The Portland daily press., 1890-12-18
SAWTElLE TAKES A LITTLE JOURNEY.
II 1t Recalled Scenes of a Murder He
Cave No Sign.
Jurors Follow the Route of the PrIs-
oner's Famous Ride.
The Trial Promises TO Last at Least
Until January.
Especial TO the Press. !


DOVER, N. H.. December 17.-After Coun-
ty Solicitor John Kivel finished his mastery
opening. and Lawyer Edgerly finished stat
ing his objection to the indictment court was
adjourned by Chief Justice Doe to o'clock
Thursday morning, at which hour the intro
duction of government testimony will CON-
mence. Judge Doe devoted an entire day to
the Rochester trip of the jury in order that
there need be no hurry, every man oeing Civ
en- ample time to see all he wanted to.
The party took the $40 train from Dover
station. Great Falls, and then to Rochester.
1t was a large and distinguished gathering.
The high sheriff of the county, with Isaac
Sawtelle handcuffed to his left arm, two
deputy sheriffs with the jury, the array Of
counsel with Judge Bingham, the newspaper
men. and some spectators. all went on the
cars, and on arrival at Rochester were taken
in carriages. They went over the ground of
the journeyings of Sawtelle In Rochester,
visiting Wallace's store, where Sawtelle
bought the spade, Smart's stable. where he
hired the team with which he carried the
spade to the Lebanon woods, the hotel, the
railroad buildings and every othe place that
the prisoner Is known to have visited. They
then took the Lebanon road and went to
Blaisdells corner, leaving Sawtelle at the
state line and ploughed about the fields and
Nutter's woods, and the woods where Detec-
tive Shields found the headless body in a
shallow grave ten months ago. These pro-
ceedings ard the return to Dover occupied
all the daylight there was, so that Judge
Does wisdom in allotting full day to the
trip was apparent.
Sawtelle was carried to the Jail when the
train reached Dover, and the second day of
the trial was over.
There is much talk in Dover in regard to
the length Of time that the trial will occupy,
although nobody processes to know anything
about IL. Mr.. Kivel has nearly 100 witnesses
who will be examined at greater or less
length. Nobody but Mr.. Edgerly knows
how many witnesses the defense has. or
whether they have any at all. Court will sit
seven and one-half hours every day and the
case will probably be closed by New
Years at the farthest limit, although un-
looked fer contingencies may prOlOng 1t into
next year.
OF course the centre of attraction today,
as all the time, is Sawtelle himself. 1t is an
extremely uninviting field for interest or sem
tlment, and yet both are plentifully expend-
ed upon him. The prisoners face is as ex-
pressionless as blank wall. The mouth is
set In one position, one look of blank indif-
ference is in the eyes ana there is absolutely
no sign of life or intelligence except that he
moves and walks about. He speaks now
and then, a lew words at long intervals, but
guilty Tuesday, so that only his next neigh
bOr can tell what he says. 1t is hard to un-
derstand whether this stOlid appearance of
uncODcern is feigned or real, but whichever
1t is 1t is well maintained. If the aRthori-
ties thought that taking the prisoner over
the route which the government claims he
traversed In committing and covering up his
crime, would cause him to weaken or con-
fess, either wholly or in part, they must have
been disappointed. A more unconcerned
and apparently disinterested spectator than
Isaac was has never been seen. But for the
fact that bis hands were manacled behind
his back, he might easily have been mistak-
en- for lawyer or a juryman, so far as any
guilty flushing or blanching of the face or
trembling of the limbs was concerned.
There are all sorts of lrumors flying
around the city to the effect that Isaac's
accomplice, the mysterious "Jim" of whom
SO much has been said, or Dr. Blood, was in
Dover, and that at the proper time he would
be taken into custody or produced in court
as a witness. The fact that Captain White
and Officer Shields remained in Dover while
all the other officials went to Rochester gave
color to the suspicion that they were shad-
owing Jim or Blood, and were Obliged to
stay behind. Captain hite, however, en-
phatically denied that he was shadOwing
any body, saying thatISawteile was the only
murderer the authorities knew about or were
dealing with.