CAKLYLE W. HAEEIS. 105 
 
 tnat ttie public sympatmzes witn me. I have received 
 quantities of letters from all sorts of persons. Most of 
 them are from women. It is very satisfactory to know 
 that I have their sympathy. 
 
 "But on the other hand," he exclaimed, excitedly, 
 " I am sustained by a feeling of righteous rage." 
 
 Some persons have supposed that Harris' cool 
 behavior is an indication of guilt ; that he is one of 
 those men who would commit any deed, no matter how 
 horrible, in order to gain his end. It is certain that he 
 is not only different from most men, but also from most 
 criminals. This was evident on the trip to Sing Sing, 
 when Harris was easily the most self-contained of the 
 party. Even Mr. Burke, the deputy sheriff, who has 
 been conducting condemned prisoners to Sing Sing for 
 the past ten years, was visibly moved. He seemed at 
 a loss to understand Harris, at whom he looked with 
 a puzzled expression, from time to time. It might 
 have been expected that after having been shut out 
 from the world for two years, Harris would have mani- 
 fested some interest in the view outside the car 
 window. The train passed along the banks of the 
 Hudson. On the opposite shore the Palisades rose 
 majestically out of the~ mist. But the condemned man 
 did not notice them. The only time he appeared to 
 take an interest in the outside world was when the 
 train was crossing the Harlem. Then he looked out of 
 the window for a moment at several large pieces of ice 
 Avhich were lazily floating down the stream. For five 
 minutes after that he talked to those near him about 
 the natural formation of ice and snow. 
 
 Mr. Burke has observed that condemned prisoners 
 
lOG , CAELYLE W. HAERIS. 
 
 on entering Sing Sing prison invariably break down 
 when they pass through the long, rambling storehouse 
 that stands just within the prison yard. This place 
 would malie almost anybody feel bad. It is dark and 
 cold and gloomj^, and not a very respectable approach 
 to the largest prison in the state. Mr. Burke says that 
 prisoners who have been violently defiant up to the 
 very last moment have collapsed utterly after entering 
 the storehouse. Harris, however, walked through 
 briskly, chatting pleasantly with Deputy Sheriff 
 Brown, to whom he was attached by means of a hand- 
 cuff. 
 
 Even while he was having his hair cut by a convict 
 barber, and was reciting his " pedigree " to Clerk West- 
 lake, seated on a stool next to a deal table, he pre- 
 served the same indifferent demeanor that has marked 
 his behavior ever since he became a prisoner. 
 
 He has not very agreeable neighbors. The cell next 
 to his is vacant, but all of the other six are occupied by 
 murderers. There is Sliney, the young man Avho stole 
 up behind butcher Lyons and almost cut his head off 
 with a meat cleaver ; Osmond, a small, nervous man, 
 who shot his wife and her lover ; Hamilton, the colored 
 preacher, who slew a woman, and Palister, Eohl and 
 Geoghegan, all men who have violently murdered fel- 
 low human beings. Of these men, Sliney, Hamilton 
 and Geoghegan are to sit in the electrical chair before 
 May 8, the time when Harris is appointed to die. Thus, 
 unless there is some change in the arrangements, 
 Harris will be forcibly remmded on three different 
 occasions of his own approaching doom. Whether, 
 hidden from the w^orld, he will give way to the awful 
 strain on his nerves when these men are led out of 
 
CAELYLE W. HAEKIS. 107 
 
 their cells to death one by one, is a matter of conjec- 
 ture. Probably not. 
 
 It is rather interesting to imagine how Harris will 
 occupy himself in his cell. At the Tombs he had a 
 certain amount of freedom. He was allowed to read 
 ,the newspapers, to receive callers and write letters. At 
 times his keepers extended to him the additional privi- 
 lege of sitting outside his cell and reading and smoking. 
 But at Sing Sing he is under a death-watch. The front 
 of his cell consists entirely of iron bars, so that the 
 keepers may easily see every action of the prisoner. 
 Harris is allowed to write and receive letters, which 
 are subjected to the close scrutiny of the prison 
 authorities. Principal Keeper Connaughton, who is 
 one of the best men in the country for taking proper 
 care of prisoners, does not believe in making the 
 remainder of Carlyle Harris' life a torture. He is 
 treated kindly, and there is no reason, considering his 
 gentle bearing, why the Sing Sing keepers should not 
 become as much attached to him as those at the Tombs 
 did. He will also be allowed to smoke. This may be 
 considered a doubtful privilege, as the tobacco is manu- 
 factured in the prison by the convicts. 
 
 It may be barely possible that Harris does not really 
 contemplate ever sitting in the electrical chair. He 
 may have been led to believe that the governor will be 
 impressed by the numerous signatures that will be 
 attached to the petition about to be sent to Albany. 
 He has several times said that he would rather die 
 than endure imprisonment for life, but this may be an 
 exaggeration. He may even hope that, after a com- 
 mutation of his sentence, he may eventually be par 
 donedj and once more mingle freely with mankind. 
 
" Jiaught remains for me now, but to meet my misfortune 
 with the fortitude which is the birthright of a gentleman, 
 and the prerogative of an innocent man." 
 
 Carlylb W. Hakris. 
 
OAKLYLE W. HAREIS. Ill 
 
 SPEECHES OF CAKLYLE W. HAEEIS. 
 
 Short speech delivered Monday, February 27th, 1893, 
 when the motion for a new trial was made before 
 Eecorder Smyth. 
 
 " Certain things coming from my lips, your honor, 
 mean more than from the lips even of my esteemed 
 counselor," he said. Then he went on : 
 
 " Now, your honor, I have never said to any living 
 soul that my wife took morphine. I have told people 
 that the evidence induced me to suspect it and later 
 to believe it. I never knew my wife took morphine. 
 God forbid that I should suggest that Mr. and Mrs. 
 Potts knew it. 
 
 " I desire also to say that if Mr. and Mrs. Potts 
 didn't know Miss Wallace, or never met Miss Ethel 
 Harris or her mother, and didn't know anything about 
 these witnesses, I must say the same, that I didn't 
 know them either and I don't know them now. Miss 
 Jackson I have never met. Miss "Wallace I have no 
 recollection of meeting. They certainly have no 
 motive to lie for me. I don't think even the district 
 attorney would suggest that we could have purchased 
 Miss Jackson, that we could have purchased Miss 
 Wallace or any of the other witnesses. That could 
 very readily be established by the defense, for if five 
 hundred dollars would acquit me to-morrow I don't 
 know where I could get it. 
 
112 CAELYLE W: HARRIS.T- 
 
 " When the district attorjiey rose to open the oppo- 
 sition in this case, he made a remark that exhibits his 
 hand ; he made a remark that I think he would wish 
 now he had left unsaid. That mine " was a case for 
 executive clemency at Albany." Now, your honor, 
 if I am a guilty man I am guilty of one of the 
 foulest crimes that ever blackened the page of history ; 
 and if I am innocent, I am not guilty of it. There is 
 no doubt about that — and if I am innocent I ought to 
 walk abroad and labor for my living and for the living 
 of those who are near and dear to me and who were 
 reduced to poverty and want by the legitimate ex- 
 penses of my first trial. I should not be sent with an 
 appeal to Albany for executive clemency, and I should 
 not be locked up in Sing Sing for life or for a long term 
 of years, to go insane or die in the face of such evidence 
 as has been presented here to-day. 
 
 "Whether that evidence is true or not I don't know; 
 perhaps even your honor does not know. I think the 
 law is that it is for neither of us to say ; it is for the 
 jury to say. If that evidence is true, if one of 
 those aiBdavits is true, is there any doubt about my 
 innocence left? 
 
 " I want to call your attention to one fact, your 
 honor, if I may refer to the case. Dr. Peabody 
 testified on the stand that I told him that I was per- 
 fectly safe in that prescription when they told me I 
 would get into trouble for it, because I had two cap- 
 sules saved. How could I have had them when the 
 the only one I had I gave to the coroner ? The fact of 
 the matter was, your honor, if I am allowed to inject 
 this little matter here for a moment— that I told 
 
CAELYLE W. HARRIS. 113 
 
 him that no coroner's jury would blame me for the 
 prescription, that I kept a capsule and had given it to 
 the coroner, and that the coroiier would show where 
 the mistake lies, I believe. Those are matters of 
 small difference, only a few words, but that little 
 difference is just the difference between the north 
 and south hands of the compass, your honor, point- 
 ing to guilt in the minds of the jury, or pointing to 
 innocence. 
 
 "I suppose as soon as I sit down there willbeagreat 
 many things that I will remember that I wanted to 
 say, and that I will regret not having said ; but I am 
 weak, I am ill, and I am burdened with a weight of 
 misery such as I cannot express to your honor." 
 
 [To show what my poor boy suffered, it was just 
 after saying these words that I had to tell him his 
 brother was dangerously ill in a western city and I 
 must leave that very daJ^ He bore it, as he did all 
 else, seeming only to think of me. They said I held 
 Carl's hand during his few words — it was not true, I 
 sat by him, asking God to give him strength. 
 
 F. MoC. H.] 
 
114 OAELYLfi W. HaREIS. 
 
 SPEECH DELIVERED BY CAELYLE W. HAREIS, 
 JUST BEFORE SENTENCE OF DEATH 
 WAS PASSED UPON HIM BY RECORDER 
 SMYTH, MARCH 20, 1893. 
 
 Sorae little time ago I had occasion to address the 
 court as a matter of privilege. To-day, I speak by 
 statutory right. I then spoke of the great respect I 
 entertained for the office of district attorney. There 
 is, surely, no necessity for me to mention the great 
 respect I feel for what your honor represents ; my 
 every word, my behavior in every respect, has surely 
 convinced this court of my profound respect. 
 
 It has been a matter of pain to me that the district 
 attorney, Mr. Nicolj, should, weeks ago, before the 
 matter of this latest motion was presumably under 
 your honor's consideration, before the very affidavits 
 submitted had been proved, before the most important 
 affidavits in sujiport of the motion had even been sub ' 
 mitted, it is, I say, painful to me that the district 
 attorney should have officially declared, in the public 
 press, that your honor would deny this motion. 
 
 Did he speak with authority ? God forbid. I am 
 loath to believe that. But if he didn't, then he spoke 
 in contempt of court. 
 
OARLYtE W. HAEEISi 115 
 
 Otl the last occasion in arguing this motion, the 
 district attorney declared that the Court of Appeals 
 had gone out of its way to express horror at the . 
 crime of which I stand convicted, and their entire con- 
 viction of my guilt. 
 
 Now, my respect for the Court of Appeals is too 
 sincere to have permitted me to have advanced any 
 such statement, but since Mr. NicoU has said it, so let 
 it go on record : that the district attorney of the county 
 of New York has declared that the Court of Appeals 
 went out of its way to affirm the verdict of the petit 
 jury ! Let me invite your honor's attention briefly to 
 the inception of this case. Mr. "Wellman announced to 
 the jury on my trial that the charges against me were 
 never formulated by Mrs. Potts and presented to the 
 district attorney, but were sent to the district attor- 
 ney's ofiice by Prof. McLean, a professor in the college 
 where I was studying. That, I myself, personally 
 know to be the fact. Of course, Mr. Wellman's state- 
 ment would be far better than my own. But now, 
 your honor, I ask you to look one moment on what 
 took place Avhen these charges were brought into the 
 district attorney's office. It was our misfortune, your 
 misfortune, that the representative of justice — that 
 Mr. NicoU — was away. And from another minister of 
 justice your honor received those papers. Who was 
 he? Why, I have been looking around for him and I 
 do not see him here.. He is our esteemed acquaint- 
 ance, Mr. Dil worth Choate. He got those papers 
 from the district attorney and what did he do with 
 them? Was there an investigation — an official inves- 
 tigation? Was there a presentment before the Grand 
 
116 CAELYLE W. BAERlS. 
 
 Jury ? Was the defendant called before them and ex- 
 amined ? The charge, your honor, was a charge of 
 murder — the murder of a good and trusting girl by her 
 husband. Perhaps your honor does not know that in 
 the present stage of journalism a sensational and exclu- 
 sive article rivals in value real estate on Murray Hill. 
 Now, let us look for one moment at Mr. Dil worth 
 Choate, who had these charges — these papers, and, as 
 I will prove to your honor in a moment by words sus- 
 ceptible of verification at once, that he did have these 
 papers — that they fell into his hands instead of the 
 hands of Mr. Nicoll, who is usually there in charge. 
 You will know that he is the man who as a reporter — 
 more than a reporter — an offal gatherer for a disrepu- 
 table sheet, sneaked into the Flack jury room, in con- 
 tempt of the Supreme Court, and for such contempt 
 was fined and imprisoned to the full extent of the law. 
 I am speaking of Mr. Dilworth Choate, who is known 
 to many representatives of the press here to-day. They 
 have known him for years, many of them. They were 
 once his friends, they are to-day acquainted with him. 
 I have talked to them about him, and I ask you now, 
 gentlemen of the press, honestly, man to man, if one 
 of you would believe Dilworth Choate under oath? 
 Hold up your hand. This man was the minister of 
 justice. This was the man for whom the wheels of 
 justice had to pause, while there appeared in a morning 
 newspaper an exclusive and sensational article, for his 
 own emolument and advancement in the office of that 
 newspaper. Now, what was the result of that publica- 
 tion ? I read it, and of all the efforts of imagination 
 
GAKLtt,E W. flAKRlS. lit 
 
 I ever heard in my life, with the exception of one 
 which I will call your honor's attention to later on, I 
 think that stands at the top. What was the effect, 
 your honor, upon me, of the publication of that story 1 
 I certainly need not instruct Recorder Smyth in human 
 nature. I need not spend my breath to place before 
 him, side by side, the way an innocent and a guilty man 
 act. You know that better than even I do, and I 
 know very well. Within an hour of the moment I 
 saw that article I was down here in the office of the 
 district attorney, or what I believe was his office, 
 though it has been the office of Sneak Choate. I went 
 there with my aunt and said, " Here is this lady ; do 
 you desire bail ? These charges have been made 
 against me, here they are, and I am here." Mr. Nicoll 
 had not read the morning papers. " Go away," he said. 
 "If there are charges here against yon, evidently the 
 papers have not been turned in yet by Mr. Choate." 
 There was an affidavit from Dr. Treverton which I 
 have tried to get hold of, but cannot. I understand 
 since then there was an affidavit by Mrs. Potts. He 
 said, " Go away, Mr. Harris, there are no charges here 
 against you." I agreed to go away, but not until 1 
 had Mr. NicoU, the district attorney, assure me that 
 these charges would be investigated, and that he woui;.* 
 retain in his possession memoranda of every address 
 where I could possibly locate within the next week or ten 
 days, and then I walked away. I did not go far, your 
 honor ; not very far, just back home again. And we 
 have from that time on more exclusive articles. I was 
 accused of three murders ; two of them of persons 
 whom I never met in my life j of at least twenty abor- 
 
113 eiRLVLl! W. MARKlg, 
 
 tions ; and later on I was accused of bigamy, rape, 
 larceny, forgery ; and possibly your honor's knowl- 
 edge of the criminal calendar is more extensive than 
 mine, and possibly you know if there are any more 
 that have been brought against me some time or other 
 in some newspaper or upon that witness stand. Do 
 you remember how Dr. Treverton and his stable boy, 
 now a lawyer in Scranton, testified that I told them 
 during the thirty-six hours I knew them — I had never 
 met them before — told them, as part of a story of other 
 crimes, that I iiad forged a letter ? And the Court of 
 Appeals, Mr. NicoU has said, went out of its way to 
 justify that jury in the consideration of that fact. I 
 cannot forge my own handwriting, your honor, and I 
 have never forged anybody's letter. 
 
