Burlington weekly free press. [volume] (Burlington, Vt.) 1866-1928, 1886-12-10

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Jennie. ur any one else that he had money
In the Suv,ng- bduN. All Know HE lur-
mulW for getting money from savings
OHuk, but thHl money was not drawn III
The ordinary way 50 shc must nave knoWn
mat il VAS i'm Mr. " ud'- cure. The or.
der Is directed to Mir Ward and not to the
savings hHuk. She did not attempt to
initiate Mr. NasUu's writing. | du not
tnink Mr.. Ward did Intentional wrong.
1t was AZ he says AN act OF gross stupid
IT, ! cannot say so much Tor Fred tor /
think the evidence shows thar ne had .
part in tins scheme with Mr.. Mason
Bankers do not mention the bank bust
ness abOnt town, 50 she could not have
learned ot Mr. MHsDu's money i'll the
bank, at her arrest she did not appear
guilty but asked If the first order was ali
RIGHT \ Jury would not convict her of
forgery on this order Mr. Mason gave
her authority and she got the money on 1t.
The only trouble WAS that Nh Ward uaid
it Instead of Fred. The latter told his
father he did not know her and yet on the
stand he testified that he was introduced
to her ut Essex Junction aud often met
her This SHOWS that some scheme Was
Matched up between Mr.. Mason and him,
and the Tact is fur her COrrObDrated by
her calling at the bank for Fred instead
of Mr.. Ward senior The relations of Mr..
Mason and Jennie are currOburaled by
the testimony of Mrs. Delaney and her
relations from her having large suuN of
money and being seen so often with Mr..
Mason. Mrs. Delaney tried three times TO
interview Mr.. Mason on the subject AMI
in view of the circumstances her story Is
the most probable. i'he three meetings
are admitted by Mr.. Mason and he also
admits that they talked about Jennie at
the hotel The whole testimony goes to
snow that Mir. Mason seluCed the girl II
was natural when lac found out her con
ditiOn That he should want to get rid Of
her ana get her to write Just such Il letter
as the red ink letter, ana afterwards con
cUct the scheme at the bank for getting
rid of her. ii the order had been in the
hands OF Fred Ward instead of his father
it would have had Il different ending and
il Mr.. Ward had telegraphed Mr.. Mason
that he had paid the order there is no
doubt that Mr. Mason would have paid
the money ana got the girl out of the Nay.
When discovered the only thing he could
do was to deny the whole thing and try
to retain his good name. The speaker
then argued that the girl was too young
To concoct Matchmaking scheme, but II
she had wanted to do it she could have
gone to a lawyer in the natural way and
would not have placed herself in his
power by forging his name. If he did not
write to her often i'll back hand how did
she know whose writing it was and whom
meet at the depot as he admits she had.
ury Under the circumstances would
con ct the girl and the speaker did not
see Ia " the court could. a recess was
then taken till 1870 D. IN.
MIR. BALLARD's ARGUMENT.
In the afternoon the closing argument
for the defence was made by Hon. Henry
Ballard, who spoke in part as follows:
The accused, Miss Jennie SaXton is charged
with forging an order il the name of John
l.. Mason and the answer is not that she
didn't write the order but that she did
so having authority. \ case | have here,
the English Common Law, volume "a,
page l01 in Queen VS.. Parish. ct is not
forgery if Il person has II fair ground
for believing he had authority"
That is Jennie SaXtons case. She SAYS
81 was told To DO this | did not intend TO
detraud anybody because | was told to
draw the money" a forgery is an at
tempt to initiate some persons handWrt
in. The first fact in the case in favor
OF Jennie's innocence is that she did not
attempt to deceive any one. Look at the
two signatures and see the evil
dence of her innocence. MIR Ballard
then described Mr.. Mason's signature and
then Jennie SdXton's handwriting. Now
how far do we 90 in proving the truth of
self There is no attempted smiitude
and the order proves that there is no in
teution to deceive. No jury will ever con
Wet on that piece of paper | say it was
written by an honest hand, the offspring
Of an honest purpose. The speaker then
described Jennie's transaction at the bank.
Mr.. Ward had reason to suspect that Fred
and j. l.. Mason had got mixed up with
jennie oaXtuu. This threw c. f. Ward
off his guard. He had reason to suspect
there was some trouble beside forgery
which proves the truth of the girls story
that Fred ANA Mason were running the
thing. How did she know Mr. Mason had
money there and that going there shewould
get any money on Mr.. MasOn'S name. She
had just as much reason to suppose she
could get 500 out of me or any other cti-
zen a. out of Fred Ward. Mr. Mason was
asked ON the stand. Did You ever tell .Jen
ME you had money there" NO" said he
Why did she pick ont Mr.. Ward. This
girl selecting ii man III Burlington with
out knowing he held Mr. MaSon's funds
and walking up boldly with an order
tor the money, must have known Mr..
Ward had his money which she
knew he would pay ont Her every act
aud word il not evidence of guilt but the
reverse. Then when charged with forging
two orders she sends a dispatch to Mason,
"CUme down here DId YOU ever know
turger to send after HE man whose name
he forged point to That as evidence of
her conscious innocence
When the first order was paid Fred said
he did not know Jennie SaNton Al
| the first trial he sad he knew "A SaXtOu
| -irI, but did not know her front name
" hen he says he dId not know the first
names ut the thee SaXton girls he lied
and he knew it. The secret was between
him aud John H. Mason, and he has kept
! his knowledge back to shield him Mr.
Mason had had that account for the last
three or four years. The order was paC
| sept. 1, and on Oct. q the money wa.
drawn out. 1t was because Jennie had in
formed him that she had drawn 500
and ne thought he could not stand that
That Is why he drew 1t out On Nov. |,
she presented another order She woult
not have done that if she had been con
sciOus of forgery. AS to the origin of tn,
order Mr.. Ballard argued that II schoo
glrl OF Jenne's age would not have tn,
| knowledge implied in the order and tina
her claim that Mr.. Mason told her how
was plausible. He then alluded to tn
fact that she telegraphed to Nj
Mason and he did not come but when sh