Vermont phÅ“nix. [volume] (Brattleboro, Vt.) 1834-1955, 1907-11-08

NeIseu win MIN. Usually Fairbanks
asked about his condition, and sometimes
MS food and care. She never noted any
thing peculiar In his actions or conversa-
ton After he had been at the hospital
TWO or three days he asked her "lf thew
put the shoes and stockings on the girl"
meaning the white shoes and stockings
which were in his grip which he hid a
short distance from the house where Mary
Grout was on the night of the tragedy
She recalled the statement he made in
her presence to Miss McCloskey about
shooting as well with his left hand as
with his right.
On day when States Attorney Bacon
sent a bath robe to Fairbanks and when
he was sitting up in an arm chair Miss
Martin said to him: Whatever made YOU
do it?" To this Fairbanks replied: you
don't know all about 1t. 1 snot her, but
she was as much to blame as 1 was"
There came a time when a suit Of clothes
was furnished Fairbanks. Miss Martin
saw him the first time he had them on
and spoke about it. At that time, she
testified, he said he was mighty sorry
he killed her and wondered what they
would do with him She told him to keep
up courage. At another time he told her
he was not used to having cereal for
breakfast and soup for dinner and would
rather have have a cornhusk bed than
hair mattress. She thought his mind was
as nearly normal as a sick persons mind
would naturally be. She said under cross
examination that she could not recall all
the conversations that she had with him.
The witness on the stand when court
took a recess over night was Miss Jennie
corey, one of the hospital nurses She
said she saw Fairbanks occasionally and
on one occasion heard him say something
relative to the shooting. The recess came
at this time.
Fairbanks took more notice of the wit
nesses than usual on this day, and once
he was seen to smile, the first time since
the trial began.
Miss Corey finished her examination
Tuesday morning. She said she heard
Fairbanks say he was sorry he did 1t, but
as she did not know definitely what he
| referred to the testimony was stricken
out. She thought he was Of sound mind,
! but said she never treated an insane pa
| tient. She was followed by another nurse,
Miss Celeste Genin, who also was Of the
| opinion that Fairbanks was mentally
sound. Miss Flora Cattanach, of the
staff of nurses. recalled things Fairbanks
had said and told of reading a story to
| him and seeing him throw up his hands
and complain of the trouble in his head,
| also of noting a staring expression in his
| eyes
w. E L. Walker, a Grafton merchant,
| testified that he had known Fairbanks 25
| years or more and never saw anything
about him to indicate unsoundness OF
mind. He thought Mrs. Myra futile s
reputation for truth and veracity was
| good. Joseph Page of Grafton, father OF
Mary Page Grout, was on the stand Tues
| day His testimony, in the main, was
| about his acquaintance with Fairbanks.
| He never noted any indication of insanity
about him. He was not cross examined
| o. NJ. Custer, manager of Barber park
in Bellows Falls and a representative OF
| Io hot hot
village and Saxtons River, testified that
Fairbanks worked for him from Monday
| to Wednesday on the week of the shoot
| ing He said that Fairbanks talked but
little. but that what he did say was
largely about women and that he con-
| sidered him low character.
Two more experts were put on by the
state Tuesday afternoon. They were DR.
c. s. Pratt. a practising physician ir
| Brattleboro, and DIR. ]. A. Houston, super
| intendent of the insane asylum in North
| ampton, Mass. DR.. Pratt was examined
by States Attorney r. C. Bacon. He tes-
titled that he considered Fairbanks to bC
below par in intellect, but that he did MOI
consider him an imbecile of any class
DR.. Pratt was present and participated II
lie examination of Fairbanks with DR.
S. F.. Lawton. superintendent OF the Brat
tleboro Retreat and DR.. Houston. In nj!
testimony DIR. Lawton testified that Fair
banks was an imbecile of the middle class
DR. Pratt was asked a hypothetical Ques
ton as to Fairbanks sanity, based upor
his examination and an assumption tina
certain things brought out in the testi
mony were true In reply to this he salt
Fairbanks was sane.
The last witness was DR.. Houston. II
reply to a hypothetical question pro
pounded by Attorney General C. c. FIT
he replied that Fairbanks was sane. II
did not consider him an imbecile OF an,
class, but said he was below par in in
intelligence. DR.. Houston gave a yer,
lucid explanation of the various menta
disorders. expressing himself in term
that could be readily understood b,
everybody The hour for recess arrived
while he was on the stand.