CHAPTER XIII.

The Preliminary Hearing Adjourned.

About ten days elapsed between the date of Miss Borden’s commitment to Taunton Jail and the date set for the preliminary trial. During this time there was no end of theories advanced by both sides as to the guilt or innocence of the accused. Meanwhile she remained in custody of Sheriff Wright and was apparently undisturbed by circumstances which surrounded her. The days went by in a quiet uneventful manner and those who predicted a collapse of her mental or physical system, while she was a temporary inmate of the jail were disappointed; as there was no outward evidence that the prisoner was at all alarmed at the gravity of her position. In many ways the consideration extended to her by the authorities was manifest. During her incarceration she was visited regularly by Rev. E. A. Buck, her sister Emma and her legal counsel. From all parts of the country came assurances that the prisoner had a host of devoted friends. Ministers of the gospel took occasion to proclaim her innocence from the pulpit. A sample of this friendliness can be seen from the following words of Rev. Dr. Mason of Bowden College Church, Brunswick, Me. He occupied the pulpit of the Central Church in Fall River and in the course of his sermon said “A great, dark cloud has settled down upon one of our families. But God is in that cloud. He is with that poor, tried tempest-tossed girl; he will give her strength and peace; he will make her glad. It is impossible for a wrong to be done in this world that eternity will not undo. Good is coming; good out of evil; light out of darkness. The father is over all. He will vindicate, and raise and glorify.”

At a meeting of the Woman’s Auxiliary of the Young Men’s Christian Association of Fall River held about this time a prayer was offered for Miss Borden by Mrs. Hezekiah C. Brayton of Fall River, and the religious societies all over the country called upon the Divinity to assist the unfortunate woman. Throughout the whole proceeding against Miss Borden she was called “unfortunate,” but no man or woman, good, bad, or indifferent was heard to say that the murdered man and woman were “unfortunate.”

Judge Blaisdell, who presided at the inquest and who, being the Justice of the Second District Court, was to be the presiding justice in the coming preliminary trial came in for more than his share of criticism. He was a man of advanced years and remarkable vitality, had served in both branches of the State legislature and was one of the first mayors of the city of Fall River. He had presided as Justice of the Second District Court since its establishment about twenty years ago. He said that he thought he knew enough to attend to his duties no matter who sought to criticise him. A sample of the editorial attacks which were being made upon the Judge was shown to him. It related to the harsh words used in the complaint which accused Lizzie A. Borden of murdering her father. The Judge said that he did not know before that such ignorance existed. The form of complaint was decided upon at least one hundred and fifty years before Miss Borden was born, and was adapted to fit capital crimes. Rev. W. W. Jubb, Miss Borden’s pastor, characterized Judge Blaisdell’s action in sitting on the bench while presiding at the inquest as indecent, outrageous and not to be tolerated in any civilized community. He proposed to use every means to have another Judge preside at the preliminary hearing. Rev. Mr. Jubb, formerly of Morsley, England, had at that time been a resident in America about twelve months. The act which he criticised was an American constitution nearly two hundred years old.