 And so Mr. Choate prospered, and grew sleek and 
 oily. I wish Mr. Choate was here. I would like you 
 to see his face right in front of you. He is not here, 
 I suppose, and you cannot get him just now. It be- 
 came necessary that something more sensational should 
 be done. Mr. NicoU told your honor — you remember 
 the time surely Avhen he presented Mr. Choate's alBda- 
 vit in this court — Mr. Sneak Choate's affidavit, that 
 many of the witnesses who appeared on the trial had 
 been prepared by Mr. Choate. Three murders I was 
 charged with, and all these other crimes, and Mr. 
 Choate was shouting through the columns of his paper 
 for my arrest, and at least within ten days after the 
 time I appeared in the office of the district attorney 
 demanding an investigation, a warrant was sworn out, 
 but not by Mr. Choate or by Mrs. Potts. This was a 
 warrant in which the district attorney of the county 
 
CAELTLE W. HARRIS. 119 
 
 of New York solemnly stated— I have no doubt, your 
 honor, that this was a legal procedure, and I want to 
 quote it because it seemed so strange to me — he sol- 
 emnly declared, not facts, but upon information, that 
 I murdered my wife with five grains of morphine. 
 What became of that warrant ? It was placed by 
 some member of the district attorney's office in the 
 hands of two or three detectives, one or two ; I don't 
 know how many. They knew just where I was, and 
 they went there. They went to my lawyer's office, the 
 office of Charles E. Davison, ITO Broadway. They 
 got the information that I was inside, but it would not 
 do to go inside and arrest a man who had refused to 
 run away. That would not do at all ! It was too 
 dangerous. They lay around outside, and you can 
 imagine the watching of the foot-prints and their look- 
 ing to the primings of their revolvers. They had 
 my description. I wore eye-glasses then and pre- 
 sumably made foot-prints, and when my brother, who 
 had been in there to see me, came out of Mr. Davi- 
 son's office after the interview with me, (he happened 
 to wear eye-glasses and to make foot-prints) they told 
 him the district attorney wanted to see him ; he ex- 
 pressed his gratification and away they went. The 
 news came inside to me that my brother was arrested, 
 and charged probably with the murder of my wife. 
 So from Mr. Davison's office I went over to a bank — I 
 don't remember the name, but right there by the 
 corner of Cortlandt street and Broadway, with Mr. 
 Davison and with a friend of his and of mine. They 
 were laughing together over these detectives, or that 
 detective, taking my brother away, and they said, " I 
 
120 CAELTLE W. HAEEIS. 
 
 suppose Mac is in limbo by this time, he has probably 
 pled not guilty and been locked up." That was right. 
 That was what took place. They took me over to the 
 bank, and my friend took me to one side and asked me 
 if I wanted to give him my note for $1,500 in exchange 
 for $2,000. He said, " I know you will go to the dis- 
 trict attorney to deliver yourself into custody, but you 
 might want to run away and have a good time for a 
 little while before. Here is a card, and you can go there 
 and stay as long a time as you choose before deliver- 
 ing yourself into custody. It does not make any dif- 
 ference whether this is paid in ten years. Here is 
 $2,000. Give me your note for $1,500, and I will take 
 my chance of getting it back." There was a report in 
 that evening's paper about my brother's arrest, and 
 they said that Carlyle Harris seeing that escape was 
 out of the question, went and delivered himself into 
 custody. That was in that evening's penny dreadful, 
 your honor. That was right. Escape, your honor, is 
 out of the question for an innocent man. It is very, 
 very hard for an innocent man to run away, and so I 
 went to the district attorney's ofRce with my counsel. 
 I did not see Mr. Choate. I saw the detectives and 
 some other people about who had arrested my brother. 
 I offered myself into custody. " Go away, Mr. Harris, 
 if you are Mr. Harris ; we have got Carlyle Harris ; 
 we don't want you. He has plead not guilty, and he 
 has been loclced up." And then Mr. Mclntyre hap- 
 pened to come into the oiRce. He knew Mr. Davison. 
 He had once favored me by shaking hands with me in 
 tiie City Hall Park a few days before, and he consented 
 to identify me, and the others poiisented to logk m§ 
 
CAELYLE W. HAEKIS. 12l 
 
 up. I was taken before Mr. Justice Fitzgerald, and I 
 was allowed to enter my plea of not guilty, and in 
 that plea, your honor, I have never for one moment, 
 faltered, through sufferings such as you cannot even 
 imagine, and which I will not pain you by describing. 
 And so was conceived the case, not of the state of New 
 York, or the people of the state of New York against 
 Carlyle Harris, but the case of Sneak Choate against 
 Carlyle Harris. But there was lots to be done now. 
 Mr. Nicoll could not trust everything in the office to 
 Mr. Choate, and when I was informed in the Tombs 
 where I was taken after that time, that a gentlemen 
 esteemed by your honor and respected by the com- 
 munity, Mr. Vernon H. Davis, assistant district attorney 
 was in charge of my case, I felt gratified and I felt 
 safe. And I beg your honor to believe that it is with 
 infinite pain that 1 quote the testimony of Col. Archi- 
 bald Shaw delivered in the Court of Oyer and Terminer 
 on the 9th day of December, 1891, before Mr. Justice 
 Van Brunt. He swore that he overheard from an ad- 
 joining room on the 31st of March, 1891, Vernon H. 
 Davis threaten his (Shaw's) sister-in-law, Mae Scholfield, 
 with the publication of a scandal that would ruin her un- 
 less she testified against this defendant. I am quoting 
 h is testimony. He is uptown there I presume still, vice- 
 president of the Columbia Institute. [Mr. Shaw has 
 left the institute and we could not find him. — F. McC. 
 H.] Tour honor does not know, but I know, that Mae 
 Scholfield has confessed since then to that perjury 
 which she committed, she says to save her family 
 name and to save herself. She was too hysterical to 
 to come into court, so they read her statement. But 
 
122 CAELYLE W. HAEEIS. 
 
 either Mr. Davis found such work different from what 
 he expected, or else he was considered incapable, or un- 
 worthy of association with that pure and holy minis- 
 ter of justice, Mr. Sneak Choate, for the case was taken 
 away from him and put into the hands of Mr. Francis 
 L. Wellraan. ISTovv, your honor, I respectfully call 
 careful attention to the fact that journalism is conta- 
 gious ; for after a jury had been seduced by the testi- 
 mony of witnesses jD'ejMfed, Mr. Nicoll says, by Choate, 
 into finding a verdict of guilty, there arose a public 
 clamor asking why a boy, young and gently nurtured, 
 should murder a girl who was beautiful, who loved 
 him, who would have enriched him, whose family had 
 offered to further his professional ambition ? But 
 Mr. Wellman was equal to the emergency. He sprang ' 
 into the breach throwing out to the world a bomb 
 shell of official utterance through the columns of the 
 press, that he had found my former wife and that her 
 name was Lulu Van Zandt. I married her, he said, in 
 1883. So, your honor, the last tie of sympathy which 
 bound me to my race was broken. I will never forget 
 the morning the story was published. When the 
 members of the press came to me, I said, " Gentlemen, 
 you have known me for a year. You have known 
 that I have never lied to you. I tell 3'ou that I never 
 married nor wished to marry any one but Helen." 
 And they said, "If the story is a lie, we Avill prove it 
 so." And God bless you, boys, you did ! They found 
 the certificate of ray birth and baptism, and they found 
 those of Miss Lulu Van Zandt : and they proved that 
 in 1883, / was a 'boy in hiickerbockers, and she was an 
 infant in small clothes and ■yve never met each other in 
 
CAELYLE W. HAEEIS. 123 
 
 our lives. And they proved that AVELLMAN LIED. Is 
 there a creature human and more vile than she who 
 walks the slums, a prostitute ? There is. It is a min- 
 ister of justice who prostitutes his oflBcial utterance 
 for the furtherance of a personal ambition or the 
 gratification of a private spite. You may be' surprised 
 that I have dared to speak this way about those who 
 are officers of this court, but, your honor, it is not 
 blackguardism ; every word I have said, I have said 
 only because I honestly believe it. I speak for the last 
 time. I cannot afford to state untruths to-day, and 
 every word that I have said about Choate and 
 Mr. Davis, of whom I know nothing else that I care 
 to speak of or that I need to speak of in connection 
 with this case, and for whom, as I have said, I did 
 have before the greatest respect, I believe to be true, 
 and I hope that Col. Shaw told what was false about 
 Davis. Every word I have said about Mr. Wellman 
 and all the rest you can verify or disprove now. And 
 every newspaper representative here who has followed 
 this case from its inception, who was present in this 
 court of Oyer and Terminer, and who wrote, as many 
 of these boys did perhaps, Mr. Wellman's libel, may 
 testify, a score of you, that every word I have said is 
 truth. And so Choate prospered. Perhaps Mr. Well- 
 man, I don't know, may care to stand before this court 
 and enter some denial. I know what he can say ; that 
 I am a convicted felon and he an officer of the law ; 
 but I dare Mr. Wellman to make his denial under 
 oath, and to submit that denial to my poor, inexpe- 
 rienced cross-examination. Isn't it strange, your honor, 
 ^hat Ij brought here to be sentenced to a disgraceful 
 
124 CARLYLE W. HAEEIS. 
 
 death, can look down from the pedestal of a just con- 
 tempt upon certain of those who have encompassed 
 this end ? 
 
 The court is about to sentence me to death upon 
 the strength of certain affidavits in opposition to this 
 motion. A large number of these affidavits I have 
 never even seen copies of ; but I did see some, and on 
 those affidavits that I did see, I submitted certain 
 points to this court. I understand they were filed two 
 weeks ago last Saturday. I ask your honor if they 
 were considered by the court. They are on iile and 
 are a part of the record in this case. 
 
 I referred to some folios in the case, which I will 
 take the liberty, some of them, of referring to now. 
 Many of the affidavits of which I speak are most artis- 
 tic blank verse. I cannot offer Mr. Choate a greater 
 homage than to read here in open court from one or 
 two of these affidavits which Mr. NicoU has told us 
 were "prepared" by Mr. Choate. I read from the 
 affidavit of Miss Bertha E. Eockwell. " Deponent dis- 
 tinctly recalls that on the occasion of her return with 
 Harris, Miss Potts sat near to deponent at the dinner 
 table and was bubbling over with good nature ; her 
 face was radiant with the happiness reflected from her 
 soul, and in a burst of confidence she exclaimed sub- 
 stantially : ' I never had such a happy day in my whole 
 Ufehefore!'" 
 
 I now read from the affidavit of Miss Eachel M. 
 Cookson : 
 
 " I distinctly recall that on the occasion of her re- 
 turn with Harris, Miss Fotts sat next to me at the din- 
 ner table and was bubbling over with good nature ; 
 
CAELYLE W. HAEEIS. 125 
 
 her face was radiant with the happiness reflected from 
 her soul, and, in a burst of conhdence, she exclaimed, 
 substantially : ' / never had such a happy day in my 
 whole life before.'' " 
 
 Your honor, I have not seen a copy of Mr. Choate's 
 affidavit, but I am willing to argue, upon the strength 
 of these, that doubtless it is metered in iambics and 
 that the periods rhyme. 
 
 This court has been flattered by the presentment 
 for your consideration of the aifidavits of many young 
 schoolgirls. I will quote from certain of their expert 
 testimony that was submitted. These schoolgirls, by 
 the way, your honor, declared that they never saw 
 my wife, although they knew her well, with contracted 
 pupils. I never saw but one case of morphine poison- 
 ing, your honor, and there the pujnls had been 
 expanded with atropine, so Dr. Fowler told you. 
 But you and I know — I know you do too — that no 
 drug could possibly contract the pupils, unless it 
 closed them altogether, any tighter than direct sun- 
 light will. And if any of these schoolgirls saw 
 Helen on a bright sunny day she must have had 
 contracted pupils, and they swear she never had con- 
 tracted pupils ! Here is a statement of one of the 
 learned experts, who has devoted a life to the study 
 of symptomology of the morphine habit. "Depon- 
 ent further said, that there never was the slightest 
 indication of nervousness about Mary H. TS". Potts ; 
 that there was never any facial twitchings." If every 
 physician only knew all the indications of a nervous 
 system, how many lives it would save ! " That there 
 was never anv facial twitchings or contortions, neither 
 
126 CAELYLE W. HAEEIS. 
 
 was there any nervous trembling of the hands nor 
 restless motions of the eyes." Who swears this? 
 Why this is the aifldavit of liaura Westcott of full age ! 
 I do not doubt she filled her age, but it is very evident 
 that she did not fill her afiidavit. 
 
 " That the said Mary H. N. Potts was never dull 
 and listless, and was always systematic in her habits ; 
 never sleeping during the day, always diligent and 
 successful in her studies." 
 
 Here is the aifidavit of Mayme Sandford : " The 
 said Mary H. IS". Potts was never dull or listless, but 
 always systematic in her habits : this deponent never 
 knew of the said Mary H. N. Potts sleeping during 
 the day, but always knew her to be diligent in her 
 duties and successful in her studies at school." 
 
 Among the affidavits of learned experts submitted 
 in opposition to this motion is one your honor has 
 slighted. I refer to the affidavit of Alice Schenck. 
 This lady declared that she was " continuously a domes- 
 tic in the family of the said George Potts. That she 
 never saw any morphine nor opium there, nor any 
 signs thereof ; " and she cannot sign the affidavit except 
 with her mark ! She could not read a sign if morphine 
 was painted on it in letters ten feet high ! 
 
 I tried, in reading this little book, containing a 
 number of affidavits, which will cost me my life, I 
 have tried to realize the straits that the district 
 attorney's office found themselves in when presented 
 with evidence, which, if true in one jot or tittle, 
 proved ray innocence. 
 
 Five hundred or a thousand years may pass away, 
 ^.nd then j^ou will bear gonie learned anti(^uariao di§- 
 
CAftLYLE W. SAftEig. 127 
 
 coursing before an assembled multitude, lie has 
 unearthed the records of the Court of General Sessions 
 of the county of New York. He is explaining to the 
 assembled crowd that at the close of the nineteenth 
 century, schoolgirls were so educated that they had 
 reached the altitude of scientific knowledge whert 
 their expert observations were submitted to a learned 
 court in a matter of life and death ; and he might say 
 that there was one witness, one lady, whose signature 
 is a trifle obscure^ who, although, " continuously a 
 domestic " in the family of George Potts, was able to 
 tell at a glance the difference between powdered 
 morphine and others — Pillsbury's prepared, for in- 
 stance ; and your honor, Professor Doremus has told 
 me no expert can tell that without some test! 
 
 Amongst the aflfidavits submitted in support of this 
 motion, I desire to speak of one or two. There was 
 one young lady who was brought in to me by Mr. 
 Warden Fallon who dictated to me a statement, 
 Ayhich 1 copied and mailed to her, and which she 
 swore to. I refer to Miss Ethel Harris. She is no 
 relative, and 1 can at least save her that particular 
 shame. To rebut her affidavit, they got a Philadel- 
 phia detective to swear that he was an intimate 
 acquaintance of the Harrises of Philadelphia, Avhom 
 he knew very well. That he knew that she, in 1887, 
 when she could have been only thirteen years of age, 
 because she is nineteen now, eloped with some man and 
 went off to Canada. He must have been quite a man, 
 your honor. And so Miss Wardell, Miss Jackson, Mrs. 
 Lewis and Joseph Lefferts are all perjurers ! Mrs. 
 Lewis, because she was a member of the Salvation 
 
128 OAEIYIE W. HAREig. 
 
 Army ; and because Dr. Treverton, of whom I will 
 speak presently, has sworn that when she was his cook 
 she was of unsound mind. Your honor, it has bf . i 
 shown that Dr. Treverton was, professionally, very rcc k- 
 less of human life, but it is 'difficult to believe that he 
 would have employed, to feed his own wife and child, 
 a crazj' cook. And that woman is just as sane as your 
 honor is, and a great deal more sane, I guess, than I 
 am. 
 
 Your honor in your decision referred to the testi- 
 mony of Dr. Byron V. Tompkins, who swore that 
 Helen could not possibly have been taking morphine, 
 as she responded quickly to medicine containing opium. 
 Dr. Tompkin's affidavit is valueless, for opium has an 
 effect on the bowels and morphine has not. Besides, 
 deceased may have taken any quantity of morphine 
 that day without his knowledge, and he swore on the 
 stand at the trial, and I call your honor's attention to 
 it, that he only met Helen twice in his life, and once 
 he says, in his last affidavit, was a casual meeting on 
 the street. And I would call your attention to these 
 affidavits, where they have testified that they saw 
 Helen use morphine. When asked, " How do you 
 know it was morphine ? " " She told me so." " Can 
 you swear from absolute knowledge that it was not 
 quinine ? " " No." Only hearsay evidence, perhaps, 
 but why brand all these people as perjurers, why not 
 just kill me on a technicality ? 
 
