The Rutland daily globe. [volume] (Rutland, Vt.) 1873-1877, 1877-04-20
GLOBE FRIDAY M0RNING APRIL 90 Is77

was not the investigation made by the
etatep Perhaps 1t was made by the state,
and indeed certain things tend to prove that
some of the above facts were within
THE KNOWLEDGE OF THE STATE DETECTIVES,
but were sedulously kept from Phair and
his counsel. The proprietor of the lodg-
ing-house says that man interviewed him
in connection with this case, and first they
thought Phair stopped with him, but after
talking the matter over with him they con-
cluded that it was another man ! The rea-
son given for the conclusion was entirely
insufficient, and to one knowing The facts
of the case it would appear to have been
advanced for the sole purpose Of misead-
ing the witness. How does the case stand
on this point? John p. Phair was accused
by the state of having murdered Mrs.
Freeze for less than 800. The two Rut-
land detectives are offered $4,000 for the
conviction of the murderer. If one person
would, with dagger, stab another for the
sum of 800, and run imminent risk of be-
ing hanged for 800, could not men be
found who, for twenty-five times that
amount, would by suppressing some facts,
by distortDg others TO support a theory,
and by manufacturing others to help this
same theory, permit the law to stake its
course" against an accused? Certainly the
method in the latter case would be both
ploasanter and safor, the inducement would
be greater. Were the characters of these
Rutland detectives any better than that of
Phair previous to the 9th of June, 1874
Were they one-half as good? And yet
nearly all of the evidence against Phair,
and even in his favor, passed through the
hands of these men, and on their honesty
when under great temptations to be dis
honest, depended his life.
THE EVIDENCE.
The evidence, then, on the question as to
whether Phair was in Providence or not is
somewhat thus. Phair announces long be-
fore the murder-even before his intimacy
with Mrs. Freeze-his intention of going
to Providence to get work. Before his de-
parture from Rutland he announces the
day. When he reaches Boston he enters q
hack at the Ftchburg depot and is driven
to the Providence depot, although this
course carries him directly away from the
pswnbrokers' shops where he is said to
have pawned the goods. Up to this point
the evidence is unquestionsble. The story
that he then tells Is so consistent with his
previous declarations and with his previous
course, it contains so many car-marks of
truth in the little, unimportant incidents,
which are set forth with a vividness and
Of, nm ana1lnJ h,,a a. Got
that we are almost compelled to believe it,
even without any confederation. But the
corroboraton is wonderful. Although APP
parently every vestige and footprint of his
in Providence were swept away with the
building in which he stopped, deeper
search reveals them all. The restaurant in
basement-the only one in that section
of the city-the lodging house near by, the
black dog with the leather collar, the blue
sign with the white letters,
THE CONVERSATION WITH THE CLERK,
the landlord, fat, Jolly, and foity.fve--all
are shown to have been veritable things,
and not the mere creatures of Phair's in
agination. Take all these facts in con-
necticn with Mr.. Downing's straghtfor-
ward account of his interview with Phair
on the train and is it not extremely prob
able Phair was in Providence, as he states,
on the night of the ninth of June 1874? 1t
is unnecessary to speculate as to the con-
sequences, if the fact were clearly es,ab-
lished that Phair was in Providence. The
only vital thing remaining against him is
the handwriting and this was probably not
his.- rnless we decide that he WAS M The
Adams house aud ia Providence at the
same time. The fact that most common
| of all alphabetical combinations, Smith, ap-
peared on the register in hand resembling
Phair's, should by no means convict him.
| Resemblance in handwriting is very dan
| gerous evidence upon which to rely. In
the case of Harrison vs.. executors of
| George Vreeland, recent case in New
York city, the unreliability of expert testi-
mony was again illustrated. ] quote from
a report of the trial as given in the Sun OF
| the 14th inst. "The wOrthlessness OF the
expert testimony was shown yesterday in
the examination of Benjamin Ii. Payne, az
expert for the defense. To deceive the
| plaintiffs experts, the counsel for the ex.
ecutors had number of checks signed with
clever forgeries of Mr.. Vreeland's name
Some of these were shown in evidence, and
while the genuine were declared in many
cases torgeries, the spurious checks were
declared genuine. Mr.. Payne exposed thi!
| upator1oU n tho ~