T.T. is an experimental weekly meme I'm trying here at "Roots & Stones" (please let me know if there are any themes/memes already around like this - I don't want to reinvent the wheel!).
I wanted a weekly feature where I could showcase articles, those lovely little social news items (i.e. "Mrs. X and daughter visited Mrs. Y this weekend and will be returning home on Thursday..."), and other interesting newspaper "stuff" I've come across in the course of my research. Thus, Tabloid Thursday...
Source: "The [Ottawa] Evening Citizen", Thursday, 22 August, 1907, p. 1, column 1.
Accessed at Google News archive, 10 February 2011.
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Public Opinion Forced the Action.
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SHAWVILLE TRAGEDY
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Arrested as He Was Leaving the Funeral Service.
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The arrest has not come as a surprise. Many expected that there would be one Tuesday evening at the conclusion of the inquest, but no such action was taken. The funeral of the dead man was held yesterday afternoon and was attended by large crowds from far and near. Immediately after the service in the church, and as he was about to leave to go to the cemetery, John McTiernan was arrested. He was arraigned on the charge of manslaughter and pleaded not guilty. The preliminary hearing will begin Tuesday.
The whole community has been in a furore of excitement since the dead body was found by Mr. Hugh Matheson about a mile and a half from Bryson and a couple of hundred yards from the McTiernan home, on Monday afternoon. The sensational feature of the case was that two witnesses swear that they saw John McTiernan strike his brother on the face, while down, at the same place where the dead body was found an hour or so later, and that to Mr. Hugh Matheson John McTiernan has denied that he knew the deceased, saying instead that it was a French-man from Bryson.
The coroner's jury found that death was due to a clot of blood pressing on the brain, such clot being due to violence. Some of the jurors wanted to say that the violence was a fall, others that it was a blow administered by some one and so the compromise open finding was agreed on.
The finding of the jury, and the fact that no arrests followed immediately, did not meet with popular favor. The dead man, while he had the besetting weakness for drink, was well liked in the community where he had a nice little farm on which he had lived with his wife and two children. The brother, now under arrest, did not bear such a good reputation. He had no fixed place of abode and is alleged to be quarrelsome and had often figured in fights. There were also vague rumors, which of course may not be confirmed, that he had made threats against his brother. While it is admitted that the deceased was intoxicated just before his death, and that when drunk he frequently fell, there are many who think the violence that caused death was the treatment of him by the man now under arrest. The story as told by the accused at the inquest was that he had also been drinking and had gone to bring his brother to the house. He denies having sruck him and says the deceased fell several times. As to his actions with Mr. Matheson in denying he knew the deceased, his explanation was that he did not remember what he had said.
The outcome of the trial will be awaited with keen interest in the district.
2 comments:
So I'm curious -- what did the jury decide?
I'm searching for a follow-up - if I can find another article, I'll post it next Thursday.
My grandmother's second husband was a McTiernan from this area, so I'm pretty sure they were family! ;)
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