 I am sorry that there has been a decision in this 
 case which differs so entirely from decisions of this 
 court. This is a decision in which your honor has 
 risen above the low ground of decision and taken a 
 
OIRLYLE W. lUUKlS. 129 
 
 flight into the reahns of argument. Among those who 
 read your lx)nor's decision was one of the jurors, Mr. 
 Crawford Mason, and he possessing a conscience, as 
 some men do, has come forward with this affidavit : 
 
 "I, Crawford Mason, residing in the city of New 
 York, depose and say, that I was a juror in the case 
 of the people of the state of New Yorli against 
 Carlyle W. Harris." 
 
 That is a mistake ; it is Choate against Harris. It 
 is a mistake that your honor has made as unwittingly 
 as Mr. Mason. 
 
 " And 1 now freely state that had the affidavit of 
 Dr. H. S. Kinmonth been presented during the trial, 
 and substantiated in accordance with the rules of 
 evidence, I would unhesitatingly have given my ver- 
 dict in favor of said Harris. He further deposes and 
 says, that he has known said Dr. Kinmonth for over 
 eight years, and known him only as an honest and 
 upright man, and in whose integrity he has every 
 confidence." 
 
 " Sworn to this 19th day of March, 1893, Crawford 
 Mason." 
 
 Mr. Howe, do not file this affidavit with the clerk. 
 Lay it iii my coffin. 
 
 I have not the strength to review the record, there* 
 are just one or two things I want to say. 
 
 Dr. Fowler testified that when I came to the Com- 
 stock School that night, the night of the tragedy, he 
 told me to go to the druggist's and verify my pre- 
 scription. He said he thought I went. He did not 
 know whether I left the house or not. Dr. Kerr, who 
 came there a few mir4utes after I came, testified that 
 
IBO GARLYLE W. HAKRIS. 
 
 he found me b}' the bedside, and that I was there all 
 the time ; and on that testimony the assistant distfict 
 attorney argued before the jury and the Court of 
 Appeals, and it is mentioned in their decision as iva 
 established fact, that I ran away from my dying wife 
 to walk around the block, because the druggist swears 
 that I did not come there that iiight. Your honor, 
 may I never know through all eternity a moment's 
 peace, may my mother's prayers for me echo through 
 space and never find her God, if for one moment I 
 left that poor girl's side, from the time I reached her 
 until she was cold in death. Do you remember what 
 the doctor said ; that I asked, " Is she dead ; can noth- 
 ing be done? " " She is dead." And how I cried out, 
 " My God, what will I do ; what will become of me ; " 
 and they said that they turned away and looked out of 
 the wandow, and they were asked if they saw any 
 emotion on my part. " Absolutely none." Did they 
 expect to see emotion on my part by looking out of a 
 fifth story window into a reservoir, your honor ? 
 
 But that was not discussed before the jury. 
 
 A certain Dr. Treverton came here from Scranton 
 and went upon the stand. Among the evidence which 
 Issued during his examination and cross-examination, 
 was a letter written by Dr. Treverton, in which he 
 stated that he was going to perform an abortion upon 
 the girl whom he believed to be my mistress, as he 
 said. He did not know she was my wife. He per- 
 formed this abortion. I got the letter. He said every- 
 thing could be arranged, and no one would be any the 
 wiser, but that if I did not pay the bill he would make 
 it hot for me and to send the money very quick, and 
 
CARLTLK W. HARRIS. 131 
 
 ended up, " I mean business." And he went on the 
 stand and testified I never gave him a cent, although 
 he did testify that he performed an abortion, which I 
 got there, your honor, too late to prevent. I did not 
 pay the bill and he could not get the money ; but he 
 got square. And he came on here and swore that I 
 came there to see a blackmailer. Assume your honor, 
 that I had attempted to murder, a month before, my 
 unborn child ; assume that, if you will ; and he says 
 that in a burst of loving confidence that I told him, 
 and his stable boy says I told him the same thing too, 
 that I had never met a girl in my life that I had not 
 seduced, and that I had secured theruin of two by going 
 through some ceremony. The Court of Appeals be- 
 lieved it and quoted it. And that is one of the reasons 
 I must have murdered the only wife your honor knows 
 anything about and that I ever had. 
 
 I have refrained with care all through this case, 
 whatever my extremity, from calling in the names of 
 any of the daughters of the houses Avhere I have 
 visited during the 3'ears when I was a student of med- 
 icine, and before I became a necessary to Mr. Choate. 
 and I propose to refrain now. But I have seen seated 
 by your honor in this court a gentleman whose 
 daughter was associated with me.. We were secre- 
 taries together of a little musical club at one time. I 
 wish I could send you to ask that gentleman if in all 
 the times I went to his house, and labored there in our 
 little secretaryship with his daughter, if I ever whis- 
 pered in that fair girl's ear one word of wrong. I 
 could send you to professors in our colleges. I could 
 send you to directors in our great institutions, to men 
 
132 CAELVLE W. HARRIS. 
 
 whose names you know, whose names everybody 
 knows, and tell you to ask that question — Did I ever 
 wrong or violate their hospitality? And then I would 
 ask jj-our honor to go back to Dr. Treverton and drink 
 a toast with him to truth and to yourself. 
 
 You justify the affidavits of Dr. Hand in your de- 
 cision. You quote him as swearing that the narcotic 
 effect was prompt and marked, referring to some small 
 dose of morphine he says he administered to my poor 
 wife. Dr. Treverton's own language in these opposi- 
 tion affidavits, of course, is precisely the same, that the 
 " narcotic effect was prompt and marked." But I call 
 your honor's attention to the record, where Dr. Pland 
 swore on the trial that so far as he knew there was no 
 narcotic effect at all and Dr. Treverton said there was 
 norve, but now they change right around, your honor, 
 and you justify such oscillation ; and you quote it in 
 the decision, fraternizing that testimony with your 
 own respected words, and you send it out to the world 
 as true because your hand signed it. 
 
 I ask your honor to listen to the music of this choir 
 of witnesses. It is led by these self-proved perjurers. 
 Treverton and Hand ; behind them stands a galaxy of 
 schoolgirls, their voices attuned to the testimony of an 
 illiterate cook, Avith Choate and all the rest. 
 
 Remember you must be lulled to sleep each nignt by 
 the murmur of their voices. 
 
 Remember you may meet each night my dead face 
 in your dreams ! Dare you hope that these poor humid 
 eyes will never look in yours with just reproach ? 
 
 It is usual in connection Avith a man accused of crime 
 to present the facts to a jury. In this case the jury 
 
CARLYLE W. HAKrIS. 133 
 
 had to decide, had to choose, between two theories ; 
 and when the facts are brought to light, although thej 
 clamor at the door to come back and undo what 
 they have done, the facts are passed upon without a 
 
 jury. 
 
 I have not been allowed to cross-examine or rebut 
 any of the witnesses upon whose testimony in opposi- 
 tion to this motion I am to be condemned to death. 
 As I told your honor I have never seen even copies of 
 their affidavits, though I made every possible effort, 
 locked up as I was, to see them. Mr. Ilowe, or his 
 clerks rather, informed me that he never got them 
 until just the night before your honor's decision came 
 down. I haven't had a chance even to criticise these 
 witnesses. Those that I did have an opportunity with, 
 I have proved to your honor, every affidavit, or nearly 
 all, to be the result of perjury or preparation. 
 
 Charley King, a Jersey newspaper correspondent, 
 is quoted by your honor, as testifying that he went 
 round to Dr. Kinmonth, and other druggists, and they 
 all told him they never sold Helen any morphine. 
 What would you do in such a case, if a Jersey reporter 
 came and asked you that ? You ought to see that 
 man, your honor. I used to meet him in the street 
 from day to day. I saw him standing and shaking on 
 the street in the morning, and he would come over to 
 me and say, "Harris, give us ten cents to buy a 
 drink," and he always got it. I have no recollection 
 of refusing it to him at any time. This is human grat- 
 itude. I don't know whether he got any drinks out of 
 that affidavit or not. 
 
 I have not seen a copy of Mrs Potts' affidavit and I 
 
134 CARLYLE w. Harris. 
 
 suppose I never will ; but I am informed from your 
 honor's decision that she swears that in the summer of 
 1889, she and Helen were not at Ocean Grove,* and 
 yet that is the summer I met her there, and that is 
 what she testified on the trial, and that she went away 
 from there the summer of 1890, and that she could not 
 have bought her morphine from Leffert's. It was 
 testified to on the trial, and I sent the folio numbers 
 down to you through Mr. Howe, that they never left 
 until the 25th or the 30th of June, and they returned 
 on the 1st of September, and I have seen the books of 
 the firm showing that they were open through much 
 of June and away on until the 15th of October. But 
 this has been my first opportunity to criticise all 
 that. 
 
 I know the jury found me guilty. I don't blame 
 those honest gentlemen. I know that their brains 
 were sandbagged with such expressions as isomere, and 
 ptomaine, paren-chymatous, lesions in the pons, the 
 median line possibly extending down into the medulla 
 oblongata, with some other suggestions of like char- 
 acter. I hope the jury understood it all. I hope so 
 for the sake of their conscience, and for the time when 
 they must lay them down and die. But I can only say 
 that though I studied with diligence kindred topics for 
 years, I could not understand it all ! 
 
 Do you remember how you charged that jury ? I 
 
 * [My dear boy thought Mrs. Potts was perjuring herself again 
 (as she acknowledges she did at the coroner's jury) but this time 
 it was the "learned" recorder who made a mistake.— 
 r. McO. H.J 
 
CAELYLE W. HARRIS. 135 
 
 know your honor's words. " The only witness prob- 
 ably who could establish that this defendant adminis- 
 tered the fatal dose, estabhsh beyond all doubt that 
 this defendant administered it, is dead." And so, your 
 honor, when living testimony failed, did you realize 
 that you placed between the pallid lips of that poor, 
 dead girl who loved me, a lie ? I repeat part of your 
 honor's charge, that " the duty of a judge and of a jury 
 is always the most painful one known to the human 
 mind." Is there anything painful in discharging from 
 custody an innocent man ? Did your honor see, as I 
 saw, those jurors' faces pale to ashen hue while you 
 were speaking, because they realized that a judge, 
 whose edict they esteemed, was suggesting to them a 
 verdict of murder ! 
 
 You must stand some day, Eecorder Smyth, before 
 a Judge, stripped of these dignities you wear to-day, 
 and when he says to you, where is Carlyle Harris, will 
 you answer that " the duty of a judge is always a 
 painful one" or will you say: "1 believed Sneak 
 Choate, I believed these self-proved perjurors, Trever- 
 ton and Hand. I used the talents entrusted to me to 
 argue away the evidence of Miss Jackson, of Mrs. 
 Lewis, of Miss Wardell, of Dr. Kinraonth, and of all 
 the rest." Let us hope, your honor, that there is a 
 Judge somewhere whose duty is not always a painful 
 one ! 
 
 Your honor, I know it is not usual for a defendant 
 unsuccessful in his cause to eulogize counsel that have 
 defended him ; but I feel so proud of having won the 
 esteem, the confidence and respect of Mr. Howe, I 
 feel so grateful to him for what he has done for her 
 
136 CAELYLE W. HAEEIS. 
 
 who is clearer to me than myself — I find my small 
 amount of self-control is leaving me fast — I have no 
 desire to inflict upon your honor any exhibition of 
 emotion. Mr. Howe, do you know how poor I am ? I 
 I want to ask you to take this little present from me. 
 [Handing Mr. Howe an envelope.] This was the last 
 gift from Helen to me. I ask you to take it with her 
 love and mine. 
 
 How did Treverton dare ? How did he and Hand 
 dare, to swing their testimony into a new channel, in 
 the opposite direction, immediately a new issue in the 
 case was to be met ? How did they dare do it 'i Why, 
 there was new counsel in the case. He would not 
 notice one little folio buried beneath thousands, and 
 Harris has been two years in a dark cell ; he certainly 
 is half crazy by this time, and he will never notice a 
 little thing like that. But, your honor, there is a 
 power in innocence which in this case has risen 
 superior to darkness and despair ; and I have proved 
 those perjurers. 
 
 I remember two j'^ears ago last month I visited, in 
 secret and alone, a grave near Ocean Grove. I little 
 thought that I should never visit it again ; and yet 
 to-day, standing by the brink of another grave, my 
 own, I thank God that in the light of this new testi- 
 mony, he who will may read inscribed upon her grave, 
 your honor, " Not suicide, not murder, but at rest." 
 Perhaps when my poor body and brain are laid at 
 rest some one may mark that spot with a little slab of 
 stone. I ask that there be engraved there in justice to 
 these men who sat in that jury box a year ago, " "We 
 would not if we had known," and signed " The Jury." 
 I will leave the rest of my epitaph to your honor. 
 
CARLVLE W. HABEIS. 137 
 
 I realize my position. No man could realize it bet- 
 ter than I have realized mine day after day ; and I 
 know there is naught remains for me now but to meet 
 my great misfortune with that fortitude which is the 
 birthright of a gentleman, and the prerogative of an 
 innocent man. 
 
 I believe that though this may be the last, that this 
 is the last of Carlyle Harris, that this will also be the 
 last of schoolgirl experts ; and it also Avill be the last 
 time that one fallible honest magistrate is called upon, 
 to pass alone an issue of life and death upon testimony 
 sworn to by citizens. 
 
 Caeltle Hakkis. 
 
138 CAKLiTLE W. HAKKIS. 
 
 A SHORT RETOSPECT OF HIS LIFE. 
 
 BY C. W. H. 
 
 I was born in Glens Falls, N. Y., on Sept. 23, 1869. 
 While still an infant my parents moved to New York 
 City, where they resided for about four years, and 
 then again moved into New Jersey, where I lived on a 
 farm until 9 j^ears of age, and then came to New York 
 to school. I enjoyed but four years of schooling be- 
 cause the poverty of my parents necessitated that I 
 should assist in supporting the family, and so, when 
 13 years of age, I entered a jeweler's office, but left 
 there in a few months to take a better position in the 
 office of a sugar refining company, where I remained 
 for a little over three years. I left this office to take 
 a position with an importer of raw sugar and worked 
 for one summer with him. After this, finding it im- 
 possible for me to work successfully as a bookkeeper 
 or accountant, and seeing no prospect of advancement 
 in clerical positions of that kind, I essayed to follow 
 in the footsteps of Henry Irving and Mr. Edwin Booth, 
 and so for one week played a utility part in "Paul 
 Kauvar " when that play was produced in New York. 
 
 My family objected to my staying on the stage, 
 and my grandfather. Dr. McCready, learning of my 
 desire for a profession, and that my ambition was medi- 
 
CAELYLE W. HAKEIS. 139 
 
 cine and surgery, offered to pay my expenses through 
 the College of Physicians and Surgeons. 
 
 While waiting for the term to begin I found em- 
 ployment for a few months with the Old Dominion 
 Steamship Company. This was in 1888. During the 
 summer of that year I prepared for college, passing 
 my entrance examinations, and entered that autumn 
 the College of Physicians and Surgeons as a student. 
 My professional career began under the most favora- 
 ble auspices. My grandfather was emeritus pro- 
 fessor of medicine at Bellerue; my preceptor. Dr. 
 Eob't Abbe, professor of surgery at the Post-Graduate 
 Hospital, and it was my privilege to assist in the college 
 the professors of surgery of anatomy and obstetrics 
 and gynecolog3^ 
 
 Study was new to me after working as a clerk for 
 four years, but T succeeded at the end of my second 
 year, as I did at the end of my first, in passing my 
 examinations, I trust, not without some credit. 
 
 In the summer of 1889 my mother rented a small 
 cottage at Ocean Grove and I spent my vacation there 
 with her. It was in August of this year I met 
 Helen Potts. She was, I think, without exception, 
 the most beautiful girl I have ever seen. She was tall, 
 with remarkably large, dark eyes, an olive complexion, 
 and possessed that crowning glory of all, a mass of 
 chestnut hair. Her engagement to a young man, Mr. 
 Harry Brown, had just been broken off and through 
 my being of some service to her from incidentally 
 coming across some letters she had written and desired 
 to have returned, what was at first a pleasant ac- 
 quaintance ripened into sincere friendship and, later, 
 into oiutual love. 
 
