, 1880-05-16
Wherein He Again Denies All Knowl-
edge Of the Letter Of
Warning.
The Conclusions Of the Several E1"
pcrts Are Then Read to the
Court,
And They All Declare the Famous hota
to Be in Whittaker's Hand
writing.
Thu Paper On Khith the xote Is Written Is also
Proven to Hare Been Khittaktr's.
snn~fo1 Dfsonffh to The Chicago 1stb1e9e.


in tho Whitaker case, and surprising one ~
everybody but the members of the Court ana
The cxperts To Whitaker ana nls 1a1tulul
friend Prof. Greener. it was day lar harder TO
bear thau any lut has preceded. for while hlthefto
,be colored cadet has had foil to-day there
WIS uutbing in race or class prcjudices, or par
tial Court. to shield him from tho evidence
which shut upon him in a way entirely unex-
rected Those who have all along
held to. Whitrakcr's innocence cannot
fail to be shaken at least by
the discovery OF one Of the experts, an
uounced this afternoon toward the close OF a
long session: That announcement explained
perfectly the look Of quiet satisfaction which
the members of the Military Court have for
come days noticeably worn. Through ali the
exciting scene Whitaker himself was
THE COOLEST PERSON IN TIE ROOM.
He answered the questions which told most
against him and heard the charges OF the ex-
per1s that he must have written the note OF
warning Us unmoved and unconcerned as II he
were least instead of most interested.
Whitaker was on the witness stand the great
er part Of the day, aud held firmly through
everything to his original story concerning the
outrage. The chief interesting feature bf his
testimony WIS his throwing suspicion on two Of
the cadets with whom he had had trouble,
though he said he did not suspect
than till about tho 18th OF Aprl,and bad received
suggestion frnm Lieut. Flipper as TO one OF
them Further, that be did not think his suspi-
cion grounded well enough to mention it to his
counsel, aud should not have made 1t public but
for the direct questioning by the Court Whit
taker acknowledged the writing of a letter to
his mother, which was shown him neatly incased
in frame and covered By glass This was the
point up to which the Recorder had been work.
ing. After drawing from Whitaker positive
denials that he ever saw the note Of warning be-
fore it. was sent to him. and also the affirmation
of belief that the cadets who mutilated him
FORGED HIS HAND
in order to throw the blame upon him.
Recorder Sears read the report OF the con-
quering expert who had tho good fortune to
discover to his own satisfaction and that Of TWO
Of his fellow experts that the famous
note Of warning WIS written On the
other half Of the sheet OF paper
IN which Whitaker had written to his mother
the nigh. before the alleged outrage. The warn-
ing WIS produced, also In frame, and the expert
testimony was read. saving that both the hand
writing ana the torn sheets Of paper gave con-
elusive proof that the note had been
WRITTEN BY WHITAKER HIMSELF.
There was a great scene at this, Whitaker
alone seeming Indifferent. Thea the Recorder
adjourned the court There WAS nc need for 1t
to sit lon4er to-day.
It Is plain what the verdict and report will be
in the face Of this singular and damaging testi-
mony. Prof. Greener would only say that he did
not give up yet, but be was evidently In doubt
what to think. There seems no adequate motive
for the deed and altogether the Whitaker case
bids fair 70 remain one Of the most extraordinary
IN record.
10 the 1Fest<ra Assoctated PTcsA
WEST POINT, N. T.. May l5-Joseph E. Paine,
expert was recalled. and testified to the striking
similarines in one Of the sets Of pairs viewed by
the other experts with the note Of warning. His
testimony was, in the main, corroborative Of
the other experts.
Cadet Whitaker WIS called. In reply toques-
tons be said be had heard before he came to the
Academy Of the way In which colored cadets
were treated. The prospect was not encourng-
Ing, but be had in some respects been treated
octter than he expected. 4 copy OF Lieut.
Flipper's book oz ;" The Colored Cadet at West
Poiut'' was shown Whitaker. Tso book con-
fained an extract from letter from Whitaker,
in which he spoke Of his treatment as - bully"
Whitaker said the extract was correct one,
and it was true statement of his sentiments at
the time it was written. He thought from ac-
counts that some ooinred cadets had been
TREATED WORSE THAN BE had.
Quesuon-Has there been anything IN your or
their treatment that would lead sensible man
10 mu1ilate or make himself sick7
Answer--No; not if he was man.
Whitaker said VIXEN the wrongs done him
were reported to the authorities they had been
redressed- He had no cIcw to the perpetrators
Of the outrage. He now had some suspicious of
'Cadets Blake and Mcdonald. He suspected |
Rlake On account of the manner in which Blake |
treated him few days before the outrage He |
had put on Rlake's cap by mistake one day |
coming out Of the Academy, and Blake WIS
very angry about it. He also suspected Blake |
because Of the scorntul manner in which Biake
moved out of the way one day when he whit
taker, WAS leaving the Commissary.
Qaesnon-Do you think this scorn was
sufficient 10 Lead q man to u1utilate another,
and run the risk OF being dismissed from the |
army 0f the United States and being confined In |
the Penitentiary?
Answer-1 knew a sensible man would not
doit but knew some men could be so debased
and so biased that they could be led TO such an
act
he did not entertain these suspicious at the
time Of his previous examination. They were
An AFTER-THOCGHT.
He had had these suspicious for some time. he
suspected Mcdonald from the fuss he had with
him when they were plebs. He had had knowl-
edge Of this fuss before the Investigation began.
nut since his previous testimony he had thought
Tie matter all uver, including his treatment bJ
clusion Just given. He had seen some evidences
nf Aversion towards him by several other cadets.
put not like that vi Blake tie did NOT fcfnem-
per that ne had told Lieut. Knight OF his sus-
plcous.
Question-1f you have not told him, do you
,a!t. 3!nk you hAve done your duty TO MIN as your
Answer think have, If did not think Of It
chen talking with him. If he had not told
Lieut. Knight perhaps the suspicious were not
The Recorder showed Whitaker letter and
asked Is that your writing?
, u hlt1Rker said he could not tell I'LL ne reao
jPffcr md In for H.
The Recorder would not let him take II, Dull
said: "You see this letter. Is that your writ
fngg:'
Whitaker refused to say whether the writing
was his or nor till he had
-: EXAMINED THE LETTER
more closely, aud reached for it again, ana
again the Recorder withdrew in, wnen Lieut.
hnight stepped up and took the letter from rec
0.F1er Sears, and turning about hanoea II 70
= y Galt1akcr, who read it over ca1u1ul!-
11s tct'k considerable time. ,toe le.-
te ter covering many pagcs- Recorder a,*saG 1eals
considerable criticism by spectators. ae must
nave overheard some remarks, for as ne again
suok his chair he said: - ask If any one mol
caonectcd with the court makes any renarKs
mat they be required to leave the room. naSe
70, nG1 made any objections before, but no" make
President MordecaI said: If any: y:one makes