The Helena independent. [volume] (Helena, Mont.) 1875-1943, 1891-12-04
He Men Who CONFESSED.
arr and johnson, the Cascade
Rsnohmen, Testify for the
Government
hey Tell About the Conspiracy
to Divert Suspicion From
Mrs. Barnum.
Fhs Silent Monitor Worried the Two
R~anehMen Over the Transaction
With Young Barnum.

Inc working OF conscience was Illus
gated in the Barnum case yesterday by two
anchmsn from Cascade county. They are
b. Carr and j. W. johnson. To the latter
Mr.. Baum said: you are a noble Kansas
nan." Carr and johnson are the men who
ay they entered into q conspiracy with
Ara. Barnum's son, Ed. to divert suspicion
rom her. This conspiracy consisted in 60
ng to u couleo q half mile south of tho
sArnum ranch and Watching Ed Barnum
life a mail pouch and put the letters under
rock. For this they they were each to get
eb0 This took place about tho middle Of
ast September. johnson said he told no
bns except his cousin about the affair until
month and a half afterwards. Mr.. Baum
skad the witness to explain why it was
hat he did not come out like an honest
man and toll tho truth; that it was Ed Bar
hum who he saw and not u stranger as first
elatsd. johnson replied that he was
fraid of the surroundings. afraid Of
what" asked Mr.. Baum. 1.-THE mountains
nd ths benohlandY" No. he was afraid Of
he inhabitants; threats had been sent to him
Ind he was afraid the matter might be
bhiftsd around to him. After johnson told
Ruo IOhB-OA0ul AAOA bLA Ao AANON
hrse years in Kansas, tho Great Falls law
Yer put q tone Of irony into the words,
You arc q noble Kansas man." Then no
began q series of questions about the work
ngs of Johnson's conscience from the time
be entered into tho conspiracy down to the
hay he made the confession to Inspector
Esckett. He told the true story because he
knew the "mattsr would have to come to a
head"
''Your conscience got to working a little
harder about this tins. Was not that the
"No. it didn't get to working any worse
than before"
Johhson described how he and Carr went
20 the %coulse. whore they saw Ed Barnum
btooping over a rock, They went to the
place after Barnum went away. Carr
lifted tho stone and found somo letters be-
Them bou q foot high. Mr.. Baum here
banded the witness a package Of letters
about two inches thick and asked him to
count them. 1hers were twenty-one. "Now,
how many do you think there would
be in q pile a foot high" The witness did
hot know. Neither did he know Of his own
knowledge that Mrs. Barnum knew of tho
transaction in tho coulee. No, he WAS not
Lying now and the story he was telling was
The truth.
Carr, in his testimony, said he became
|consciencs &C. stricken after the affair in the
|coulee, and the silent monitor worked very
hard within him. Mr.. Baum worried this
witness for some time and wanted to know
why his conscience was so long in getting
him to tell the truth. His replies were a
puzzle. Once he said he had a little United
States marshal in his heart. This WAS sup
posed to be his conscience.
The Kibbey postmaster, who is a hypnot-
|izer and mssmerist, was on the stand again
yesterday. He went TO to the coulee and
found the letters under q stone. There
were forty-nine of them, all opened except
thirteen. They were produced d in court and
identified by the postmaster, Mr.. Lee. who
put his signature on each envelope n also
the postoffice stamp.
Mar. Baum said all the evidence intro
|duced by the prosecution about the CON
|spiracy with Ed. Barnum, was for the pur-
pose of showing that Mrs. Barnum was in
way connected with the affair. The
governments attorney asked Carr and
Johnson several direct questions for this
purpose. They were objected to and the OBJ
j~ections sustained by Judge Knowles.
Mrs. Barnum's husband was the last wit
ness on the stand when the defense rested
yesterday morning. He was called in sup
port of the theory regarding the stranger
who stopped over night at tho Barnum
ranch and who il supposed to have stolen
the 81 bill put into q decoy letter by In
spector Sackstt. MI. Barnum remembered
the man, whom he described as being about
thirty years old with a smooth face. The
governments attorneys subjected Mr.. Bar
mum to a close cross-examinati0n about
mysterious individual" but dil not
in making him vary from his direct
examination.
The gallery and the seats outside tho
rail in the court room were filled With spec
tators. A number of women were present.
The attorneys expected to finish the trial
Yesterday, but the oross-examinations were
prolonged and it was five o'clock before the
witnesses in rebuttal left the
The trial will probably be closed to-
day.
The Weekly Independent, IL pages, to
l, 1893, for 81.