Jim McC.—“Only tolerbul, Colonel—not feelin’ very well. How are you?”
Col. B.—“First rate, Jim, but I am not surprised that you are not feeling very well. I don’t see how a man can feel very well who has (alluding to his testimony against Smith) put his friend in prison, as you have done.”
Jim McC.—“Well, now, Colonel, look here. Before you come into this case there warn’t but one of my friends in prison, and now you have been a foolin’ with the case sence last spring and you’ve got three of ’em in. How is that? Eh?”
The joke was on the gifted and brilliant attorney. He had been powerless to stem the tide which swept his client and witnesses alike into the prisoner’s cell.
On the eighteenth day of November, 1890, Rube Smith was brought before the bar of the Court by the marshal, and asked by the venerable Judge presiding if he had anything to say as to why the judgment of the law should not be pronounced upon him for the crime of which he stood convicted. The prisoner replied he had nothing further to say, whereupon Judge Hill addressed him as follows:
“Mr. Reuben Smith, the crime of which you stand convicted, and for which it becomes my duty as presiding Judge of the Court to pronounce against you the penalty of the law, which is confinement at hard labor in the penitentiary for the remainder of your natural life, is that of forcibly and violently robbing the United States mail. This crime is the highest crime known to the law of the United States, save that of murder and treason, and is punished with the severest penalty save that of death. The reason therefor is that the robber usually engages in robbery with the determination to murder his victims if necessary to carry out his purpose.
“It is sad to behold a young man like yourself, who, by an upright and virtuous life, might have been an honorable and useful citizen, enjoying the blessings of the most refined and elevated society, banished, as it were, from all that renders life desirable. The evil consequences of your crime are not confined to yourself. For to save you from the punishment of your offense no less than five of your family and friends have perjured themselves to establish an alibi in your behalf, for which offense two of them have already pleaded guilty and are condemned to serve terms at hard labor in the penitentiary—a punishment the more serious in its consequences because not confined to themselves alone, but to their helpless families and children as well.
“Sad as these consequences are, you may, and it is your duty, to repent of your offense against the laws of the State and the Nation, and against your Maker, your family, and your own well-being, and commence a new life by obeying strictly all the laws of God and man, and especially the regulations of the prison in which you will be confined. If you do this, in the course of time the President may grant you a pardon; but whether this is granted or not, your best interest is to obey whatever may be required of you, and also to employ all of the means that may be offered you to improve your mind and your morals, and to make preparations for the final judgment.
“I feel assured that if you conduct yourself properly you will be not only treated well, clothed and fed well, but will receive as kind treatment as the circumstances will permit.
“Will you promise me that you will follow this advice? (The prisoner replied in a subdued tone, “I will follow your advice.”)