14.3 CAELYLE W. HAEEIS. 
 
 From the time we met until I returned to the city 
 for the winter we were together all the time, and when 
 college re-opened, as the Pottses took an apartment 
 near the college buildings, our intimacy continued and 
 we still saw each other nearly every day. 
 
 Mrs. Potts has testified to my telling her in Novem- 
 ber that I loved her daughter, and how she counseled 
 me against any announced engagement, but still per- 
 mitted me to continue my visits as before. 
 
 Our secret marriage on Feb. 8, 1890, is a matter of 
 record, but in the criticism of that marriage one fact 
 has been lost sight of and that is that, not alone did I 
 marry Helen, but that Helen and I married each other, 
 and hence the miserable criticisms upon the motive of 
 our marriage are not only criticisms of me, but are in- 
 sults to her memory. 
 
 Our reason for marrying was our love. It is true 
 that we were young and perhaps a little foolish, but if 
 we had waited one year or five, and Helen had lived, 
 we would have married each other just the same. 
 
 In the summer of 1891, with the expectation of 
 earning the expenses of my college course and lessen- 
 ing my debt to my generous grandfather, I opened a 
 small restaurant in Asbury Park and sub-rented rooms 
 above it to the Neptune Club, incorporated under the 
 laws of New Jersey that year. 
 
 Counsel informed me that the club was legally in- 
 corporated and that they were privileged under the 
 law to have served to them in their rooms such wines, 
 etc., as are usually served to members of clubs every- 
 where. They employed their own steward ; they paid 
 their rent, were never disorderly and so I did not in- 
 
CARLYLE W. HARRIS. 141 
 
 terfere, but the authorities of Asbury Park did inter- 
 fere and arrested me as the responsible lessee on the 
 charge of liquor selling, which they call in New Jersey 
 keeping a " disorderly house." I was never tried nor 
 sentenced to any fine upon account of that arrest, be- 
 cause at the time the issue was to have been settled I 
 was in a deeper difficulty which is liable to cost me my 
 life. 
 
 Of Helen's tragic death on the morning of Feb. 1, 
 1891, I cannot bear to tell in detail. Of how I covered 
 my own grief to break the news of her daughter's 
 death to Mrs. Potts ; of how, beside her coffin, Mrs. 
 Potts wrotp to my mother saying I had been a son to 
 her when the shadow of death was over her, has all 
 been told, and every word which I have said or did, or 
 was supposed to have said or done, has been tortured 
 by a brilliant and unscrupulous prosecutor, with the 
 assistance of a renegade journalist named Dil worth 
 Choate, into proof that 1 am guilty of a crime for 
 which I "had no motive, proof that I murdered a girl 
 who loved me and of whom I was so very, very proud. 
 Upon these charges I delivered myself into custody, 
 and after "waiting for a year, locked in a cell amid 
 vermin, want and miseries such as you cannot imagine 
 nor I describe, after a year's clamoring for trial, vi'atch- 
 ing from month to month my mother's hair turn gray, 
 and her little patrimony fade away before the inroads 
 of rapacious lawyers, I was placed on trial for my life. 
 
 For two long weeks I sat each day in court listen- 
 ing to the testimony of witnesses, many of whom I had 
 seen but once in my life end yet Tvho solemnly swore 
 that I, a li oy of tvcntj onej hV confessed to them 
 
142 CAELYLE W. HARRIS. 
 
 crimes without number, of crimes unspeakable in their 
 horror,! and the defense was handicapped. I could not 
 prove I did not make these marvelous confessions. I 
 did not know that my poor wife had been addicted for 
 years to the drug which caused her death. 
 
 I told my lawyers that I was innocent, that I had 
 given her no poison, and so they said she could not 
 have died of poison at all. 
 
 The autopsy was performed two months after her 
 death. Experts informed us that she might readily 
 have died of any of several diseases. An expert for 
 the prosecution, after an analysis, testified that he 
 found but an unweighable trace, less than one one- 
 fa undreth of a grain of morphine. 
 
 I was depending to prove my innocence by show- 
 ing how I loved my wife, by proving that her mother, 
 and not myself, had kept the marriage a secret, and 
 that she had offered me a divorce which I refused. 
 But at the last hour my counsel, at that time Mr. 
 Taylor and Mr. Jerome, sent away my witnesses and 
 insisted upon formulating our defense with the testi- 
 mony of experts alone. The jury which tried me was 
 an intelligent, well-meaning body of men ; they were 
 business men or mechanics and could not of course, un- 
 derstand the polysyllables of learned experts, and so 
 the case, with no defense that any but experts could 
 understand, went to the jury after a charge which I 
 have respectfully shown and proven to the court itself, 
 was the attempt, successful upon the part of the judge 
 to place testimony in the lips of my dead wife which 
 she would sooner have died on the rack than speak. 
 And so I was convicted, innocent of murder. 
 
OlKLVLfi W. HARRIS. 143 
 
 The district attorney has declared in open court 
 that the Appellate judges had to go out of their way 
 to affirm this verdict, but since their remarkable deci- 
 sion, thank God, the long-buried proof of my utter in- 
 nocence has been brought to light. Witnesses have so 
 rained, their testimony into court in the form of affida- 
 vits, that the members of my jury have come forward 
 and certified or sworn that, had they known of this 
 new evidence they would have acquitted me. 
 
 Such is the present method of our law that this 
 testimony had to be submitted for final decision to the 
 judge who tried me, and he had declared in open court 
 a year before that he believed me guilty of the most 
 atrocious crime in his experience as a magistrate. 
 What could be hoped from his review of this new evi- 
 dence ? Would he reverse his own decision ? Would 
 he stultify his mandate of a year ago ? We hoped he 
 Avould. We hoped his conscience would enter into his 
 decision. We hoped for once he might set aside his 
 prejudice, but our hope was vain, and though v^e proved 
 that witnesses against me submitted affidavits fetid 
 with perjury, although we proved that their affidavits, 
 sworn to by witnesses hundreds ot miles apart, were 
 phrased exactly alike, this judge, who had confessed 
 his prejudice a year before, rendered a decision in which 
 he argued that the proof of my poor wife's habit would 
 be of no value to me, and on the dictum of this magis 
 trate, without the verdict of a jury, without the right 
 to place my witnesses before the world in open court, 
 "without the right to enter a retuttal or to cross-exam- 
 ine, or to even criticise the witnesses against me, I stand 
 to-day, condemned to die, my name disgraced, my 
 home ia ashes. 
 
144 CARLVLfi W. HAEKIS. 
 
 When last Monday I faced the court for sentence, 
 I spoke by statutory right in my own behalf. I did 
 not try to justify or to explain. I read the record, I 
 quoted affidavits and sworn testimony. I drove my 
 prosecutor torrid with shame, loaded with disgrace, 
 branded with the brand of official leprosy from the 
 courtroom. I showed the court how he had sinned in 
 charging that jury, and when he tried to explain I 
 showed him again where he was wrong, but all to no 
 purpose. Although exposed, ashamed and routed in 
 their case, they had an easy answer, "Harris must die 
 on the 8th of May. Yes, you have proven your pros- 
 ecutors scoundrels ; you have proven the witnesses 
 against you to be perjurers ; you have shown that the 
 jury had to pass upon the theories of experts and that 
 now, when the facts are submitted, although they cry 
 aloud that they would have acquitted upon these facts, 
 you must die on May 8th." And yet what if I do? 
 Though 1 die, my innocence still lives ; lives on the 
 record of that court, lives in the faltering words which 
 I addressed to justice, to the world, last Monday, lives 
 in the knowledge of my family and friends, lives in 
 the heart of every honest, thoughtful man or woman 
 who has perused, or will peruse, the evidence in the 
 archives of the Court of General Sessions. 
 
 When I left the court room under sentence of death, 
 it was to find the City Hall park and all the adjoin- 
 ing streets packed with a mass of people. Five police- 
 men walked in front of me clearing the way, and I 
 turned and said to the deputy sheriff in whose custody 
 I was, " If these people believed I murdered that poor 
 girl, for God's sake, why don't they string me up to 
 
OARt.YI,E W. HARRIS. 14S 
 
 some lamp post," and at that very moment some one 
 in the crowd called " three cheers for Plarris ! " and 
 from the court room to the Tombs I was followed by 
 cheer after cheer, women raised their children in their 
 arms who clapped their hands and called out "Harris." 
 Men waved their handkerchiefs and bid me be of 
 courage, that they knew me innocent, and when I 
 reached the Tombs this multitude of thousands, 
 cheered me in farewell. 
 
146 CARtTLE W. HAEEIS. 
 
 A BOY'S VACATION. 
 
 WEITTEN 1892. 
 
 When I was a small boy and my comings and goings 
 were regulated by my parents, I think I had about the 
 joUiest summer vacations that youthful mind could con- 
 ceive. July and August were spent among the moun- 
 tains of New York or Vermont, where I fished in pond 
 or brook, rode hay loads and enjoyed that keenest of 
 boyhood's happiness and pride, the following a man 
 with a gun, as bearer of sundry slaughtered rabbits, 
 squirrels and birds, and as guide among the woodland 
 paths I knew so well. In September it was my 
 parents' habit to take or send me for this last month of 
 vacation to visit relatives in Dixie. Here I breathed 
 the balmy air of Chesapeake Bay, and went in bathing 
 six times a daj', reveling between whiles in all manner 
 of sailing craft, from the primitive, but wonderfully 
 swift, dugout, to the old fishing schooner and oyster 
 sloop. Here I rejoiced in a costume consisting of a 
 flannel shirt, washable knickerbockers, and a broad 
 protecting hat such as cartoonists love to depict upon 
 the crowns of horny handed ruralities. The bliss of 
 running barefoot was mine, and of riding half-tamed 
 donkeys bred upon the farm ; one donkey in particu- 
 
CABLYLE W. HARRIS. 147 
 
 lai* who had a most humorous cast of countenance, and 
 an equally humorous way ot flinging me over his head 
 and then braying enthusiastically at my discomfiture. 
 
 Flow well I remember "Walnut Grove!" The 
 ranabhng whitewashed house with its comfortable 
 porch, used for a dining-room almost the whole year ; 
 the porch chairs made of barrel staves and old picket 
 fence, yet wonderfully easy ; the ample lawn, surround- 
 ing the house and rear out-buildings, shaded by scores 
 of those fine old trees which gave the place its name, 
 and kept trimly clipped by an industrious flock of 
 wood-ducks. The giddy swing under the loftiest 
 walnut tree, and, at the foot of the lawn, the wharf 
 with a small fleet of boats floating on the half-salt 
 waters of Mobjack Bay, itself an inlet of the great 
 •Chesapeake. 
 
 There is a characteristic air of ease and time-to-spare 
 about these southern farms, one never sees north of 
 Mason and Dixon's line. It begins with the owner or 
 overseer, it settles upon the heavy-hoofed farm horses 
 and oxen, and seems to speak repose from every angle 
 of the rambling, lazy -looking snake fence, overgrown 
 with bramble or Virginia creeper. The bees hum in a 
 lower, monotone than their northern brothers, are 
 better natured and seem to linger lazily upon the buck- 
 wheat or clover blossoms, before starting hiveward 
 down the drearny lane, honey-laden. And then the 
 negroes 1 The flat-footed, shiftless, simple-hearted, 
 song-singing negroes, with their unspellable dialect, 
 their childish superstitions, and their reverence for my 
 mother's brother, " Yo', oncle Fred ! " 
 
 One bright afternoon in early September, some four- 
 
14§ CAELYl^IiS W. tlAbRIS. 
 
 teen years ago, I stood upon the deck of the steameP 
 Old Dominion, surrounded by a group of our family 
 and friends. My little vest was tense with pride, for 
 was I not about to journey hundreds of miles alone ? 
 and friends were saying what a big, brave boy I was ! 
 My younger brothers eyed me with mingled awe and. 
 affection, while they boasted of my various aquatic 
 accomplishments to the stewardess. Presently the 
 gong sounds, a hurried word and caress from my 
 mother, followed by an almost overpowering tendency 
 to forget for the moment my bigness and my bravery, 
 then the gang-plank is lowered, the hawsers dragged 
 aboard, and I stand upon the rail clinging to a stayrope, 
 to the intense alarm of my party on the wharf, while 
 the big sidewheeler swings slowly into the stream. 
 For a time I wave my handkerchief dutifully, but when 
 the jingle rings for full speed my excitement proves 
 too strong for further control, and I rush forward to 
 stand by the wheelhouse, and listen to the captain giv- 
 ing orders to the quartermaster at the wheel. " Port, 
 one whistle," and we glide in front of a waiting ferry- 
 boat ; " Steady," and the wheel flies round to bring 
 the tiller admidships, as we pass between Governor's 
 Island and Bedloe's, soon to be immortalized and 
 graced by Bartholdi's masterpiece. One of the 
 quartermasters nods pleasantly, remembering me from 
 the previous year, and the second mate comes up to 
 shake hands, laughing to see my feet planted nautic- 
 ally far apart, and still more heartily when I ask : 
 " How's her head ? " but replying : " South by west, 
 quarter west." Then I walk aft to climb the wheel- 
 box for a better view of Owl's Head, and stand there 
 
eiSLYLfi w. MARfeia. 149 
 
 till we pass the Narrows, with its frowning, obsolete 
 fortifications, and the ship swings her head to star- 
 board, following the western bend of the channel just 
 below Fort Lafayette. Far away to port, I can see in 
 the hazy distance the filmy outline of the Coney Island 
 observatory, the rays of the setting sun casting a glow 
 upon its metal top. Now we are following the curve 
 of the hook, and, as the ocean breeze blows more and 
 more strongly in my face, I feel the healthful pangs of 
 hunger, remember that I want to sit next the captain 
 at the table, and have instructions (and an extra 
 quarter) to tip the waiter. So after a struggle with 
 the sliding door, which sticks, I descend the polished 
 stairway, keeping a surreptitious hold upon the banister, 
 for we are rounding the hook and beginning to feel the 
 ground swell, and reach in safety the dining saloon, 
 daintily furnished in red plush and polished hard wood, 
 with stationary tables and revolving chairs, while over 
 each array of silver plate and marvelously folded nap- 
 kins, hang swinging shelves for glasses. The grinning 
 waiter explains that he has already had the captain's 
 orders to seat me, and that supper will be ready in fif- 
 teen minutes, so I hurry to my cozy state-room on the 
 port side. 
 
 Presently the gong sounds and in a few moments I " 
 am comfortably seated to the left of the genial Captain 
 Oouch, ordering clam soup, fried smelts and a small 
 steak with hot corn muffins. Ah, that was a jolly 
 supper under the swinging lamps ! It was so funny to 
 see people bravely ordering their meal but leaving pre- 
 cipitately before the first course ! Why is it that mal 
 de vier is always laughed at ? Never being afflicted 
 
150 cISLyLe W. fiAKKi§. 
 
 myself I enjoyed it all, including the captain's jokfig, 
 which I had heat-d the year before when taking the 
 trip with my mother^ I permitted him to tuck a nap- 
 kin under my chin and butter my muffins, but when 
 he offered to cut my steak for me I had to draw the 
 line there, and tell him that I was " going on nine " 
 and had been using a knife and fork for years. He 
 apologized profusely, but I noticed hira putting a great 
 deal of hot milk into my cup of tea in spite of my tale 
 of years ! 
 
 Supper over, T sought the stern, and stood for a long 
 time watching the lights of the Sandy Hook light-ship 
 flash across the steamer's foaming wake. We passed 
 the Highlands with their twin light-houses, and later 
 the twinkling lights of Long Branch shone across the 
 half mile between ourselves and the (at that time) 
 fashionable resort. Five miles further on and Asbury 
 Park sent us her flirtatious gleam across the waters, 
 mingled with a less pretentious one from pious Ocean 
 Grove. Waxing weary of my look-out, I march up and 
 down the deck with my hands deep in my pockets and 
 a sailorly swing to my stride, that must have been very 
 amusing to see ; but the decks were almost deserted, 
 for the heavy swell had sent the passengers to their 
 rooms to test the flavor of sundry lemons and other 
 gastric sedatives. I remember feeling sorry for these 
 unfortunates that they should miss so beautiful a 
 night, for beautiful it was, with the hunter's moon 
 casting her broad band of yellow light upon the waters, 
 like a golden ribbon stretching from the steamer's side 
 to windward, narrowing in perspective to the far away 
 horizon. Eight bells, and a waiter informs me, that 
 
OAELYLE W. HARRIS. 151 
 
 " The capting send he's coraplerments, sah, an' say he 
 pleas' to see you in he's room, sah." So I walk for- 
 ward to the roomy cabin just abaft the wheel-house, 
 where Captain Couch invites me to a chair, and asks if 
 I would like an orange before going to bed. Now I 
 liked the rosy prospect of an orange, but the thorn of 
 retiring at the extremely juvenile hour of eight, stung 
 painfully. The kind-hearted captain must have seen 
 this, for with the orange he produced a wonderful 
 model of a full-rigged man-of-war, saying that if I 
 would stay in his cabin, I might remain up another 
 hour, but he was afraid to have me roaming the deck 
 alone so late at night. This was all right, so I was 
 left with the fascinating model, setting the sails and 
 furling them again till ten bells. 
 
