Daily Kennebec journal. [microfilm reel] (Augusta, Me.) 1870-1975, 1886-10-13

LEWISTON, Oct. l2.
a special to the Journal from Harmony
says Harmony is still in the grasp of fire
oags. 1t is still laboring with a great prob
ie"' A nameless sort of dread, even now,
oVerhangs 1t. Its streets are full of people
and no one discusses anything else than the
question, Are we on the right track?" The
village has settled to its every day work and
as the stage ratified over the stong roads into
town last night no armed men stopped lis
passage and said, "Who goes there?" and
even the stage driver, who claims that his
lie would go before any one could rob him
of bis United States mail. admits that he
carries no revolver.
1he peoples topic is this: s.Is Emma
Brown guilty of burning the barn of Della
booker" The verdict of the public (wholly
unofficial of course, and only .spublic opin-
ION. Is that the prosecutions first days work
don't make it look bad for the woman. Emma
t. brown was arrested several days ago for
the alleged burning of the barn of her next
nelghbor, Della c. Booker. The barn was
burned on Saturday, Sept. 25th, following
the Friday on which so many of HarmoDy's
buildings went up in flames. Mrs. Brown
and Mrs Bosker lived within fifty roads of
each other on the stage road, or middle
road, leading from Athens to Harmony and
only very short distance from Harmony
postottice. The fire was discovered in the
morning, while the citizens were in town
meeting, to devise means for common pro-
lection. The house and ellis were saved
The barn was burned to the ground. Mrs.
Browns husband is peddler, and is away
the most of the time. She is about 35 years
old. She came from Palmyra, and was a
Davis. Local reports give the woman a few
hard names, but others say she has been un-
justly maligned, and popular sentiment sides
long way with Mrs. Brown in this prelim-
mary hearing. Mrs. Browns house is a red
ow'eaved cottage, with those staring trim
mings of white about the windows and along
the corners that make it a conspicuous OBJ
Ject against the landscape. 1t fronts a long
stone wall and path through the orchard
leads to the house of Mr.. Booker. l have
not yet seen Mrs. Brown, and she has not
vet appeared on the witness stand in public
The only evidence against Mrs. Emma E.
Brown is her own story and her own admis-
sions. On the strength of differences and
facts from her own story, relative to the fire,
she WAS arrested for this offence. Gossips
have connected her with other fires, but there
seems to be little ground for it. She was ar
raigned before Justice 0. r. Batchelder of
Skowhegan, on Thursday of last week. The
hearing was adjourned to Monday morning,
when it opened at the Grange hall. 1t is
needless to say that the crowd was immense.
The hall was suffocating all day. The pros
ecution was in the hands of j. F. Holman.
Esq, assisted by County Attorney J. O.
Bradbury. f. N. Merrill, Esq, is at orney
for the respondent.
The story of the affair as outlined in the
opening of the case is about this. 1t is based
on the respondents own declarations.
She was upstairs in her own house previ-
Gus to the discovery of the fire at her neigh
boris. Looking out in the direction of Book
er's buildings, she saw man coming toward.
her buildings and about three rods distant
She ran out of her house into the back yard.
The slamming of the screen door attracted
the attention of the man and he turned, ard
changing his course, ran in the direction of
Mrs. Booker's. She herself seeing him run,
turned back into her house, got a revolver
and followed him in the direction that he
took. She saw no fire about their buildings
but she ran into their house and aroused their
wstchfulness by shouting, Hurry or you
will be burned out here in less then ten min
utes." Mrs. Booker and her father, VIM
Evans, ran into the barn. A small patch of
hay was burning in the NOW not bigger than
bushel basket. They couldn't control it.
1t burned like tinder. Mrs. Brown could
give no description of this man; could tell
nothing of his personal appearance. She
only knew that he was a man.
The theory of the prosecution as outlined
by County Attorney Bradbury is that Mrs.
Brown sci the fire herself and the story of
the man who fed into the woods is all a
myth.
At the hearing it was put in evidence that
year and a half ago Mrs. Brown said she
wished the house in which the Bookers live
was in ashes. The prosecution endeavored
to prove at the hearing, so far as it pro-
gressed, Monday, that Mrs. Brown had
threatened to burn the house. They also
brought evidence to prove that although she
said that she followed quickly after the man,
she yet stopped to take shawl aud pin it on
her head, to care for the locking of her own
house, and that she didn't discharge the re-
volver at the man and in fact gave no alarm
until it was Practically too late to save the
buildings. The counsel in opening, argued
that the fires were in the farther end of the
barn, while if a man had gone to the barn to
burn 1t and flee, he would have touched it off
at the end nearest the door and then have
made good his escape. The prosecuting at
orney also claimed in his argument that Mrs
Browns story is unnatural and indicated
criminality.
The evidence for the government is mainly
in. The above is an outline of what was Of
fered.