The San Francisco call., 1896-03-05
Pastor Brown Has Sent Mrs
Tunnell Money on Two
Occasions.
THE WITNESS is CONFIDENT.
Deacon Morse and Mrs. Cooper Con-
tradict Each Other-An Open
Session To-Day.

If any additional evidence were needed
to show that Miss Overman is most pc
culiarly gifted young person 1t came yes
terday during her cross-examination by
the council.
She figuratively tied herself into all sorts
of apparently inextricable knots, but when
the final test came the witness innocently
acknowledged that a mistake had been
made either by herself or the shorthand re-
porter. She did the thing so easily and nat
urally that Stenographer Bennett and his
assistants were kept continually guessing
as to Just now far they had missed the
spirit of what Miss Overman did actually
say.
The young lady was kept pretty busy
for something like three hours in correct
ing the mistakes IN the alleged forged let
ters-that is those portions which should
have been quoted as interjected. When
these passages, and there were many, came
10 her attention she declared lightly and
with apparent indifference, as though it
were matter of no consequence whatever,
that she could not see how any one could
suppose such pertinent matters could have
been in the original letters.
1t was absurd to think OF such thing
for a moment. True, she had something
ike sixty days in which to mark these
incrim mating sentences, yet the whole
thing was so tn oroughly 'revoltng to her
sense o / truth and justice" that she had
not cared to examine the letters micro
scOpically, as some OF the council evi-
IDENTIFY had.
Miss Overman denied that she had ever
been unduly under the influence of Pastor
Brown.
She was wholly under Mrs. Davidson's
control long enough to write half dozen
or more letters discriminating the man for
suming passion. The witness said she
had secured the Davidson letters sim
liar in import andintent as the letters
which she EoW endeavored to satls
factorily explain. She secured the David
son documents one day when the rightful
owner was out, and, feeling that she was
doing a righteous act, forthwith tore them
into shreds and small pieces. AS to what
became OF the debris nothing was offered
in evidence.
Valley Brown. the son of the accused
pastor, was much in evidence yesterday.
He passed the time in taking copious
notes and incidentally calling the atten-
ton of Attorney Nagle to some point.
Once during the severe cross-examination
pered TO the attorney that he didn't see
what ice all this cut" Mr.. Nagle as
sured him that no ice was involved in the
proposition, though the reverend gentle
man did seem to be dealing slightly In
cold, hard facts.
DR.. Pond appeared in the role of de-
fender at the afternoon session. When
ever the crossfre became too heavy. &C
cording to his views OF propriety and med
tho revareO6 eppleSiS stipal NOM kar
rushed gallantly to the rescue. He was
not disposed TO permit Miss Overman to
become embarrassed, and so valliently did
he struggle for this end that many peril
neDt questions were left unanswered.
1t was nearly half-past clock when
Moderator Mclean called the council to
order. There were present outside of the
press representatives some twenty persons,
including Mrs. Cooper and her daughter,
Mrs. Blanchard and Mrs. George Gaden.
Miss Overman was called to the stand,
and il being Mr.. Tenney's turn TO question
the witness for nearly an hour he poured
a continual stream of questions into the
unwilling ear of the young lady. Mr..
Tenney is neither lawyer nor the son of
q lawyer, but the manner in which he con-
Quoted the cross-examination would indi-
cate that possibly he has hidden his light
under bushel.
1t was brought out during the examina-
tion that Miss OyerDsn had not only
heard from Mrs. Tunnell frequently, but
sent letters in return. On two different
occasions she sent money to the missing
witness, and, further on, said that DIR.
Brown had furnished the coin. Miss Over
man said she saw nothing strange in this.
"Why shouldn't he help her?" she asked.
Mrs. Tunnel, said the witness, was pres
ent at several conferences with DR.. Brown
and Deacons Moore and Dexter. At that
time Mrs. Tunnel had no thought of
going away. The witness was asked if
there were any more of the Overman-Tu
nell letters. She replied that she had al
ways thought there were other letters
possibly two more-and If SO they would
be OF the same tenor as those already pub
lished.
Then followed q long inquiry into the
Tunnel letters. The witness went over
the old ground, tangling herself up at
times and then extricating herself from
the difficulty by declaring a mistake had
been made. In one of the letters appeared
the words mental condition" Miss Over
man expla ined this by saying that she was
worried over Mrs. Tunnelrs financial con-
dition. Further on in the same letter the
writer had declared she was not disgusted
with God, but with the people who voiced
him.
Mr.. Tenney wished to know if this, which
evidently referred to DR.. Brown, was in the
original letter. The witness was not sure
about this, but thought it should have
been classed with the forged sentences.
"Why did you go over all the matter in
the letters2" asked Mr.. Tenney. "Why
go to the trouble and bother OF writing
new letters if no one was to see them
WHY not write a few lines? Don't you
think this little bit stranger"
Il do not think this at all strange" an
syered Miss Oyerman. 1T was necessary
10 interiect house matters in the letters in
order to convey the impression of genu-
ineness."
At the evening session Deacon Morse
was placed on the witness-stand. In the
course OF his statement he said that Mrs.
Cooper had told him, after the Turkish
tea incident, that she had made inquiries
and found Mrs Stockton 10 be a disrepu-
table woman. He added that he would
stake his life on DR.. Browns reputation.
Mrs. Cooper, iaboring under intense ex-
element, asked permission OF the coun-
ell to make statement. In voice
quivering with resentment Mrs. Cooper
declared she had never in all her life
spoken to Dea con Morse about Mrs.
Stockton.
This was the only unusual incident OF
the evening session.
There is little likelihood OF Mrs. Tun-
nell appearing before the council. 4