The Bedford gazette. [volume] (Bedford, Pa.) 1805-current, 1854-10-13
Clrculslstasntial Eyilence.


lie curiosity TO know the circumstances, in del
tail, which attended the killing by him OF Catha,
rne and James Young. OF his guilt no one al
ter his second conviction, entertained shadow
of doubt; bat no one saw him commit the deed
and he alone could disclose the manner Of is
commission. He was convicted on proof salts,
factory TO the jury, that coat OF hS=evhieh wal
found hanging in the stable where he slept thf
night before the murder, %as stained with blood
that one of the boots worn by him on the norm
! ing olthe murder, but taken of and put away il
StetIin'S garret before the murder was discover
ed, had a small s'clot OF blood" in one of the
wrinkles above the heel, and that a certain
spade, supposed to have been USED in commit
ting the murder, had russpots upon it whicH
were produced bv blood. The fact whether thy
appearances on these articles resembling blood
We're really blood, was the material issue in thf
case. Forming an opinion from mere inspection
witnesses came to different conclusions. Thf
weight of evidence, however, was decidedly ID
favor ofthe conclusion that the stains were blood
! As TO the boots the prrSOns who first saw then
were positive that the red deposite in the wrn.
kle was blood scum was formed on it, and
breaking this with the finger, the blood was trrsH
and liquid As to the coat and spade there Wat
less ceItainty The bIotch on the coat, which
was blue Jeans, had dirty brown appearance
When molStened, it communicated dark rai
stain 10 paper. The cooring uiatter, however,
whatever it was, appeared dim on the surlac4,
considering the amount OF il in the fabric. llfs
induced the belief, universally expressed by tpe
witnesses that the stained section 0t the gar;pt1t
had been washed. There was still greater doubt
about the rust spots on the spade. Whether
they were produced by blood or BY tomato JUICE
or by ram, could not br determined with cT-
talnty from simple INSPECTION, aud the Witn@-
srs generally 50 qualified their opinion.
For the purpose, il possible, ot resolving tie
doubt, the prosecution employed Dr. II. E.
Carey, previous to the last trial, TO make d
chemical analysis. Accordingly, by d process
which we need not describe, he procured a
quantity Of the Supposed blood and tested it,
making his experiments first upon that taten
from the spade. The tests which he emPlo5ed
were those regarded as most reliable by medl-
cal iurists, and the results attained were entrply
satisfactory to his mind that the substances IN
both cases was blood. He believed, and so tetti-
fed, that there was scarcely less room Tor error
in rsgaid to this conclusion and the process 2f
reaching it than there would be in mathenat-
{
fed; some OF them confirming the reliability OF
DR.. Carey's analysis and others treating II aso
no value whatever.
In this position oithe evidence II was inpqr-
tant to know from Dick himself whether he ussd
the spade in committing the murder, and wheth-
er, while committing 1t he wore the coat aid
boots. The information was important, not be-
cause It might Crafty very natural public
curiosity, but because 1t would tend 10 show the
reliability or unrelabilty OF such testimony
and tests as were satisfactory TO the jury in hR
case; and important, therefore, as commentary
upon the law OF criminal evidence
Having very little confdenc in the reported
confessions OF Dick, many Of them contradictory,
We requested his prlestly adviser, who bad ms
entire confidence, to ascertain tor publication
such facts as would show whether the proof el
blood on the spade and other articles IN ques-
ton was true or otherwise This he consented
to do, provided the information was uSed only
for the proper and legitimate Object ior which
we desired him to procure ii. The statement
thus furnished is, that the spade, and no other
implement or Wrapon of any kind, was used IN
killing both the old woman and the boy. The
spade was not washed afterward, but it was
found. subsequent to the murder This proba-
bly,. removed the grosser particles OF blood,
leaving only the sprinkles which were fixed up
on !he iron by rustlug. As to the coat, Dick s
declaration was that he did not wash il, for II
there was blood upon the circumstance escaP-
ed his notice. Neither did he wash his boots,
except as they were washed by walking through
The wet grass Just as the witnesses, Scott and
McReynolGS, who first saw them, supposed the
/ fact 10 be.
This statement of facts by Dick may be relied
on as true, ii there was anviruth at all in him,
as a reason for confidence IN Ills last declara-
tions, that they correspond with his Uniform de-
nials and admissions to his counsel before aud
during his trial, so far as those denas and adj
missions went. There is no reason to question
The honesty and trulhiulness of bis dying words
and, admitting their truth, they assure us not
only that every circumstance which was allow
ed to tell against him told the truth, hut that
the existence Of those circumstances, even the
least potent them, the blood upon the coat
and spade, was ascertaned by methods entirely
Dayfon (Ohio) Ga1efte.
The STORM ON TIE TEXAS CoAsr AND THE
MEXICAN BOUNDARY CoMMIssloN.-Info Information
has reached Washington from the chief Of the
Mexican Boundary Survey, Mai, Wm. II. Efn-
ory, L. S. A., dated on the oath uit., at Powder
Horn, hIatagora bay, saying that the men and
property Of the survey have suffered much less
than might have been expected from the recent
terrible storm in that quarter, though they were
nearly allat sra off that coast at the time. All
but property to the amount Of 5000 are con-
ceived to be positively safe. This property
was shipped from New Orleans on the s.Star of
the South,'' which, it was thought, was lost
The gale had prevented the 'sMnesota' from
arriving, and, as that vessel carried the wagons