 Is there any more delightful bed than a comfortable 
 berth? To lie there rocked by the rolling motion of 
 the ship, lulled by the throb of the engines and the 
 whirr of the paddle blades, as they churn the rushing 
 waters into foam, driving the stout craft through the 
 darkness ! The stewardess knocked at my door and 
 asked if I was comfortable, but whatever I said was 
 mixed with a dream of Walnut Grove, of donkeys and 
 fishing-boats. 
 
 My awakening was early and to a day of unalloyed 
 enjoyment. Breakfast was followed by an exhilarat- 
 ing climb to the mast-head, where I sat for hours 
 watching the sailors set the stay-sails. From my seat 
 on the cross-trees 1 could see the sandy slope of Capo 
 May, through the ship's-glass, and after awhile the 
 pine-clad shores of Delaware. Later in the forenoon I 
 
 was aUo>ye4 in tb§ wh9§l-bo«se wh§r§ J boxed th© 
 
152 OAKLYLE W. HAEEie, 
 
 compass correctly, to the intense amusement of the 
 quartermaster and first mate, who had been my in- 
 structors the previous year. During dinner we passed 
 Capes Charles and Henry, and I remember a nice old 
 gentleman with white hair and a profile like Benjamin 
 
 Franklin calling me " Mr. H ," which so puffed me 
 
 up I could breathe only with difficulty, and was tem- 
 porarily robbed of all sense of taste. By four o'clock we 
 were entering Hampton Roads with the deserted " Kip 
 Eaps " to our left, the grassy slopes of Fortress Monroe 
 to our right, and the Hygeia Hotel in the foreground. 
 Presently we passed the site of that historic engage- 
 ment between the Monitor and Merrimac, and I found 
 myself insisting to an interested group that in spite of 
 a disadvantage of position, the Monitor had had by far 
 the best of the battle. This patriotic view of history 
 was warmly opposed by a very fierce looking gentle- 
 man, but as I was entirely in touch with my audience 
 he was not encouraged and walked off with a dis- 
 gusted air and a limp. I was able to point out the roof 
 of the Normal Institute in Hampton, and the Soldier's 
 Home delightfully situated near the water's edge, 
 with its ilanking of flower-laid beds and fruit-hung 
 orchards. 
 
 The channel, from this point up the Elizabeth River 
 to Norfolk, is very narrow and the shores are disfig- 
 ured by railway termini with their complement of 
 docks and dingy coal barges. Just below the town, 
 however, there is a funny little fort showing a formi- 
 dable pile of rusty cannon-balls, very much too large 
 for the only visible piece of ordnance. We make the 
 ■\Yhaff j^t Norfolk ^ibout half-past five, and as my next 
 
CAELtLE W. HAHEIS. 153 
 
 conveyance, the N. P. Banks, does not sail until the 
 morning, 1 send my baggage aboard her and remain 
 on the Old Dominion for supper. Later I start for 
 a twilight stroll through the town, directing my steps 
 toward that most picturesque and historic spot in 
 Norfolk — the Old Church. It is in Church street, just 
 beyond Main, and surrounded by a crumbling, ivy- 
 grown wall of brick. On ringing the bell of this ter- 
 restial gate of paradise, you are admitted by St. Peter 
 (who assumes the modest shape of a little old man in 
 faded black), and shown the three great relics. First, 
 the chair in which John Hancock sat while painting 
 his name with masterly strokes upon the Declaration 
 of Independence. This throne of Liberty is re-uphols- 
 tered once in five years, because every visitor sits on it, 
 and the younger ones always try to wriggle some of 
 Hancock's genius into their spinal base during the sim- 
 ple ceremony. St. Peter told me that many people 
 read or declaim the historic deposition in its entirety 
 while testing the strength of this revered support. He 
 made this statement with touching pathos. 
 
 Kelic number two is a flat tombnstone bearing ihe 
 weather-worn date 1616. This mark of mortality is 
 not indigenous, so to speak, but was brought to Nor- 
 folk on the back of a long eared hybrid by its long- 
 headed discoverer, who found it in the woods. Legend 
 states that his compensation was four dollars, and that 
 he maintained a sunset glow throughout the village 
 during the whole of the succeeding night. Hence 
 there was a man who died in 1616, but not in vain. 
 The good saint became quite gay while relating the 
 abov^ and volunteered a number of graveyard anec- 
 
154 CAELYLE W. HARRIS. 
 
 dotes of a humorous nature, among them the following 
 epitaph : 
 
 " Resting here beneath these trees 
 Lieth the body of Solomon Pease ; 
 He's not all here, but only his pod, 
 His soul has shelled out and gone up to God." 
 
 The visitor is last shown, as a visual honne^ouche, 
 a cannon-ball lodged in the masonry of the old church, 
 around which the redundant ivy is gracefully fes- 
 tooned. St. Peter explains that this was fired from a 
 British gunboat during the revolutionary war ; upon 
 cross-examination, howe\'er, he admits that it first fell 
 in the yard, but was stuck in the wall to enhance its 
 interest ! 
 
 After exhausting the patience of the un-haloed saint, 
 and contributing my mite, which fell with a lonesome 
 rattle in the big box by the door, I returned to the 
 wharf and went on board the N. P. Banks. Here 
 I found my baggage awaiting me — and Patsy. 
 
 Until some four years ago, when her three hundred 
 pounds of Ethiopian good-nature were bestowed be- 
 neath the tender roots of a backward persimmon tree. 
 Patsy was the best known and best liked stewardess 
 on any craft plying the Chesapeake. None of her 
 friends will ever forget her — or her ginger cookies. 
 These last were emblems of herself — dark, generous 
 and round. Poor Patsey ! her ambition was gray 
 hair, and beyond some dozen, (let us in justice lo the 
 cookies say baker's dozen), cai)illary threads of pearl, 
 it was never gratified. The down upon the fruit of 
 that now thriving persimmon tre§ — bat I refrajq ! 
 
CAKLYLE W. HARRIS. 155 
 
 '• "Com' hea'h, com' hea'h chile ! Mah goodness, how 
 yo' has grown ! Mos' as beeg as yo' paw ! How is yo' 
 paw ? An yo' dea'h maw. 
 
 " Very well indeed, thank you, Aunt Patsy ; and 
 how are you?" 
 
 "Not scrutiatin, but fa'rly scrumptious, fa'rly, de 
 good Lord take car' ob ole Patsy ! " 
 
 " It seems to me you are looking older, aunty — 
 why ! your hair's turning gray ! " 
 
 " Press yo' chile ! Did you reely notice ? Well now J 
 
 hope it am. Marse H (with great respect) would 
 
 yer try one ob ole Patsy's cookies ? " I tried ! Gorged 
 with cookies I went to bed and dreamed of a mule 
 dancing joyously on a gravestone marked 1616, and 
 that I was the gravestone ! 
 
 The bustle and hum of early departure aroused me 
 at five o'clock next morning, and I was in the wheel- 
 house renewing acquaintance with Captain McCarrick 
 and the colored pilot Sam, before we were fairly out 
 on the river. At the tender age of eight years it is 
 entrancing to travel, seemingly upon your individual 
 responsibilty, treating old friends, who are really yuur 
 custodians, as merely so many pleasant features of 
 your journey. 
 
 The N . P. Banks rejoiced . in what 1 used to call 
 the most " boaty " dining saloon I ever saw. A narrow 
 table, almost on the keel, along either side of which 
 were ship-shape settees, behind these the bellying sides 
 of the ship. Sitting at table one could feel the jar of 
 the waves against the ship's side, and the" beat of the 
 paddle blades' made the absorption of soup a matter of 
 gkill and cunning. While sitting at table I could 
 
156 CAKLYLE W. HAEEIS. 
 
 watch through the port-holes the antics of a school of 
 porpoises that was playing around us, and the captain 
 assured me that these fish can easily swim at a rate 
 exceeding forty miles an hour. 
 
 My forenoon was spent upon a high stool in the 
 wheel-house, where I read a volume of De Foe and 
 listened to Sam's egotistical account of a cake walk. It 
 was his partner's fault I remember, that he missed 
 taking the cake. Sam was a very intelligent darky 
 with a racial weakness, however,' for flaring neckties 
 and earsplitting collars. It recurs to me that I asked 
 him to " look around " just to see if he could reallj' 
 turn his head without hurting it. 
 
 By midday, we reached Matthew's Landing, and 
 "Uncle Jess" and I exchanged howls of greeting 
 across the waste of waters. A few minutes later it 
 was my privilege to chaperone a flirtation between my 
 aunt's old coachman and Patsy, which resulted in the 
 exchange of a small basket of adamantine peaches for 
 a generous bundle of cookies ; Uncle Jess' wool was 
 gray, and gray wool was, as we have seen, poor Patsy's 
 Waterloo ! 
 
 More greetings between Uncle Jess and myself, 
 Avhile we walked across the walk to the hitching shed, 
 changing to a solo of thanksgiving when I produced a 
 large plug of tobacco brought all the way from New 
 
 York. "I know'd yo'd "recolleck my tas'e Mars II , 
 
 yasser, and p'raps yo' t'inkin' de' ole' man ain' come 
 fo' yo' een' style ? I'se bro't a team, chile ! Un-h-m ! 
 an' de' family 'cy'arry-um-all. "We'n de' qual'ty rides, 
 sah, wid' yo' Uncle Jess, 'tain' behin' onehoss', sah, no 
 gahj et's behin' a pa'r o' hpsses, sah ! " And §ure enough, 
 
CAELYLE W. HAEEI8. 157 
 
 only one of the bosses was a mule and with strong 
 leanings toward the paternal side. My merriment was 
 uncontrollable, for the animal's ears were as large as 
 palmetto leaves, and bad a worn out moth-eaten look, 
 while his companion in harness was my aunt's dainty 
 little phaeton pony ! 
 
 " Uncle,'' I asked, " did Aunt Lucy tell you to bitch 
 up a team ? And whose mule is that? I never saw that 
 mule before." 
 
 " Dassall right, chile, dassall right, I take de 'sponsi- 
 bileness. Yo see de bosses wuz orf toten' co'n, so I 
 jes borrofied Mars Miller's mule." 
 
 I drove all the way, and whenever I whacked the 
 old mule he'd shake bis ears : then the pony would 
 shy violently, but of course couldn't get away from 
 the lumbering old hulk. I laughed those whole ten 
 miles away ! I laughed until I was tired, and thirsty 
 and sore. If the astute Mr. Bailey would duplicate 
 that team and drive it around a ring he might give 
 his clowns an eternal vacation ! Uncle Jess thought my 
 gayety due to his witticisms and was happy. 
 
 Almost before I knew it we were through the gate 
 at the end of the long lane, and driving toward the 
 shady porch. My aunt hurried out to welcome me, 
 but, catching sight of our rig, laughed herself all out of 
 breath and had to postpone her salutations until we 
 were fairly at the dinner table. 
 
 After dinner a nap, followed by the donning of a 
 costume I have described, and I scamper across the 
 lawn to the wharf for a swim. The crisp cool grass 
 tickles my bare feet delightfully. In the shelter of a 
 post I vinma,ke my simple toilet and then clothed in 
 
158 CAELYLE W. HAEEIS. 
 
 native modesty, plunge in and " fetch " under the fish- 
 ing schooner. 
 
 That evening there is a gathering of colored men 
 and boys in the barnyard to do honor to my arrival. 
 Songs, dances and corn-cob pipes galore. The smudge 
 fire is started and the pine cone blaze near by for 
 toasting crabs, and roasting sweet potatoes'. To toast 
 a hard shell crab you break the back shell, insert the 
 end of a sharp stick (preferably green sassafras) bury 
 your crab in the glow of a pine cone fire and leave 
 him there while we all sing this song : 
 
 " Ole Marsa Crab he lib in de crick, 
 Ole Marsa Crab ho berry slick, 
 'Long come a coon wid a big, big net. 
 An' say, 'Mars Crab come out ob de wet. 
 
 CHORUS. 
 
 "Wow! Marsa Crab, Wow! Wowl 
 Wot yo' gwine do now ? 
 
 Yo tail am burn, 
 
 Yo claw am turn 
 Wow Marsa Crab, wow, wow! 
 
 Now Marsa Crab he brown an' sweet, 
 Shake orf de ash an' clean him neat. 
 Sweetes' meat since yo' wuz bo'n ! 
 Poo' Marsa Crab, he daid and gone! " 
 
 CHOEUS. 
 
 Then you have toasted crab ! 
 
 After singing " Ole Mar.a Crab " in a way that made 
 the cattle huddle together for fear, a space was cleared 
 on the hard earth, I climbed up on a barrel to see it 
 {illj and " Link Le^ "(^Abrahaiii Lincola Leg^ett) tuned 
 
CAELYtE W. SAUElg. 159 
 
 up his banjo, which he had been stringing with rosined 
 fish line, and they all did the " Yaller Corn " song and 
 dance. 
 
 The words as nearly as I can remember them, are 
 these : 
 
 " I wish I wuz in ole Al'bama, 
 Bar's w'ar I wuz bo'n 
 I'd sing an' dance wid dear ole Hannah, 
 I'd hoe dat yaller co'n. 
 
 CHORUS AND DANCE. 
 
 Hoe dat co'n yo lazy nigger, 
 
 Hoe dat yaller co'n 
 Wen de hill am high de ear am bigger, 
 
 Hoe dat yaller co'n. 
 
 Dear ole marsa, dear ole missis, 
 
 Bofe am daid an' gone, 
 Gone am Hannah's smile an' kisses, 
 
 Hoe dat yaller co'n." 
 
 And eight or ten verses more which I cannot recall. 
 There were ten or a dozen negroes in the group around 
 the smudge, and from my royal throne upon the barrel 
 I watched the moonlight flash upon their gleaming teeth 
 and the whites of their eyes as they sang or danced. 
 A cool breeze bearing a scent of pine and sassafras 
 blew from across the creek, I realized that 1 was a 
 lucky boy — and a happy one. 
 
 [This was to have been the first of a series of Vir- 
 ginian memories, but no editor would publish the first, 
 so my dear boy wrote no more.— F. McC. H.] 
 
DEDICATIOlsr. 
 c/lx^iit^i..^ L^t.£4.^t^'' 'u^-o'-*-*^ >y^je. — ^ 
 
 [This dedication was written as I sat outside his cell and handed to me, with 
 such a tender smile at my deUght. The one below is from the first page of the 
 blank book in which he had written verses from time to time.— F. McC. H.] 
 
 Scribbled in idle moments. 
 
 Soratclied with a rusty pen — 
 Eecords of pleasant dreamings 
 
 Ne'er to return again— 
 Smilingly, reader, ponder: 
 
 Here is no tale of strife. 
 But in these pages hidden. 
 
 Lies a romance of life, 
 
"MISS LUCY." 
 
 THE FAEM-HANd's STORY. 
 
 " Miss Lucy " we used to call her, 
 And I tell you, boss, she was neat ! 
 
 The street-dogs perked when she went by, 
 She looked that cute an' sweet. 
 
 If there's one thing I admire 
 
 It's a girl with shiny hair ; 
 The kind you can't call a color — 
 
 'Cause all colors linger there — 
 
 Would yer like to hear about her ? 
 
 W ell her story's very short ; 
 I'd like to see it in a book — ■ 
 
 But I'm not the writin' sort ! 
 
