New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1893-06-10
BETTER FOR LIZZIE BORDEN.
POINTS IN HER ADVANTAGE.
THE PROSECUTIONS EVIDENCE WEAKENED
BY CROSS-EXAMINATION.

MARSHAL FLEETS TESTIMONY TORN TO PIECES
BY EX-GOVERNOR RoBINsoN-AN ExrRAoR
DINARY DAY IN AN ExrRAoRpI.
NARY TRIAL.
fBY TELEGRAPH TO THE rRIBUSE.l
New Bedford, Mass, June 1.-THE fifth dav
Of Lizzie Borden's trial has ended. The prosecn.
tion's work is still incomplete. and, although
dozens Of the court stenooraphers' notebooks were
filled with the record Of the days proceedinss
little will be found in them that adds to tho
probability of the prisoners guilt.
POINTS MADE BY THE DEFENCE.
The day has been mostly given over to Tho
c:t)ss-eXamination Of police officers. The de-.
fendant's lawyers, who had been gentle in tho
extreme in their treatment OF those w,tneesce
who had hccl Lzzie's friends and neiyhbore.
adopted different course with the policemea.
They charged at fall tilt, and paused only 10
charge again. Nor their attack o vain one
They scored mny important points They made
il appear that the hous" was insu0c.ently wltched
and neglectfully guarded, and they caused tho
officers to contradict one another fatty on mat
ters of supreme moment.
Ii has been damp, cell day. The hravy grao
on the courthouse lawn and the lcafy archwsy
approaches have worn sombre hue, az II
whispers Of the tragic tale that was b-ilg tod
beyond the Grecian portico that fronte1 them
had come out through the open wind,ws Within
there was a deeply interested audience. Some
times. moved ny Governor Robnson's aImoss
savage satir,. they vcnturel TO smile, ana once
or twice they had the harlihood to let whas
may have been litter escape them Ihen the
portly person Of the High Sheriff Of Bristol
County would visbly enlarge His swallow
tailed coat of Wcbstrran blue would elevate
itself at the back and stand out at the taiie
as il electric with Indignation, and the uncounV
able brass buttons that adOrn and beaufiiy MIN,
catching the geam of his eyes, would flash ana
sparkle with reflected ire.
MISS BORDEN CALM AND DIGNIFIED.
Lizzie Borden maintains the more cheerful sp-
rearancc which came to her with yesterdays
sunshine She prompted her counsel corsiderapiy
today and her suggestions were evidently goou'
for he gave close attention. and almost lmme-
diately asked question or went into line OF
examination fruitful Of advantage to the 10
fence Nothing that was said by any Witness
ESCAPED her intelligent and ready observation.
Her general department is precisely what II
should le She is wholly uncOnccrned In the
crowd around her. She takes 10 notice ot tho
scratching correspondents or the sketching news
parrr artists They move quietly here ana tnere'
catchng her first in this position ana '"en
in that. but size could not he less conscious
of t.cm or more entirely hccdful Of the awful
business that brings her here il she and the
Judges. the Jury and the lawyers were the only
pcrsons in the room. Dignity, calmucss, uxed
attention 10 the witnesses and an evident APP
preciation of the consequences to her OF every
word they SPEAK characterize her demeanor. -
all times.
When the court adjourned yesterday John
Floct the assistant marshal of the Fall River
policc. was on the witness-stand. He had toIa
his story for the prosecution, and Governor Roo'
inson with studied suspicion and the evioe"s
intention Of handling him without mercy, nao
begun the cross-examination. The witness hao
already discovered that his reputation was az
stake. both as an officer and as a man. "hen
tho court abruptly. and, TO his plain rehei ~"
journed 10 had already fallen into one trap anu
had been warned Of another that was preparing
for him He returned TO his place this morning
with an anxious look on his face ana manner
that showed anything hut confidence
On the direct examination he had testified abous
his having gone to the Borden house on August
4. 1892, which was Thursday, just after tho
murders had been discovered. He told oi a con-
versation he had with Lizzie Borden, of his searcn
Of the premises and of his having found IN tho
cellar two axes TWO hatchets, one Of them having
a clawhcad, and a rusty, dust-covered hatchct-
head the handle of which was broken OH close 10
the iron The axes and hatchets found with
Bridget Suivan's assistance. lie mad himseh
come across the hatchct-head later in another
p'acc in the cellar. lie found il in IA little hox
on a shelf There few other tools In tho
box What they were he could not remember,
though he thought there were some chls"ls among
them The box and all the tools. including the
hatchet head, were covered with heavy dust. the
most of which in his opinion had been collected
from an ash-heap near by. II Is TINS hatchet-
head with which, according to the theory ot the
prosecution, the murders were commlttei
Fleets conversation with Lizzie, narrated yes
terday was particularly noticeable, because he
said She told him that when her father came ints
the house that morning Just before II o'clock, she
advisrd him 70 lie down and rest on the sofa This
is new evidence, and evidence Of considerable
importancc Nobody else has testified that Lizzie
said she had so advised her father, and Fleet's
story of what she said to him agrees perfectly
with that Of all the other witnesses as to what
she said to them, except in this solitary par.
ticuar Tc all of them, including Fleet, she said
she thought Ms Borden was out of the house;
that Mrs. Borden had received a note that morn
ing from sick friend, and had thereupon gone
out 10 ali OF the witnesses. including Fleet, she
said that just before II o'clock she went out to
the barn 10 get piece Of iron that she re-
mained there from twenty minutes to half an
hour and returned to find her father lying dead
on the sofa in the sittng-rooui.
SIGNIFICANCE OF FLEETS TESTIMONY.
Now, the significance of Fleets additional point
IL \ H. H.. 81. IL H.
that sofa and rest himself lies In the sugges.
tion it makes of an admission on her part that by
getting him on the sofa she artfully placed him IN
her power. When Bridget went up stairs into tho
attic, few minutes before II, she left Lizzie iron.
ing at a table in the dining-room and Mr.. Borden
sitting in rockng-char at an open window in
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