The Madison journal. (Tallulah, Madison Parish, La.) 1888-current, 1914-04-25
IN
THE DUNBAR CASE
CLOSED TESTIMONY SATURDAY
AND DEFENSE IMMEDIATELY
OPENS.
GROVES ARE NOT TOLERATED
Mrs. Dunbar Testified That Beyond
Any Question of Doubt tie
Boy Is Her Son.

]
Opelousas, Lathe prosecution in
the trial of w. c. Walters, charged
with kidnapping Robert Dunbar, closed
| its case Saturday after one witness
had been examined. DR.. F. G. Shute,
the Dunbar's family physician, testi'
fled as to marks on the boy now in
possession of the Dunbars and as TO
the web foot"
Dr. Shute testified that Robert Dun.
bar suffered a burn on a foot when
very young and since two of his toes
have been slightly disfigured. The
child two women claim as their son
was brought into court and the jurors
closely inspected the toes. Julia An
derson. who maintains the boy is her
Bruce, contends her child has a web
foot" in other words, two toes are
partially grown together. 1t is said
the left foot of Bruce Anderson is
'webbed" and the left foot of Robert
Dunbar injured.
Notices posted about town by the
sheriff giving warning that crowdine
will not be tolerated in the court
rooms served to keep many away from
the trial and the case proceeded with
li,,le delay. Women were in seats in
the court room as early as Z o'clock
in the morning, however.
The defense opened its case within
a few minutes after the state had fin
Used. The first witness was Deputy
Sheriff Lott of Columbia, Miss, near
where Walters was arrested He tes-
titled that the child taken from Wal
ters paid no attention to c. P. Dunbar
when he first saw him there; that the
child was playing when Dunbar came
up and continued apparently without
recognizing Dunbar. He also testified
that Walters had expressed willing
ness to have the Dunbars examine the
child.
Early in the week, Mrs. c. p. Dunbar.
one OF the two women who claimed
Robert Dunbar, the five-year-old boy
who disappeared from his home here
in 1912, as their son, testified in the
trial of w. c. Walters, itinerant tinker,
charged with kidnapping, that the boy
found in possession of Walters at the
time OF his arrest and now an inmate
of the Dunbar home, is her son.
Il know him by his face, his form.
his body" she said "A mothers
instinct told me it was my boy.
examined every spot, every mole. In
my delight at finding him l kissed his
feet"
Arthur Collins, a member of the
jury, asked:
Mrs. Dunbar, you wouldn't want
10 keep another woman's child?'
mo, no. Not for the world.
would not want to make any Other.
woman suffer as have suffered" was
the quick response.
Mrs. Dunbar testified that after she
had bathed and dressed the boy she
had shown him a pair of shoes, dupli-
Gates of those her son had worn on the
day of his disappearance. Without
prompting, she said. the boy had asked
if they were not his shoes.
After he came home he asked for
his baby ring and crieo to wear it,
she said, and exhibited the trinket.
She testified as to scars on the
boys body and related various circum-
stances which tended to show that
the boy taken from the tinker recalled
incidents Of the past life of her son.
She said that on a visit to a neigh.
boris he had asked for a gun that
Robert often played with; that he had
asked for a big chair at an uncle's
home that had been set aside for the
use of her boy.
After the boy was brought to Ope-
lousas he had thrown his arms about
her neck and said:
You are my good mother. Walters
told me you were dead and my papa
threw me into a creek" the witness
testified.
While Mrs. Dunbar was on the stand
Julia Anderson, the other woman
as her son the boy taken from
remained at her hotel. She
declared she would never surrender
her claim to the boy and would be a
for the defense.