Bridgeton pioneer., 1913-12-25
bullet had been fired. That theory soD


prove the matter got down my squir-
rel gun. and, looking down into the bag
rel. by focusing the suns rays with my
magnitier | saw minute speck which
might cause a scratch on a bullet fired
past it. Loading the gun with a new
bullet. | fired the ball into tree, cut
it out and examined it. But II the
scratches had been made they ha6s
been so added to that | could not de-
tect them. fred another bullet into.
a bank with the same negative result
Looking about for some softer sub
stance to put it into. noticed the barreS
used to catch rainwater from the ROOF
of the house, and it occurred to me to
catch the bullet in water. | made ny
experiment again this tins in the wa
ter barrel. and. examining the bali
with my microscope. saw scratch
corresponding with the rust speck in.
the barrel of my gun.
Then the fact came into my brain
that the barrel of the pistol which had
been used to kill Mr.. Ackers undoubt-
edly contained two little protuberances
against which the bullet had rubbed
ON being fired. ana the distarce be-
tween these rrptulerances would be-
exactly the saIne as between the
scratches. do not mean that this oc-
Cured to me rs Il possible means OF
discovering the murderer. | mere}F
looked upon it as an interesting fact
Meanwhile the police were investf-
eating. The period of the detective
was coming on. and two or three men.
were working on the case. But they
worked secretly. and | knew nothing
abont what they were doing. nor did
| receive any information upon this
till man of the name of Coyne Was
! arrested for the murder and held fox
trial. There was lot of circumstaE.-
tial evidence against him. Mr.. Ack--
ers had owed him some money. which,
Coyne had vainly tried to get. Coyne
had been heard to use violent language
| to AckerS Indeed. Il threatening let
ter from the former was found among
the latters papers immediately after
| the murder Ccyne had disappeared
| and was arrested in distant city. He
| owned a pistol, which was captured,
by the police. and one chamber was.
| found empty. The evidence consisted
| in these two features-the matter of
| securing payment of the debt and th8
| revolver. one chamber of which haGA
| been discharged
i was in court during the trial and
heard the prosecuting attorney make
Il strong point against the prisoner by
| producing the accused's revolver.
| When the court adjourned went ab%
Coyne's counsel, and | confessed that
| | had the bullet which killed Ackers
| and which had not been found by the
police. | also told him of my expert
| ments and that | believed the pistol,
| with which the murder had been CON-
| mitted could be identified by the.
| scratches on the bullet.
The iawyer-Truesdale- at me
while spoke with eyes as large aS
! butter plates. then asked me Il lot of
| questions. The trial had ended for the
day. and he Immediately adopted
| means to be ready with the new eyi-
| dence on the morrow. He told me to.
| bring the bullet to him at once in cot
ton, fearing that it might receive other
scratches. | did as he bid me. and the
| next day when the court convened Z
| went there. as requested.
| The moment entered the courtroom
| Coyne looked ut me with terrible anx-
| iety on his face. having been apprised2
| Of what had passed between me and
| his counsel. AS for me. was wonder
| hnt bar I
| guilty on an innocent man. barrel
of water stood in the courtroom be-
| meath the judges bench. Truesdale
| instructed me to load my squirrel gum
with new bullet and fire it into the.
| water. | did so. and he showed the
bullet and the interior of the gun bar
rel to the jury. using the same means
as | had used in my experiment. eL-
| cept that his microscope was mora.
| powerful and his light was electric.
| The scratch on the lead was apparent
| The bullet that had killed Ackers
was then produced and the scratches
shown the jury. 1t was of the same
caliber as Coyne's revolver new
bullet was then put in Coyne's pistol
and fired into the water.
was watching the prisoner. and as
soon as the experiment with the squir>-
| rel gun had terminated | saw his face
| light up with hope. When the bullet
was taken out of the water he showed
| great agitation. His counsel first ex--
| amined the bullet, then looked at himA
with an expression Of joy. The bali
was examined by the jury and found
to be without a scratch
The demonstration that Ackers had
| not been killed from the prisoners re-
| volver was conclusive. and since this
| was the keystone of the evidence
| against him the states case fell to tha
ground He was acquitted. and, though
many still believed him guilty. rncss
| persons were convinced of HIS innc-
| cence.
The moment he was made free nee
10, Z. 4