The Wheeling daily intelligencer. [volume] (Wheeling, W. Va.) 1865-1903, 1890-09-30
BIRCHALL GUILTY.
Tho Trial is Completed and the
Jury Reports,
MR.. BLACKSTOCK'S SPEECH
An Able Defense of tho Prlsoncr-In.
tcrcst In the Case In Europc-Tho
last Day In Court the Most
lntercsiins-alrs. IiirchalI.

vi Oanaullu CrlLnlHal lurlspruueGci
To-day the room Is already well file,
and there is surging crowd outsid
made up OF all sorts and conditions {
people struggling forward to secure nd
mission. Prominent among those il
tho court room and just behind tn
counsel for the defense aud very nea
the prisoners dock arc Mrs. Birchaii IN,
her sister, Mrs. West Jones. Mrs. Birch
all seems to have nerved herself to lister
to MI that goes on, but there Is u weari
ness In her face most pitiful to see. Mrs
West Jones comes in only because he
sister must be supported in the iearfu
ordeal. On passing tho docks he neveI
once looked at its occupants, and ever
Mrs. Birchall seems to dread to let heI
eyes rest upon her husbands face.
The prisoner was in his place early
At last the strain is telling upon him
1t is evident that he did not sleep wei
last night but he shows nothing lik,
fear, simply the nervousness and look O
apprehension OF 4 man who feels tha
great events for him are happening ant
that the time wnen it will be kuowr
what future has in store for him is fas
approaching. The jury look wonder
fully fresh and well kept, considering
the time they have been confined.
INTEREST IN EUROPE.
A remarkable fact in connection with
the trial is that, in addition to the reeu.
lar force OF newspaper men, there is in
attendance large staff OF stenographers
employed by one Of tho cable companies
which has arranged to send by cable
verbatim reports Of Mr.. Blackstock's g
speech, the judges charge and long
report Of Mr.. Osler's address as well.
Preliminary to the speeches this morn
ing some evidence was taken. Samuel
McMaster, n Telegraph messenger at
Niagara Falls, proved the delivery to
Clerk O'Neil OF the telegram purporting
to be from Benwell to Birchall. O'Neil
was supposed to deliver the message to
Birchalf.
James Costina, farmer, testified that
in the week when the body was found a
young man came to his house looking
for q place to remain over night, but
witness Was unable to keep him. He
heard Of the body being found at about
5 o'clock p. III. on the day when it was
discovered. and thinkingi it might be the
body OF his caller Of the night before,
went to see the remains and decided
they could not have been those OF his
caller. He came to the conclusion that
the body had no: been out in the storm OF
two nights before, rs the shirt-front was
as white and clean as though no rain or
snow had fallen upon it.
MR.. BLAcKsTocK's SPEECH.
Mr.. Blackstock, prisoners counsel,
evidently labored under great excite.
lneut and looked rs ii he had spent
weary hours last night in preparing his
speech Of to-day. He began his address
at seven minutes before ten. He thanked
the crown and the jury for the indul.
gence granted tho defence by an ad-
journment over Sunday, which to them
was an inestimable boon. Many OF the
most enlightened countries, he said,
had abolished capital punishment, but
while they lived under a Government.
that upheld it, it was their duty 10 obey
the statutes Of the country.
Mr.. Blacsstock cautioned the Jury
against the risk Of coudemning an inno-
cent man to the sallows, and then, while
admitting the mistakes which had been
made by the prisoners counsel, he re-
AeCted on the alleged reckless methods
OF the prosecution, and the apparently
careless manner in which the witnesses
for the crown seemed ready to swear
away IL mans life. His summing up OF
the evidence was very exhaustive, point
ing out defects in the evidence bearing
on Birchall's identity with men seen on
the trains and near the swamp, while
the honesty OF the people
who tried to establish it.
He condemned the newspapers for
trying the case out OF courtand prejudic-
ing the mind OF the public, while
acknowledging their services as the
best and most honest detectives.
Mr.. Blackstock then discussed tho
moral character OF his client freely,
He denounced in violent terms the
witnesses taken to the Jail to identity
Birchall as giving false witness and
drawing on their imaginations, and
cited previous incidents in which in.
nocent men had been sacrificed by
evidence which ought not to have been
in court. The manner Of con.
ducting the Identification Of the prisoner
was disgraceful.
He appealed to the jury to think only
OF the evidence before them in makiur
up their minds. The time, he said
would come when the mystery surround.
ing this crime would be cleared away,
and maybe the real murderer would
stand confessed Of his guilt.
Mr.. Blackstock closed with touching
reference to the devotion Of Mrs. Birch.
all, through good and evil report, to her
husband, and asked how they would
face her after verdict OF guilty and the
execution.
During this portion OF the address,
Mrs. Birchall's head bent slowly for.
ward until it hung upon her breast,
while her cheeks flushed deeply, but
she did cot break down.
Mr.. Blackstock's peroration was a
masterpiece, closing at Just three O'Clock.
having occupied five hours and seven
minutes in his address,
The court then adjourned for twenty
minutes for lunch.
osLER's SPEECH.
1t lacked few minutes Of $3.50 when
Mr.. Osler, for the Grown, rose 10 speak.
For fifteen minutes or more he devoted
himself to the objec. OF criminals, whose
guilt could only be established by cir.
cumstantial evidence, and to the neces.
sity for the safety OF society OF accepting
circumstantiai evidence as conclusive in
the lack OF evidence that is more direct.
He then took up the Benwell- -Birchall
story at the point where Birchall began
corresponding with the elder BenwelI
and with young Benwell himself, and
traced in detail all the negotiations in
England which finally led up to the do.
parture Of Benwell in Birchall's compa.
ny for America.
He analysed these negotiations into
one foundation fact, which he asked the
Jury to bear in mind, and as he made the
point to entrap young Benwell into Can
ada, upon representations which ht
knaw wnrld he ehoyn IN ha falla thf