Six Good Men and True

Sergeant Sperry Cline spent many of his 32 colorful police years in northern B.C. where he made many long dog-team patrols and gained a lasting respect for six good men and true.

Re-published from B.C. Provincial Police Stories, Volume Three by Cecil Clark

During the time that I was Provincial Police Constable at Hazelton I made many long patrols throughout Northern and Central B.C. Many such trips were enjoyable, some were otherwise.

One of my experiences with the men who manned the isolated cabins along the Yukon Telegraph Line occurred during my first winter in Hazelton and left a lasting respect for our jury system. A telegraph operator stationed at Kuldo, 60 miles north, was found dead on the trail.

I was sworn in as a Special Constable by the Coroner to bring the body to Hazelton where an inquest would be held. The death had occurred on Christmas Eve. I left Hazelton next day, accompanied by John MacIntosh, an experienced dog musher and trail man. Tommy Hughes, who was to replace the deceased operator temporarily, also went with us.

It being early winter, fresh snow had been falling for several days, making it necessary for us to break trail nearly all the way. Upon arrival I met Hunter Corner, the dead operator’s partner, who had found the body on the trail and whom I summoned to the inquest as a witness.

The Coroner at Hazelton at that time was a young Englishman named Hicks-Beach, nephew of a prominent British statesman.

The pioneers of northern B.C. at that time were not noted as great respecters of personage and double barrelled names were not popular with them. As a consequence, the young Englishman soon became known as “Six Bits.” He, being a public spirited citizen, took on the appointment of Coroner when it became apparent that such an official was needed on the Skeena. Being of the Victorian era he was a stickler for protocol. His simplest duties were performed in a manner that would have met with the approval of the most particular court officials of that time.

When I reported to him on my return he advised me that I was to continue to act as Special Constable until the inquest had been held. He then handed me a legal document in which I was enjoined to summon “six good men and true” to serve as jurymen.

Since I was quite new in the country I asked my friend, Mark Carr, who had been in Hazelton for some years, whom I should summons. He suggested six of the oldest Omineca miners who were wintering in town, as most of them could do with the small stipend that was being paid for such service. Also it would give the old men great satisfaction to know that they could still be of service to the country.

I did as he advised and on the day of the inquest they all appeared at the old log building that was being used as police office and lockup. It was quite apparent that they were taking their duty very seriously. Grey heads had been carefully combed, beards trimmed and each was attired in his Sunday best.

Ezra Evans, a soft spoken, mild mannered old gentleman was selected as foreman. They were instructed at some length about their duties. Witnesses were then examined. The gist of the evidence was that some enterprising individual, name not divulged, had taken a cargo of liquor up the Telegraph Line a short time before. Many of the employees on the line had made preparations for a Merry Christmas. The deceased had visited the Third Cabin, 30 miles north of Kuldo, and had been given a bottle of liquor to take home with him. He was a young man and unaccustomed to drinking. On the way home he had sampled the contents of the bottle, become incapable of travelling, fallen into the snow and perished of exposure.

The doctor who performed the autopsy had a rather difficult job as the body had to be thawed and the means at hand were rather primitive. However, he told of finding a considerable amount of alcohol in the deceased’s stomach.

When the evidence was finished the Coroner again addressed the jury. He pointed out that the evidence was quite clear and that they should have no difficulty in arriving at the proper verdict. I then accompanied the jury to the nearby hotel where a room had been engaged so that they could consider their verdict in privacy.

The Coroner had expected that they would be gone for only a short time. But when their deliberations lasted for a considerable time, he sent a messenger to enquire if they needed more advice or other assistance.

At last there came a rap on the door and I was informed that they had reached a verdict. Upon their return the Coroner called the inquest to order and asked: “Mr. Foreman, has the jury arrived at a verdict?”

“Yes, your Honor.”

“Mr. Foreman, what is your verdict?”

“Your Honor, we find that the deceased came to his death by natural causes.”

This was many years before the atom had been split but if such a bomb had been dropped in our midst it hardly could have caused more consternation. The Coroner was overcome. For a short time he seemed speechless, then he started admonishing the jury for returning an unwarranted verdict. When the Coroner became exhausted the doctor, still thinking of the difficulties encountered while performing the autopsy, added a few words of censure. Then the Coroner as a final shot, asked the foreman: “What caused you to arrive at such a conclusion?”

The foreman, still unruffled, replied: “Your Honor, we considered that it is quite natural for a man to get drunk at Christmas time.”

I pondered over this reply for several months. I was satisfied that those jurors had not returned such a verdict for any frivolous reason, nor was it an attempt at frontier humor, as some had suggested. Months later when I had become better acquainted with the old men I was one day in the company of the foreman and two others who had been members of the jury. I asked the reason for their verdict.

They told me that the deceased had an elderly mother in Eastern Canada and they were not going to have her told that her son had died from drinking and break her heart. They brought in a verdict whereby the old mother could spend the rest of her days thinking of her son as a hero who had died doing his duty.

Since then I have often thought of that jury. I am still convinced that they were “Six good men and true.”

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