Spirit of the age. [volume] (Woodstock, Vt.) 1845-1913, 1903-03-21

BH|CaIo, y. Y Sensational in the
extreme is the newest bit OF evidence
unelwhed by the authorities to con-
meet Arthur k, penncll with the
murder of Edwin l.. Burdick,
1t is letter written by PenneIl to
Mrs. Burdirk and containing in sub
stance the words:
Il feel it my duty 10 Kill Ed Bur
dirk."
The letter is deeply expressive Of
II begins My Dear Alice and con-
vrys encuuraLcment TO her in her
troubles and promises of perpetual
support, II is a love letter Of the pro-
nounccl type, and is couchPd in tender,
bui digniicd. language.
It's most sensational. and. perhaps.
its most significant. phrase occurs near
the end, and reads: when | think of
how he is treating you | feel that
must Kill Ed. Blrdick."
From the missive it is evident to
see that, in an earlier missivc Mrs.
husbands suspicious of her relations
with rcnncll, because Pennell en-
pressed profound reSre! that anything
should have occurred To render her
home Lille unpleaS SAINT. He assures her
of his concern for her welfare and
her peace OF mind. urges her to bear
up and be of good heart. He says ar
Gently that all will come ont right in
the end. and that to worry is but to
add TO The burden.
Anger, determined and deep seated,
is expressed when he speaks of Mr..
BNrdiCk and 20 judge from the letter,
this tense feeling was ensendercd en-
tirrly from the roolnesS BIrdicli
eNliibitch toward his wife and the
harahncss with which he had treated
lcY.
The letter shows that more than a
year ago Blrdirk had formed susp-
riUns Of his wfes conduct and her re-
lntions with pcnncll.
The letter was found by detectives
who searched the Burdick house on the
morning Of the discovery of the trag-
edy. and has since been KEEP, securely
locked in the vault in the district at
torney's Office.
Mr. Coatsworth. when seen would
not discuss the missiye further than to
say that he had in his possession a
letter which would probably be road
at the continuation of the inquest on
Monday.
All efforts to have Mrs Penncll dis
cuss the letter failed 1t is thought TO
be the intention of the authorities to
read the sensational letter in court
and ask Mrs. Burdck if she ever re-
reived it; to ask her, further, if from
it she implied that Pennell really in
tended to XIII her husband
The reading Of the missive. and the
subsequent questioning of Mrs. Bur
dick, viii, unless prospects change, be
the real climax of the inquest,
Although Mrs. Burdick has sent no
word to The authorities. ii is under
stood, now that Pennell is dead. that
she will tell all she knows of his
sQuabblcs with Mr.. Burdicli, of his let
ters to her, his conversations with her.
his threals-if, in truth, he ever made
any-and. in brief. everything she
knows which might throw light on the
crime.
Prominent persons who few days
ago defended the young lawyer with
pOsitiNcneSS now assert that they are
convinced he knew something about
the crime; that he Went to Niagara
Falls the following day for the pur-
pose of committing suicide and talk
ing his wife over the falls with him
in case he learned that the authori-
ties were on his heels; that he practi-
cally confessed by his mental and
physical collapse that he was guilty.
and that he rode deliberately into the
quarry with his wife. His supporters
are dwindling in number each day.