Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1899-12-20
TYRRELL ON STAND
Another Handwriting Expert Testi6es
in Molineux Trial.
SUPPORTS KINSLEY'S TESTIMONY
PecuIiarities of Two Pieces of
Writing Pointed Out.
MR.. WEEKS OBJ EDITIONS

NEW YORK, December 2O.-John F..
Tyrrell of Milwaukee. an expert In hand
writing was called to the stand on the Mol
!neux trial this morning. his examination
having been interrupted by an adjournment
yesterday.
Mr.. Tyrrell was asked by Mr.. Osborne to
point out some of the peculiarities he had
observed In the writings he had examined
and which he alleged to be In the hand
OF the defendant. He said the first and
most prominent characteristic he observed
was that much of the writing was vertical
without having any vertical styles usually
accompanying such writing. The witness
also called attention to the capital stem
used throughout the writing, and to what
he termed the pen habits. AS had been
done SO infinitely by expert kinsley, this
witness also called especial attention to
the break in the words whenever q let
ter beginning with an oval line was used.
Mr.. Tyrrell did not use the term break,
as did Mr.. Kinsley. using instead the alb
sence of the 'up-stroke'' before the oval
letter.
The dotting of the letter 81" was also
commented upon. Mr.. Tyrrell said in rea
ton to this and in direct contradiction of
Mr.. Kinsleys statement that the dotting
of the 'f'' indicated that the writer COM
pleted his word and often his sentence be-
fore going back to dot the a. Mr.. Kings
ley testified that the writer, in his opinion.
invariably stopped to dot the 81 before
completing a word.
Objection From Court.
When Mr.. Tyrrel concluded his recital of
the peculiarities which he thought most
prominent. he was asked by Mr. Osborne
to make a few Illustrations on the paper
covered blackboard. The recorder objected
to this, saying he only permitted 1T from
Expert Kinsley for the purpose of utting
further examinations short.
Mr.. Osborne asked that the witness be
allowed to make one or two demonstrations
and such permission was granted. Mr..
Tyrrell then drew a series of illustrations
showing the position in which the writer
OF the poison package address held his pen
and hand while writing that address.
Mr.. Weeks asked that the witness be d.
rected by the court to make certain meas
urements of his illustration for the benefit
of the jury, and the recorder replied:
The court will make no suggestions to
expert witnesses"
Mr. Tyrrell brought out the point that
the writer of the poison package address
could only write certain distance without
lifting his hand or changing the position of
his pen. He demonstrated that tho dis
lance between the first stroke in the word
Harry to the last stroke in the Cornish
and the distance between the initial stroke
of the * in the word "knickerbocker"
anu llie illidi SlTbhe III the letter IN the
same word was practically the same.
The witness then at length pointed out
that this same measurement was found TO
exist throughout the address, the phrases
Harry Cornish ''Knickerbocker," '.Ath-
letic Club Madison avenue" 'Fourty-
fifth street" and New York city being Of
practically the same ltneal measurement,
representing, the witness said, the swing
of the pendulum of the writer's hand.
Questioned by a Juror.
The witness was frequently questioned by
Foreman Martin of the jury as to these
measurements and answered all the Dues
tons satisfactorily.
Mr.. Tyrrell showed that the base line in
each of the phrases or parts of the address
on the poison package had a different hori-
ION. 1t showed, he said, that the writer
had put his hand down on the paper and
then written Harry Cornish" The limit
of the reach" of the hand had been reach
ed in so doing, necessitating the lifting of
the hand and a shifting of position The
writer had attempted to replace his hand
on the paper in writing the next phrase
kn1ckerbocker," so as to form the same
base line, but had failed to do So None
of the attempts had been successful, and
the result was the formation of six differ
ent species of base lines, each differing
from the other in from five to ten degrees
The request by Mr.. Osborne that the wit
ness make comparison between the pol
son package address and exhibit
d." the ''Harpster' letter, brought
out long series Of objections by
Mr.. Weeks. Finally he was per-
mitted by the court to state his ground
of objection. This he did, consuming some
twenty minutes in so doing, at the end of
which time he was overruled. He took an
exception and asked that an objection and
exception be allowed him for all questions
to be asked under the comparison of the
two exhibits.