Morning journal and courier., 1888-01-20
ARGUMENTS OPEN TO.DAY.

Jury - Telegraph Messages show That Way Was Alive After Conee Lefs stony Creek-Medtcal Experts Testify Diametrically Opposite to the SSatess Evidenee-Pr0babIe Acqu1ttal of the Accused.
 The arguments in the Peter J. Coffee mur- der trial will begin at 10 o'clock this morn | ing.
 l The last of the evidence in the case was put
 in at o'clock last evening.
 As the case draws to a close the interest
 and excitement increases. Yesterday the
 Superior court room was crowded from the opening of court at 10:45 a. m. to the t'oyez, oyez" of Sheriff Gates in the evening. Coffee
 the accused, looked more wan and haggard
 last evening than at any time during the trial.
 Conductor Mason's cross-examination was
 resumed whom court opened. His attention
 was again called by State Attorney Doolittle
 to the report of collections made for the
 Guilford scoot on the night of May 9, which
 was shown to the jury for inspection. Judge
 Torrance excluded the question put by MT. Doolittle whether Mason had brought suit
 for libel against 8 newspaper in this city | which had intimated that he was involved in | the homicide. Upon the cross-examinstion | by Attorney Leomis Mason testified that he | took watch from Coffee in lieu of his fare. He identified the watch. He intended to
 leave the watch at the station and get ticket to represent Coffees ride. But the l next day he was unable to give up the watch for this purpose on account of the murder. ! It is not the custom of conductors to report l collections until they are redeemed with money or tickets. Mir. Mason produced the ! memoranda of the ride-writing on a piece of envelope-and swore that this data was ma 6 To Xt1o T7nnF of Nav stated that Coffee paid him the Il cent fare afterwards and sent the watch to the station agent at Leete's Island. He first 1 heard Ways death spoken of at 6:15 the next
 morning. Cross examined again Mir. Mason swore that he did not make the statement to Coroner Mix that Coffee woke up from a drunken stupor and inquired of him if Charles Way was killed
 William W. Pardee, conductor on the New York, New Haven and Hartford railroad company for some years, next testified that it was the custom of conductors on the road
 to receive collateral when passenger had no ticket and to hold it until it was redeemed either in cash or with ticket, 8. which time
 they usually made report of it. Upon the cross-examination by Attorney Doolittle
 Conductor Pardes testified that the articles
 were always redeemed and that they were
 left with any railroad official whom the pas
 senger might designate for his convenience Samuel Fl. Clark, conductor on the Air Line division, swore to the same custom. He saw
 Mason transferring the watch from his pocket
 to his box in the New Haven station. Herbert s. Beers, head of the Order of Railway Con- ductors and for sixteen years on the Derby railroad, was called upon to swear to this cus- tom, but was objected to by the State attorney. Judge Torrance said he would confine the evil dence to the custom on the Consolidated road
 Mr. Beers, in addition to the preceding wit ness, swore that man riding on an engine going % miles an hour, in the night, could
 not distinguish an object on the track to tell what 1t was. He once thought that flock
 of turkeys on the track was a man and stop
 ped the train. B. O. Bacon, baggage man Coffee's hunting case silver watch in the train. He identified 1t. Willis Way, a brother of Charles Way, was recalled to iden- tify a telegram as being written in his broth CTS handwriting. Coroner Mix was also put on the stand to identify the telegram as the one given to him sometime last May. He thought MT. Leete gave it to him.
 Detective John Leete was called and stated that he saw the telegram in the station at Stony Greek. It was given him by Station Agent Strong. The State seemed averse to letting the defense know where the telegram came from, but the defense followed the mat ter up and finally Erastus L. Strong testified that he found the telegram in the station the day after Ways death. Mrs. Emily Knowles telegraph operator at Guiferd, testified that she remembered the telegram in question. She said she received the message from Charles Roland to send to New York. She tried to call New York, but couldn't raise the New York office. The operator at Stony Creek ! (Way) heard her calling and asked if he could help her. It was about S:30 o'clock. Witness asked the Stony Creek operator (Way) how long he would stay, and he sent | back word that he would stay in his office a I couple of hours, as he had work to do. A | few minutes before 9 o'clock witness wanted l to go home and called up Stony Creek and | gave him the message to telegraph to New York After he took it he signalIed O. K l all right). It was about g o'clock when wit ness sent the dispatch to Way, who took it from her 8 matter of accommodation so that she would not have to stay in her office until she Praised" the New York office.
 The telegram is as follows:
 W. H. Benton, Lndell Hotel, St. Louis, Mo:
 Doctor says George not able to travel.
 HOLLAND
 The telegram bears the mark K., Miss Knowles mark, O., (Way's mark,) and Ky, the mark of the operator who recsised it in New York. Miss Knowles explained that it was customary to mark the messages in this way.
 Thomas G. Kennedy of the main Western Union telegraph office in New York testified ! that he received the above message at 10:O6 p. m. on the night of May 9th
 The importance of this evidence to the de. ! tense is that if Way sent message from Stony | Creek at 10:05 and Peter Coffee left Stony Creek on Mason's 1O:02 train and went to Guilford, he could not have strangled Way and put him on the track before the freight struck the body at 10:35.
 John Howard, night manager at the Vest | srn Union office in this city, and William J. 5heehan, an operator, testified that the mes ven office. w. A. Harris, manager of the | Western Union office, testified that when an operator forwarded for someone else he put he accommodated operators mark upon the message out of courtesy. Train Dispatcher Penny swore to telegraphing with Way about night of Ways death. Miss Leila Norton of 2uilferd swore to being at the depot the night in question when Conductor Mason's } 'scoot" arrived. Saw three or four passen- ! CTS get of, and Conductor Mason went Lome with her. About Il o'clock he went ut again with lantern and went to the epot platform and met someone whom he 'eRan to talk with. .,
 A recess was then taken until 3 o'clock.
 At the afternoon session Mrs. Edward ' Tas the first witness. Mrs. Hall accompa- jed Miss Norton to the depot in Guilford on he night of May 9 and confirmed Miss Iorton's testimony in regard to hearing oise in the water closet of the depot af- I T the train came in and the passengers got S Several witnesses were offered by the de- | 8 'nse to show that Swede named John | t ohnson left Stony Creek the day after the urder, leaving his property and money due i'm, and also that other Swedes had threat led to kill Way. Io The defense next put in their expert medi- :: | testimony, Dr. O. A. Lindsley being the u ;st to testify in CefeeIs behalf. Dr. Linds- q y said he had formed an opinion diametrie- ?; ly opposite to that of Drs. White and Doo- a tie, and swears that in his opinion Way la as alive when struck by the train: His inion is formed upon four points in the idence, namely: The testimony of the en- <, neer, blood on the track, the Auidity of CST 8 blood in the corpse and the eccliymese N ots on the surface of the lungs. First, he IJ ] not believe it possible for the engineer to dt scern whether Way was alive or dead; al 'ondly, there was as much blood on the sr sck an he believed would have en lost under the circumstances, and ineipally that scohymoss spots occur lncipally frsn suffscation, and not strang- o- atton, so that it does not seem to the doc VI VI that the 0cchYuaOsa ar,ofa are 1n ssoiav& !"