The Portland daily press., 1899-12-13
And Address on Poi
soned Package.
Day Devoted to Examination of
Kinsley.

New York, December i2.-Todsys ses-
sion OF the trial of Roland b. Molineux
was devoted entirely to the examination
of william J. Kinsiey, the handwriting
expert. The important portions OF the
testimony of expert Kinsley may be
summed up by the statement that he ties.
tilted that after examining thousands Of
specimens OF handwriting, including
samples from every member and every
empioye Of the Kniokerbocker Athletic
club, he became convinced that one per.
son wrote the so-oalied "barnes" and
"Cornish" letters; that the same man
wrote tina address on the poison package
and that that man was Roland b. Moli-
neux.
Today's session began with Ex-
pert william ]. Kiusley In the
witness chair. Mr.. Osborne referred
to a question asked Mr.. Kinsley some
days ago by Mr.. Weeks. He said: "Mr..
Weeks asked you II you had earned
sisW."
"Exouss me" said Mr.. Weeks. 81 asked
how he made that sum-"
"Now, will you tell the jury first how
you earned that sunni Tell them all about
1t, how you worked and when," said Ar
Osborne.
Mr.. Kipgsley began detailed expla-
nation by saying that about January !,
1899, he began his study Of the case.
He told how he gathered his material,
how he secured specimens Of hand writing
Of Barnet, Cornish. HArpstsr and OF every
man who had ever worked on the books
of the Knicksrbooker Athletic club. The
witness then told Of having spent seven
weeks In studying the handwriting Of the
various individuals before he announced
his decision.
| Mr.. Osborne then asked: "You were
selected By the police department to aid
them In this oase. were you not Mr..
Kingslsy"
81 was."
| "Diu you realize ct that time that
prosecution for murder against some ens
might result from the Investigation
4 thought 30. though l did not know"
"Did you know any of the men you
met during that psriod"
"They were all strangers to me when
I began the oAss.''
There ansued at this paint discussion
between counsel Of considerable warmth,
relating to an objection made by Mr..
Weeks.
Mr.. Kinsley WAS permitted to continus 8.
however, and ono OF the "H. G. Barnet"
New York letters written to patent
N. ediolne company and enolosing IS for
treatment, was offered tor comparison
With the Burns letter, which has been ad-
mitted blythe deisnss TO be In the genu-
| ius handwriting of the defendant. MIR.
Kinsley was asked to demonstrate In
crayon the similarity and characteristics
of the Handwriting. The Barnet" let
ter read as follows:
Dear Sir-Please find snclosed IS. for
which pleAse send me one months rsIne-
dy and greatly obliRe. ~.
| "Yours truly,
"H. Q. Barnet,
"Box 2l7,257 West 42nd street.
| "Nsw York CITY,"
Mr.. Weeks objected to the comparison
on the grourd tba. 1t was not COMPARE
son OF disputed handwriting and on the
further ground that IL was not necessary
for the witness to copy the letsers on the
Iplp,r before the jury in view of the fact
that each juror had q photograph set Of
the sxhibits.
The objection was overruled.
When the witness began his dsmonstra-
tion, Mr.. Weeks again objected, saying:
81 object, your honor. Do understand
ing you a. permitting this witness to
show his ability to forge these lettersf"
"Ovsrruled," replied the court.
Mr.. Kinsley reproduced the "Burns"
letter signed Roland Molinsux. and sd-
mittsd to be In his handwriting. he sx-
plsined the technical qualities Of each let
ter In each word. II took fully 80 min
utes for MIR. Kinslsy to dsmonstrnte all
the caaracteristics of the words, "Piease
nnd enclosed" In answer to questions
by Mr.. Osporn, the witness said he
thought certain peculiarities In the
hsndwriting were due not SO much to an
attempt to initiate another's handwrit-
ing a. IL was an attempt on the part OF
the writer to disguise his handwriting.
At this juncture Foreman Martin OF the
| Jury asked the witness one or TWO ques-
tions relative to punctuation marks in
the "Burns" letter.
1t came out that the Juror had received
q wrong opinion Of the punctuation, ss
there was decimal point in front Of the
25 cents in one lsttsr aud one following
the "5' in another. MIR. Osborne said
that he had not noticed this before, and
said that the placing Of the decimal
points indicated an additional similarity
In the "BArnet" and "Cornish" letters
to the letter admitted to have been writ
ten By the defendant 9hs great simi-
larity in the phraseoiosy Of the letters Of
the admitted handwriting and the bogus
Cornish and Barnet letters was oem-