Wheeling Sunday register. [volume] (Wheeling, W. Va.) 1882-1934, 1894-05-13
A SCRAP OF HISTORY
CoNNEOrFD WITH TIE ELRNSHAw FORGERY
CASE
A Cablsgran from Europe, Asking Earnshaw to
Hold OF in His NsgotiatiOns-Who Sent
h?-A Side Light on N
Interesting Casa

and uttering forged paper, and ia which
be was sentenced to be confined in the
penitentiary for eight years, has not
ceased. and the matter will still be a
subject for public comment until the
Supreme Court has passed upon the
appeal.
number Of phases in the case, more
or less developed during the trial, have
offered fruitful themes for discussion,
prediction and argument, and since the
disappearance of Deputy Clerk Nc
Caskey from New Martinsvllle this talk
has received a fresh impetus, and init
nations have not been lacking that the
end OF the case has not yet been reached.
1t is not the purpose of the REGISTER
| to even intimate what these develop
ments may be, but the fact that many
| interesting comments have been and are
still being made regarding the case
recalls an incident or two brought out
or touched upon in the trial, the full
purport Of which, so far from reaching
the public, was not fully understood
by those most prominently identified
with the case.
In the REGISTERS report OF the evil
dence Of Deputy Clerk j. S. McCaskey,
this sentence occurred:
He THE witness did not send an uu-
signed telegram from Ripon, o., to Earn
! shaw, telling him TO wait for an answer,
and had never heard Of Ripon before.
In his address to the jury, Col. Arnett
| referred to this telegram, as having
possibly been called out by letter OF
enquiry about the order Earnshaw was
endeavoring to negotiate, which letter
was mailed TO New Martinsvile by Mr..
Howard Hazlett, on January 18th or
18th. The telegram referred to was re-
ceived by Earnshaw, by mail from Lit
TETON, on January 18th, four days pre-
vious to his arrest, and consisted OF
three words: "Wait for letter" There
was no signature. The telegram was
| dated Ripon, was on Baltimore and
Ohio railroad telegraph blank, and was
marked, "cable message" by the
operator, IS wds," the five words
in addition to the three above
given being made by the address, "B.
Earnshaw, Littleton, w. Va" The
charges were three dollars aud thirty
cents-a most remarkable sum for a
telegram of that length, coming from
"Ripon, o." as was stated in the Ques-
| ton and answer in Clerks McCaskey's
| testimony.
The fact is that this telegram did not
come from Ripon, o., or any other town
in the Buckeye State, but from town
named Ripon in Europe, most probably
from the city OF Rpon, York county,
England. 1t came to Littleton from
! Wheeling, to Wheeling from Pittsburg,
and to Pittsburg from New York, where
II came over one Of the Atlantic cables.
| Thus far il has been traced. There Is
one opinion that ii came from Germany,
! but there does not seem to be German
city of that name.
This much icing true, 1t will at once
be asked, who in Europe had himself
informed by cable of the progress being
made by Earnshaw in his efforts to
negotiate forged orders on the county
OF Wetzel in Wheeling, and why should
such a person advise Earnshaw, after
he had opened negotiations with Simp-
son 81 HaZlett, TO "wait for letter. 1"
The answer which will most readily
occur to this query is, no one in Europe
could possibly know or care anything
about the matter. Then why CABLE
gram from RipOn to Benz. Earnshaw?
Well, this can be explained by suppos-
ing some one who knew OF the letter OF
Mr.. Hazlett, was not quite sure Of the
outcome, not as regards Ernshaw,
bnt as regards themselves;
desired to hold Earnshaw
off until there could be another confer
ence; was aware that letter to Earn
shaw could be traced, or the writing
would lead to possible future trouble;
that a telegram direct TO Earnshaw
would not do, and that personal Inter-
view at that time would be dangerous,
but whose fertile mind conceived the
idea that If q cablegram should be sent
from some point within few hours
| ride OF New Martnsville TO some point
in Europe, asking that three word re-
| turn csblegram be sent TO Earnshaw,
the trail would be broken most etfectu-
ally, and entire safety obtained for the
unknown party, at the cost OF lew
dollars. No cablegram for Ripon was
| sent from New Martinsville, on Janu-
ary 18th, but one must have been sent
from a telegraph Office not fifty miles
| from the county seat OF WetZel on that
day, after the receipt of the Hazlett
letter, for Earnshaw got the message,
| dated Ripon aud marked cablegram,
with charges Of three dollars and thirty
cents, all in good shape, the message
| being sent over to his home by mail,
with a stamp on the telegraph envelope.
| And before the telegram came there
was q message OF enquiry as to whether
the charges OF three dollars and thirty
| cents would be guaranteed. Now, the
| rate for cable messages from Wheeling
to England, France and Germany 10
thirty-one cents per word, address and
signature being counted. This would
make the Earnshaw message, II sent to
Wheeling, cost SEAS, or eighty-two
cents less than the charges were, and
| the rate to Littleton is presumably the
| same. This makes adiscrepency which
has not been explained.
The question before the house is, who
is responsible for that csblegram, which
seems TO have travelled quite distance
and at considerable cost, to warn Benz.
Earnshaw that delay was desirable?
There are some ,other things in this
bogu Oriscclss wlic1 are uliy ssin
teresting.
@. Rosenhain, the King or Shirts.