Preble County Democrat. [volume] (Eaton, Ohio) 1857-1859, 1857-10-29
EATON, PREBLE COUNTY, 0. OCT, 90, 1857.


= he was now ready to relate all the Gil
; cumstances he knew; she might be call
c ed and examined. If her tcstimon
! does not confirm my story, let me b
u condem ned. .... .
The req uest of the prisoner nppeare,
i reasonable, and Lord Mansfield, contra
ry to his usual practice, granted it.
D The prisoner went on with his state
d ment. He said he wished to go out o
the court, relieved from the suspicion.
which were resting upon him. AS tc
the poison by means of which the stran
: ger was said to have died, he knew nei
ther the name of it, nor even the exis
tence of it, until made known by the
counsel. He c9pld. cali GedAtes Nithess
! i1f1I 0f lsllat he had said. e.,
And then, as to Mr.. Thompson, he
was a perfect stranger to him. How
would he know what article of value he
had? He did not know. IF he had
such articles at Hull, he might have
left them on the road or which was
more probable, have otherwise disposed
of them. And if he died by means of
the fatal drug, he must have admins
tered himself. a.... F.
He begged the jury to remember that
his premises had been repeatedly and
min utely searched, and not the most
trifling article that belonged to the de-
ceased, had been discovered in his pos
session. The stopper of vial had been
iound-but of this he could only say,
he had no knowledge, and had not seen
it before it was produced in court.
! One fact had been proved, and only
one that he would explain, and his
house keeper would confirm the state
ment. A witness had testified that
some one had gone to the bedroom of
the house Keepers on the night in ques-
ton. He was ready to admit that it
was himself He had been subject for
much of his life to sudden fits of ILL
ness he had been. seized with one on
that occasion, and had gone to procure
her assistance in lighting fire she had
returned with him to his room for that
purpose, he having waited for minute
in. the passage, while she put on her
clothes. This would account for the
'nom ,ntary disappearance of the light.
After remaining Il few minutes in this
room, and finding himself better, he
had dismissed her and retired to bed,
from which he had not risen when he
was informed of the death of his guest
Such was the prisoners address, which
produced powerful effect 1t was de-
ivered in a firm and impressive man
ner. and from the simple and artless
manner of the man, perhaps not one
present doubted his entire innocence
The housc-kecper was now introduced
and examined by the counsel of the
prisoner. She had not heard any part
Of the statement of Smith, not single
word of the trial Her story confirmed
all he had said. ~ .E.' si
To this succeeded cross examination
by the counsel for the prosecution
One circumstance made a deep impress
sion on his mind-that was, that while
the prisoner and house-keeper were in
the room of the former, something like
4 door had obstructed the light of the
candle, so that the witness testified to
the fact, but could not see. What was
this obstruction? There was no door
nothing in the roosn-which could
account for this. But the witness was
positive that something like a door did
q IuOiHSHO DSt"CCu tiC hlHOO" anu
the candle. This needed explanation.
The house-k keeper was the person that
could give it. Designing to probe this
matter in the end to the bottom, but
not wishing to excite her alarm, he be-
gan by asking her few unimportant
questions, and among others, where the
candle stood when she was in Mr.. Smiths
room2 Q.
SIN the centre of the ROOM" she re-
piled. -
~"Well, was the closet, or cupboard,
or whatever you call it, opened once or
twice while it stood there 2"
She made no reply.
Il will help your recollection" said
the counsel; latter Mr.. Smith had ia
ken the medicine out of the closet, did
he shut the door, or did it remain
open?' "
He shut it."
"And when he replaced the bottle in
the closet, he opened it again did he ?"
He did"
"And how long was it open the last
time ?'
"A bout a minute"
"Well, and when open would the door
be exactly between the light and the
window Y'
1T would"
Il forgot said tho counsel, "wheth-
or you said the closet was On the right
or on the left hand side Of the win
dow -
'On the left hand side"
Mould the door of tho closet make
any noise in openinS?" r'...l
None"
care you certain p -...-
Il am
"Have you ever opened it yourself or
seen Mr.. Smith open it?''
Il never opened it myself" -r...
Did you ever keep the key"
"Never?"
"Who did?"
"Mr. Smith, always"
| And that moment the house-keepcr
chaneed to cast her eyes toward Smith,
the prisoner. A cold, damp sweat stood
| L = l. IA