The preliminary trial of Miss Borden was assigned for Monday, August 22, and the prisoner was on the morning of that day taken from Taunton Jail and brought by rail to Fall River. Clad in the same gown that she wore at the time of her departure from Fall River, and with her face partly concealed with the same blue veil, she stepped from the train in custody of Marshal Hilliard and Rev. Mr. Buck. As she was still possessed of all that wonderful nerve there was no indication in her manner nor bearing that she was a prisoner who had been taken from jail after several days confinement to face the mass of evidence which the State announced it had accumulated against her. And for aught that her appearance might indicate she was the same undemonstrative traveler returning to her home and quietly welcomed by her friends. The trip to Fall River had been made without incident, she sitting motionless in her seat and not even raising her eyes to see the passengers who walked through the car in ostensible search for seats, but really to satisfy their curiosity with a glance at the young woman. In Fall River it was common knowledge that she was to arrive just before 2 o’clock, and so the arrival of Miss Emma Borden and Mrs. Holmes at the police station at 10:30 attracted no attention. The police gave no sign, but after the arrival of Miss Emma, half a dozen of them sauntered slowly towards the depot. As the train from Taunton pulled up at 11 o’clock, Lizzie Borden and the others alighted. Some newspaper men were on the train and others were at the depot. The services of the police were not needed, for there was no crowd to keep back, and the carriage of the authorities drove away in an opposite direction to that of the police station. Then it wound around through alleys and back streets, and finally reached the police headquarters through a rear thoroughfare. As a result there were just five persons at the side entrance through which the party passed, and before the gathering had swelled to hundreds, which it did very promptly, Miss Borden was greeting her sister and friend in the room of the matron, adjoining the court room. Lunch was served there and preparations were made for facing the ordeal of the afternoon. Soon after noon the regular session of the Second District Court concluded. City Marshal Hilliard, acting under orders from the Judge, did not allow everybody to enter the court room. Only those persons who had good reasons for being present were to be at any sessions of the hearing. The scenes attendant upon the commencement of the hearing, which, in public estimation was to take more of the form of a trial, will long be remembered in Fall River. During the noon hour the crowds commenced to gather in Court Square, and the passageway through the centre of the narrow streets upon which the Central Police Station stands was rendered impassable. There are two entrances to the building on the side, and from each of these, lines strung out, formed at first of men in single file, and then widening out until toward the end they formed large crowds. There they stood for hours and perspired while the police labored strenuously to keep them in order. In the meanwhile the little courtroom, with seating capacity for three hundred, was rapidly being occupied without the knowledge of the patient crowds who were waiting for the doors to open. The curious individuals were not confined to the males, for at 12:30 o’clock all the seats in the large guard room of the station were occupied by women. Apparently none of them were from the lower walks of life and the majority were good looking and well dressed. In but a very few cases were they accompanied by escorts, and an hour before the announced time for the commencement of proceedings they were allowed to file up-stairs. Upon arriving in the court room they promptly occupied all the best seats and then spread out on the sides. After them prominent citizens of Fall River were admitted and these comprised a goodly number. Judge Carter, of the Haverhill Police Court, a friend of Judge Blaisdell, accompanied by his wife, were prominent figures in the centre of the room. Despite all the talk about limited accommodations for the press, tables and chairs in sufficient quantities were placed inside the railing. There were about forty newspaper representatives present. Many members of the Massachusetts bar came to the building and were admitted, and other professional men came into the court room. A peculiar feature was the presence of a large number of physicians, and they manifested a great curiosity in everything relating to the affair. As time passed the crowds outside the building received accessions and a few minutes before 2 o’clock the jam was almost frightful.

