The Detroit times., 1914-12-09
SURE POISON Pen
NOTES ARE WORK
OF DEFENDANT
Writing Same as In Mrs. Nc
Cready's Known Letters, De-
clares Expert
TESTIMONY is TRUMP
CARD OF PROSECUTION
Jim" Clark Says Accused Won
an Tried To "Make Love"
To Him

A s. Osborn. OF Montclair n. j.,
a handwriting expert retained by the
prosecution at SlO0 day, told jury
IN the United States ulstrict court,
Tuesday afternoon, that IL was his
positive conclusion" that the obscene
anonymous letters received by a
score or more OF prominent Ypsilan-
tians were penned by the same hand
as letters written by Mrs. Margaret
McCready, charged with sending the
obscene matter through the mails, to
James Clark, baker, who was orig
inally suspected or the offense.
OSBORN, native or Michigan, has
been a student of chirography for 20
years, and has figured in many sensa-
tonal trials, such as the celebrated
Molyneaux and Patrick homicide &C.
tions in New oYrk, and the McNamara
dynamiting trials in Los Angeles. Rss'
His statement, which was prefaced
by lengthy examination by District
Attorney Webster into the methods
by which he compared handwFitings
came as the second climax Of an af
ternoon full of sensational develop
ments.
The first sensation came when
Clark testified that the defendant has
tried TO make love" TO him while
nursing his wife, who was then on
what proved her death-bed,
Clark denied improper conduct with
Mrs. McCready. He also denied, In
toto, the statement made by pretty
Mrs. Louis Killian on the stand Mon
day, that he had told her that he was
desperately in love with her and
that, II she were widow, he would
come counting her"
He had never been able TO find out,
he testified, why Mrs. McCready had
written accusing letters TO him while
she was in California. He had never
had anything to do with her, he said,
except at times when she laid for"
him and asked him TO escort her TO
her parents home.
The government will make it's
strongest case upon the testimony OF
Osborn, the handwriting expert, how
ever. 1t became apparent immediate
ly after Osborn took the stand that
the district attorney had played his
trump card. He questioned Osborn
closely as to his experience In the
study OF handwriting, and elected the
fact that the witness had written sew
eral text books on the subject and
had appeared in some OF the nation s
most famous trials In which the iden-
tification OF handwriting was involved.
Osborn admitted that he had re-
ceived but single page of the anon
ymous correspondence and a single
page Of Mrs. McCready's known hand
writing, he could not have traced the
resemblance definitely enough to
swear that the two specimens were
written by the same hand.
He testified that the specimens Of
Mrs. McCready's handwriting which
he had used as a basis of comparison
had been furnished him by James
Clark.
Osborn prefaced all his statements
as to the identity OF the handwritings
by saying ''in my opinion" or my
investigations have lead me to the
positive conclusion"
Mrs. Eva Weiniger who was the
star witness for the prosecution In
the Tuesday morning session, put In
an uncomfortable time OF II under
cross-examination by Attorney Frank
II. Watson for the defense in the af-
ternoon. She made admissions seri-
ously rejecting on her character.