Wheeling register. [volume] (Wheeling, W. Va.) 1878-1935, 1899-02-28

Miss Miller was asked:
'On the 21st day of December, 1898,
did you sell what was considered in
your store as match safe?"
Eyes. A man came into the store
and said he wanted to buy a bottle
holder Instead | showed him a match
holder. He purchased it.
Miss Miller then identified the holder
of the bromo seltzer bottle as the
match safe she had sold on December
81 +.
Have you been able to identify any
one who purchased the holder?'
mo sir" and that ended Miss Mil
ler's testimony.
VIM. j. Kinsley was called. He said
he was editor of the Penmans Art
Journal, and that during the past four
yeas he had testified in three hundred
court cases as a handwriting expert
He had examined some specimens OF
Molineux handwriting.
MIR. Kinsley was shown the specimen
he examined and other specimens.
What is your opinion as to the iden-
THY Of the handwriting?" asked Mr..
Osborne.
THE writing is all in the same
hand" replied the expert.
Were the letters signed Barnet and
Cornish written by the same person."
yes"
Mr. Kinsley was then shown the ad-
dress on the poison package and asked:
Have you compared this handwriting
with the letter."
Il have"
rs it your opinion that they were
all written by the same hand?'
Il am of the opinion that all the
writing was done by the same hand"
How strong is that opinion?"
81 am positive of it,"
Have you no doubt of it, what
ever?"
None whatever"
Have you compared them with the
address on the poison package?"
Il have"
What is your opinion about them"
THE man who wrote the letters
wrote the address on the package"
Gen. Molineux appeared to be great
ly affected His son was smiling.
Edward B. Hay, a handwriting eX-
pert of Washington, D. c., the next
witness, testified that he had examined
the admitted handwriting of Mr. Moli-
neuX, the inscription upon the wrapper
in which the poison bottle was mailed,
and the letters signed II. G. Barnet
and Harry Cornish"
And you have compared these writ
ings very carefully?"
VERY carefully"
And your opinion is?"
THAT all were written by the same
hand"
And what is your opinion as to who
wrote the address on the poison pack
age?"
Mr. Molineux. It has the same char
acteristics of all the other writing"
During this trying ordeal MOlineuX
sat like a statue.
Henry L. Tolman, of Chicago, hands
writing expert, was the next witness.
He said that he had occasion to exam
inc the exhibits of Mr.. Molineux' S
handwriting together with letters and
documents signed III. C. Barnet" and
Harry Cornish" also the inscription
on the wrapper. He said that he had
given them very careful comparison.
And what is your opinion as to who
they may have been written by?'
81 will say that not only who may
have written them, but who did write
them. me same person who wrote the
accredited writing of Roland B. Moli-
neux wrote the letters signed II. c..
Barnet and Harry Cornish also the
inscription on the wrapper"
do you realize the gravity of this
claim"
Perfectly"
"YOu have compared the several doc
J, of
bottle?'
q have"
"Have you any opinion as to who may
have written it?'
Enthusiastically my opinion is that
the inscription on the poison wrapper
was written by the same person who
wrote the documents signed Roland b.
Molineux'"
Albert s. Osborne, of Rochester, n.
Y, was the next handwriting witness.
He was as positive as the preceding
witnesses that MolineuX wrote the poi
son addresses and the forged letters.
Prof Persifier Frazer testified that
he had been a student of handwriting
for the last twenty-one years. He has
been employed as an expert in the
courts. In reply to questions he said:
The hand that wrote this letter signed
Roland Molineux, is the hand that
wrote the documents in dispute signed
Harry Cornish" and H. c. Barnet. -
Witness declined absolutely to quail
fly the statement.
Roland =. MOlineuX sat and listened
to the testimony Of the handwriting ex-
perts without betraying any nervous
ness at all Not so with his father,
however. Gen. Molineux seemed al
most on the verge of collapse during
the better part of the hearing.
1t was just 4:35 o'clock when Dis
trict Attorney Gardiner arose and an
nOunced that all the evidence in the
hands Of the people had been given and
he faced the jury and began 10 sum up
the case He explained 10 the jury the
reasons for the delay in bringing the
case to an investigation, saying that it
was necessary TO determine whether
Mrs. Adams had in reality died of pois-
on. Prof. Witthaus did discover pois-
on in the contents of the bottle and as
soon as it was possible for the District
Attorneys Office to go ahead with the
inquest. it did so.
I'm consequence of the publicity
which the case was given" continued
Mr. Gardiner, certain persons became
suspicious and were put on their guard.
Certain methods had therefore TO be
adopted to disarm suspicion. The first