An immense delegation of mill girls had swelled the throngs at the entrances and had managed to get near the doors. There they waited while the hundreds in back pushed them about and created work for the officers. At the main entrance a large force of women had succeeded in getting into the guard room, and this compelled the placing of more officers at the stairway leading from there to the court room. At any of the doors it was worth one’s life to attempt to enter or leave the building, and traffic in the vicinity was necessarily abandoned. The seats on the left of the court room were reserved for witnesses and those on the right for friends of the family. The first person of consequence to enter was Bridget Sullivan, and she grew white under the glances of the crowd and the buzz of conversation that her presence created among the women. She was followed by Dr. S. W. Bowen, Mayor John W. Coughlin and others prominent in the case, the advent of each adding excitement to the occasion. Five minutes later the District Attorney entered. Inside the court room the atmosphere was torrid. Judge Blaisdell entered the room at 2 o’clock and took his seat. All the witnesses were present. Half an hour passed and there was no movement toward commencing the proceedings. Attorney Jennings’ books and documents were piled up on his table, but he was nowhere to be seen. It was finally learned that he was closeted with his client. The presence of Eli Bence, the drug clerk, among the witnesses, caused general belief that one of the theories upon which the State was placing dependence was that relating to the purchase and use of poison. Rev. Mr. Burnham, Andrew J. Borden’s former pastor, now occupying a pulpit in Springfield, was also present. Mr. Jennings’ consultation with his client lasted but a few moments, and then he commenced a conference with District Attorney Knowlton. Time passed slowly in the court room, and the presiding Justice frequently glanced impatiently at his watch. Everybody was offering surmises as to the cause of the delay, and it was finally learned that there was a disagreement of opinion between the attorneys representing the prosecution and defence regarding the amount of testimony to be submitted by the Government. Mr. Adams, associated with Mr. Jennings for the defence, was also present at the conference, and the attorneys continued to argue as the minutes dragged along. The Government desired to place in evidence the reports of certain experts, and the attorneys for the defence insisted that they should be furnished in evidence at the hearing. It was understood that the report upon which there was a disagreement was that of Professor Wood, of Harvard. Finally, at 2:50 o’clock, the attorneys entered the court room. A few minutes conversation ensued between the lawyers, and then District Attorney Knowlton addressing Judge Blaisdell said: “Your Honor, some parts of this case required the examination of various things belonging in the house of the prisoner and attached to her person, and these things are now in the hands of gentlemen who are experts in the examination of such matters. We have not been able to get reports of the examinations sufficiently extensive to allow the experts to be called as witnesses. My learned friends both agree that this case cannot, therefore, be ready to-day, to-morrow or the next day, and we are thus forced to ask that the trial be adjourned till Thursday at 10 o’clock. I think my brother will agree to what I ask.”

Mr. Jennings arose and assented to what Mr. Knowlton had said, and Judge Blaisdell at once declared the hearing adjourned till Thursday the 25th, at ten o’clock, a. m. The prisoner remained in charge of the police matron and was not taken back to Taunton Jail.

The day before the preliminary hearing commenced, a scene was reported to have occurred in the matron’s room between Misses Lizzie and Emma Borden which surprised the attendant, Matron Reagan. During the day, Miss Emma entered the matron’s room and to her great surprise was greeted with this remark from Miss Lizzie:—“You gave me away, Emma, didn’t you?” Then said Emma “I only told Mr. Jennings what I thought he ought to know.” Miss Lizzie was apparently very much agitated at this and said to her sister, “Remember, Emma, that I will never give in one inch, never.” Mrs. Reagan was interviewed by the writer shortly after this incident and next day some of the leading newspapers published an account of the quarrel. The doubting Thomases stamped it as a “fake” and an effort to prejudice the public against the prisoner. Next day and after the court had adjourned Attorney Jennings made himself the object of much interest in and around the police station. He and his associate, Col. Melvin O. Adams, of Boston, with Rev. Mr. Buck and other staunch friends of the accused, attempted to show to the public that the story of a quarrel between the sisters was a lie, pure and simple. But the plan probably did not succeed as well as anticipated. Detective Edwin D. McHenry, of Providence, who had from the beginning been actively engaged under orders of Marshal Hilliard, happened to see the friends of Miss Borden in the act of drawing up a document which he learned was to be presented to Matron Reagan to sign. He promptly notified Assistant Marshal Fleet and the two officers awaited developments. The paper was drawn up and its contents set forth that Mrs. Reagan, the undersigned, never overheard a quarrel between the two women as related in the many papers of that day and that moreover she never told anybody that she had. It also set forth that she was to assert upon her oath that the story of a quarrel was false from beginning to end. This carefully prepared statement was placed in the hands of Mr. Buck and he was entrusted with the delicate mission of inducing Matron Reagan to affix her name thereunto. But Mrs. Reagan refused, saying that she would have to consult the marshal. Meanwhile the two officers mentioned had informed the Marshal of what was passing and he was prepared for the advent of Lawyer Jennings. This action on the part of the defense had taken place up stairs; and upon the refusal of Mrs. Reagan to sign, lawyer Jennings carried the document to the Marshal’s office. The writer was present when the Marshal refused to allow Mrs. Reagan to sign the paper, even if she were willing to, and Mr. Hilliard’s advice to Mrs. Reagan was that she remain silent until called upon to testify to what she had heard. To say that Mr. Jennings was excited would be putting it mildly. He left the Marshal’s office in a state of rage and with the paper in his hand called loudly to the half hundred newspaper men in the guard room, saying:—“This is an outrage, the Marshal has refused to allow Mrs. Reagan to sign this denial of the quarrel story.” The lawyer was informed that Mrs. Reagan had not agreed to sign it; therefore the Marshal had nothing to do in the matter. An exciting scene followed in which there was animated talk.

