Wheeling Sunday register. [volume] (Wheeling, W. Va.) 1882-1934, 1885-01-18

dss missing ansbasd sd eeeout possesses
1hs property. TAs pesdnK plka rss
raS into ~execaioz, Da6lAaqPeee eonkEs
been received a. he resarnsd Martin. and
ths hners four SISTERS aRd two b~rotheffln-
law seem 10 have had no saspieioa that the
adyenturer was not their relation. Child
ren we're born Of thia union, and al would
have gone on smoothly had not Duhhes
identity happened to become subject OF
dispute. and then the conflict OF testimony
was ~eertAialy astounding. Some hundreds
OF witnesses were examined. and OF these
forty or more swore that the man was Ar
pauld Duille. while an equal number were
ready to SFoW as positively that ne was
Martin Guerrs. q great many others also
declining &c give an opinion, declaring that
the likeness between the two men was 50 ex-
haordinary that they would not undertake
to saw whether Dutille wa an impostor or
not The opportune arrival Of the real Mar
TN Guerre would. we should have thought
have settled the matter at once, but even
then Dutille brazened 1t out and II wa only
with difficulty that the c~aokOo-hke Adyen-
turer was ousted from the snug nest he had
us~rped, many people believing him 10 %
an injured man. Here the resemblance, OF
course, must have been very strong, but 1t
Is impossible 10 avoid . suspicion that
Nine. Guerre must have been Of . singular
IL eonfding nature, and surely more evil
denee that mere facial resemblance must
have been electromagnetic il to say, the
impostor must have been more or lesS famil-
lar with the past history Of the man he sue
eessfully ~personated for so loug.
A Curious ImpOstor.
Another curious French case was that
which occurred in 9 family named De Caille.
the head Of which, being q Protestant lied
to Savoy on the revocation of the Elicit Of
Nantes. There his only son died IN his
fathers presence at VeVsJ. Some years
afterwards Pierre Mege, q soldier, asserted
that be was the son Of the Sieur De Caiile,
and claimed his property. Hundreds OF
witnesses were examined, and we're IN his
favor, including the nurse and other domes-
tics Of the family, and this imposture had
several points in common with the notorl-
Gus Tichborne case of our oWn times Thus
for example, there was much public sentt-
ment in Mege's favor, he was Catholic,
and as was the case with Arthur 0rton, be
in no way resembled the man he endesrored
TO p~ersonate. De Csille had been light
haired and small, with q fair complexion,
while Aege had dark hair, and was tai,
with a brown skin. Other physical peeuh-
arities in De Csille were not found IN the
soldier, and it was decided after an inyesti-
CATION longer than the Tichborne trial, for
1t lasted seven years, that he was an impos'
tor
The story Of the Tichborne case is too re-
cent and too familiar to need r~ecspitulstion;
il viii be sufficient to say that it viii take Its
place in the text books on medical Jurispru'
dence as . Yeritsble cause celebre, during
which many points Of the highest interest
were raised and discussed BY the Court
Common as are the cases OF mistaken
identity when living people are found to re-
semble each other closely, even to certain
scars and marks Of other kinds, the blunders
which occur in the Identification OF persons
found dead are still more numerous. Vol
umes, indeed, might be filed with instances
Of failures to identify people. The son has
been deceived as to the identity OF his de-
ceased father, several women have recog'
nized the same man as the husband Of each
of them, and the mother has claimed q total
stranger IS her son. Scarcely a railway or
colliery accident or q disaster at sea occurs
without instances of these mistakes, which
would be amusing we're they not-s so sad, for
the positive assertions of two weeping wo'
men regarding the same man are often very
puEzling 10 the authorities. People, too,
are supposed to be murdered who are alive
and well, ike a certain Mr.. Triggr who
lived at Hammersmith, and might, had ne
been inclined, have attended his OWE
funeral, for he resppeared on the scene after
his supposed murder Just as the hearSe
which was believed to inclose his remains
vas leaving his door. There is nsshiug, IN.
deed, 80 well established, as an able medical
writer on the question says, as the utter
uncertainty Of testimony to identify, when
based on mere resemblance OF face and
figure. Even when it is given BY the mos
conscientious witnesses, and By those whose
means Of knowing are most abundant, ex
p~erience proves that it is still uncertain
| Lives have been sacrificed and judicial muir
ders committed on such evidence, and i
would seem almost easier to obey the philo
sophicsl precept and know ourselves, thsr
| to be sure of our capSbility of recognizing
other people even when their faces are per
! fectly familiar to us