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Show .li lili'l.W, dt'snrK. On Monday, March '-!7lli, .loltu liinl was brought hol'oi'o the Alderman's Court in this city, ohai';;od with an attempt to commit com-mit a rape the previous day. The woman wo-man was quietly got nut of the way so that she ooiili' not appear 011 the witness wit-ness stand, but the faet was notorious that the neighborhood whore the crimo was attempted had boon kept in a state of excitement over it on Sunday afternoon, after-noon, before the follow was arrested; aud the details given in evidenco on the examination were loo disgustingly filthy for publication. After aeontinu-anec, aeontinu-anec, to try and find the woman, Bird .vas held to bail for trial at tlio District Court, and filing to procure tho bail was imprisoned, tho evidence being deemed strong enough to convict. It was stated at tho time that efforts wero being made to bring about a marriage between the man and the woman, as a bar to punishment; but whilo marriage mar-riage bars punishmeut in a seduction ease tho law affecting rape or attempted attempt-ed rape is very different. Tho statute reads: "If any person assault a female, fe-male, with iuttiiC fo commit a rapo, he shall ho punished by imprisonment not exceeding twenty years, and fined at tho discretion of tho Court." Bird ivas nominally in custody seven weeks and four days. Ho has been married to tho woman during that time, hut though she might condone tho offense against her person she could not by such condouement bar the action of the law. Aud on that seven weeks and lour days nominal aud real imprisonment, imprison-ment, J udge Melveau permits Bird to go at large uuder a bond of $j00 with one surety. We had occasion to animadvert on the case of Graham, because his bonds were reduced from $2,000 to $1,000. What shall be said of the strong appreciation ap-preciation of high morality evinced by the Judge of the third district in this matter of Bird's? If the Judge wasn't so rigidly pure and immaculately set against all infractions of his interpretation interpre-tation of the moral law when aliens desire naturalization, we might set it down as his naturally clement disposition disposi-tion and leniency towards offenders; but the same Judge who affects holy horror against polygamy and denies citizenship to every man who simply believes in it, becomes wonderously merciful in the case of a man who attempted at-tempted for hours to commit one of the grossest crimes against the person known to the sacred or secular law! Public sentiment aboard a crowded steamer on a California river this week, took another and very different view of rape, although a more aggravated ease. |