The morning Astorian. [volume] (Astoria, Oregon) 1899-1930, 1900-02-23

was purchased Rt the store IN Newark
whec Miss Miller was employed, and
OF course the man who purchased Il
must In some way have been con.
nccted with the poisoning, Indeed, eli.
mln0te the testimony OF the handwrlt-
Ing experts, who were paid $50 a day
and expenses by the prosecution for
their evidence. and the case against
Molineux would not amount 20 the
dignity of q strong suspicion. when
the tact IL Stated-and II IA fact
which cannot be successfully dlsI uted
that one az least " the principal ex.
perts admitted he had been utterly
mistaken In handwriting 60 which he
sworc In u brooklyn court Il seems az.
ilcult 10 understand why. II the jury
was not Influenced by other evidence
laid before them, the reasonable doubt
the benefit OF which must De given to
the defendant was not aroused,
Again, nothing eau be palmer than
thar the prosecution sought tn prove
that Molineux murdered by poison his
clubm0te, Barnet, lie was not indicted
for that crime, but every line OF tcstl.
mouy tending tn show he sent poison
10 Farnet ot the same character as
the poison alleged to have becen sent
10 Cornish, and which the latter. think.
INK, as alleged, II was harmless hromo.
seltGer administered 90 Mrs. Adams.
was calculated 20 afrect the minds of
the Jurors unfavorahly. OF course. IL
is impossible to show any adequate
motive for deliberate murder. Yet no
deliberate murder was ever committed
by 4 sane man without some very
strong motive All IN the way OF mo.
tive the prosecution could show Tor
the alleged attempted murder by Moi.
ineuN was a quarrel over club mat,
tcrs between Cornish and Mollncux
In that there was nothing even ap.
preaching a provoNing cause for mur.
der, There II wy little doubt that
the Barnet testimony was introduced
for the purpose OF bringing a murder
motive into the case Ir motive ON
M'lln"uS's part could be shown for the
murder ~ Barnet. aud the fact were
established that both Barnet and Mrs.
Adams. died from the same sort OF
poison powders sent through the malls.
the strongest kind of suspicion would
be raised against Mollneux aud the
paid-for testimony OF tile handwriting
experts would do the rest. As To the
admission OF the Barnet testimony, the
recorder wobbled painfully. lie finally
admitted H. and permitted the district
attorney TO dwell upon /, both In his
opening and when closing the case
before the Jury. or course. the record.
er was not conscious NJ any bias, but
his fame has been made as prosecu.
tor. and the way he used his position
TO worm out of cne woman witness
facts, or alleged facts. havlng no ap.
parent bearing on the case, yet that
could scarcely fail to prejudice the
jury against MolIneux. reminded one
rather of the rsmorseless counsel of
the famous Lexow investigation com.
mittee than OF the ca'mly impartial
and impcrsonal Judge District At.
torney Osborne attempted TO show
that Mollneux was Jealous NJ Rarnet
and actually pointed to Mrs. Molineux
In court as the motive In concrete form
nf The attempted murder OF Cornish,
which resulted In the accidental XIII.
Ing, as alleged. of Mrs. Adams. The
district attorney was also permitted by
by tie iecrrdrr to introduce testimony
concerning the young woman who ia
now MolineuX's wife that was a fright.
ful assault upon him and upon her.
There was promise to connect Il
with the proof Of the murder case later
on. That promise was not kept That
II was ever intended TO b, kept. In
view ot the extraordinary statements
made by Mrs. Osborne since the trial,
Is more than doubtful. II was prob.
ably part OF the scheme Of the pros
ecution cOncoctcd FOR him By the
young woman novel writer with the
dime-novel name. who. he says. out
lined the prosecution for him, advls-
ing him to construct garment" OF
evidence that would nt no other man
in the world except MolIneux Wen.
that part Of the garment" didn't NJ
him evidently. for the recorder. after
letting II 20 before the Jury. ordered
them not to consider It, for the reason
that II was entirely extraneous mat
ter. Altogether II was not n dignIfied
trial The calmness Of the judicial In
qulry was wanting. Perhaps we shall
not have any more calm judicial trials.
For more than a year the yellow Jour
mails had enveloped the case In an at
mosphere Of sensation. They paid out
great sums Of money to witnesses or
alleged witnesses to secure the lden-
t!fcatlon of Molineux and other SEN
sa.lonal testimony. They assumed to
take the part OF the people, TO usurp the
delegated powers Of the people, as rep
resented by the authorities, under the
pretense Of serving the people, when
their real purpose was to make money
by creating vicious appetite for asen-
sual sensatIonalism and panderIng to
the lowest sentiment In the community
It Is held by many men In public life
It was this same greed for the money
that is to be gathered from the gut
ter through the publication Of lying
sensations by the yellow journals
which forced our country into war with
Spain while we we're yet In state OF |