Evening star., 1894-03-27
DID SHE WRITE IT?
Continued from First Page.)

writings, was devoted to determining the
age and quality Of inks The doctors work
as the assistant 10 The coroner was also
gone into at some length. Or. Schaener
said trat there was scarcely week ever
passed tlat ne olQ not uevoIe more or less
atte4fIIon to the study OF WRITINGS. linen
he went on to SHOW now the colllpara Nv T.
work with handwriting Is done. Dr. ScnaeI-
Ier said that ne maze II practice 10 study
lAe handwriting of ufunKaruS, paraly TICS,
mothers ana daughters, men VINO have
taken big dose OF qulnlne, and many such
cases as tnat. AS rune, he aumittei, he
would compare specimens that he knew TO
De from tue same nand out TINS was no test
of has ability an expert. Again he would
compare the handiWork OF totally distinct
cases, knowing them to be distinct, and Mr..
wilson asked MIN how This sort OF examin-
alton would enable him to pass Judgment
upon the authenticity or any particular
writing All this, he said, would at least as
SiSt HIM.
AIR. Wilson propounded sort of hypo-
thetlcal case 10 the Witness. he suggested
that the witness had letters from Mr. Car
Isle and from himself and wanted to know
how he would go about it to find the author
of a letter which purported 90 be or was
suspected of being in the handwriting of
Mr.. Carlisle. He wanted to know of what
use a letter from himself would be to an
expert in deciding whether or not a letter
known TO be not his was in the handwriting
of Mr.. Carlisle.
1T would give me experience" said DR..
Schaeffer, ''and an expert, 1 take it, is but
a man of experience
Experiments With His own Hand
writing.
DIR. Schaeffer then went on to tell of cx-
periments he had made with his own hand
writing. Among them was an effort he had
made to change 1t, so as to deceive himself
when he should see it afterward. In this,
however, he had failed. I'm short" he said,
81 H., II
self forger in the interests of science"
The witness was asked to tell of some oc-
casions when he had officiated as an expert,
and he recounted a number of Will cases,
murder trials and others where he had
been called upon to give testimony. He
then described how he proceeded in cases of
this sort, and spoke of the attention he gave
to spacing, formation of letters and many
other such details. The character of the
writing would also he considered He
would not expect profane letter from a
minister, nor a particularly pious one from
a policy man."
THAT Is all, so far as we are concerned -
said Mr.. Wilson.
shall we proceed, them" asked Mr.. But
terworth.
Il object to this witness giving any tes-
tlmony In the capacity of an expert. 1 do
not see that he has shown himself TO be
such at ALL" said Mr.. Wilson.
1 don't know that we have been informed
what it is intended to prove by this wit
ltiildThtu JuuSe Brduley.
What They Proposed to Prove.
Mr. Butterwcrth said he proposed to sub
nit TO the witness letters in this case pur-
porting to have been written by the plain
tiff. and he believed the witness had stated
everything that was necessary to qualify
him to testify as an expert.
Judge Bradley said he thought the witness
had shown enough experience to admit his
testimony. The weight of the testimony
was question for the jury to pass upon.
Mr.. Butterworth then handed the witness
letter which. he sad it was agreed had
been written by the plaintiff. In answer to
question put to him, the witness said that
he had examined the letter yesterday in
the district attorneys room in the court
house.
The witness was then shown another
letter, purporting to have been written by
the plaintif. and marked, "W. c. p. B., No.
L. He said he had examined that also.
The Letter Denied by Plaintiff.
1t will probably be remembered that
when Miss Pollard was on the stand she
was shown letter and was asked whether
1t was In he- handwriting. In an earnest
and rather excited manner she denied that
she had ever written any such letter. and
if it purported to be from her it was a
forgery. This letter is supposed to be one
that the plaintiff is alleged to have written
TO MT Breckinridge when she was fr
W SSleS an NDlltSe, prior TO MS first visit to
her, when she was there at school in 1884
The letter which has no. yet been read
in. evidence, it is stated, asked Mr. Breckin-
ridge TO come 10 the college TO see the
writer
Mr.. Butterworth handed the witness a
bundle of letters identified in the case, pur-
porting to have been written by the plain
TN, ana ne said he had examined them all
In the package he said, there was one let
ter purportins to have been written by an
other person.
Mr.. Butterworth then asked. after his
comparison, what his opinion was as to
whether the letter marked wv. c. p r.
No. l., and da ted at WESLEYAN College wa g
written by the same person that wrote the
others.
1T was written by the same person.
said the witness.
The Writing on the Christmas C,r,
The witness was then handed by Mr.. But
terworth the Christmas card taken from the
famous set of Irvings books and was asked
if he mad examined the words written on
the card Compliments of W. s. D." as to
the length of time it had been written.
II have" said the witness.
How long a time do you think has
elapsed since that was written? Was il
five years. asked Mr.. Butterworth
Il should think not more than three or
four years, said the witness,
He stated that he based his opinion on
the freshness of the ink. If it had been
on a tsble exposed to the air he would
think IL was a still more recent writing III
1t had been kept where not exposed he
thought 1t might have been written three
or four years ago. Exposure to air and
nght, the fumes of gas, etc, affected inks
common circumstance affecting inks was
the perspiration~ from the hands The ef-
feet of exposure to air and light was to de-
stroy the fresh and original color in a black
ink like the one in question.
The quality of the ink and it's ingredients
of course, had considerable to do with its
durability. The writing in question, lie re-
peated, could not, in his opinion, be rlore
than three or four years old: 1t might have
been written within few months. The
paper was porous pasteboard and had
apparently soaked the ink right off which
of course. changed the conditions The wit
ness had used lowpowSred microscope
in examining the paper.
CrOss-ENaminatioub by Mr.. WILSON,
On cross-examination, Mr.. Wilson's first
question was as to what the witness
charges per day an expert were The
witness said it depended upon the character
of the work: the length of the examination; ;
the length of time he was detained from his
office
Mr.. Wilson asked again what his charge
per day in case like this was.
Il never saw case like this" said the
witness.
The witness being further questioned, said
he was not in the habit of making a charge
per day. In one case he had made such
a charge and had charged $50 a day The
witness was asked how often he had been
called on to testify expert. He said
1t might be fifty or sixty cases or less.