On the morning of August the 25th, the day set for the beginning of the trial, the same old scenes were enacted in and around the police station. At 8 o’clock crowds of men, women and children were upon the sidewalks, and half an hour later their numbers had been increased to such an extent that an extra detail of police was placed at the entrance in a vain endeavor to keep the roadways passable for vehicles. The ordinary session of the Court commenced at 9 o’clock, and at that very hour every seat outside the railing was occupied. As before, the gathering was composed almost exclusively of women, many of whom marched boldly into the court room swinging lunch baskets in their hands. There were fewer of these from the station of life occupied by the Borden family than on Monday, but those who were present listened eagerly while a man was tried and convicted of being a common drunkard; craned their ears to listen to the testimony of wives who bore marks of their husband’s brutality, and smiled at the children who were charged with violating the laws of the Commonwealth by refusing obedience to their parents.

In the room of the matron across the passageway Lizzie Borden awaited the commencement of the hearing. Her first visitor of the day was her sister, and soon after Rev. Mr. Buck arrived full of solicitude for the comfort of the prisoner. In the meanwhile the session of the court dragged on in the midst of considerable disorder. This was not occasioned by those in the spectators row, for they were fully occupied, and no more were admitted. Inside the railing however, the great body of newspaper correspondents labored vigorously while the court officers hurried in and out with chairs and tables in their efforts to accommodate the largely increased number of reporters. These latter reached nearly fifty, and they touched elbows all around as they wrote. Attorneys from near-by cities were present, courtesy of admittance being extended to them. The Fall River bar and the medical profession were as before largely represented in that section of the room generally reserved for witnesses, and there were clergymen of all denominations scattered about in the place. The entrance of Bridget Sullivan at ten minutes before 10 o’clock transferred the interest of the spectators from the trial of a Sunday liquor seller to the most important government witness in the Borden case. Miss Sullivan stood the curious glances and loud whispers much better than on Monday, and, though evidently a trifle disconcerted, the pallor noticeable upon her countenance at her previous entrance to the court room was absent. She was accompanied by her attorney, James T. Cummings. The other witnesses commenced to arrive at this time and then Mr. Jennings entered the matron’s room for a consultation with his client. At 10 o’clock the session of the ordinary court was still in progress, and the gathering was amusing itself by listening to the trial of an individual who declared that he had purchased many hogsheads of beer to celebrate the accession of Gladstone to power, and had no intention of selling the stuff. This concluded the minor cases and there was a great bustle of expectation as the numerous prisoners were taken from the room. Their places were quickly occupied, while outside the building the waiting hundreds stood patiently in the streets. The latter included many out of town people, who had come to the place in the hope that they might secure admission to the court room. So large was this influx of visitors that all the rooms in the hotel were engaged at an early hour of the morning. At 10:15 o’clock Attorneys Jennings and Adams of the defence entered and took positions at the table, two green bags filled with books being brought after them. The excitement immediately increased, and the eyes of all the spectators were riveted on the door, awaiting the entrance of the prisoner. “Make way for the witnesses,” called out the court officer, and the remaining persons summoned filed into the room. Their number was a general surprise, for they extended in a long line around the room. Among them the figures of John V. Morse, Dr. Bowen and the drug clerk Bence were conspicuous and their presence heightened the interest. Conversation was brisk and loud for a few moments and then it lagged perceptibly and everybody fell to wondering why District Attorney Knowlton was not present, and when Lizzie Borden would come into the sight of the curious throng. The District Attorney arrived at 10:30 o’clock, and a few minutes later Lizzie Borden entered. First came Emma Borden, escorted by Mr. Holmes. She was dressed in black, and appeared somewhat excited. Following her came Mrs. Holmes and Mrs. Brigham, and behind them was the prisoner, leaning on the arm of Rev. Mr. Buck. Lizzie Borden was dressed in the blue gown which she wore to Taunton, and at her entrance everybody grew so excited that nearly half of those present were on their feet almost unconsciously. The prisoner was composed, and beyond a slight twitching of the lips betrayed no excitement whatever.

