The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1906-11-23

Was IN the boat TWO HOurs Arter ne
said TIE Had Tak n II AshOrc-Toid the
sheriff the nOat Upset and He Feared
10 Drown II He Tried 60 save Girl.
HFRKIMER; Nov. 22-The prosecution in
the case OF Chester Gillette made a hard
problem for those who are defending him
to-day in bringing up very forcibly 4 .
question OF how it happened that tho suit
case he had with him in the canoe was
dry when it was found and the stuff in it
showed no sign Of having been in the
water. In the first place the prosecution
proved that when Gillette was arrested
he said that Grace Brown was drowned
after the boat which they we're in bad acct
dentally upset. When asked to account
for the fact that the suit case was dry,
ne replied that he and the Brown girl had
gone ashore to get their lunch at 8 o'clock
in the afternoon and had left 1t there at
that time.
ON the cross-examination OF Sherif-elect
EIock: who testified to these facts, the
defence spent a long time in impressing
On the jury this explanation of Gillette.
Then the District Attorney sprung his
surprise. In the last few minutes Of the
AFTERNOON session he called Thomas Barrett
10 the witness stand. Barrett is a guide
Mt Camp Craig on Big Moose Lake.
AT S o'clock on the afternoon Of July H.
he said: Il had taken the two boys 1 had
in charge from Camp Craig to a swimming
float on South Bay. l was keeping close
watch LOT the time no that l would not let
the older boy stay in too long. At just
$40 o'clock / saw a boat come out Of the
far inside Of South Bay and turn into the
branch known IA Punkie Bay. In it were
a man and a woman, and between them
was a suit case. The man was in the bow
eeat of the boat rowing, and the woman
was in the stern. l noticed that they were
Young people. At 5:45 o'clock | saw Mr..
barnard Fosters boat come out of South
Bay, and a few minutes afterward the boat
with the young man and woman came
from Punkie Bay and went oward the south
shore Of South Bay. The man was leaning
forward in the bow seat, apparently talk
ing 10 the woman in the stern, and was
rowing slowly, a stroke at a time"
Nearly the whole day was spent by Prose-
cutor Ward in showing the actions of Gil
lette after the death Of Grace Brown had
occurred and tracing him from that time
until the time of his arrest by Under Sheriff
Austin B. Klock at the Arrowhead Inn on
DUlH H. VIII DOAhf WV ~ NE'~Ni
was called to the stand early in the after
noon. With him, he said, was Charles
Gross of Cortland, who worked in the Gil
lette skirt factory and who identified Gil
lette for him. The under sheriff attempted
10 refresh his memory from notes he had
taken of the conversations he had with
Gillette after the arrest, but this was strenu-
pusly objected to by the defence and finally
not allowed.
when | went into the hotel Office. said
Mr.. Klock, Il saw the defendant. At that
time | did not know him. Gross went up
10 him and said, Hello Chester and the
defendant answered, Hello. Charlie; what
are you doing down here?" Gross asked him
If he knew that Grace Brown was dead. and
Gillette answered, No; is that so| Then
Gross said: YES, she was drowned in Big
Moose Lake and Gillette answered, My
Godi Is that so?''
In the morning the Rev. Cuthbert h
Frost, a minister at Lowville, had testified
that on the evening of the day before this
Gillette, who was in the lobby of the Arrow
head Inn, had gone up TO some men who
were playing cards in the lobby and had
said, Have you heard about the tragedy
at Big Moose Lake," This was after a day
which Gillette had spent climbing the Black
Bear Mountain with a party from Arrow
head Inn, which included the Rev. Mr..
Frost, the Rev. Mr.. Dean of Lowville and
Mr.. Deans son and daughter.
Most OF the morning session had been
spent in proving by this party that Gillette
had gone with them to Black Bear Mou n
tain, and had made another expedition the
day after Grace Browns death to the noun
tain alone. Three witnesses were called to
tell Of his first expedition, and Miss Gertrude
Dean and Mr.. Frost were called to tell OF
the second.
Gillette joined the party, they said, just
- il was about to start. and went with them
up the mountain. They had some diff
fculty in finding the trail, but relied on
Gillette's experience of the former day to
guide them. When they arrived at the
top they had a lunch, and Gillette and Mr..
Deans son Robert spent their time in cary
ing the initials Of the party on a nearby
rock. Gillette told them Of his former
life in the West, his experience as a brake
man, as a student in Uberlin College, and
said that he was then employed in the
Gillette skirt factory at Cortland, but he
did not tell them where he had been the
last few days.
when We got back To the nm, said Mr..
frost, I'VE went out on the porch after
supper and spent the evening in singing.
Gillette said thai he could not sing, but he
occasionally Joined in snatches Of thesongs.
Before l vent upstairs to bed that night
J saw the defendant go into the Office and get
q drink of water. Afterward he went over
to a party Of men who were playing cards
in one Corner and asked them if they had
heard Of the tragedy at Big M~oose-the
drowning"
A bunch Of photographs was shown to
all the witnesses who were examined as to
the two expeditions Gillette had made TO
Black Bear Mountain. which they identified
as being views taken on the mountain and
around South Lake. The District Attorney
spent some time in this process. which at
first seemed to he an almost useless one. 1t
later developed, however. that these pic
fures were the ones which were found as
films in Gillette's baggage and had been de-
veloped by the prosecution. Their intro
duction was to f~orestall the possible expla-
nation that Gillette took his suit case with
him on the day Grace Brown met her death