Burlington weekly free press. [volume] (Burlington, Vt.) 1866-1928, 1893-06-15

| to see her father two weeks before and be-
came angry. Witness went down cellar
aud saw the officers who had two axes and
! two hatchets; witness identified them
and said the larger Ratchet had rod stain
on the handle. Witness went to Lizzie's
room and knocked at the door. 1t was
| opened by DR.. Bowen who asked what sho
wanted; then he closed the door and opened
| it again and said Lizzie wanted to know if
| was absolutely necessary to search shat
| room and witness told him it wac. DR..
| Bowen closed the door again but finally
opened it and then the room was searched.
| In answer to a question, witness said
| Lizzie denied having said she was in the
| barn half an hour, saying that she said from
| 20 minutes to.half anAnour. Lizzie said she
| had last seen her step other when she was
making the beds. She told him also about
| tho note Witness then described the 1nd-
| ing of and iden titled the hendleless Ratchet.
! 1t was in box with other tools in the
middle cellar; it covered with heavy
| dirt or ashes, white ashes on the blade; on
both sides and in fact all over it, the dust
was OF ashes, very tine other tools had dust
on them but not the same as on this hatch
ct; Il fragment Of handle found showed
! fresh break.
Witness went into the barn loft, found it
|
any one having been there Witness saw
many dresses in the house, but mono with
| paint or blood on them.
| Ex-Gov. Robinson subjected Fleet to
rigid cross examination but did not shake
| his testimony or elicit anything new.
At O'Clock the court adjourned until 8
g. m. tomorrow
NEW BEDFORD, Mass, June 9.-About
! onehalf the spectators in tho court house
this morning were females So persistent
have they become in their attempts to get
into tho court room that a barrier of stout
| boards hos been butt across two trees at
the entrance so that only one person may
pass in at time. In a number of instan es
the Same faces are seen on the woman's
| benches every day.
Miss Borden was in her seat at $40 this
morning and her counsel was on hand at
about tho same time She conversed with
| Gov. Robinson until court opened and ar
penred very much in earnest about some
| thing.
The frat witness called this morning was
| Assistant Marshal Flest, and his crosseS-
animation was resumed by Gov. Robinson.
| The witness testified that in tho box in the
| cellar room whore the handleless Ratchet, OF
which the government is making so much,
| was found, two other hatchets were also
found, and that there was q pile of ashos
in the room. Considerable time was spent
| in showing that the search which the officers
made of the Borden house on tho
| day Of the murder was not a very thorough
one.
gkCounsel succeeded in involving witness
in q contradiction of his previous testimony
as TO whether the handlsle,s Ratchet had
| psl N q Ia 81 Ian nc IN tad
that in the preliminary hearing he failed to
| testify about tho handleless Ratchet. al
though asked all about what ho found in
| the cellar.
Officer Philip Harrington
| was the next witness and testified as to
what he saw in the Borden house the day of
| tho murder, relating his conversation with
the prisoner, in which she said her father
sat down and read the paper and she went
out in the barn, and that the motive could
not have been robbery for everything was
right, even to the watch and ring on his
finger. She showed no emotion and was
very positive about the exact time she was
in the barn and her ability to tell all she
knew about the crime ct once.
The witness gave most elaborate dcs-
scripton of the dress the prisoner wore tho
day of the murders, which caused much
amusement in the court room, and Miss
Borden laughed heartily fo- the first time
during the trial. Gov. Robinson sought 10
confuse tue witness about it on cross ex-
animation, but failed. The witness said
the claw hammered Ratchet was found on
a chopping block, instead OF behind some
boxes where Officer Fleet said he put it,
Officer Peter II. Doherty was the next
witness His testimony was chiefly zorro
! NJ hat NJ ba NJ mar Ia
said, however, that the
Prisoner Wore Light Blue Dress
with bosom in the waist the day OF the
murders. 1t was not the dress shown him
10y the government and which had besn pro
duced by prisoner as thu ono she wore then.
Officer Michael Mutually gave testimony
corroboratve of his brother officers; aud
with references to the handleess Ratchet said
that the broken part looked cleaner than
the blades, which appeared to havo had
ashes wiped on them. The noon recess was
taken before he concluded
On cross examination he admitted he
didn't search the dresses AMI trunks in pris
onsr's room the day OF the murders As to
the hstchets found in the box, he said none
but the handleess one wore covered with
ashes. HS then mado the sensation OF the
day by stating that Odicsr Fleet found the
broken hadle belonging to the handlsles.
Ratchet at the time he found the hatchet,
and replaced it in the box with the b,aie.
Gov. Robinson at once called for the han
die, which Mr. Knowlton said he couldn' 7
produce, as he had never heard of it before.
In answer to inquiry by the government
witness said he saw no ashes on the handle
Officer Fleet was recalled and denied find
ing any such handle. This direct
Contra fiction of its OMu Witnesses
is the greatest set back the government has
yet received; though nearly all the govern
ment introduced o-day has been weakened
on crosssxamination.
Officer Charles II. Wilson gave corrobo
rative testimony, in which nothing new was
developed; and then Miss Annie NJ White,
Bristol county's official stenographer, was
called, but Gov. Robinson objected to her
evidence and her examination was suspend
ed. The government tried to get in Georg,
A. Pettse's opinion as to the difference IL
! time bet ween the two murders, but it wa
excluded and, after Mrs. Churchill hac
been recalled to give unimqortant testimony
as 10 the Bedford cord dress, the court a