The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1906-11-29

went on the stand to-day to tell the story
of the death OF Grace Brown, of which he
was the only eyewitness. His description
of the girls death came at about the middle
of the afternoon session, after the crowd
which damned the court room had been
listening breathlessly to his story since late
In the morning.
"We stayed in Panky Bay he said, -for
a short time, rowing around the shore and
reading a bit. Then we came out and
started across to the point where we left
the suit case. going around by the east
end TO get some pond lilies. We got them
and then let the boat drift. We got to talk
ing about what we ought to do. I asked
her what she thought we ought to do, and
tomorrow and then decide I told her I
thought we had better go to her home and
tell her father and mother. S said she
could not tell her mother and began to cry.
I said | would tell her father. She said:
You don't know my father. or you would
not say that Then I said. What shah we
do?' She stood up in the boat. saying IN
end il now, and putting her foot on the side
went into the water. I tried to reach her.
but I could not, and the boat tipped over.
I grabbed the boat, hung on for a while
and finally got ashore. / did not see her
again"
The defendant had been slouching in the
witness chair with his face down in his
hands and his eyes half closed. There
was no expression apparent on his face,
except that he looked tired and worn from
the strain Of the trial. No more express
sion came into his face when he told Of the
last few minutes of Grace Browns life
than there had been when he had told
before some of the little incidents which
occurred on his trip - Big Moose Lake.
His voice, which had been so low as
hardly to reach the first row Of benches,
didn't rise perceptibly when he came to
the crisis of the story. The words; she
stood up in the boat saying IN end it now
and putting her foot on the side went into
the water" were spoken in the monotone
which the prisoner might have used in
speaking of the o~verturning Of a child's
blockhouse. All through this story and
the very sharp cross-examination which
followed Gillette was apparently as cool
a. if he were telling some trivial little in
cident to a parlorful Of friends.
The crowd in the court room, however,
was not so Indifferent to any dramatic
effect which the situation might have. All
day some Of them had been sitting breath
lessly waiting for the explanation which
the prisoner would give OF the death OF the
girl with whom he had gone to the Adj
rondacks. When Gillette got to the critical
point Of his story the silence was 80 pro-
found as to nave an oppressive effect.
The moment he had finished, however,
.boxo 80 a ralavation Of the atrain in the
damned seats, which manifested itself by
a rustling OF people turning to look at one
another, each to see what his neighbor
thought.
oRBID cRowD VISITORS TO LET
or all the crowds which have filled the
court room since the beginning Of the trial
this days crowd was the most morbid and
lacking in a sense Of propriety. During
Gillette's cross-examination the District
Attorney inquired very closely into the
beginning OF the intimate relations between
Gillette and Grace Brown. The character
of the testimony was such that it would
hardly bear repeating, even in a barroom,
but when Gillette answered the questions
which the District Attorney asked him
some Of the women who had fought hard
70 get a chance TO hear the testimony smiled
broadly and punched each other with their
elbows. One OF the answ ers which Gillette
gave to one OF these questions brought
out such an audible litter that the Judge
and bailifs had to rap with their gavels
10 restore order. This was the character
of the crowd that Chester Gillette faced
all day without the least apparent show
of fear.
On cross-examination the District At
torney again produced the letters which
the defendant had written to Grace Brown
and which she had written to him from
her home in South Otselic. Most Of them
be asked Gillette TO identify, and the de-
PENDANT would take them and read them
carefully before answ ering the District
Attorneys questions. He did not show
the slightest sign of emotion while reading
these letters over once again, and yet these
letters when read in court had moved al
most every one there to tears.
The other questions which the District
Attorney asked Gillette during the sharp
cross-examination about his relations with
the dead girl and his intentions toward her
did not seem to affect him in the least. He
answered almost every question after some
elaboration, and a great many times asked
the meaning OF questions whose meaning
was apparent to almost every other person
in the room.
PRISONER APPARENTLY WELL COACHED
leaving aside whether Gillette's story
was true or not. he apparently had been
we'll coached and told how to meet the ques-
tong asked him on INSTRUMENTATION
Although the District Attorney only touched
upon the earlier part Of Gillette's story in
cross-examination, the defendant seemed
to weigh each answer with the utmost care
before he repli sd. The District Attorney
managed, however, TO trip him on several
trivial points, and when the day esslon
closed with Gillette still on the stand he
was apparently on the verge OF collapse.
His eyes were almost shut, and before
each question there was a nervous Struggling
o. his shoulders that seemed to show an
EFFORT to keep his self-control.
Il was difficult TO determine exactly
what effect Cilette's testimony had upon
the jury. and it will be impossible to tell
ukzL.- - Ia. haIDad or hurt himaNlf