The Milan exchange. (Milan, Gibson County, Tenn.) 1874-1978, 1874-12-10
By the district attorney ..sHow do you
q II was at the table with him, = and then

By the district attorney, y. How do you
know that ~ ~
a 81 was at the table with him, ? and then
] proceeded 10 tell how l came to be IN
Milltown; why was so positive as to the
date, and the circumstances of my encoun-
ter with the prisoner. a. &
IL Iwas battered at the attention be-
slowed upon me by Belcher, and the con.
sequent admiration of the spectators, had
no reason 10 be fiattered with the regard
in which the same body of men now held
me. Contempt, surprise, and ineredullty
were apparent upon every hand; even the
Judge leaned over his desk and gaZed az
me, as who would say, ''why your testi-
mony won't weigh pin against the alibi
already proven, and you must be a pre-
sumptious young man if you expect us to
believe you." The district attorney, him.
self, mas not prepared for any thing so
pointed and positive as my assertion, and
hesitated, out of sheer astonishment,
to question me further. But the attitude
thus Unexpectedly assumed toward me by
my auditors put me on my mettle. The
face of the wretched man in the dock
blanched, and his utmost efforts at self
control availed him little. | knew | was
right, and, without prompting, question
ing or interference from attorneys, judge
or jury, proceeded. | gave an account of
my first meeting with the prisoner, as
Robert Hatch Miller. his visit to the sane
tum of the Press, and our adjournment to
Barker's.
T's'Then and there it was" 1 continued,
/" noticed peculiarity in the prisoners
face: popularity so pronounced that
could not help noticing it, and so generic
that it is improbable, if not impossible,
that another man living is so marked. 1
can scarcely think my notice OF 1t was ac-
cidental, for have a considerable gift of
caricature, and my profession leads me
OObserve things which would escape or
dinary, or even critical examination. At
MilltOwn he was differently attired, his
face bare, his hair cut short; yet | think If
had ever seen him before, | should have
noticed, as did, the same undisguisable
peculiarity. never saw him closely af-
terwards until to-day, when his counsel
took me to him for an introduction; | saw
the mark again | would not touch hand
L then believed to be stained with blood,
and abruptly left the COURTROOM"
BY the Judge: What is that pecu-
liarity?" sra
Instead of answering directly, l pre-
ferred a request that the court should ap-
point such men as it saw fit, on whose
keenness and judgment it could rely, and
have them closely examine the prisoner
to see whether they could discover any
thing to identify him from another who
resembled him in such degree that con-
fusion or mistake as to person would be
likely to ensue. would give my answer,
describe the eeculiarity, apart from them,
nj ,,,~ hot oat11I oitro
them a hint, and abide the result. A pro-
ceeding so unusual and without precedent
was instantly and earnestly combated by
the counsel for the defense; but deeming
that course prejudicial to their case, they
gave reluctant consent. The prisoner was
examined, in the judges room, by the
sheriff, detective and a clergyman, in the
presence of all the counsel in the trial, and
they reported that they had observed
nothing unusual, except tendency OF the
eye-lidS to droop, but that might be the
result of accident or emotion, TO which
any man might be subject.
At this juncture | resumed my testi-
mony. and settled the case by declaring
that the pupil of the prisoners right eye
,oas normally round, ,ohite the pupil of has
left eye UdS an elongated slit, or " cat
shaped"
The hotel-keeper was brought forward
with his register and accounts; he proved
my presence IN Milltown that eventful
day and remembered the man as described
by me, being there, also. "The prisoner
would be such a looking man if his dress
and cut of whiSker responded" In short,
the prisoners guilt was established, to the
satisfaction of the jury, and Joel Cart
wright was sentenced to death, and exc
cuted seven months afterwards. | was
detailed to report the hanging, but begged
of, as | regarded myself as the principal
agent in bringing it about.
A brief biography and an extended
account and confession of the crime, for
which he was executed, was found in his
cell, from which we learned the particu-
lars of the deed, and the modus operandi
by which he had been able not only to
Summon unimpeachable witnesses to teS-
tify falsely in his favor, but, in company
with another, to prosecute career of
villainy and crime almost unparalleled.
Joel Cartwright and Webster Hanna
were members of a counterfeiting gang
for some months before they met. When,
at last, they did meet, their remarkable
resemblance, the one to the other, struck
them simultaneously, and an alliance was
Immediately entered into. Nature had
formed them so nearly duplicates, that a
very little makeup" as theatrical
people say, rendered it impossible for
even intimate acquaintance to recog-
nize them. Here was the basis for
bold open-handed crime, defended by
convenient alibi. A place would be
''spotted'' by one and a distant date fixed
In the meantime the other would be
a ''spotting" in another locality where he
would make himself intimately known
and during the day determined on for the
commission of the crime would make him
self unusually conspicuous. Then, as il
the case of the Asher family, operated by
Cartwright, the perpetrator of the crime
and his distant double would disappear
meet, arrange few preliminaries for de
fense or aggression, and separate. Why
at last they got so bold that Cartwright
in open day, less than ten miles from Mil
town, sold, at a small jewelers., the ring
he had taken from murdered Mrs. Asher.
hand. ....-.
While he was in Midtown looking aftel
"a "plant," his partner g cracked tn,
Bank of Commerce, and Gray getting ;
clue, but missing his cue, arrested Cart
wright, who gave his name as Miller, ant
afterwards, Ketchum did the same anC
brought him to New City there | frs
saw him; there Gray recognized hin
as answering the description of tn
wanted robber, and also as the wrOnt
man he had himself previously ar
rested; together they came to our offic
and leaning against the bar at Barker's
noticed the gas-light shining on that par
ticular and peculiar eye and said to mysel
g. if / had to caricature you, | would brinl
that eye out suong.n And from this Gil
cumstance arose the evidence that cos
Cartwright his life.-George 4. Worthing
in Locke's Monthly for December.
| : JAMES TAYLOR is very wealthy owne
and manager of coal mines in PER-,
\ County, Ohio. He used to be journal
/ ist Raliayin o that Perry County uaS tn