Johnstown High School - Spectator Yearbook (Johnstown, PA)

Page 9 text:

THE SPECTATOR 5 turned full on his face, the onlookers beheld the well-known face of J. Heresford Parke. The courtroom was crowded to suffocation. The whole population of Readburg seemed to be fighting for a place inside the room. It was the trial of J. Heresford Parke, head reporter of the Daily Review, charged with robbery of the house of Edmund Howe, and complicity in the murder or abduction of his daughter, Virginia. The public opinion on the matter was divided. The News attacked him daily in a series of libelous articles, while the Review loyally upheld him. His enemies, what few he had, denounced him unmerci- fully, while, on the other hand, his host of friends declared their belief in his absolute innocence. The crowd listened breathlessly : the prosecuting attorney was speaking. He said : “ Gentlemen of the jnry, 1 will prove to you that the defendent, known as J. Heresford Parke, reporter, is guilty of two crimes: one worthy of a professional criminal, and the other—worthy of a fiend ! ” After a few more introductory remarks, he proceeded to wind about Parke a perfect network of proof. He brought out the fact of his unusual absence from the office of the Review on the day of the robbery ; his very presence among the bandits, and the mysterious disappearance of the gold and girl at the same time. The faces of Parke’s friends fell, and those of his enemies correspondingly brightened. To have heard the attorney’s speech, and to believe it all, would cause one to involuntarily shrink from the presence of the manly- looking fellow. At length he ceased, with a sigh of self-satis- faction, believing himself to have utterly crushed all attempts of the defense. Strange to relate, the faces of neither Parke nor his attorney fell, but rather smiled when they heard the pompous ending of the speech for the prosecution. Amid a stillness in which no one seemed to breathe, the attorney for Parke arose. “ Gentlemen of the jury, I will not only prove to you that the defendant is innocent of both crimes with which he is charged, but also that he has been of invaluable aid in ferreting out the real offenders. Furthermore, 1 will restore to Mr. Howe the money stolen from his safe, found by the information of the said Parke. Mr. Parke, please take the stand.”

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4 THE SPECTATOR The above astounding column appeared that evening in the News. The facts are essentially as given in the extract from the News, hence further narrative of the event will be needless. The absence of Parke worried the editor of the Review considerably, but not for a moment did any suspicion against his nephew enter his head. Immediately the detective force of the city went to work on the case. After their first shock at the audacity of the daylight crime, ten of the posse, under the leadership of Mon- tague, the detective chief, made for the forest around Lake Meteor. They carefully scoured the woods about the lake, and then plunged deeper into the forest. At length, getting a clue from some footprints in the soft ground, and branches broken from the saplings, they neared the small cabin in which Parke was imprisoned a few hours before. Approaching cautiously, they peered through the dim panes of the long unwashed windows, and inside saw an interesting spectacle. There were five uncouth-looking men, with stubby beards and broken pipes, earnestly conversing with a handsome youth. They were not long in recognizing him as J. Heresford Parke, reporter for the Daily Review. From the evidence before them the detectives did not for a moment doubt but that Parke was the ringleader of the gang, and, being men accus- tomed to great surprises in this manner, after their first shock of surprise they made up their minds that the gang should be arrested at once, but if any escaped, it should not be J. Heresford Parke. The gang within were so engrossed in their conversation that no precaution had been made in case of attack; in fact, they believed such a thing almost impossible, in their lonely, secluded retreat. Probably they would have been perfectly right in this had they not, by dragging with them the unfor- tunate Parke, left unmistakable traces behind them. Suddenly, without any previous warning, the door was rudely broken down, and into the room dashed the half score of detectives and deputies, armed to the teeth. The resulting confusion is indescribable, and in the midst of the melee the lamp was struck by a pistol ball, and the room plunged into pitchy darkness. When order was at last restored, and a light produced, the members of the posse found themselves clasped in each other’s arms, each thinking the other to be one of the hunted thieves. But one was caught by Detective Montague himself, and when the light of a dark lantern was

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6 THE SPECTATOR Parke then related his discovery on the bank of Lake Meteor, and his subsequent capture and imprisonment. At a sign from him, two men carried up what seemed to be a bundle of women’s clothes. Upon opening them, the court was amazed to see, not the body of a woman, but the iron box in which the banker had formerly kept his wealth. Parke then related how, upon his information, the lake had been dredged and the box recovered. A great sigh of relief escaped the lips of Parke’s friends, but they were again startled by the words of the prosecuting attorney: “ Now let the gentleman tell us the whereabouts of the body of Miss Virginia Howe.” Parke again arose, and at his nod a young man, leading a girl, stepped up the aisle to the judge’s desk. She then threw aside her veil, and before the astonished eyes of all appeared the blushing face of Virginia Howe, or rather, Mrs. Charles Marie. Her story was quickly told. When the house was in an uproar of excitement over the robbery, she seized the chance to leave for a certain place, where she was met by Marie. The two then eloped, having been opposed by Mr. Howe, who thought the young man’s position in life, financially speaking, was not sufficiently elevated to aspire to the hand of his daughter. Well knowing the disposition of her father, she returned to be forgiven, which immediately happened. Parke was acquitted, and, when the reporters of the News hurried through the crowd to write up the astonishing ending of the case for their paper, J. Heresford Parke calmly said : “ Gentlemen of the News, if you want all the particulars of the case, you can easily get them by buying a copy of the extra Review, now being sold outside the door. J. Heresford Parke had made his “scoop.” E. C., ’04. A Swewp ««mnj ELL, MA, ” said Hiram Jenks,“ 1 never have luck AU- any more. Cornin’ home this evening, that old horse took anuther of them blind staggers an’ I thot he’d die ’fore I’d git home. An’ mind, Uncle Josh won’t trade fur him nuther. An’ I have to git ten dollars before to-morrow evening or we’ll be shipped out. An’—”