The Topeka state journal., 1898-12-10
YESTERDAYS LATE TEsTIHEoN9
Dell Harbaugh Tells His Story in the
District Court.

Dell Aarbaugh Tells his story In the
District Court.
The proceedings in the Collins murder
trial yesterday afternoon after the State
Journal had gone to press were as fol-
lows:
Dell Harbaugh, superintendent of the
| FuRlong detective agency at St. Louis,
was called. He has been connected with
this agency for seven years.
Q.-Were you employed in this case?
A.-The agency was employed May
16 or IT.
Q.-When did you first have anything
to do with the case?
A.-May %.
Q.-Who employed your agency?
"A committee of Knights Templar.
I'VE object" said Mr.. Hayden. This
is brought in for the purpose of show
ing that the MasOns took a part in this
hoping to influence some member of
the jury who may be a Mason
No such intention" said Mr.. SAT-
I know this jury well enough to
know that they will be influenced by
no such consideration, said Judge
Hazen.
Objection overruled.
Q.-Who else employed you?
A.-Mr JetmOre and the board of
county commissioners.
Q.-When did you first see John Col
Inns?
AT his fathers office.
Q.-How did you meet him?
Al naQ a letter from MISS FRANCES
Babcock. handed him the letter and
he took me into back room, closed the
doosE, and shook hands with me. I told
him that the BabcOcks were much WOr-
ried about that Tell nothing telegram.
The letter stated that Miss Babcock
had told me all the stuff Collins had
told her. He asked me what / could do.
told him / wanted to know what he
had tc say about the message. He said
he and Miss Babcock had an under
standing that they were to be married.
not engaged-bUt they were to con-
tlnue gong together and in the fall
he was to talk to her mother. He also
said that he meant in the telegram
that Frances should not tell her mother
but if she did he never would get to see
her again then asked him about the
stories he had told Frances, and he
said some Of them were true and some
were not He then told me about the
man coming to buy a farm, and his
father did not like the looks of him.
Miss Wyatt was then called in and
asked about it. She was not alarmed
about 1t and soon went out of the room
when John closed the door and I told
him the young woman was not scared.
"Oh," John said, father would not tell
her. He talked to me-" He also told
me that his father had rented houses to
undesira BILE colored people and he had
been compelled to order them out He
also said his father had been foreman
OF the jury which convicted a negro of
murder on circumstantial evidence and
he feared some of the negroes might at
tack him. John insisted that I go with
him to dinner, but I didn't want to.
I told him if people saw me with him
they-wOuld think he was arrested I
don't care what people say John said
so long as you came from Babcocks
You go with me- and I went
After dinner we went to see the
sheriff. I told him I wanted to get
acquainted with the sheriff so if
should need the assistance of any of
them, they would know who I was.
John introduced me to the sheriff and
then later. after I had told Cook about
what Miss Babcock had told me- and
then John told Mr.. Cook what he had
told me in the Office.
I told the sheriff that Frances had
told me that John had said negroes
were following his father and were go
asked John if that was what he said
He replied, Yes, but the most Of it
were fairy tales which the girl liked to
hear and I told her.
He Calls Her '"Frances" All the Time.
Ct said to him that Frances had told
me he lost his diamond stud. He said
yes, and that Frances had lost a dia-
mOnd stick pin He said he might have
sent it to the laundry, or droDped it on
the floor, and the servant swept it out
He also told me that he had given a
shirt to some cOlOred boy whose father
worked at the Beta house. I asked him
about the watch, but he said he thought
he left his watch at Lawrence but
about the watch because Frances said
her picture was in the watch and she
wanted me to get it back John told
me the picture was not in the watch
but said he didn't know where the
watch was. Thought his sister might
have it as she often took his things and
made him give her a quarter or so cents
to get them back. John also told me
that his father had taken Johns KEYS
to the Office and house fearing that
some one would go to Lawrence. rob
John of his keys and then go to Topeka
and murder J. S. Collins, and 4ock I'D
the house, so it would appear that no
one had been there.
He told me that he did not want the
BabcOcks to come to Topeka. for fear
something would happen, or his father
would do something to bring them into
undue nOtOriety, and also because he
had no money to entertain them He
also told me about coming to Topeka. to
borrow some money but decided he
would stop borrowing from Peter to
pay Paul When he talked about hav-
ing no money, I figured up S12 he had
spent on the trip to Kansas City and
said: You were not so short Yes but
I did not have this money when they
We're talking about coming John
told the sheriff or me that he went to
Kansas City and bought a white vest
a couple of drinks and ate a Is cent
dinner and then went to the depot and