 We'U begin with the man who loved her, 
 No company kept, but yer know 
 
 They sot such a heap by each other 
 That no other chap had a show — 
 
 So yer grinnin' at me are yer 1 
 — Wall ya'as I was sort'er struck 
 
 On that gal, but my int'rest jest then 
 Lay in green peas and such garden truck. 
 
164 CAELYLE w. Harris. 
 
 Ya'as, the smart chaps all goes to the cities^ 
 Fields are quite good enough to my mind — 
 
 And runs round with gals to theaytres 
 Plaj"^ cards, drink, and things of that kind. 
 
 That's the way matters went with her feller. 
 
 From bad to worse I expeck. 
 When a young man, yer see, takes to drinkin' 
 
 He's just hound to end up a wreck. 
 
 They say a chap oughter have his fling, 
 
 And a man must have his day 
 Before settlin' down to be steady — 
 
 That's what the papers say. 
 
 But I'll never forget when the news came home 
 That young Master Charles was dead ; 
 
 And I've heard that his end wasn't righteous, 
 That's what the neighbors said. 
 
 The next thing I heard of Miss Lucy, 
 
 She'd up an' gone inter town 
 An' turned sorter street missionary, 
 
 A-helpin' up men as was down. 
 
 This happened nigh ten years ago, boss ! 
 
 Still she's workin' for women and men 
 Who have somehow lost grip on life's ladder, 
 
 An' she helps them start over again. 
 
 Some folks say her life has been ruined — 
 And I thought so myself for awhile, 
 
 'Cause she gives what's her own up to others, 
 An' of course she don't live in great style. 
 
CARLYLE W. HARRIS. 165 
 
 But you sartain can say of that woman 
 When her dust is put under the sod, 
 
 That she gave up her life to her fellows — 
 An example of love set by God. 
 
 1888. 
 
 ONLY ONE BRUTE ! 
 
 Yes, Number Five's a smart machine. 
 And she's quick at her brakes, sir, too ; 
 
 But there was a time when she warn't quick enough- 
 Now, this yarn's between me and you. 
 
 That year Number Five had the night express, 
 
 And I had to make her climb 
 On the road to Stillwell Junction, 
 
 To catch the switch on time. 
 
 Just six miles this side of the junction 
 
 The line turns a mountain-side. 
 And I lived with my wife and a collie dog 
 
 In a house up on the " divide." 
 
 That dog was a walkin' college ; 
 
 He always knew such a heap. 
 And when it came to railroads — 
 
 "Well, you'd never find him asleep ! 
 
 The night I have in mind, sir. 
 
 We were pilin' up the grade. 
 When I saw my dog come down the track 
 
 A runnin' — he warn't afraid ! 
 
166 CAELYLE W. HAEEIS. 
 
 Of course, I thought he was foolin'^ 
 
 And sorter out for a lark, 
 But he suddenly stopped his runnin' 
 
 And stood and began to bark ! 
 
 T didn't wait a second, 
 
 But jerked the lever back. 
 When I savy, scarce ten yards up the cut, 
 
 A drunken man on the track ! 
 
 I couldn't stop her quick enough, 
 So they both died under the wheels — 
 
 But I often see, when I'm up at home, 
 In bed or takin' my meals — 
 
 The night express on that lonely track, 
 
 That man as drunk as a log, 
 And I say we only killed one brute — 
 
 And that one warn't my dog ! 
 
 1888. 
 
 "Written for the " W. L. S. " to be read at a meeting 
 held at Cleveland's house in Orange, Dec. 23d, '87. 
 
 T'was two nights before Christmas in Orange, N. J., 
 The boys had assembled at Cleveland's that day ; 
 The time it was evening, the house it was still ! 
 The members all quiet (save Reynolds & Sill). 
 
 When, a strange, ghostly murmur was heard overhead. 
 
 Like respectable spirits disturbed in their bed. 
 
 We felt drowsy, confused, and dulled were our 
 
 senses — 
 And here's where my wonderful story commences. 
 
CAELYLE W. HARRIS. 167 
 
 We suddenly saw on the mantelpiece stand 
 A queer armored figure from old Eoman land. 
 His figure was grand, but he looked dissipated, 
 And he said, " Are your rascally maws never sated ? 
 
 Whj' don't you read Howells and men of his stamp, 
 And quit mauling poor Shakespeare, the darling old 
 
 tramp — 
 My name, boys, is Julius— I'm Caesar the bold ; 
 I've been scorching in Sheol for ages untold." 
 
 His noble shape faded, first his feet, last his nose ; 
 He went back to Sheol again, I suppose. 
 A long line of figures now passed o'er the shelf. 
 And one was a shrinking, dwarfed, cowardly elf 
 
 Dragged on by a Jew robed in garments of old, 
 
 Ye gods ! It was Shy lock, and the thing he had hold 
 
 Of, was Brinckerhoff, boys ! Now you scarcely 
 
 believe me, 
 But by heavens above, boys, I couldn't deceive ye ! 
 
 The figures slid by, we saw some of their faces — 
 Miles Standish, " The Princess," and behind them were 
 
 spaces 
 Left for jokes we had cracked on those poets so 
 
 grand, 
 And so they all passed, till the last made a stand. 
 
 " Young men, my name's Lear," he bluntly essayed, 
 " And oh ! boys, treat me gently, for I am afraid 
 Of your jokes and your jibes, your manners and 
 speeches, 
 
168 CAELYLE W. HARRIS. 
 
 Just thinTc of your joke on. my nuptial breaches." 
 He faded away, but I think we can find him, 
 For he left us an odor of Bacon behind him. 
 
 CAMP WEBSTER. 
 
 Pitched near a clear pool's border, 
 Hid by sweet-brier and fern, 
 
 Livened by woodland songster. 
 Shaded from hot sun's burn, 
 
 There did we build Camp "Webster 
 Far from the world's concern. 
 
 CAMP SONG NO. 1. 
 
 " THE CAMP OF '88." 
 
 "We are four young jolly fellows. 
 
 And we've had a glorious time. 
 As our fond remembrance mellows 
 
 And our fancy takes a climb, 
 We will sing to you a story. 
 
 Though the hour now grows late, 
 How we filled ourselves with glory 
 
 In the Camp of '88. 
 
 Now, our oldest man was Washburn 
 And his hair was pompadour, 
 
 Then the next was " dear Miss Godfrey " 
 Who declares he's camped before; 
 
CAELYLE W. HARRIS. 169 
 
 There was Keynolds and the writer 
 
 Who doth now this tale relate; 
 Thus the four of us together 
 
 Made the Camp of '88. 
 
 First we took the steamer Baldwin 
 
 And the weather it was fine, 
 So we sat on deck and sang our songs 
 
 From "Yale" to "Clementine." 
 But as fast the hour grew later, 
 
 It was settled by debate 
 That we'd bunk, and dream together 
 
 Of the Camp of '88. 
 
 . But, though hard we tried to slumber, 
 
 "We were dished of our repose, 
 For there dwelt a man in No. 3 
 
 Who slumbered through his nose ! 
 Oh ! I never shall forget that snore, 
 
 I've never heard its mate — 
 For we all were quiet sleepers 
 
 In the Camp of '88 ! 
 
 We had various adventures. 
 
 But we all kept up our hope 
 Till we tried to pitch our little tent 
 
 And found we'd lost the rope ! 
 But we managed soon to hang it, 
 
 And we blessed our happy fate 
 That had brought us 'neath the shadow 
 
 Of the Camp of '88. 
 
llO CAELYLE W. HAEEIS. 
 
 Now the place we camped, was "Woodlands, 
 
 Near the foot of old Mt. Slide ; 
 The nearest town Phoenecia, 
 
 Which was half an hour's ride; 
 So imagine us poor fellows, 
 
 Under half a ton of weight, 
 Toting cabbage and potatoes 
 
 To the Camp of '88 ! 
 
 But when silent evening hours 
 
 Cast their lengthened shades around, 
 And the balmy dews of evening 
 
 Settled softly on the ground ; 
 You might see these four boys filing 
 
 Through Beach's garden gate, 
 And you'd only find a poodle 
 
 At the Carap of '88 ! 
 
 Two of us, myself and Godfrey, 
 
 Couldn't rest while we were still, 
 So we took a walk clear through the Notch 
 
 And up to Tannersville. 
 It was every inch of forty miles, 
 
 We never lost our gait — 
 So we turned up sound and hearty 
 
 At the Camp of '88. 
 
 Now poor Eeynolds is a teaser 
 And his legs are long and slim. 
 
 "When he heard there was a walk to do 
 He swore the man was " him," 
 
CARLYLE W. HARRIS. 171 
 
 So he started off with Godfrey — 
 
 For his sake, I'll only state 
 That they came back, some days later 
 
 To the Camp of '88. 
 
 When we started for the city 
 
 It was in the Kingston boat, 
 And four boys more jolly and serene 
 
 Were never seen afloat. 
 There are some who were not with us, 
 
 And they've got a year to wait 
 Ere they get a chance at camping, 
 
 Like the Camp of '88. 
 
 Dearest friends the hours are passing 
 
 And we've sung you quite a song ; 
 We trust we have not bored you 
 
 Though perhaps we've made it long : 
 So, as now we all are thirsty. 
 
 Here's a toast you can't decline, 
 Fill and drink to old Camp Webster 
 
 And the Camp of '89. 
 
 CAMP SONG No. 2. 
 
 (a I E, J U A N I T A.) 
 
 Soft o'er Camp Webster 
 
 Summer stars are shining sweet, 
 While round our camp-fire. 
 
 Hearts congenial beat 
 
172 CARLYLE W. HAEEIS. 
 
 May serenest slumber 
 
 Visit now our boys to-night, 
 
 Dreams in happy number 
 Stay till morning light. 
 
 Soft o'er Camp Webster 
 
 Luna sheds her radiant beams, 
 While bathed in moonlight 
 
 Dear Camp Webster dreams, 
 Webster, Camp Webster, 
 
 By the murm'ring Catskill stream, 
 Joys, like dreams are fleeting — 
 
 Dream, Camp Webster, dream ! 
 
 CAMP SONG No. 3. 
 
 Blow winds, blow soft and cool, 
 
 Fragrant with scent of fir 
 Kipple yon shaded pool. 
 
 Gently our camp fire stir — 
 Camp Webster sleeps. 
 
 Sing, night bird, softly now 
 
 Mid-summer melodies, 
 List brooklet, murmur low 
 
 Murmur soft rhapsodies — 
 Camp Webster sleeps. 
 
 Stars set in sky above 
 
 Shedding soft silver light. 
 Shine bright on those we love 
 
 Give them sweet dreams to-night — 
 Camp Webster sleeps. 
 
CAELYLE W. HARRIS. 173 
 
 A EEVEEIE. 
 
 The shadows deepen slowly round our tent, 
 I hear the night bird whistle from afar, 
 
 My comrades all are gone, on pleasure bent. 
 And left me to sweet silence -and cigar. 
 
 While seated thus upon my camp chair low. 
 In easy comfort leaning 'gainst a tree. 
 
 Watching the soft fire flashes come and go, 
 A flood of memories steal over me. 
 
 Vague recollections of my younger years 
 Mingle with thoughts of days but lately flown, 
 
 Days that have failed to ripen hopes and fears, 
 Yet proved that man doth reap whatever sown. 
 
 Memories of mother and her tenderness, 
 Her soft caress and sweet forgiving tear — 
 
 And now a voice seems wildly murmuring 
 As lightening flashes leap about my head — 
 
 " Wake up old man, come, quit your slumbering, 
 The boys are back, 'tis time to get to bed." 
 
 PLATONIC. 
 
 I met a girl one autumn eve, 
 
 A maiden young and fair. 
 With figure girlish, graceful. 
 
 Crowned with wondrous tinted hair. 
 
174 CAELTLE W. HARRIS. 
 
 Her eyes — well hang the color, 
 But they learned to smile on me, 
 
 And my boyish heart throbbed fast and strong 
 When my eyes would those eyes see. 
 
 "We met each other often 
 
 Ere the winter passed away, 
 Sometimes it was an evening call, 
 
 Sometimes a matinee. 
 Till I grew to love this bonny maid 
 
 Who seemed beyond compare, 
 And I longed to make her life my own 
 
 To shield from worldly care. 
 
 March blizzards bloomed and faded. 
 
 May, softening into June 
 Found us swapping fulsome compliments 
 
 " Wid a tennis net betchune." 
 But here my sweet dream faded, 
 
 That dream but half begun, 
 For my summers were but ten and eight 
 
 While hers were twenty one. 
 
 But I still adore that maiden. 
 
 In a different way of course, 
 As some men try a carriage 
 
 After falling off a horse. 
 And she knows she has my dear regard, 
 
 A gift not easy won. 
 Though my summers are but ten and eight 
 
 And hers are twenty one ! 
 1888. 
 
OAKLVI,E W. HARRIS. ITS 
 
 BALSAM INSPIEATIONS. 
 
 [These stanzas were sent, with a bag of balsam Carl 
 had gathered, to his, "platonic" friend, she making him 
 a pillow in return. — F. McC. H.J 
 
 Lysander : " One turf will serve as pillow for us both. 
 
 One heart, one bed, two bosoms and one troth. " 
 
 — Shaksepeare. 
 
 Lacking love's boldness I more modest be, 
 Wishing for each one pillow, so that we 
 Though distant far, each from the other seem. 
 You share my pillow ! May I share your dream? 
 
 Herewith I send you, may the gift well please, 
 
 Work for your needle, that may crown with ease your 
 
 nimble task. 
 And since you promised half your toil for me, 
 And as these sprays I plucked from woodland tree, 
 May your work prove as sweet as mine to me. 
 This all I ask. 
 
 Dream, sleeper, softly dream 
 Sweet fragrant memories. 
 And may each lifeday seem 
 Food for dream melodies, 
 Dream on ! 
 
 Dream softly on thy pillow dear. 
 Sweet dreams of angels hovering near 
 
 Guarding thy rest. 
 And when thou wak'st, may life-work seem 
 Better and sweeter than thy dream, 
 1888. Ever the best. 
 
176 CARLYLE W. HARRIS. 
 
 NOT LIKE OTHEE GIELS. 
 
 I asked a girl, once on a time 
 (Because I was afraid 
 To ask her for her charming self ! ) 
 I asked this rhythmic maid, 
 To trust me with her shadow-self 
 She answered with a laugh ; 
 " Since I've left school, 
 I've made a rule — ! " 
 And hence no photograph. 
 So now for consolation sweet, 
 She writes with fancy twirls : 
 " Enclosed please find a thing to hold, 
 Pictures of other girls ! ! " 
 1888. 
 
 EEPENTANCE. 
 
 I have a friend, a charming one, 
 
 Most happy I to be 
 
 Enrolled among her intimates, 
 
 Still one thing troubles me, 
 
 I sometimes make most grave mistakes, 
 
 And she is then so kind 
 
 To tender me forgiveness sweet, 
 
 And e'en excuses find, 
 
 Till now I'm losing half my sleep — 
 
 In fact 1 only live. 
 
 By hoping that she'R wrong me once, 
 
 That /may once forgive, 
 
OAKLYf.E W. HARUtS. 177 
 
 " Misery me, alack-a-day " to think — 
 Most sad reflection — 
 That while with errors I'm replete, 
 She is so near perfection. 
 
 1889. 
 
 1889. 
 
 «A VALENTINE." 
 
 Life's brightest years are fleeting fast 
 
 For both of us, my friend, 
 For both of us each season may 
 
 New ties, new friendships blend. 
 So now I ask for years to come, 
 
 "When new aifections twine. 
 Permit me, lady fair, to be 
 
 As now, your Valentine. 
 
 1889. 
 
 ANOTHER (to A FLIRt). 
 
 You who have lovers by the score, 
 Most surely can't reject one more, 
 
 Who bows before your shrine ? 
 So, if you'll let me join the mob, 
 I'll promise ne'er again to rob 
 
 His Saintship Valentine. 
 
178 OARLYLE W. HAllElS. 
 
 " EEBUKED," 
 (Or, "what are private theatricals for anyway?") 
 
 There is a maid I'm fond of, 
 
 And since she's to appear 
 At an amateur performance 
 
 On a stage not far from here, 
 I thoughtfully suggested 
 That 'twould add to nature's grace 
 If her beauty lines were deepened 
 By a " make up " for her fece. 
 " Just a touch beneath the eyelids, 
 
 Just a breath upon each cheek, 
 
 I'm sure would heighten beauty," 
 
 I suggest, with manner meek, 
 " Then a line would render Grecian 
 
 Her most truly classic nose." 
 
