The Morning herald., 1875-09-18
THE COILS TIGHTENING. G.
Westeryelt WecpS Bitterly.

70 D4 ,a #Et IL 90 5,LH ~ .ts.' .t.-. .
# Westervelt weeps Bitterly
A TERRIBLE SUMMING Up AGAINST THE
PRIsONER-HE WAS BEYOND DOUBT A
PRINCIPAL IN THE ABDUCTIoN-A DoU-
BILE GAME THAT FAILED.
At the opening Of the Court, yesterday,
the crowds of spectators was dense and the
interest in the trial appeared to be greater
than ever. The wife and children Of the de-
fendant ..were beside him as usual. The
faces of both the wife and husband were
expressive. of pain and anxiety, and
Westervelt was completely disheartened his
courage seems to have all left him and he
repeatedly wept bitterly. District Attorney
Shepherd resumed his summing up.
He first alluded to the testimony of Hart
man, who saw the prisoner with Mosher and
Douglass so often at stromberg's saloon in
the summer and fall of 1874, and to whom
the prisoner introduced those two men as
Anderson and Smith to whom he said, in
reference to this crime, that he would "bet
two shillings that he could tell some of the
parties who were in it," whom he asked to
tell him when he saw chalk mark on the
cellar-door, 90 that he would know the par
ties were in town, and know where to find
them. Just at this time one letter was re-
ceived by Mr.. Ross purporting to come from
New Haven, showing conclusively that they
were not in New York, and that Westervelt
knew. To Hartman he also said that if
either of those parties should be arrested
the child would not live three days, and
that Mosher had the child somewhere up
the, river. The letter of the abductor
boldly threatened that the approach of
detective to the place of conceal
ment would be the signal for the child's
instant destruction, and this threat ran all
through the letters. How, then, did the
prisoner get this thought except from
Mosher and Douglasss Mrs. Peers testi-
mony was of great significance. She got
into the passenger car at Brooklyn on the
fifth day after the abduction and rode dis
tance of four miles opposite this man, who
had in his charge child dressed in linen
suit and having no hat, and the demeanor of
the two quickly told that mother that they
were not father and child. The letter of the
conductor showed that on the night of July
Z, while passing through Trenton, Charles
hat fell off, and that be was dressed in
linen suit; and the nurse who dressed the
child on the day Of his disappearance told
of his linen suit. This lady was thus cor
roborated by the nurse and by the abductors,
and the only attempt to shake her testi-
mony was an effort by the prisoner and his
wife to- establish an alibi on that day by
statements so thoroughly contradictory to
each other that neither could stand against
the other. r., e ,ari
At this point of the argument the prisoner
overcome by emotion, buried his face in hiss
hands and wept like child.
The prisoners own statement must be re-
ceived with the closest scrutiny. He was
the defendant; his trial was his struggle
with the Commonwealth and the law for his
liberty, and what would not man give and
do for his libertys And hence, the probabil-
lty was that, perhaps unconsciously, he was
controlled by the great personal interest he
had at stake. He had been well prepared,
had heard the entire case, felt more keenly
an ugly fact than any other person possibly
,ould have felt it, and he was an intelligent,
It the Central Station, the accuracy of ;
which had not been denied, and his testi-
nony in Court, clashed all through. Yet ]
wen in his testimony here there were I'D {
Missions that showed that he was lending ,
himself to deception and fraud. There was
he fraudulent letter concocted between him i
nd Bill Mosher to Gil Mosher. {
HE WROTE 1T
t the dictation of Bill Mosher as If 1t were '
7ritten in Philadelphia, and stating to Gil r
hat he had neither money or time to spare t
0 70 to the city of New York, and he took :: :
hat letter from Stromberg's saloon to Gil r.
fosher's wife, told her he had the letter 9
rom Gil to Bill and had received an answer e
nd then handed her the letter. Why did i,
g not let Bill Mosher write that letter! Be- o
ause, he said, Bill was too nervous. Too {
ervous! What could make that man ner- r
ous who was almost kyanized in crime? c
10, there was real reason for his becom- O
lg the amanuensis Of the abductor-Bill a
[osher's handwriting was wanted. Wall
lg had told him about it, and inquiries for a
had been made of Gil's wife and of a
[adame Morrow; and therefore when he s
lid he would write note to Gil, West
welt stayed his hand and himself
rote the note thus attempting TO il
ON the authorities that which they serious b
sought. Then he admitted that he with
eld from the authorities the fact that on
le day after his sisters return to New Il
ork Mosher and Douglass were at his G.
ouse. For weeks he failed to tell Walling
here these men had lived in Philadelphia.
he nersOnal Of NSan1 of Ta reueV xya a a a.