The Houston daily post. [volume] (Houston, Tex.) 1886-1903, 1894-03-30

1 AfAA NNh ANNNfhN AANNAAtA AtAANAA
us this the letterg' asked Mr. Butter
worth. handing UP the black bordered
III would be afrectatl a for me TO ex-
anime that. l am familiar With IT."
| This provoked a battle over the letter
| Mr.. Wilson contcndng that 1t had not
| been proven to have come from the plain
| TIN and Mr. Butterworth asserting that
| VI was on several grounds competent
/ evidence.
| conversation concerning Il which he mad
| with the plaintiff when he had called at
| could not well give the purport OF con-
Nersnuon concerning the letter apart
frsa .'r,,, ne ,,n re,t tc, 81 their talk,
Miss Pollard by the legal term, "the plain
TIN said; 4 suppose YOU We're surprised
70 receive such a letter from school
girl; laughinsly. lresponded that perhaps
she oVer-eNnggcr0te the Importance OF
the matter. Then she said. But all this
while YOU are standing;' and invited me
Now we propose" said Mr.. Butter
worth, TO offer this letter TO the jury that
tle several specimens Of the plaintiffs
handwriting In evidence, Even Il we had
produoed no expert testimony on the point
under the ruling Of the supreme court.
II would be admissible
Slnguarly enough the ruling which the
attorney proceeded TO quote was by the
Justice Bradley of the United States SUI
premo court.
AZ ne argument was taken up colonel
Breckenridge sank back In his chair app
parently glad OF an opportunity TO rest.
his face was flushed. and while testifylng,
Ms eyes frequently roved over toward
Madeline Pollard or swept beyond her 10
the background OF eager gaping men, but
for the most part he kept his face turned
toward the jury. He had leaned forward
with has right hand leaning ON the witness
box and left elbow on Judge Bradley's
desk, foot above the level OF the Worn
wooden box. Ills tones We're mellifluuus
and silVery but nouceably tremulous as
he detailed the incidents of his early life.
a great wave of snowy hair swept care
lesHy over his flushed forehead, the beard
beneath was carefully trimmed small
black clerical tie aurmounted his eNpan-
sive shirt front OF glitterlng white and
the lapels OF his black cutaway coat were
flung open, When permitted TO take the
chair he shaded hls eyes for n moment
with his hand. smoothed his forehead
YEARLY and leaned buck; with his head on
ono side he listened to the argument
meditatvely,
Butterworth's argument as 10 the admis-
sibility of the letter, began by explaining
that he was confronted by an unexpected
situation, since Il had been his expectation
that the letter would have been offered
in evidence at this close " the expert to-
umony, Hts argument was that ti"s
the authenticity of some paper or Legal
document was attacked by a plaintiff.
Here was a defendant cndeavoring TO in
troducc in evidence IA letter alleged to be
from the plaintiff which she absolutely
denied Until the court had passed upon
the question whether II was competent
evidence, the letter could not go 10 the
jury, III was question, according TO
the attorncy between the testimony OF
the two experts based merely upon their
opinions. and the fiat denial of the one
who knew and the only one who could
know whether she had written II.
This train OF argument led up to the
discussion OF the value OF expert testi- |
mony, against which MIR Wilson opened
the batteries OF his eloquence, fortified
by an opinion from the late chief Justice |
Carter OF the District supreme court
IN uhc mcantime upon Mr.. Carlisle de- |
yolvcd the ,du!y Of keeping one eye upon
heaVing whose cheeks were flushed and |
whose manner betolIened agitation.
one OF the opinons quoted by Judge |
Wilson dealt Nth the testimony OF Tx |
pert y. d. Hay, OF whom the court had |
SAID thnt he gave himself a speoious in
PRODUCTION, Now, we are coming 10 our |
Crlend, Mr.. Wilson remarked, and Colonel |
lrecknridge broke into a qulet smile, !
while the rest OF the court room laughed; |
and now we come 10 that Wnshburn- |
Springer report which you wrote" snid |
Mr.. Wilson turning 10 Mr. Butlerworth. |
Tint was a good report but did not
write IT, retortnd Mr. ButterwOrth.
My dear friend that iB in your hand
Wftngi ! am expert enough TO know |
mt" Mr.. wilson replied.
Mesgrs. ButtcrWorth and wilson II may
be remarked. were in congress together.
nhc substance OF the opinions quoted bv
Wilson was TINT the expert witness WINS
courts had 10 deal and that eNports were |
prone TO be warped by their fees
After the argument Judge Bradley said
thht the testimony OF the eXports tended
to show the authorship of the letter and
inquired what would there be for the court
to do II there lad been no eNnprt tcatl-
mony, IN view of the defendnnrs testi-
m0ny TINT he received the letter IN due
course Of correspondence and had after
w6asig hela conversation with the plain-
EliAcr the testimony OF the defendant
or t1ut OF tho experts he thought would
lufitty the admission OF the letter 10 the
sight OF tho Jurors, allowing them 10 Judge
Of the evidence for or against It's uuthen-
lclty for themselyes aided nv their own 7,
with the admitted specimens Of plaintiffs +,
handwriting.
lie continued: Ut appears that this Is
largely dispute over shadow MS che
contents Of this letter have been published {
by the press and the jury are probably J
Intelligent men and readers Of the news
thing hut IN this case II IS enterprise
with "a vengeance. JIG was contempt OF |
10 publish n before u was given To the (
ury. ] presume the reporters were not
ware OF the improprlety Of their act
which must have hoen committed within
he precincts OF Tho courts, The letter
would have been admitted anyway, but
iuppose i had not been ard the Jury had had
FfhA IL NAlNAA fhf ~ HiitffN fith'' $500 NNf'N
After these admonltions Mr., Butter j
North retd the letter, which has already
been published J
gain described what had become Of the !
tiers. lie had kept three files, one AT }
Is house. one at his Office and one part 9
ership file 1t was his recollection that
he TWO had been placed IN the file at
~ office. Returning TO his visit 20 the !
Wesleyan seminary the defendant eN- y
lalncd that It had been made while on Z
usiness trip 70 Covlngton on Friday :
ugugt 1: there being no hotel 0ccommo-
atoms IN coyington aud he had gone to +,
,lnainnnti 10 stay over night After :
inner remembering the letter from Miss \
'Ollnrd he called nj the college h
~ sent my name up." he said, was in I
tied into a room and ia q few moments :
he came down. we shook hands. She :
aid she supposed she ha1 astonlshed me
y the substance Of her letters that II
vas worse than divorce case. we
1ok seats she on a diyan, ! on a chair.
he narrated the circumstances under
ihlch she had made the agreement with
ir. Rhodes Until then had not known
Tho her mother was. ! had known her
lther, but not who he married. As soon
s she told me she was living with her