Daily Kennebec journal. [microfilm reel] (Augusta, Me.) 1870-1975, 1900-12-20


Charles drove from Medfield to Boston
HE met his father, Cromwell and
Billy Scott. They went to Gardiner
thence to Augusta. to Waterville. Fair
field. Pittsfield. and thence to Dexter
Here Charles left the three and went
to Carney's, miles from Bingham
where he waited ~ days. After walt
ing ~. days, he met them at Bingham,
and all four started for Boston by way
of Skowhegan, Waterville. Augusta
twhere they again stopped at the
Farmers hoteD and Gardiner, where
Charles alone took the boat for Bos-
ton. After four years, part Of which
was spent in Jail, Charles returned to
his fathers house at Medfield. On the
second night. his father was i'll. Every
few minutes he would say: Take him
away. Take Barron away He said
this as many as four times and then
slept two hours. Awakening. for some
unexplainable reason, he told Charles
the whole story. The next morningsh
threatens to shoot his son.
Charles says he was impeIled to tell
this story by the ghost of Barron ap-
pearing to him in Jail at Norridgewock.
1t said: 1T is /. be not afraid, and by
the words commonly attributed to the
Saviour, Charles knew it was Barron s
ghost"
Mr.. Barker then introduced argu-
ments to show that the alleged trip to
Maine, In 1877, was a falsehood.
Now" he continued. THE absolute
righteousness OF any man confessing,
with no motive whatever, crime to
g ~. ellt Tx.n
of betrayal that the very next morning
he decided to shoot him. is apparent on
the face Of ii.
Mr.. Barker then came to the So
called confederation Of Charles r.
Stains preliminary trips story and
by reviewing the testimony Of wit
nesses at the trial, tried to prove it's
falsity.
Il am well aware OF what the other
side will say Of this affidavit of Charles
F. Stain. They will say: IF he lied,
then he will lie now" Yet If he lied
then, he is speaking the truth now;
and If he spoke the truth then, he is
lying now" Then followed a careful in
spection of young Stains story.
When the pictures of David l.. Stain
and Oliver Cromwell We're being circu-
lated and their misdeeds brought up.
it would have outweighed the misdeeds
of these men to have the pictures and
the records of the four great govern
ment witnesses added-Charles F.
Stain. John Harvey, Francis NJ. Bow
man and Edison Maddox"
Mr.. Barker then dealt with the iden-
tificati Of the prisoners at the trial
LII. 4. 4. Il
attention to the fact that although
many Of these witnesses saw three men
nobody attempts to describe the third.
They come to Bangor and describe two
men. not only their faces, the cut of
their boards, in which. by the way.
they contradict each other woefully.
but their clothes and hats and even
their carriage. These are the men they
are here to identify and whose pictures
they have seen. But the third man
whom they saw 10 years ago just as
plainly as the other two, that man of
mystery who must have been possessed
OF the invisible helmet of the gods
who is not here 20 be identified, whom
they do not attempt to describe, Mr..
Baker spoke of the certainty; wRh
which. men could be identified after b
aeeting glance 10 years before, anu
drew lpdicr0us pictures Of recolleltions
of cheek bones. eyes, etc. He spoke d
some length on this subject. He said:
We have heard this evidence. No
two witnesses agree. They contradict
each other constantly in matter OF
time, dress, place and appearance. Ac-
cording TO the time they were seen by
the witnesses they made 10 miles the
first hour in their flight from Dexter
2i4 miles the next six hours, IL miles
the next four hours and 10 miles the
last hour. A most erratic rate OF speed.
And this is travelling all night TO their
own discomfort and well nigh the de-
struetion Of their horse.
And now We turn to the one point
upon which the verdict hinged. / re-
fer to the famous 3. G. Sanborn re
ceipt. To show what teams were
brought from Boston 10 Gardiner by
the steamer Star OF the East. during
the summer Of 1871, the receipts held
by the Steamboat Company were in
troduced. The mode of business was to
give the shipper in Boston a receipt, TO
place the article on the way bill and
-"- ''HtA - NHPs "a itNNiPt " inc
agent in Gardiner. The owner would
surrender his receipt in Gardiner and
claim his property. If q stranger pre-
sents receipt he is required to sign
il.
"A receipt signed B. c. Sanborn.' in
dicating that horse and a two-seated
wagon were shipped. Nov. 90 was
found. The prosecution claimed that
this receipt had been signed by David
L. Stain, and in the middle Of the ar
gument, after all the evidence was in,
and the defence had put in its argu-
ment, the attorney general was allowed
to put in evidence three letters writ
ten By David l. Stain TO his daughter,
TO compare with the handwriting Of
the signature Of the receipt Upon this
point the prosecution based its entire
case. Long and earnestly did the jury
compare that handwriting and we are
told by Hon Silas G. Hatch. foreman
Of that jury. that the belief that the
signature was a forgery committed by
Stain was the only thing that decided
them. That without that BELIEF he and
several others would have held out un-
til certain warm place froze over"
Four Of that jury are dead. | have
the sworn affidavits Of two Of them
that they based their verdict aIrne on