 "Young man," her daddy answered, 
 " Don't attempt to paint the rose ! " 
 1889. 
 
 TO PAY A PHILOPENA. 
 
 My Little Friend : 
 
 When I am gone 
 And come no more for letters, 
 
 But lift again life's weary load — 
 And make way for my betters ! 
 
 I trust you'll sometimes think of me 
 When I am in the city ; 
 
CAELYLE W. HARRIS. 179 
 
 Think in a reminiscing strain, 
 Witli thoughts of queenly pity 
 Of him who lost a bet to you— 
 Of course his heart went with it too ! 
 
 IS89. 
 
 BIETHDAY VEESES. 
 
 So thou hast passed one milestone more 
 
 Along the road of life ! 
 How, prithee tell me, hast thou fared — 
 
 Is it a way of strife ? 
 Or has the dust-choked road been scorned 
 
 To tread by shaded ways — 
 Safe 'neath the cool of leafy boughs — 
 
 The woodland meadow's maze. 
 Follow that woodland path, dear friend 
 
 Brambled but safest too. 
 Though it prove not one half so smooth 
 
 Milestones, sweet love, are few ! 
 1888. 
 
 IN MEMOKIAM. 
 
 (Written to celebrate the romantic experience of a 
 friend, July 5, '88.) 
 
 How well I recollect the night, 
 
 'Twas twenty years agone. 
 That a sweet dream-vision crossed my sight, 
 
 And left me sad, forlorn. 
 It happened thus ; at a musicale 
 
ISO CAELYIE W. SAREIS. 
 
 I was dozing, a child of six, 
 Dreamily sucking a pop-corn ball 
 
 And sleeping between the licks, 
 When I suddenly wakened and looked around 
 
 (The reason I never could guess) 
 Perhaps 'twas a sharp staccato sound, 
 
 Or the sweet pianiste's dress ! 
 However it happened, my eyes met hers, 
 
 And she. dreamily smiled as she played ; 
 I was young, and you know the risk one incurs, 
 
 So no wonder I was afraid. 
 And lost ray chance to return that smile. 
 
 And perchance to have turned my fate ; 
 But I've called myself this many a time 
 
 Such an ass to so hesitate. 
 So now, since the lapse of many a year 
 
 Has softened my yearning pain, 
 I sometimes a dago's organ hear, 
 
 I see that sweet smile again. 
 And am often at night from my sleep beguiled 
 
 To polish the sheet and reflect " she smiled." 
 
 " NOTICE.'- 
 
 I noticed once at a meeting, 
 
 A meeting on woman's rights. 
 While the speaker was indulging 
 
 In some grand rhetoric flights, 
 A couple who sat some seats away 
 Whose thoughts from the speaker seemed to stray. 
 
OAELYLE W. ttAKMS. 181 
 
 For he was very handsome, 
 A well dressed fellow too ! 
 While she was only a homely girl 
 And wore a Koehler shoe. 
 
 Still, he rather seemed to like her, 
 
 And you know we often meet 
 Fellows who like Chicago girls. 
 
 And they have awful feet, 
 Then perhaps after all her feet were small. 
 For in Koehler shoes one can'|; tell at all ! 
 
 But, he was very handsome, etc. 
 1889. 
 
 1888. 
 
 VASSAE APOLOGIA. 
 
 Ah, she is very fair, 
 Brown eyes and golden hair, 
 Dainty her waist. 
 Lips of the cherries' hue 
 Ever are tempting you 
 Rash one, to taste : 
 But I must tell to you 
 Something most sadly true. 
 Pray keep it mum ! 
 That this divinity. 
 Fair in virginity, 
 Chews tulu gum 1 
 
182 CAELYLE W. HAEEIS. 
 
 SEEENADE. 
 
 Blow, south wind, softly blow, 
 
 Fanning my love to sleep ; 
 Whisper to her that here beloW 
 
 I will my lone watch keep. 
 Breath thou thy tenderest breath for her 
 With fragrance soft of pine and fir, 
 
 Blow, south wind, blow ! 
 
 Shine, moon, with silver light ; 
 
 Brighten my loved one's dreams, 
 And bring to her sweet dreams this night 
 
 Eadiant as thy fair beams. 
 Queen of the night in beauty rare, 
 Crown her my queen, my love, my fair ; 
 
 Shine, silver moon ! 
 
 1889. 
 
 VANITY FAIE. 
 (Written for Helen Potts Harris.) 
 
 Cozily seated before the grate. 
 
 My heart's fair choice and I, 
 Dreamily planning for future days, 
 
 Watching the embers die; 
 And she looked so sweetly proud of her grace 
 
 As I tenderly stroked her hair, 
 With the light of love on her fair young face, 
 
 That I called her my Yanity Fair I 
 
CAELYLE W. HARRIS. 183 
 
 And I promised her then, by the embers' glow, 
 That the years might come with their joys or woe, 
 
 And life with its pleasures and care. 
 But we'd live for each other, my love and I, 
 Though time with youth and its charms might fly, 
 
 She'd still be my Vanity Fair. 
 
 Now time has flown and we're old and gray, 
 We're only waiting from day to day 
 
 For the call from here to There ; 
 We are drifting fast on an ebbing tide 
 And I hope and dream of the other side, 
 
 For me and my Vanity Fair. 
 1890. 
 
 SLEEP. 
 
 Thou tender, loving mistress of mankind. 
 Soother of pain by touch of soft caress, 
 
 Come near and press my eyelids with thy lips, 
 And lull me into sweet f orgetfulness. 
 
 Smooth from my brow the furrowed line of care : 
 Upon my forehead let thy cool palm lie, 
 My aching forehead ! To the throbbing brain, 
 Sing thou a low, sweet lullaby. 
 
 Sing me a dream of groves and leafy trees, 
 With tinkling rivulet and flow'ry bush. 
 
 And bright-hued daisies nodding to the breeze, 
 Benearth the flight of feobQUok aad thrush, 
 
184 CAELYLE W. HaEEiS. 
 
 "Waft to mine ears the murmur of the brook, 
 Along whose banks the traiUng willows weep. 
 
 Then with thy soft, warm arms encircling me, 
 Pillow my head upon thy breast, O Sleep. 
 
 1892. 
 
 A WOMAN'S PKICE. 
 
 Once six commercial travelers 
 
 Together were afloat. 
 And all did congregate within 
 
 The cabin of the boat, 
 "While tale made way for merry jest, 
 
 And jest for anecdote. 
 
 It was a goodly company, 
 
 A jolly one withal, 
 And each one had his fav'rite tale 
 
 And each his fav'rite ball, 
 And the yarns they told each other 
 
 Were just a trifle tall ! 
 
 They told some tales of women 
 (Said tales were scarcely nice) 
 
 And the climax of their naughty yarns 
 Was top-capped in a trice 
 
 By the man who said sententiously. 
 
 " All woraei} have their price," 
 
CAELYLE W. HAEEIS. 185 
 
 Then the youngest of these travelers 
 
 Who sat within the ring, 
 Spoke out and said, " I know a fact 
 
 Which proves that very thing ; 
 You see my mother had her price — 
 
 Love, and a wedding-ring." 
 1892. 
 
 LULLABY. 
 
 [This lullaby has been set to music by Carl's friend, Mrs. 
 David Beatty, and can be obtained by post for ten cents from 
 Mr. D. Beatty, 16 Court St., Brooklyn. Mrs. B. very kindly 
 insists on my sharing the profits of this publication. — F. McO. H.] 
 
 Eest, rest, little one, rest ! 
 Mother is singing to thee ! 
 Twilight is fading away in the west, 
 Wee little birdhngs are warm in the nest ; 
 Eest, little one, rest ! 
 
 Sleep, sleep, little one sleep,' 
 
 Mother is praying for thee ! 
 
 Praying that God will in tenderness keep 
 
 Fatherly guard o'er her wee little sheep, 
 
 Sleep, little one, sleep ! 
 
 Dream, dream little one, dream. 
 Mother is watching o'er thee ! 
 Don't you know darling, you always will seem 
 Just as a baby to motherhood's dream ? 
 Dream, little one, dream ! 
 1892, 
 
186 CAELYLE W. HAEEIS. 
 
 COUEAGE. 
 
 Days yet to come are like an unturned stone, 
 Beneath lie worms or treasure, none may see. 
 
 Only the past and present are our own, 
 
 Man's noblest gifts are thought and memory. 
 
 Hope is at best an idle, baseless dream. 
 
 One drop of courage may to crimson turn a sea. 
 
 And tinge the waters of each puerile stream 
 That bathes the shores of this world's destiny. 
 
 1892. 
 
 PHILOSOPHY. 
 
 Remember, oh remember, while years are floating by. 
 While spring-time suns of joyous youth are measuring 
 
 the sky. 
 To garner in, for later years, when life may lose its 
 
 zest. 
 
 That treasure, which of treasures all, is ever, ever 
 
 best— 
 
 A brave philosophy. 
 
 Eemember, oh remember, while manhood's summer 
 
 grows, 
 While striving 'mid the piercing thorns to pluck 
 
 ambition's rose. 
 Though failure, pain and sacrifice may mar thy daily 
 
 path, 
 
 That these do sheathe their keener pang for him who 
 always hath 
 
 A wise philosophy ! 
 
CAKLYLE W. HAEEIS. 187 
 
 Remember, oh remember, when youth is far behind, 
 With only mem'ry's cloak to shield from autumns chill' 
 
 ing wind, 
 That thou may'st purchase refuge, with the treasure 
 
 thou hast Avon, 
 And fairer, warmer radiance than shed by summer sun. 
 With thy philosophy. 
 
 Kemember, oh remember, when winter's icy hand. 
 Draws tighter and yet tighter life's slender golden 
 
 band. 
 That there is hope, and peace, and joy, and happiness 
 
 indeed. 
 And confidence beyond despair whatever be thy creed, 
 In true philosophy ! 
 1892. 
 
188 CAELYLE W. HAEEIS. 
 
 THE LAST FEW WEEKS. 
 
 Some little account should be given of the seven 
 weeks from March 20th, to the terrible May 8th. My 
 boy remained at the Tombs till Thursday morning. I 
 saw him on Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday. I 
 never believed he would die, so, though I suffered horri- 
 bly, God spared me the sharpest agony. Then Carl had 
 such a wonderful way of encouraging and strengthen- 
 ing me that, as long as I could see him, I was not 
 utterly wretched. We began at once to send out the 
 petition blanks ; no one was employed to get signa- 
 tures — people called for, or wrote for them. I myself 
 mailed nearly fifteen hundred blanks in answer to 
 letters. This kept me busy, and the letters from those 
 who believed in Carl were a great help. It is torture 
 now to think what that noble boy endured — not a word 
 of complaint ever came to me, but think of his agony ! 
 He was never alone! Ah, as I stop and in the quiet of 
 midnight let ray tears flow, I think how for seven long 
 weeks my poor boy was never alone. Thank God all 
 that is past ! Safely on the hills of God, he rests at 
 last! 
 
 Every one, as the petition rolled up, assured me 
 Ca/rVs life was saved. The papers said Flower was 
 sure to commute and might pardon, I believe if th^re 
 
CAELYLE W. HAEEIS. l89 
 
 had been been no great parade and redew, if Flower 
 had stayed away from New York, he would have done 
 so, but after he came to New York he changed. Tam- 
 many and the district attorney's office was too strong 
 for him. I begged him to see Carl, or at least to let 
 Raines see my boy. It is an added pang to read that 
 he commuted Fanning's sentence, because "/ saw 
 him and he looked like a frank, decent fellow." Look 
 at Carl's face, and remember Warden Fallon's words : 
 " No one could talk fifteen minutes with Mr. Harris 
 and not doubt his guilt at least," and think what I 
 suffered, when Flower would not see my poor boy ! 
 
 But a commission was appointed. Oh, shall I ever 
 know such happiness as was mine when that news 
 came ? I left my two youngest children on Sunday 
 morning, as I was to be in New York early on Monday. 
 I read the ninety-first psalm and then, fearing I could 
 not command my voice, I asked my son to pray. He 
 thanked God that Carl had not sunk under his long" 
 imprisonment, but was a nobler, better boy to-day than 
 two years ago, and then he prayed for Governor Flower 
 and the commission. No prayer is lost, and surely 
 some blessing must come to the governor in answer to 
 our prayer that morning. How we planned for Carl's 
 return with me! And then came the commission. 
 Mr. Eaihes' coldness made my heart die within me. 
 Yet I felt so sure right must triumph, and when Yan 
 Mater and Mrs. Potts loth aohiowledged to perjury, 
 when neither Choate, the Misses Eockwell and Carson 
 or Treverton appeared, I felt we had indeed triumphed. 
 I went back to my children, back to settling the little 
 house where Carl was to rest, and on Thursday came 
 
190 CAELTLE W. HAEEIS. 
 
 the telegram, " no clemency !" I cannot speak of the 
 very end. I wrote at midnight of the day I bade 
 my boy good bye till we meet in heaven, of his last 
 hours, I will quote that and give his last statement, 
 only saying that he died, as he lived, proclaiming his 
 innocence with his last breath. It has been said he 
 would, from love to me, make no confession. I told him 
 of this and added, " "What do you think mother would 
 wish, dear ? " " Oh, I know you'd rather I'd confess to 
 
 a crime than die with a lie on my lips. But " and 
 
 he looked me full in the eyes, his own eyes clear and 
 pure, " I can't confess what I never did." " No, dear, 
 I am sure of your innocence," I said. 
 
 So many friends have regretted that there was not 
 a public funeral, that I feel obliged to say a word on 
 this subject. My sisters, as well as myself, would have 
 liked to lay our dear boy by the grandmother who 
 idolized him, and whom he had never caused an anxious 
 hour y but we felt afraid of the crowds that might 
 gather, and, as the Harris family wished the privilege 
 of laying the sacred dust in their family plot, we 
 agreed to have it so. The very private service was 
 soothing beyond words to express. The chaplain had 
 been Carl's very warm friend ; the dear boy looked 
 just as if he had fallen asleep, and he had so lifted us 
 by his unselfish fortitude and calmness above earthly 
 things, that I did not realize the full extent of my loss 
 for days — indeed it is growing upon me now. 
 
 Let me say my last word here. My work for Carl 
 is ended. Eead his own words and remember they 
 are the the words of a boy who at twentj'-one years 
 ftnd five months wsi,s shut out ffora all elevating influ- 
 
OlfiLfLE W. HAEfitS. 191 
 
 ences, was badgered and tortured, lied about and mis- 
 represented, and yet wrote such verses as the lullaby, 
 such words as his last statement, and then cast your 
 vote as to whether Carlyle Harris was " guilty " or 
 " not guilty." 
 
19^ OAStirll W. HAKBIS. 
 
 HIS FINAL STATEMENT. 
 
 " Notification has been brought to me that Governor 
 !Flower has refused to interfere with the execution of 
 the sentence of the lower court in my case. Evidence 
 has come to light that my wife was for years before 
 her death addicted to the use (or misuse) of the drug, 
 from an overdose of which she died. I am sentenced 
 to death upon the supposition that I substituted a 
 capsule containing five grains of morphine for one of 
 the harmless capsules I prescribed for her ten days 
 before her death. 
 
 Now, it is self-evident to any one having the 
 knowledge of medicine, that no one addicted to mor- 
 phine could be murdered with five grains of that drug, 
 because for such a person five grains would not be a 
 fatal dose. Upon this fact was based my motion for 
 re-trial,' which Recorder Smyth denied, and later my 
 plea for executive interference. 
 
 In recognition of this last plea a commissioner was 
 appointed, to investigate the credibility of the witnesses 
 who had volunteered testimony as to my wife's habit. 
 Their evidence remained unshaken, and though the 
 prosecution attempted a rebuttal, they did not dare to 
 produce in open court the witnesses whose affidavits 
 were the most important of those on which Eecorder 
 
eAKLYLE W. IIAREIS. 193 
 
 Smyth denied my motion for re-trial. 1 refer to 
 Eunice Kockwell, Rachel Cookson, Dr. Treverton and 
 Dr. Hand, who in their affidavits foreswore the testi- 
 mony given on my trial, as I have shown, and to 
 Dil worth Choate. Hence it was established before the 
 governor's commissioner, by the testimony of Dr. Kin- 
 mouth, Dr. Woolman, Miss Jackson, Miss Waddell and 
 others, that my wife purchased morphine frequently, 
 and that she foolishly used it to quiet neuralgic pain. 
 It is not claimed, and never has been, that my wife 
 willfully destroyed herself, for she was beloved and 
 happy. But the fatal mistakes of those who self- 
 administer morphine, are matters of record all over the 
 world. 
 
