Bismarck daily tribune. [volume] (Bismarck, Dakota [N.D.]) 1881-1916, 1909-11-03

first learns OF Its existence when he
is caught. 49,, =, ,,.@ *. a. = = ~
The main points OF the testimony,
bereft Of verbiage thus far admitted,
are as follows:
The portion relating to identity Of
handwriting and pictures, presented
by the respondent, was objected to y
Mr.. Simpson on the ground Of In.
competency and irrelevancy, in that
1t was not in any way connected with
the claimant, whether he be Daniel
B. Russell or not, and was admittea
de bene until after the sure connec-
ton. T.
Then follows the testimony Of
claimants witnesses, much of which
has already been given in the Press.
The Boston paper comments on the
testimony as follows:
4. Up to the time of this startling
opening, some 40 witnesses had been
called and had testified for the plal"-
tiff and of them more than 80 neigh
bors, friends, schoolmates, chums a &c
relatives-all respectable and intel'i-
gent people-had testified to his ide l.
tity as Daniel Blake Russell, whom
they had known in Melrose as boy
or young man, while several others
had averred that he had revealed his
name and birthplace to them in years
before. The ordinary hearer and
reader of this evidence had become
imbued with the belief that it had
established the verify of the petition
er's claim, and that it would be i'm
possible to controvert it.
But a change had come. The i'm.
movable body was about to be met by
an irresistible force; an invincible
phalanx with artillery support was
about to advance upon the impreg-
nable fortress and ex-Chief of Police
Benjamin Demo, of Masseno, N Y,
was in charge of the advance skir-
mush line.
defense, much of which appeared in
the Press last week. The Boston
Globe sums up the testimony of the
defense as follows:
Here, then, was another set of wit
nesses, more than 80 of whom have
sworn with more or less positiveness
Of assertion or opinion that the claim
ant was James D. Rosseau, whom
they had known we'll as man or boy,
basing their declaration upon their
claim of identity of the person, or
upon his photographs and handwrit-
ing.
There has been a striking contrast,
however, in one notable particular.
The descriptions of peculiararities by
the Meirose folk, whether given ad
libitur1 IN reply to general question
Or under the stress of GRO ,s-examina-
ton, were uniform and harmonious
in all general statements, but still
varying enough in little details to
show that they had not schooled
themselves to the task.
Per contract, the northern New
York witnesses, testifying to this
identity of James D. Rosseau, were
widely divergent, the height being
given in varying inches, from 5 feet
Z to feet 9, by the earlier witnesses,
until some one testified to S feet II,
which was echoed by a few follow
ers, until Mr.. Simpson began to ask,
= GAOA yuu soy tAhL IL IAC 'CA0Au4oAt 10
but feet inches tall he cannot be
James D. Rosseau?" After that with
almost unvarying unanimity the
height was given as feet 8.
There were similar experiences at
first with the weight, which was at
first set at differing figures, but was
into CTS to 1870" pounds
after while and so pronounced by
witness after witness without the var
lation of a word or syllable.
SMr. Simpson has also limited In
some of his questions that Jim Ros-
sean is dead, and has ELECTED the
answer, IF Jim Rosseau is dead he
can't be here.'' >:-
This proposition is now one Of the
pillars upon which the case rests, bu'
there are otuer problems equally i'm
portant, and the mist which hangs
over the case all will be dispelled, so
that the right and wrong Of it will
be clear, with the claimant winning
or losing according to his deserts.