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Show THE CAR HOOK MURDER- Tho case of William Foster, of Now York, sentenced to bo hanged upon tho lilst of March, for the killing of Avery I). PutDam, in tho spring ol lS7l,ha9, within tho past week or two, been exciting much attention. A tew duyn siuce wej.britlly referred to the immouae iollueneo brought to boar upon govomor Dix for tho commutation commuta-tion of the death sentence to imprison ment for life. Brictly stated, tho circumstances cir-cumstances under which the crime wan ' committed aro ihcac; Foster, in an intoxicated condition, entered a street oar, and, as charged, insulted two ladies occupying scuis tlfcrcic Putnam, Put-nam, who accoujpnuied the ladies, rebuked re-buked him Bharply, cilling him a drunken loafer, and demanding hia expulsion ex-pulsion from tho car, whereupon FoBter wont out of the car door, fcized tho switch iron, re-entered, and struck I'utnam with it. The wound proved utal; bcvcml physicians claiming this result duo to ncgligenco and improper oaro on tho part of tho attending sur-goon. sur-goon. Under tho popular indignation oonscquont upon recent deliberate and . JUI'y xnc Cmiy supposed 'themselves obligated to bring in a verdict of murder mur-der in tho first degree, accompanied by a recommendation to clemency, which thoy supposed would cause sentenoo of , , imprisonment for life for manslaughter. The ignorance of the jury was unon- . lightened by tho judge, and the consequence conse-quence was tho condemnation to death. Poster has lingered in that gravo above ground, the Tombs, for some two years, Buffering moro than tho pangs of death. Affidavits of leading citizens, citi-zens, lawyers and ministers, attest to his charaotor and dony the charge that ho has been an habitual drunkard; the Hon. Wm. W. Kvarts, late attorney-genoral attorney-genoral of tho United States, after a careful examination into the facts of tho case, concludes that tho judgo should have clearly instructed the jury to bring in a verdiot of manslaughter, and joins in tho universal recommendation recommenda-tion to mercy; Dr. Tyog, rector oi' Trinity church, vouches for Foster as a young man, whom ho has known from childhood, always quiet, orderly, industrious, well-behaved, and never a bad man or a drunkard; Mrs. Put-cam, Put-cam, wifo of the deceased, joins in imploring im-ploring morcy; and, asido from the petitions pe-titions of a Booro of others well-known and esteemed gentlemen prominent in public life, Putnam himself, before his death, acknowledged that he was to blamo for getting into a quarrel with a man mad with liquor. Under all tho circumstances of tho case, a very brief and incomplete review of which wo havo given, there oan be little doubt as to the propriety, the humanity, human-ity, and the justice of a commutation of tho prisoner's sentence, and, as we remarked when noticing the matter a a Bhort timo sinoc, it can scarcely bo imagined that Gov. Dix will refuse to listen to the petitioners for mercy. Our Tuesday's telegrams reported a rumor current in New Vork that Mrs. Putnam bad received $15,000 for asking pardon for Poster. It wm also stated that citizens had asked the governor to allow justice to take its course. The former of these charges may be founded on fact. The latter is nothing more than is asked by Kvarts, Tyng, sheriff Kelly, judc Davies and all who pray for a commutation commu-tation of the sentence. Justice calls not for judicial murder and the reported re-ported statement of Mr?. Duval, one of the ladies who gave rise to the quarrel with Putnam, whether correct cor-rect or not, does not alter the statements state-ments of the case so strongly set forth ' in the appeals to governor Dix and which axe most convincing in their arguxent. |