The Cincinnati daily star. [volume] ([Cincinnati, Ohio]) 1875-1880, 1879-10-29
CHAPTER Nv.

Witu IL WdlIdIt W UIhtS ACi boShs
CHAPTER Nv.
When a murder is committed in
France, popular excitement is intensified
by the fact that the preliminary cxamin-
alton of the prisoner does not take place
in public as in England. Curl ,sity has
to feed on rumors. The newspapers col
lect what rumors they can, and romance
upon them. They are not liable to be
punished for contempt of Court if they
blacken the prisoners character and ell
deavor to create prejudice against him.
All that was written about Barberon by
the Partisan and provincial press tended
to show that he was demon Of crafty
wickedness; and this infamed NJ. Vril-
lizard with the ambition of gratifying
society by getting him convicted.
Barberon was confined in cell 'au
secret. He was not allowed books or
writing materials, and received no visits.
Once a day he was led handcuffed to the
Juge Instructions room, and there ques-
toned for more or less time. On some
days the examination lasted but ten
minutes; on others it was prolonged for
hours. Varying his mode of attack ac-
cording to circumstances, Willard was
turn by turn amaciably insinuating, sol
emn, or harshly menacing The British
notion Of giving a prisoner fair play is
ignored by Frenchmen, and M.
Willard had purposely rendered
Barberon's confinement most irk-
some that he might tempt him to confess
by offers Of indulgencies. Barberon was
smoker, and begged for tobacco to
sootho his nerves; he was promised cigars
if he would answer certain questions
tending to incriminate him; he wanted
to write letters, and the same conditions
were rendered; when he asked for books
to relieve the tedium of his solitude he
was told that it rested with him to short
en- his durence 'au secret by placing
himself enterely at the mercy Of his tor
mentor. The effect of all this upon a
man of irascible temper was to engender
paroxysms of fury; and rumors came
abroad of uproarious scenes in which
Barberon lad to be held down in his
chair by two gendarmes to prevent him
from flying at the Juge d'Instruction's S
throat.
Still, Barberon would not confess to
willful murder, and, as the evidence of
arsenical poison was not strong enough
to make conviction certain, M. Willard
was fain to sift the prisoners antece-
dent with a view Of collecting circum-
stantial testimony. Agreeably to this
purpose he served subp9nas on all who
had known the prisoner, or been heard
to tattle about him, |, amongst others,
was summoned to depose TO the conyersa-
ton Barberon had held with me at the
club, when recounting the trials Of his
married life.
repaired accordingly to the Palace of
Justice one morning, and was conducted
to the witnesses waiting-room, contiguous
10 the Magistrates closet. This was
about three weeks after Barberon's ar
rest. had not been seated five minutes
when a motley procession Of country
folks stumped in-first q lean old man
with thick shoes and blue Gotten UNI
brella, then two horid hard-featured
women of about thirty attired in the
Sunday best of farmers wives, and last
ly, two fat, detected young men with
horny hands, evidently the husbands of
the Aorid couple. These people saluted
Inc with rustic courtesy; and then with
out more ado pumped down on a form
and continued in shrill tones a dispute
which they had begun outside. soon
learned that they were the relatives of
the late Madame Barberon--the old man
being her father, and the two women
her eldest sisters-and their wrangle was
about the dover that had been paid to
the unfortunate lady on her marriage.
Like many small landowners who have
[amassed money slowly, NJ. Grassior--
such was the old mans name-had given
a better education to his youngest daugh-
Ter than to his other children, and had
been proud to see her marry doctor.
A hundred thousand francs had been set
down in the marriage contract as Marie
Grassier's dover, it being considered
'infra dig for medical man to accept a
lesser portion; but to appease the jealousy
the elder sisters, who had married farm
ers, it had been privately stipulated that
only twenty-five thousand francs should
be actually paid. 70 the horror of these
two elder sisters however, it had trans
pired in the course of previous interviews
with the Juge d'lnstruction that theil
father had, by clandestine instalments
paid up the whole four thousand pounds
to the husband of his pet daughter.
Since this disclosure old Grassier had
known no peace. His daughters abused
him eating, waking, walking; and they
abused him now before Inc, upbraiding
him for giving more Of his money to one
child than to another-the heavies,
domestic crime which a French father
can commit. Old Grassier pished and
pshawed and finally appealed to me
We'll, sir, never thought they'd mur
der the child, said he as he drew out .
yellow check handkerchief and blew hi,
nose dolefully.
TO BIZ CONTINUED
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