The Portland daily press., 1898-03-07

had discovered the fire and pulled the
alarm. He said that Mrs. Cain was COM
fortably dressed when he saw her. When
he reached the house after pulling the
alarm, Mrs. Cain said to him, Don't
break anything [ would sooner see it
burned than broken" She also asked
about the box in which she said she kept
her insurance papers.
THE DEFENCE.
Mrs. Cain was the first witness for the
defence She told in substance the same
story she told at the inquest as to how
she discovered the fire while she was on
her way to the bath room and aroused
the house. Continuing, she said:
knocked on Mrs. Chase's door and
told her the house was on lire. She said
she know it; smelled the smoke and got
up. She then opened the door and ! saw
that she was all dressed and had lot of
her property tied up in bed spread;
There were two doors in the basement of
the house which were not fastened. Any
one could come in that way and go all
through the house. When first noticed
the smoke it was coming up through the
register in the front hall do not know
how any of the fires caught. do not
know how much my property was worth:
| simply knew it was bought and paid
for and all in good condition. For crock
cry / had two full dinner sets. / consld-
cred my property worth a great deal more
than $500 1t was insured for $500.
do not think it was worth as much as
that. but the insurance agent wanted mo
to insure it for this amount. had my
clothing insured for $500 and the policy
ran out. They wanted me to insure the
clothing again, but I did not for felt
there was too much insurance already.
On cross-examination Mrs. Cain SAID
she hired the house from George f.
NJ 4 4 l., QNr,e- o. re
lease would not expire for four years.
The house had been used as q lodging
house before she took it. She bought
few carpets and the kitchen stove from
the former proprietors of the house. A III
the rest OF the furniture was new. She
paid Hooper, Son & Leighton 500, and
Roscoe W. Davis $500. She also bought
about 500 worth of goods from ID. W.
Nash.
The witness then went on to state va.
rious other firms she had bought furni-
ture from. She said that she insured
her goods as soon as she took the house
for $1,000. After the rest of the house
was furnished year later, she took 81 5Oo
additional insurance. | went to the Office
of the insurance company to get my
policies increased. The gentleman met
there suggested that 1 take $500 addition
al insurance. l thought my things We're
well worth $500.
Mrs. Cain said she had not sold or
given away any furniture since she had
the house. Then she rememb ered selling
a table and half a dozen chairs last fall.
THE AFTERNOON SESSION.
The afternoon session began promptly
at O'Clock and the cross-examination of
Mrs. Cain was continued. She said
there was no smoke in her room when
she first woke up. The register in her
room was closed, but the smoke was
pouring up through the register in the
hallway. She did not know when she
gave the alarm that the house was on fire,
but seeing SO much smoke she supposed
it WAS.
Mrs. Cain told of the number of kero-
sene lamps in the house and said she used
less than a pint day. About three
weeks ago she purchased five gallons of
kerosene. On the day of the fire there
was a gallon of oil in the pantry and
also some in large tank in the cellar.
Mrs. Cain said positively that she knew
nothing about the fires and could not
account for them in any way she did
not try to locate the fire when she saw
the smoke, for she was too much excited.
When she went up to the third floor to
arouse the boarders, she did not see any
signs of fire and did not suppose there
was any in the upper part of the house.
On redirect examination Mrs. Cain said
that Mrs. Nichols had an oil stove in
her ROOM Ihsre Was also an oil stove
in the pantry which was used in cold
weather.
This concluded ths testimony for the
defence and MFR. Hunt argued tho case for
the respondent. He said that 1T was evil
dent that some person had gone through
the house and set the fires but the gov
eminent had failed to connect Mrs. Cain
with this act. The fact that she had
heavy insurance on her property did not
prove that she set the fires. At best
she could not recover more than the value
Of her property, Whatever the insurance.
Mrs. Gains prompt giving of the alarm
was not the act of person waiting until
the fire had got good Roadway SO that
the loss might be heavy and the evidences
of the case destroyed. 10 MIR. Hunt S
mind the setting OF the fires was the act
of crazy person.
County Attorney Libby argued that the
fires were set by some one familiar with
the house, some one who knew which
rooms were occupied. 1t was strange
that Mrs. Cain should wake up at the
moment when these fires broke out. She
said that she saw only smoke and did
not know where the fire was, yet she
passed Mrs. Chases' door on the first floor
and went upstairs to call the people
insurance showed the motive which
prompted the setting of the fires
Judge Robinson in summing up the
case said this: "The evidence in this
case falls far short of proof of guilt. The
offence is a most serious one. The inoli-
nation of the officials aud the public is
SO strong to single out some person on
whom punishment may be visited that
feel as a magistrate some hesitation lest
| may be swept along with it. My duty
ia TO consider the testimony and after
weighing it carefully to determine
whether it indicates the probable guilt
of the respondent. [ think that probable
cause should consist of something strong
err than suspicion. There are some facts
which would seem to Tear out the claims
of the prosecution, but there have been
several theories advanced which are not
evidence by any means. So far as the
general testimony is concerned nothing
has been brought out which would tend
to show the probable guilt of the respon-
dent, and 1 accordingly order her to be
As Mrs. Cain left the court room she
was warmly congratulated by number
of friends.
FIRST, TENTH, TWENTY NINTH.