Vermont phÅ“nix. [volume] (Brattleboro, Vt.) 1834-1955, 1913-10-24

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and three young chiidren-Cecil, aged
three Elmer, aged two, and Burton,
aged six months. He also leaves a
brother, Porley X. Prouty, who is II
telegraph operator in New London,
Conn.
Prouty's family life, so far as can be
learned from residents of Halifax. was
always happy. He was fond of the
woods, good hunter, and figured as
defendant in deer shooting case
which was heard in Bratteboro on
two different occasions and afterward
went to county court >where Prouty
was discharged.
The funeral of Prouty was held
Sunday from the church in West
Halifax and the little Building was
packed to it's utmost capacity. Every
one for miles around attended the ser
vice. which was conducted by Rev. II.
II. Shaw of Marlboro. The burial took
place in West Halifax.
In the morning at 10 o'clock a pray
err service was conducted by Rev. II. /.
Kemp of West Clifford at the Prouty
home and Immediately afterwards the
long drive across the hills to the
church was undertaken. All of those
who attended the service at the home
continued to the church, and there
scores of others who had not been at
the prayer service were present. There
were numerous floral offerings.
The autopsy Friday showed that
Prouty was killed by steel jacketed
bullet from u 80 calibre weapon while
the revolver turned over by Foster as
! bo xvit tx-bi bo Il ho
shooting was a 30 calbre Smith &
Wesson, fully loaded, which Police
Chief George Wilson said the instant
he examined it had not been fred since
it had been cleaned last The bullet
was found inside Prouty's skull.
Attorneys for the defense say that
they have no knowledge of the finding
of 50 calibre weapon, but say that
there was ample time for it to have
been found before the arrival of the
officers or attorneys at the scene, for
there were % people in and about the
Foster house when counsel reached
there at about the same time the first
officers did. Sheriff Mann declines to
state whether the weapon has been
found.
Cumming, housekeeper for Foster; Mrs.
Osse Prouty, wife of the victim Will
ard h. Fisher, the next ncighbor of the
Foster farm who was first notified of
the crime; Sidney II. Coleman, from
whose home the telephone news was
sent out us was the ease in the triple
crime of the week before William b.
Warren, at whose mill Prouty had de-
livered cider apples and from which he
was On his way home when he met his
death, were the witnesses was conduct
ed Friday by Judge Fred b. Pier at
the Foster home with Probate Judge A.
+. Schwenk acting as special state S at
torney in the absence of State At
torney a. V. d. Piper. The autopsy was
conducted by Dr. b. II. Stone of Bur
lington, state pathologst.
After Mrs. Cumming had testified at
the inquest she was ordered by the court
held under $500 bail as material wit
ness, and in default of that bail she
was committed to Ncwfane Jail and
her two voting children were taken there
with her.
The testimony at the inquest dcvcl |
oped the fact that there is IL diversity |
of opinion as to whether Prouty made
two round trips by the Foster farm or
only one. Mrs. Cumming testified, as
she had told The Phoenix representa-
tive the night before. that Prouty had
been by the place four times and that
on each trip he and Foster had words.
Mrs. Prouty declared that her hus
band had made only one trip to the
cider mill of w. b. Warren and that
he did not leave the Prouty farm un-
til after , o clock in the afternoon. She
did not see him again.
The Phoenix on Friday sought out
Mrs. Minerv A. Bliss, who sold to
Foster the farm on which he had lived
for six years and took a mortgage of
$500 and on which she claims he had not
paid even the interest since the first
year.
When asked whether he ever showed
her a newspaper clipping or referred to
having been accused of murder, she
said
" No. He never told me that.
never saw or heard of a clipping but
once at midnight, when for the first and
only time during the four years | was
on the farm with him he entered my
room and for the first and only time
struck me, he left Immediately
and, walking up and down in the sit
ting room which he used for writing and
reading, he detained in high pitched
voice:
-" when | left my mother | promised
her ] would take care of her boy and
by c. | have done it. know where
one mans bones lie on the other side
of the Green mountains. -
But the strangest part of the story
is the manner in which Foster came to
Halifax. That was in the late fall of
1907, He was selling books and stopped
at the farm owned by Mrs Bliss who at
the time had II woman friend living
with her. He said he wished to make
that his hcadquar; RS, expressing great
delight in the location, but permission
to remain was refused. A week or two
later he again drove his little mare up
to the door and upon the advice of her |
friend she decided to allow him to stay.
He did, and, for time drove around |
the country daily, selling Bibles, and |
the Standard American Business Guide |