Rocky Ford enterprise., 1907-06-21
WHAT IS PROVEN?
ONE CORRESPONDENT SAYS Or
cHARo PROVED NOTHING.
wARRIhG FOR AHuMAK SOUL
The Vivid coIorIns Of = Saul In Awful
Travail Shown In Orchards
Confession.

Travail Shown In Orchards
Confession.
Boise. Idaho.-Orchard has come and
Orchard has gone. and now We know
that We have not been dreaming.
Orchard has come and Orchard has
gone. and since his going We have
been building In grain by grain. atom
by atom. as coral insects build in the
southern seas, the white walls OF fact
which are to MI In the steel frame OF
evidence his incredible story riveted
beam to beam to breastwork.
Orchard has come and Orchard has
gone. and he went rs he came that
hreathless morning week ago. o
small. short, thick.set. inscrutable man
In q gray tweed suit. looking right be-
fore him with fathomless. fearless.
wide.set eyes. believing. as he said in
the Everlasting God. and thinking. NRso
as he said. that life here might be sold
well and cheaply II It brought indem-
nifty throughout eternity.
He told his tale to Hawley. briefly
and without gestures. and 1t drained
into our ears as u dream might:
dream OF prodiHious inhumnn impossi-
ardson. the ponderous and patient and
particular Richardson. and 10! II was
= dream no more. but biting. vivid.
poignant story OF fathomicss sin and
black murder: and We knew that We
were watching the first firCa OF hell.
Defense Was skeptieai.
Before Orchard came the defense
told us that he never would say on the
stand what he had said to Mcfarland.
Hc was mad. they said. or half mad.
or diseased. They doubted whether hc
had ever killed Stcuncnbcrg. They de-
MED that he has ever even tried to Kill
Bradley In San Francisco. They went
further and said that he had never
even been In San Francisco.
They laughed nj the story that ho
had ever blown up the Independence
depot.
They did not know he was going to
charge himself with tho murder OF
Lyle Gregory. They snecred at tho
attempted assassination OF Goddard
and Gabbcrt and Peabody and sherman
Bell.
They said he was a dcxcnratc. .
craven. covering fugitive. with no
heart for any iisht and no faith in any
God.
They predicted Immediate and finai
annihiiation Of Mcfarland. They said
Mcfarland had grown old and foolish.
ribbcrins Of vain things. mcuihins OF
hin past.
They were prepared 10 sweep away
the whole case Of tho state In icss than
twenty four hours. They were pre-
pared to prove that the whole ih5pk
was foolish and vain and ~ickcd0 In.
spiracy. They were prepared for any
thing. They we're prepared for cscry-
thing.
hut lhcy were not prepared for Or.
chard. the man who said he believed
In a life alter death and wanted 10
make his peace with God and wanted
60 toll the truth. lie ~as for them a
problem in the fourth dimension. and
they icf, him quite unsolscd. And 30
did ~-.
ne admitted arson: he admitted big
amy: he admitted murder: he admitted
burglary: he admitted assassinatioas
attempted and a.sassiuatiuns accoms
piishcd: he admitted lying: he admit
ted poisoning: he ~as vague a. TO the
mere dates of his offending. but scrupu-
ious TO point as TO the vcfbia<- Of his
confession. lie esaacd no crime
charged asains, him. lie charged him
self with many that we're not supposed.
lie made no, one solitary statement In
his evidence in chief that wss sniifchsd
in the least by the iabofcd crosssrxam.
ination Of Richardson. and the story Of
his last wandcrinss before he did his
last killing had some touch OF fnsl
human tragedy in II: the passing cry
of a human soul.
Richardson drew I, from him eiums.
lily. drip by Grip. word By word. episode
by episode. Hat II seemed somehow
81. a
the world. and left only tho vague.
moving picture of two shadows trail.
ing each other OBVIOUSLY through the
nish'. until 10 the end one srsotc and
the other fell and was left ~fithins.
and Orchard sat in that chair again
answering moao,onousiy. Yes. -"
or No. sir. ! did not say that esatsfy.
What I said was IL was ali - OF
focus. unbelievable. And the mad had
admitted again and again that he was
a liar.
II was wonderfully graphic. dra-
matte. blood freezing: a story to listen
to with parted lips, btcaihless.
And yet u wasn't evidence.
II proved nothing: u did no. even
prove tina, Orchard killed Steunentcrs.
Not even that. There has been evi.
dence that a bomb killed him. Hut
there has been no evidcnce-not at all
that Orchard even placed that bomb:
no evidence other than Orchards own
statement.
II has been the same with the blow
ing up Of the vindica,or mine. and the
blowing up Of the Independence depot.
and the killing Of t.yte Gregory. and
the attempt on the life OF Bradley. So
far we have come nearer TO bringing
the Bradley affair home TO Orchard
than any of the others. II IL a preg.
| nant situation. And II must be femem.
bered that Orchard is no. on trial here.
II Is William u. Haywood. And against
Haywood so far no evidence has been