At 10:31 o’clock District Attorney Knowlton arose and asked the Judge, “Is Your Honor all ready?” Judge Blaisdell answered that he was. Then without other words of introduction he called on the Medical Examiner, Dr. William A. Dolan, to testify. Dr. Dolan testified as follows: “Have made a good many autopsies. First saw the bodies of Mr. and Mrs. Borden about a quarter of 12, Aug. 4. Saw the body of Andrew Borden first. It was lying on the north side of a lounge which was on the south side of the room. The head of the sofa was to the west. There was a Prince Albert coat on the top of the sofa cushion. On that rested Mr. Borden’s head. His feet were on the floor, his head was toward the front door and the face was looking toward the sitting room windows. Examined the wounds sufficiently to make a view then, and removed and sealed up the contents of the stomach and sent same to an expert. Saw the body of Mrs. Borden a few moments after I saw Mr. Borden’s body. She was lying face down on the floor. She was dressed in a calico dress. There was a silk handkerchief on the floor that might have been on her head. It was touching her head as she lay there. Can’t say if it was cut.”

At this moment Thomas Kieran, an architect, who had drawn plans, was sworn. He said he was at the house August 10, and described the plans in detail. Mr. Jennings and Mr. Knowlton looked over the plans together. Mr. Kieran said the length of the room where he had found the carpet taken up was fifteen feet and five inches, and that there was a space of two feet eleven inches. A board had been taken up in this room, and witness had seen a spot of blood on it when the Marshal showed it to him at the police station Sunday. Mr. Kieran said he had also drawn a map of the outside of the house, with measurements of the height of the fences and the character of the fences. Witness had seen a spot on the casing of the kitchen door leading to the sitting room, and one on the wall paper by the sofa. The witness was asked to designate the head of the sofa on which Mr. Borden’s body was found, and said that it was towards the parlor. There was also a spot of blood on a picture in the sitting room hanging on the wall back of the sofa. After questions bringing out these replies the District Attorney inquired of Judge Blaisdell if he were familiar with the premises, and upon an affirmative response from the Judge the District Attorney said he would not bring out any further facts in relation to measurements.

Dr. Dolan was called back to the stand. He testified that when he removed the sheet that had been over Mr. Borden’s head, he saw one of the most ghastly sights he had ever known. He was told to speak without generalizing and drew from his pocket a report of the autopsy taken one week after the murders. He proceeded to read a description of the wounds from his report. Mr. Jennings objected to the reading of these notes and Mr. Knowlton told him to put them away. Dr. Dolan put up his paper and gave a description of the wounds from memory. There were ten in all from four to an inch and a half long. The largest was four inches long and two and a half inches wide. There was no other cause of death. The body was warm when he got there, blood oozing from the wounds. Mr. Borden, the witness thought, could not have been dead half an hour. There were in all eighty-eight blood spots behind Andrew Borden’s head, dropping towards the east on the wall. These eighty-eight blood spots were in a cluster, beginning three or four inches from Mr. Borden’s head. “I then found on the paper of the wall a spot of blood six feet, one inch and three-quarters from the floor. Another spot was near that one. These two were the highest spots of any except one found on the ceiling. They were the largest spots of blood found. They were about three-quarters of an inch in diameter. The blood spot on the picture was fifty-eight inches from the floor. I found spots on the moulding back of the lounge also. Had to move the lounge to find the spots. Also found seven blood spots on the upper two panels of the parlor door. There were two spots on the ceiling, but only one of them was human blood. I think an insect had been killed on the other spot. Another spot was on the west door jamb of the door leading to the dining room. It was not a spot, but a string, so to speak, of blood, two and one-half inches long, as it was drawn out. There were two spots on the kitchen door, one in the groove of the door and another on the edge of the casing. The spot I describe as a stain on the jamb of the door leading to the dining room, was such a mark that the murderer of Andrew J. Borden might have made. A hatchet or axe was, in my opinion, the weapon with which the murder was committed. A weapon weighing four or five pounds could easily have made the cuts.”

