The Portland daily press. [volume] (Portland, Me.) 1862-1921, 1895-10-12
LEBANON'S BUILDINGS.
The Case Against Eugene GoWell
and James Nelson.
HEAR RING AT AL
FRED YESTERDAY.

ed, au Interested Spectator Yesterday
The Respondents Pleaded Not Guilty
and the Hearing Was Continued.
ESPECIAL TO THE PEEss.]
Alfred, October 11-When benevo-
lent son of Lebanon gave to that town a
farm to be used as a home for the
paupers, he probably did not dream that
trouble would follow. 1t was in August,
1894, that the buildings on the new town
farm were ready for occupancy and then,
day or two Ehefore the paupers were
to move in, the buildings were burned
down. The fire occurred in the night
time. Some time afterwards, DR.. Will
liam Webber, physician living in the
town, was Earrested charged with the
crime of burning the buildings. DR..
Webber's case, owing to his illness, was
continued from term to term and 1t did
not come to trial until last spring. when
he was acquitted Among the witnesses
for the government at the trial of Web
ber, were Eugene Gowell and James Nell
son. Gowell was the keeper of the poor
farm ard Nelson Is a painter by trade
and a resident Of Lebanon. After the
end of the trial, the public forgot all
about it, but it seems that Detective M.
II. Haskell was at work on theScase and
his Investigations led to the arrest OF
Gowell and Nelson as reported in the
PRESS of Thursday morning.
This forenoon was the time assigned
for the hearing in the case of the two
men before Trial Justice Moses Drew,
and as a result, the unusually quiet vii
liage of Alfred acquired something of the
hustle of session of court. A number
of Lebanon people were on hand, and
there was a gathering, too, OF the mem
bers of tho legal profession. County At
torney Emmons came..o over from Saco to
direct the proceedings on behalfEof. the
people, and George +. Haley. ESD, OF
Biddeford, was also here, having been,
it is understood. retained by the prosecu-
tion. Mr.. Matthews, of the firm OF Edg-
erly & Matthews of Great Falls. N. H.,
represented Gowell, and B. +. Cleaves,
ESQ.,, of Biddeford, appeared for the other
respondent, Nelson.
This was a shifting of positions for
the legal gentleman, for at St,e previous
trial Mr.. Haley appeared with Hon.
Charles S. Hamilton for the defence, and
Mr. Edgerly was associate counsel for
the government.
An interesting spectator was DR.. Web
be1, who watched the proceedings closely.
DR.. Webber said that he : had known
of +l,f anr,t% ~ oI,c,r1G
Gowell and Nelson until after the arrests
were made The doctor added that he
hoped that the men who testified against
him were innocent, they would be ac
Quilted Goweu has been out on bail. He
is man of about 40, apparently, and
much of the time he was in the court
room sat with head bent down and his
eyes fixed on the floor. Nelson, on the
other hand. showed lively interest in
what went on around him and had q
good deal to say to his acquaintance.
Detective Haskell was not present, but
it was said that he was not far off. A
young man who gives his name as Ed
die' Goodwin, was present as govern
ment witness, and it is understt o. that
he will be one OF the principal 8 ireS on
the stand at the trial.
County Attorney Emmons began pro-
ceedipgs by asking that the original COM
plants against the respondents be dis
missed and that they be arraigned on a
new complaint. The original complaints
were In the opinion of Mr.. Emmons, de-
fective, as they charged each man with
the crime without making it t'appear that
they were accused of joining together
for its commission. To the amended
com plaint each respondent pleaded
not guilty and gave bonds in the sum OF
$1,000 for his appearance next Friday,
to which day the hearing was adjourned
at the request of the counsel for the
defence. Nathan B. Jenness, j. S. P.
Jones and Nahum Z. Goodwin, became
sureties for Gowell; and the same gent
lemen with Frank Z. Pierce and Isaac
Hanscom went on Nelson's bond. Eddie
reuired to recognize in tho sum of $500,
without sureties for his appearance.
1t is understood that next week, eyl-
dence will be put in at the preliminary
hearing and then the nature of the case
against Gowell and Nelson may come
out 1t is known thatssDetective Haskell
lived for some time in Lebanon, where
he hired house and ostensibly existed
mainly for the purpose Of going coon.
the fire lived near Gowell and it is said
that he will testify that on that night
Gowell, a short time before the fire, went
TO Nelson's house. This would contra
dict Goweil's evidence given at the pre-
vious trial. What Detective Haskell may
have to say seems to be a matter of con-
lecture only, except to himself and per-
baps the counsel. Should Dr. Webber be
called by the prosecution, it would add
another remarkable feature to some
what remarkable case, as the doctor
would then be witness called to testi-
fy against two of the leading witnesses
against him.