Vermont phÅ“nix. [volume] (Brattleboro, Vt.) 1834-1955, 1878-07-12
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The Most Remarkable w itness Het.
/ The Potter investigators had a wiuc-. h.-
/ fore them last week. just before they adjourn.
/ ed for a weeks recess, who may fairly take
rank as the most extraordinary of thc many
/ curious and remarkable specimens which tho
committee have brought out. since they he-
gan their nbors for the entertainment aud
admiration Of The country. The name of
| this witness is T.. /. Weber % brother of TIA,
supervisor ID. A. Weber. whose name has
been so often mentioned in connection with
that of Anderson and who was murdered
year ago last winter The two principal
points which this Weber sought to establish
| by his testimony. is that he found and dee
stroyed the alleged Sherman letter after l.,
brothers death, and that the statements
/ which lac and the other members of his
family made in regard to his brothers death
were all false and were all made for political
/ effect
lie appeared with "a written statement.
which before question had been asked him.
had convinced most who heard it that il had
| been prepared by advice to cover nearly the
/ whole democratic case. Scarcely had 1t been
finished before Cen Cox put document be-
/ fore him that caused him first to turn pale.
/ then supphcato the committee that it might
not go into the record, on the ground that it
would place him in false position before his
neighbors in Louisiana. He had sworn that
/ his brothers llurder was not political. but
| the result of private feuds. The letter with
which Gen. Cox confronted him was one lac
wrote TO q cousin in st. Louis. two weeks af-
! ter the murder. in which be denounced it az %
/ dastardly political outrage perpctmted by
| agents of the Nichols government He final
! ly swore. in reply to Gen Cox. that this l,t-
/ ter about the murder Of his brother was Who'll
/ lv false, that the statements about the Wifi
and children Of his murdered brother weyc
/ false and al written for political effect to-
/ help Packard at the North. This portion of
/ his testimony caused every one III the room
! to shudder It was so hcurtless. so cold-hloul
! ed and inhumau. He had sworn that hi-
brother had told him OF the sherman letter
and OF receiving it from sherman in person
He sworp that after his brothers death lac
found it, read 1t. and at once destroyed it,
He was thoroughly acquainted with Secretary
Sherman's handwriting, but upon cros--fX-
| animation he was brought TO admit that the
| only other time he ever saw sherman sig-
nature was as he turned over an album with %
large number of names written in it, and that
the only time he had seen any OF sherman IS
writing was during "a two minutes converse
ton with him when he took occasion to look
down on IL sheet where he had been writing
| He swore that he was au expert in hand
writing and yet he refused to swear wheth-
er any Endorsement purporting to be IN his
own hand was his or not At various steps
of the oross-exammation lac tried to obtain
permission To- consider the question and sub
NIT written reply afterwards He also wish
ed to refer 10 IA memoranda he had prepared
for his guidance. ana the fact then came out
that he had prepared this within few days.
The impression among fuir.minded men is
that no holder or more unbiushing mass of
false testimony has been offered 10y any pre-
viouS witness. and that Anderson himself j,
thrown completely into the shade. Like An
derson, when asked abouthis testimony bcfor,
one of the republican investigating commit
tees which was the exact reverse Of what ht
swore to Tuesday, he declared that IL WAS al
false and given then for political effect