Daily Kennebec journal. [microfilm reel] (Augusta, Me.) 1870-1975, 1897-03-15

me Know 80 could write to NV mn nor
T ts,n Now ! have him." None Of
said so, YOU will remember, and thew
didn't even ask McCone whether he sai1
SO or not. We have shown to You by ev-
cry witness tine. THAT that they didn't say SO, and
when he says he heard someone say so.
heard McCone say SO. You cannOt escn ne
". McCone didn't love McNaliy. He
started right after him, filsing the papers
Iuil day after day and when you rend
those articles. gentlemen. submit to
you as good. candid men, that you cannot
come 10 any other conclusion than that
tnese articles We're written. not to inform
the public of truthful news, but to ius-
MY himself and soak Mentally, as he
has called 1t. 80
You will notice that the defendants
nave put into the case some other news
papers than the Journal. and that pur-
pose discovered after the argument II
to show that Mr.. Mentally had given diff
1erent accounts of how this thing hap
pened Well, II would be strange II the
man every time told thestory of how this
escape occurred in exactly the same Lam
guage. You will find that the accounts
are all substantially alike when you ex-
anime them. One thing may be left out
Just as they say my client left out here
in the prosecution OF Nelson the diary
Why. that diary had nothing % do with
the case in kennebec county. That was
when he was walking around through the
Somerset county. That diary, even ac-
cording to my clients testimony would
not affect the conversation he had with
Nelson. He says that Nelson asked him
der arrest on the complaint for stealing
the onions. And he said to Nelson: Il
would own up. 1t Is unnecessary for me
to go all over that. You have common
sense. and when you read these accounts
II they do differ IL little that does not dis
credit the man. The substance is there.
Mr.. McNally has never stated that he al
lowed TINS man to escape. That is the
point. Always in his accounts he has
told substantially how he got away He
ran away. Perhaps at one time he may
have said Nelson struck him: but he got
away, and he fired at him, and that Is
all there IS to that.
Now. gentlemen, think you will bear
me out in the assertion that the least
fair thing this newspaper could have
done by McNally, after publishing what
it had about him. was to publish his let
ter and let the public have chance to
judge. putting it in side by side with Me-
Cones version. Wouldn't That have been
fair? McCone didn't mean to allow Nc
Nally to have any chance with the pub
ic The publishers didn't mean to give
him any show What was that but Nc
Cones bitterness? Was it anything else?
And the plaintiff was cross-eximned
about statement in the letter. My
brother wants a motive on the part OF
escape, and he seizes upon this. He says
it was all jealousy on the part of Nc
Nally against Niles; that he found Niles
was doing something and he wanted Nell
son to get away so he could re-arrest him
ana have the credit of it. He had been
travelling all over the country and had
arranged with Niles TO come there TO as
sist him, and Viles says himself he went
there AT the invitation of Mentally. And
now they suggest the idea. and because
there was no other one. that he was
Jealous of Niles. Is that IL reasonable
suggestion? Look ut it. How could he
b. jealous of Niles? But they comment
upon an expression in his letter where
he says: ut seems as though your re-
porter was hired TO come there by these
Somerset county officer TO Islander me
bad as he dared to and try to bolster
them up by tearing me down. Now was
ii anything strange that he should have
said that. when he finds the article itself
was of such a character that the editor
who real it over considered ii necessary
to put over it the headlines Sheriff
Niies does good job in breaking up this
Nelson crowd?" Didn't it seem to him as
though il was he said? Didn't ii seem
as though this reporter and this paper
were trying to help Mr. Viles and were
not mentioning McNaliy. only TO uaduce
HIM ard falsify about him? Nothing
strange about that. He says: The state
ments were false" Now this man read
that on Monday. and yet they would have
you believe that when that man sat down
and wrote that letter at his home. just
as soon as ne had read that article-the
first one. ncthinS in it about the 81 - Il
putup job. he was conscious that he lad
in his pocket s. that this man had given
him for being allowed 10 escape. Do you
believe that. gentlemen? You cannot be-
lieve il if you try. You cannot believe
that he would, if guilty. invite the further
disclosures that could be made and that
were afterward published The moment
he saw this article in the paper lie wrote
to the publishers and said: "'fhe state
ments are false and slanderous all the
way through. and if you don't put an ar
ticle into the Journal discreditiag these
statements | shall have the whole thing
published in some other paper setting
forth the facts just as they exist. In the
first place. your reporter says that the
case WAS worked M by the Somerset
county officers. | don't know how much
work they have done on the case. neither
do | care. | know this much. | know
that in all the conversations l have mad
with them they have never ccmmunl-
Gated any evidence against them to me-.
That is true. II have been at wCfk
upon this case for about two months. and
for the last two weeks from the arrest.
last Friday. | have been at work night
and day" DO you believe it? Just telling
them what the facts were about the case
II have watched and followed them up
night after night. They commence this
work about 1870 to II o'clock at night and
make calculations to get back about : IN
the morning. 4 DO not WISH TOT HUtoFiely
neither would | have cared if my name
had not been mentioned in your paper. at
al in connection with this matter. But
when my name is mentioned only in con-
nection with some ridiculous and false
statement. | do care a great deal about
it, Isn't that d civil letter gentlemen?
II do care a great deal about 1t. AS l
said before. | took the case all up myself
and when I~got evidence enough to hoid
the parties ] wrote TO Sheriff Niies and
told him that l thought | had enough
against them to convict them on three
different counts for crimes committed
in Somerset county. but could not seem
to get hold of enough to hold them IN
Eennebec county. and il Niles would take
hold of the case with me we could land
them where they belonged. ! wrote Niles
to meet me i'll Canaan and we would de-
eide upon what course to pursue in the
matter Mr.. Niles mel me in Canaan and
| proposed the plan which was afterward
on last Friday carried into effect. The
statements in your paper stating that
showed no disposition to search is a lie.
The statement that -Viles searched the
premises is another. and the statement
that [ went there TO seafch the mouse
once before with or without warrant
there Is where he made a mistake. He
never went to search the house for stolen
goods before but some four or i've years
previously he went to search for liquor.
and when he was writing this letter he
was evidently saying that he had never
been to the house to search for stolen
IN