Saint Mary's beacon. [volume] (Leonard Town, Md.) 1867-1983, 1871-12-07
THE TICHBORNE CASE.

tngfon has been resuaed in London. and
It is thought will soon be cnlirenei by i'm
portant. discoveries. Our readers will re-
member that the case began May 10, and
continued. almost from day to day. until
July Z. Judge. Jury and counsel were
by that tune ~ exhausted that an adjourn
ment became Indispensable. 10th siles
were wiling since each hoped in the in
terval 70 sccd-e conclusive testimony -
Public excitement ran high a, the time of
the trial, has sbsted but little since. and
Is now at greater pitch than ever. The
extraordinary confidence Of partisans re-
spec,ing the chief matter in dispute, the
point blank eaths of trustworthy witnesses
in confirmation Of the alleged Sir Roger
| Tieaborne's identity. and the directly con-
trary oaihs OF witnesses against him-the
undeniably suspicious circumstance that
the plaintiff faiied To remember in the
slightest degree studies With which the
veritable Roger was known to have been
familiar, and on the other hand, his m n
ute acquaintance with the incidents. places
and individuals equally familiar to the true
Roger at the same period, all have inves-
ted this cause cei.Jre with remarkable in.
terest.
The belief Of many and the theory of
his antagonists has been firm tha. the
plaintiff is in fact Author Orton. a man
once butcher at Warp,ng. in truth.
near V all opinions concur that if he is moi.
Tichborne he must be Ortou. The "bar-
onct or butcher" alternative is sustained
/ by plausible circumstances. On the nigh:
of his arrival in London the claimant was
known to have gone to Mapping and to
have correspohded afterward with Orton's
sisters. The awkward conjecture is sup
ported BY other circumstantial evidence
There have been several times when it has
seemed that the Identification of the plain
tiff with Orton must be conclusivcly es-
tablishcd. But now il is thought his conn
sci will play crushing trump. This is
nothing less than the production of tho
real Orton himself. who. it is predicted,
will be brought forward at the proper mo-
ment TO overthrow opposition. Yet the
adverse lawyers are not unprrpared even
for this. Suppose an alleged Or,on ap-
pears. why should he be real Orton =
/ There mag be difficulty in establishing his
identity. If the alleged Tichtorue is an
imrostcr, it is not impossible to conceive
of his claims being backed up BY another
imposter. 1t is known that agents have
been working with great energy in Aus
'ra'ia IN the interest Of both sides in this
action, and we s'all doubtless speedily get
decisive acounts Of tie result.
Pending this it may hc useful 10 give
brief outline of tic situation. Tie case
for tie ciaiman; is substantially as follows:
He is asserted to be the eldest son Of Sir
J. +. u. Tichbornc. tenth baronct Of
Tichhornc. The latter was the voungcs.
son OF three brothers. and the others died
before him. He subsequently married in
1927. Roger was born January :. 1920.
A second son, Alfred, was born, who mar
ricd in 1861, and died in 1896 Alfred
left n posthumouS son. and il is in his in
1 rest that the present sui; is defended
Roger, the true elder son, hal rather &C.
centric tastes and habits. He fell in love
with his cuUsin, ard was refused by her.
Then he got drunk and sworc to leave
home forever lie did 90 OF to South
America. and wandered abou; there in q
reckless fashion, corresponding n spaSmo-
die intervals with friends in England =
At last he made his way 10 Rio Jancrio.
where, being tipsv at the time. he wen; OF
board IN outward bound ship called the
Bella. The Bella went 'lown. as was sup
posed. with every soul on board But the
claimant says that whoever else went down.
he did nor. He alleges that he escaped in
a boat, aal was picked up by an Amcri-
can vessel which took him to Melbourne
His opponents say this is 4 sheer fabrica-
tion. 1t it is. what the claimant knows
of the drowned man ne pcrspnates has
been gained and worked up with a>,onish-
ing skill. 1t Is true that he coald not On
the former cross-cxamination name one
book that he had read with his tutor. Cha
;iilon and that he knew no more of the
Greek and Latin of which the true Roger
had ~ least a snIattcring than be does OF
quairaiic equations. But the true Roger
when he went away left a s.alcl packe,
with Mr.. Gosford the family steward
which was not to be opened unless certain
events occurred ; and the claimant named
the contents Of that packet-ncvcr having
had any chance whatever Of access 10 it
in detail Besides this. the affidavits Of
his mother. Lady Tichborne. of Mr.. Hop
kins, the family solicitor. and OF two other
persons. all a,tcsting under oath the idcn-
ti,y of the claimant with the long g-absen,
Roger, conc in for due share Of weight
These witnesses are dead, but James Me-
Cam. Sir Rogers servant. WHEN he was
III the carbincers. Colonel Norbury. cum
uaajcr Of the regiment, and number Of
other officers. privateS and trudesn,cn who
supplied uniforms, helmets. &c. are alive.
and their testimony is the same as that OF
the others. To- rcbu, this powerful array
Of proof. in addition 20 the claimants as.
founding ignorance of various matters with
which Re should be familiar. other wi,nes-
ses a. positive a. those who swear to his
identity make oath against it.
Such is substantially the condition oi
this strange trial. The attention i; at
tracts IS universal. anu !, is said there uev
c. has been a law snit on the Issue of which
so much money was Mt stake in the form
Of bets. TIE uiai1 prizes At issue are ST len
did ones. NJ, only On sncien, b.ronetcy
snd an exalted social position 90 20 the
winner. hit noble estates IN Hampshire
and elsewhere, and ma.ui.icen; rent roll
will give the means to support these dis