The record-union., 1893-06-20
Special to the REcoRD-UNIoN.

Special to the REcoRD-UN1oN.
NEW BEDFORD, June I9.-The dav for
'he argument in the Lizzie Borden trial
opened with a great crowd at the Court
mouse, scarcely One-tenth of whom could
gain admission. A large proportion Of
lhose Ill attendance were in fashionable
holiday attire. The defendant appeared
fresh and smiling.
Governor Robinson opened the nrocead-
lngs with his argument for the defense.
lie began by declaring the defendant
physically unable to commit the crimein
Inc manner in which it was committed:
and, as for that, it was only possible for
maniac, devil, to do it. He asked the
jury to bring their homes, hearts and in
tellects into their decision in the case.
Governor Robinson then rehearsed
chronologically the events connected
with the crime. He saw no reason TO
connect confederates of the defendant
with 1t. There was no direct evidence
against Miss Borden, he said. No weapon
whatever, and no knowledge of the use
OF one, had been shown. The evidence
shows that defendant did not know whore
the alleged weapon was kept. There was
no spot from her head to her feet, except
one as big as a pinhead on the skirt. Liz
Zle Bordon was at home the morning the
murders were committed, and if she had
gone up stairs and looked under the bed
she might have seen the body of her step
mother. Both Lizzie and Bridget tell
about the note which called Mrs. Borden
out, and both were told of it by Mrs. Bor-
den. Lizzie said she had been in the
barn twenty minutes. An ice-cream
peddler who knew Bridget went by and
saw a woman, but not Bridget, walking
to the house from the barn.
Five minutes recess was here taken,
and the address was discussed freely by
the. spectators, much disappointment
being expressed about it.
Bridget" said the Governor, after
recess. when she heard Borden was
dead said she would go to Mrs. White
heads and tell Mrs. Borden, if she was
there, and that corroborates the theory
that Bridget Sullivan, who for TWO years.
has been closer to the family than any
one else, never heard a quarrel between
Lizzie and Mrs Borden"
The speaker then related the fact of the
alleged blood-stained dress and the burn
ing oft. IF Lizzie Borden killed her
stepmother at 9:45, did she come down
and greet her father in a blood-stained
dress? She must have changed her cloth
ing, and changed it again after the second
slaughter. Lizzie didn't try to get Bridget
out of the house. Don't you think she
would have sent her on some errand?"
The attorney pointed out that doctors
disagreed as to what had been used to
kill the BOrdens, and touched upon the
claw-headed Ratchet and the Ratchet
without handle. "If those were not the
implements with which the murder was
committed, where are they? The ex-
elusive opportunity of theory was simply
anticipation, which had not been realized.
Anybody could have gotten into the
house by simply avoiding Bridget on
the outside and Lizzie on the inside"
The lawyer held that the young man
seen in the vicinity was an outside spy
for the person committing the deed.
That job was not done by one person.
Dinner recess was taken, and the Gov
ernor resumed when court reassem bIed.
If there had been any blood on defend
ants hair, he said those who were bath
ing her face would have discovered it.
1t was o'clock when the Governor
closed and District Attorney Knowlton
began to sum up for the prosecution.
Knowlton said: However we NAV
differ, we can agree that this is a most
heartrending case. The woman we are
trying is Christian. 1t is hard to con-
slider the woman guilty of such a crime.
but the greatest criminals of the world
have been women, and we must face this
case as men. No one who has told of it
saw Lizzie Borden burn that dress.
While Mr.. Borden was down at the bank
that morning the assassin met Mrs. Bor-
den and killed her. 1t was against her
that hate was directed. Was there one
woman in the world who believed the
old woman stood between her father and
herself? There is nothing in these blows
but hatred, and a great strong man with
one blow only would have made an end
of it.
The speaker reviewed the movements
of the family on the morning Of the ira
gedy, and said up to the time the murder
was committed there was no opportunity
for the assassin to come in. When that
acknowledgement woman fell it must
have peen heard by whoever was in the
house. If Lizzie was downstairs she
was in the passageway Of the murderer;
if she was upstairs she could not have
helped hearing. She was alone in the
house with the murdered woman, and
knew that by-and-by there was coming
into the house a stern, just man, who
would have noticed the absence of his be-
loved wife. He came in, and she said to
him: "Mother received note. and has
gone out" But there was no note; there
never was. any one sick, and the note
story originated with Lizzie Borden.
Bridget Sullivan said the first she heard
OF 1t was what Lizzie said.
Court adjourned with Knowlton's argu-
ment not finished.
Deficit In the Cuban Budget.
NJ i L