“Couldn’t see any part of Mrs. Borden’s face, for the arms were thrown about it. As it lay there you could see there were a number of wounds. There were at least seven or eight blows which went through the skull into the brain. I turned the body up. Altogether there were eighteen distinct wounds on the head, and all but four of them were on the right side of the head. Imagine a line drawn from the nape of the neck around the ear. That would include fourteen of the wounds. They were from the left side back and downward to the right side. One of them was five inches in length. They were diagonally. Seven or eight of them went through the skull into the brain. Others took pieces of the skull out. The other four were on the left side, but none of them went through the skull. Those on the left were flat scalp wounds half an inch in depth. There was a contusion on the nose and two over the left eye. They were such as might be made by falling. I found one immediately over the spine some time later. It was two and one-half inches long and two and one-half inches deep. It was a conical wound. These were made by a sharp cutting instrument and might have been caused by a hatchet or small axe. Under her head and pretty well down on her breast she was lying in a pool of clotted blood. The front of the clothing was very much soaked and also the back. On the pillow sham there were three spots, on the rail of the bed were thirty or forty spots. Those on the sham were near the wall. The sham was eighteen inches from her head. The spots on the rail were lateral. On the drawers of the dressing case there were three or four spots on the first one and six or seven on the second, as if they had gone up in the air and come down. On the moulding of the east window there was a spot, and above that and about two feet there was a spot on the paper. These were six or seven feet from the head, on an angle.”

The witness saw Mrs. Borden’s body immediately after viewing that of Mr. Borden and was asked by Mr. Knowlton if there was anything inconsistent in his opinion in the appearance of the body with the supposition that she had been dead for two hours?

Mr. Adams objected and Mr. Knowlton said he had asked a similar question in every murder case he had tried. Mr. Adams retorted that there were a number of bad habits the District Attorney had acquired which should be corrected. The Court thought the question could be allowed. Mr. Jennings thereupon objected and commenced to argue. Mr. Knowlton said the habit of arguing after a decision was not one of his bad ones, and Mr. Adams objected to Mr. Knowlton’s hitting him over Mr. Jennings’ shoulder.

Dr. Dolan said there was nothing inconsistent with the appearance of the body and the opinion that she had been dead for two hours. Mrs. Borden died from shock. He removed her stomach and forwarded it by express to Prof. Wood. “I went down the cellar stairs and found four axes or hatchets resting against the cellar partition. One was a peculiar hatchet, the head being a hammer claw. There were three others, and all were lying six or eight feet from the cellar door. I examined two of them, which were brought to me by the officers. One of them looked as though it had been scraped on the blade. This had a cutting surface of five inches and would weigh from three to five pounds. The officer took it. Afterwards I examined it with a glass and found two hairs upon it and what appeared to be blood. I could not swear it was blood. I gave this hatchet and the axes to Prof. Wood, on all of them there was what appeared to be blood. Took certain dresses also. Told Mr. Jennings I wanted them and he got them of Miss Borden. Sent them to Prof. Wood.”