 When charges of murder were first preferred 
 against me I delivered myself at once into custody, 
 demanding an investigation. Again on the 10th of 
 April last, although under sentence of death, I refused 
 to take advantage of a free opportunity to escape. As 
 to this last matter, Keepers Murphy and Hulse and 
 other prison officials will bear me out. So how is it, 
 that in a case where so many facts and the entire be- 
 havior of the defendent, all invite executive clemency, 
 together with the petition of over fifty thousand citi- 
 zens, among them many who are prominent in the 
 national esteem, such clemency should be denied ? 
 
 Because the action of the court was not justified 
 by the facts in the case, and hence public outcry must 
 be silenced by a seeming justification of the court out- 
 side of the facts. Where there was no doubt of guilt 
 Governor Flower has not hesitated to interfere, as in 
 
194 CAELYLE W. HAEKIS. 
 
 the case of James Minnaugh, about a j'ear ago ; but in 
 that case the facts justified the court, and there was no 
 Eecorder Smyth clamoring to be upheld. 
 
 Carlyle Harris living would be a daily menace to 
 the career of Smyth, Wellman and others. Dead, he 
 would soon be forgotten and affairs may go on as 
 before. 
 
 There is an idea in the minds of many that at the 
 time of my wife's death I desired marriage with some 
 other woman. Such a person has never been found nor 
 does she exist. It is my misfortune that I have been 
 prosecuted by libel and innuendo through the columns 
 of the press, rather than by means of witnesses in 
 court. 
 
 I desire in this utterance to express my great 
 thanks to those members of the jury vs^ho have bravely 
 declared, that had they known of the newly-found 
 evidence at the time of my trial, they w^ould have 
 acquitted me. And yet I beg that the witnesses who 
 did not bring forward their knowledge until too late 
 will not upbraid themselves. I have for them no 
 thought of blame. Individually they did not realize 
 the pertinence of what they knew, nor could they be 
 expected to. Also to those many friends who have 
 labored so diligently to bring the truth to light, I send 
 my thanks. That they are in my thoughts at such a 
 time as this is an earnest of my gratitude. 
 
 It has been reported in the newspapers that, during 
 my stay here in Sing Sing, I have scoffed at the de- 
 votions of my fellow-prisoners and indulged in irrever- 
 ent jokes. TJiis is cruelly false. I still enjoy the hope 
 
OAELYLE W. IlAEEiS. 195 
 
 of my childhood's faith, and believe that I shall not be 
 misjudged through all eternity. 
 
 The governor states that he has been finally con- 
 vinced of my guilt by the affidavits of Eunice Eock- 
 "well and Rachel Cookson. These affidavits are identi- 
 cal as to phrases, and were evidently both dictated by 
 the same person. It is my honest belief that they 
 were signed unread, for on the trial. Miss Cookson gave 
 testimony that directly conflicts with her later affida- 
 vit, and the district attorney did not dare to call either 
 of those witnesses before the commisssioner, and 
 submit their statements to cross-examination. 
 
 No one had so many reasons, all sentiment or love 
 aside, for desiring my wife to live as I had. She would 
 have brought me money and professional success ; she 
 would have graced my home, and had I known of her 
 sad habit it would have been my happiness to shield 
 and cure her. 
 
 I have now to die ; the manner of my death is of 
 small moment to me. I have waited patiently so long 
 as there was the remotest chance of obtaining justice, 
 refusing to run away even when under sentence of 
 death. 
 
 May God in mercy bless and guard those I leave 
 behind and give them peace. And now, face to face 
 with the greatest mystery known to man, knowing 
 that no concealment or untruth can mitigate my end, 
 I do solemnly declare that I am innocent of the crime 
 for which I am condemned to die. I beg that those 
 who think or speak or write of me in years to come, 
 will do so a;S kindly as they can ; not forgetting thatj 
 
196 CAELYLE w. Harris. 
 
 when much proof of my innocenp^ was found, it was 
 inhumanly thrust aside. 
 
 Sing Sing, N. T., May 6th, 1893. 
 
 "This statement to be copied for publication and 
 the original given to my mother. 
 
 " Caeltle Hakeis." 
 
CAELYLE W. HAEKIS. 197 
 
 STATEMENT BY HIS MOTHEE. 
 
 I feel that the many friends who have tried to get 
 justice done to my dear boy ought to know of his last 
 hours — of God's great mercy to me and how He 
 sustained us both. 
 
 I did not see my dear boy after he was taken to 
 Sing Sing till last Friday. It was his wish that I 
 should not see him there. Conscious of his innocence, 
 and that we had proof of Helen being addicted to the 
 use of morphine, Carl hoped I need never see him under 
 sentence of death. But God allowed it otherwise, and 
 though an innocent boy has been judicially murdered, 
 I can praise Him for even this last ordeal. As soon as 
 I saw my boy I felt that he had grown spiritually. 
 He made no profession of " conversion." Almost all 
 his talk was of what I could do, what friends I had 
 left, etc. But all eagerness for life, for a career, was 
 gone, and very quietly he told me he prayed to God, 
 had asked His forgiveness,. and (though not sure of 
 immortality) trusted God with the future. I prayed 
 with him, and very calmly and reverently he said the 
 Lord's Prayer with me. To one who knows my boy this 
 means much, for he never went through the forms of 
 
 Erayer. There was no confession of the crime of which 
 e was charged — ^how could there be — but he deeply 
 regretted all the trouble he had brought upon us by 
 concealing his marriage, and he felt very deeply the 
 disgrace his execution brought upon us ; but I told him 
 I thanked God I was Carlyle Harris' mother and I 
 could say what .few mothers can say, that in his twenty- 
 
108 CAELYLE W. HAEEIS. 
 
 ttiree years of life he had not given me one unkind 
 word or ever disobeyed an expressed command. We 
 agreed that God's way must be best, though Carl felt 
 deeply that the only lesson his fate can teach, is to 
 warn a young man who is falsely accused not to stand 
 trial, but to run away as he should have done. 
 
 Helen Potts Harris has again and again been called 
 Carl's child wife. She was nineteen when she died. 
 Two years before she boasted at Miss Jackson's school 
 of having been engaged four times. While there she 
 contracted an engagement. After that she was 
 engaged to Harry Brown (with whom she planned an 
 elopement), and then she secretly married my boy, 
 who solemnl}' assured me he had never asked any other 
 woman to marry him. 
 
 Which of the two was the more innocent? Cer- 
 tainly Helen was no innocent, ignorant child ! A 
 morphine eater, contracting a secret marriage, which 
 was connived at by her mother for seven months, 
 though that mother had the marriage paper in her 
 possession and knew me ! 
 
 I leave the public to judge quietly between these two 
 as I leave them to God. 
 
 Mr. Nicoli has alluded sneeringly to Carl's writing 
 verses, etc. The lawyer who conducted the first 
 trial, Mr. John A. Taylor, promised Carl that no one 
 should have a larger fee than $2,500. But as soon as 
 Carl was convicted Mr. Taylor insisted on my sister 
 paying the full expenses of the trial out of my share of 
 the estate ! She told him that I had especially asked 
 that no money be paid out till I came to town, and I 
 was expected before April. But he would not wait, 
 and took $12,000, paying Mr. Jerome $2,000 and him- 
 himself (for his very able defense of his client !) $5,000 ! 
 This left me almost penniless and Carl at once began 
 to try to earn his own board, for it cost me $1 a day 
 for him at the Tombs. He earned during the next 
 year, writing by candle" light, without one breath of 
 
CAELYLE W. HAEEIS. 199 
 
 fresh air, nearly $300 — what pleasure ray poor boy took 
 in giving every penny he could to " mother." Even 
 the last interview we had was partly taken up with his 
 
 Clans of earning money for me by having a book of 
 is poems, articles, speech, etc., published. A last 
 word of thanks to the hundreds who have felt 
 for and believed in Carl. I know no friend who 
 has not proved himself Carl's friend. My last word 
 would be a testimony to God's great goodness in 
 proving my boy's innocence beyond a reasonable 
 doubt and in sustaining us in the hour of trial. 
 
 rEANCEs McCeeadt Haeeis. 
 Sing Sing, May 8. 
 
200 CAELTLB W. HABKIS. 
 
 THE MUEDER OF HAEEIS. 
 
 On the 8th day of May in the state prison at 
 Sing Sing, New York, Carlyle W. Harris was illegally 
 murdered by the authorities for the alleged poisoning 
 of his wife. The man was not convicted according to 
 the statutes of the* state of New York. There was 
 grave doubt as to his guUt during his trial, land under 
 the law he was entitled to the benefit of that doubt. 
 This benefit, he nowhere, or in nowise, received from 
 the commencement to the conclusion of the trial. 
 After his conviction, two hundred and twelve thousand 
 persons signed petitions to Governor Flower asking that 
 the benefit of this doubt be extended to the unfor- 
 tuna,te young man. The governor, frightened at the 
 interest the people took in the fate of the prisoner, 
 shifted the responsibility of the question of clemency 
 over upon a Eochester lawyer, who was commissioned 
 to take the testimony of witnesses whose evidence he 
 supposed would bring new light in favor of the 
 prisoner. 
 
 This testimony showed that the prisoner's wife was 
 a victim of the morphine habit. The druggist was 
 produced who sold her the poison. Notwithstanding the 
 corroboration of the statement of this pharmacist, the 
 commissioner reported to the governor that he could 
 
OAELYLE W. HAEEIS. 20l 
 
 find no reason for " interfering with the mandate of 
 the court." This decision satisfied Governor Flower, and 
 without even granting a reprieve of thirty days, the 
 young man was killed in seventy-two hours after the 
 report was filed. 
 
 This was the most shameless spectacle of American 
 barbarity, this country has ever witnessed. Does Gov. 
 ernor Eoswell P. Flower dare to say, that if the con- 
 victed man had been a son of Mayor Gilroy, of New 
 York city, or of Richard Croker, the head of Tammany 
 Hall, he would have sent him to death ? Oh, no. The 
 plea upon the part of the governor, then, would have 
 been, " the evidence notwithstanding all the assump- 
 tive proof of guilt is not sufficient to warrant the 
 carrying out of the decree." 
 
 The young man would have been pardoned out- 
 right : no mere reprieve, but a full pardon. The prison 
 doors would have opened, and the prisoner would have 
 gone into the world as free as the air he breathed. 
 
 Take the case of Edward S. Stokes who in cold blood 
 assassinated James Fisk. He was twice tried and 
 twice sentenced to death. There was no legal reason 
 for his pardon. Yet he Avas pardoned, and is to-day a 
 millionaire hotel proprietor in the city of New York. 
 Stokes was backed by Tammany Hall. That body of 
 alien-born corruptionists determined to have him par- 
 doned. 
 
 In the case of young Carlyle Harris, Tammany Hall 
 which owns the New York courts of " justice," the 
 the governor, and all the machinery of the law, deter- 
 mined that the Tammany court should be vindicated 
 by the execution of its verdict. 
 
202 CAELYLE W. HARRIS. 
 
 Harris had no friend but his ever faithful and 
 loving mother. Who was she ? Why a nobody. She 
 had no " pull." There was no organization, to stand 
 by and demand his release upon legal, or any other 
 grounds. Therefore the young man went to his death 
 as bravely as ever any Eoman faced the sword of his 
 enemy. At the very moment of his death he used these 
 words, " I desire to say now as I am dying, that I am 
 absolutely innocent, I did not cause the death of my 
 wife." 
 
 But Tammany Hall is vindicated, and that is enough 
 of glory for the weak men who sit in judgment in the 
 high places in the great state of New York. — Tlie 
 Rural Americcm, Philadelphia, Pa., May, 1893. 
 
CAKLYI.E W, HAEKIS. 203 
 
 WELLMAN CONFESSES A DOUBT. 
 
 It was on January 19th that Helen having com- 
 plained of insomnia and headache, Carl brought to her 
 a little box with four capsules in it. He told her that 
 he thought these pellets would help her, for they had 
 benefitted him. 
 
 The girl took one of these pills that night, another 
 a few nights later, and so on till three were gone. 
 
 Her lover had set out on January 19th for Old Point 
 Comfort, Va., for a short rest. On January 21st he 
 wrote a letter to Helen, full of that mixture of harm- 
 less, boyish pleasantry and more mature wisdom and 
 worldliness, which made Carl Harris so deceiving. 
 
 " That letter was a difiBcult stumbling-block to me 
 when T began to study the Harris case," said Mr. 
 Wellman recently. " It completely disarmed me. 
 Eeturning to it after fully satisfying myself of the 
 wicked guilt of Harris, the letter would make me 
 doubt again, it seemed so genuine. 
 
 " For, look you ; your rascal seeks to make evidence 
 for himself. Here was a letter written at a time when 
 in all probability the fatal pill had been taken and 
 Helen would be dead by the sender's hand. One 
 would have expected Harris to make evidence for him- 
 gelf in thg,t letter if he was guilty. One would look 
 
204 CAELTLE W. HAEEIS. 
 
 for extravagant words of endearment ; for suggestions 
 of tbeir plans for the future; for solicitous inquiry 
 after her health ; for protestations of his loyalty to 
 her. 
 
 " There was nothing of the kind in this letter. It 
 was just a rollicking, jolly, every day letter. It asked 
 lightly after Helen's health, and then told about the 
 fun he was having. How lively the Old Point would 
 be but for the age of the female attractions there." 
 —New York Evening World, May 8, 1893. 
 
 IT IS THE SAME WELLMAN. 
 
 To the Editor of The Morning Ad/oertiser ; 
 
 If Doctor Buchanan, now on trial for poisoning his 
 wife, is acquitted, Assistant District-Attorney Well- 
 man will be in a degree responsible for the verdict. I 
 have heard many causes tried in the New York courts 
 but cannot recall one where the prosecuting officer 
 has acted as much like a bully and so little like a gentle- 
 man as Wellman has in the present trial. When he 
 finds a witness of an intellectuality superior to his 
 own, and this frequently happens, he at once becomes 
 insulting and insolent. I was in court to-day and 
 heard the cross-examination of Dr. Scheele. The 
 witness spoke English imperfectly, and Wellman took 
 advantage of this to place a wrong construction on his 
 answers. It was perfectly plain to every person in 
 the court room — jury included — that a very con- 
 temptible method was being pursued by the assistant 
 district attorney and two of the jurors looked their dis- 
 gust. If Buchanan is guilty Wellman should not 
 
CAELTLE W. HAEEIS. 205 
 
 jeopard the interests of the people by such unprofes- 
 sional conduct. In conclusion, I would like to ask 
 you if this Assistant District-Attorney Wellman is the 
 same "Wellman who got several ISTew York newspapers 
 into trouble by giving them the yarn that Carlyle 
 Harris had committed bigamy in marrying a Lulu Van 
 Zandt in 1883 ? You may remember that it was after- 
 ward shown to these newspapers that Harris was thir- 
 teen years old in 1883, and Lulu Van Zandt about 
 seven years old. Nevertheless, Judge Gray of the 
 Court of Appeals based his principle argument to 
 demonstrate motive,on this alleged bigamous marriage. 
 For some reason some of the newspapers never made a 
 correction of this statement, and the court based part 
 of its decision on the untrue and unwarranted state- 
 ment by "Wellman. "Watbkvleet. 
 
 New York Morning Advertiser, April 20, 1893. 
 
CARLYLE W. HARRIS, 
 
 Murdered May 8th, 1893. 
 
 Aged 23 yrs, 7 mos. 15 days, 
 
 " iVe would not if we had known. ' ' 
 
 -THE JURY. 
 
 "If the Son therefore shall make you 
 
 free, ye shall be free indeed. ' ' 
 
 —John 8:S6. 
 
 " He asked life of Thee, and Thou gavest 
 
 it him, even length of days, forever and 
 
 ever. 
 
 — Psalms 21:U. 
 
N-ft-