The court then took a recess for dinner and Mr. Adams furnished for publication a copy of a letter received by Emma Borden. He produced the original copy and the envelope, and according to the latter it was mailed in Waltham, Mass., August 18, at 11:30 a. m., and received in Fall River on the same day at 4:30 p. m. The letter is as follows:

Waltham, Mass., Aug. 17, 1892.

Miss Emma Borden:

Dear Madam—You must excuse that I take the liberty in sending you these few lines. I ought to have written to you before this, as I was unable to do so, as I was travelling every day. My name is Samuel Robinsky. I am a Jewish pedler. When the fatal murder in Fall River occurred I was only a few miles from Fall River. That day, while sitting on the roadside, towards New Bedford, I met a man who was covered with blood. He told me that he worked on a farm and that he never could get his wages, so he had a fight with the farmer. He said he ran away and did not get any money after all. All he had was a five-dollar bill. He bought from me four handkerchiefs, one looking glass, one necktie, collar and shoe blacking. His boots were covered with blood, and he put lots of blacking on them. I helped him to fix up again and get cleaned, but by this time I did not know anything about the murder. I felt sorry for him and thought only he gave the farmer a good licking. I advised him to travel at night, which he said he would do, as he feared arrest during the day. I gave him my lunch, and he gave me a quarter, and told me not to say anything that I met him. He asked me what time the train left for Boston after 8 o’clock at night and I told him. He had also a bundle with him which was about two feet thick or big; when I was peddling I did not read any papers only Sundays, as I am studying the English language. When I was in Boston last Sunday a friend of mine told me about the Fall River murder. I told him about the stranger, and my friend said: “And why did you not report this to the police?” I told him I was afraid, as they would lock me up as a witness, and another thing, I did not have any license, so I was afraid. I told my friend I would write to you, or Mr. Jennings, I read last Sunday’s Boston _Globe_, and thought that I might have seen the murderer. If I should see him in Boston, I am sure, yes, dead sure, I know him again. He is of medium height, dark brown hair, reddish whiskers or moustache, weight about 135 pounds, a gray suit, brown derby hat. His shoes were what they call Russian leather. No blacking on so-called summer shoes. He put my blacking on to make them look black, so that people could not see the blood. It was about 1 o’clock noon that day. I only heard about the murder at 6 or 7 o’clock that night. I kept quiet as I had no license and feared to be arrested. My stranger was very much afraid. He asked me a million times if he looked all right again, and I brushed him off with my shoe brush and told him to wait till dark. If I come again to Fall River next week I shall call on you, if you think it is necessary, but all I can swear he is the stranger which I have seen that afternoon. This is all; but if this man was the murderer I cannot say, but I shall find him out of fifteen thousand. Will close now. Will go to Fitchburg to-morrow morning and return to Boston Saturday night. Please do not say anything to the police. I would be arrested. If I had known about the murder the time I met my stranger it would have been different, as I would have followed him up and perhaps got the reward. I thought it was a poor farm hand and so took pity on him, as I know as a rule, farmers seldom pay their hands during summer. Hoping that my information may be of some use to you,

I remain very respectfully, SAMUEL ROBINSKY.

P. S.—Please excuse paper and mistakes as I am a foreigner.

Immediately upon the receipt of this letter Mr. Jennings dispatched the following telegram:

“Aug. 19, 1892—To George L. Mayberry, Mayor, Waltham, Mass.—Does Samuel Robinsky, a Jewish peddler, live in Waltham? Andrew J. Jennings.”

The answer received from the Mayor of Waltham was as follows, dated Waltham, Mass., Aug., 20, 1892:

To Andrew J. Jennings, Fall River. “Cannot find that he lives here. Am told that a peddler of that name is living in Boston, and sometimes comes out here. Signed, G. L. Mayberry.”

This satisfied the attorneys for the defence that such a person as Robinsky existed and Mr. Adams assured the newspaper representatives that they were making strenuous efforts to find him. He said a search had been made around the vicinity of Manchester, and that they were now looking for the man. He appeared to think that the publicity attendant upon publication of the letter might assist in locating the individual.