1
TrKER, Editor and Proprietor,
45n filUTCIIIUfSOUT, Publislier.
4i
PLUME 7.
HE GALLOWS
io.i
Kr
2,f
23 f
30.'
!0.
t I
8.
iicj ECUTION OF D&MEL BUSER AND
JOHN B. HOUStH.
...TrrT np pnT.T.V PAUL AND
en
CASSIE MUNDAY AVENGED.
lx and Connected History oi
II
'f
u!
the Murder, tne Arresi,
Trial, llie Conviction,
and tlae Execulion.
ttt
R.-ported especially for The AUeghanian.
i)a Friday last, 20th instant, at the
pl.t
id
s of 12.12 p. m., Daniel Buser ana
a 13. Houser paid the forfeit of their
s tor the murder of ' Polly Paul and
At ?iunua y.
TIIE MURDERED WOMEN.
The victims of the murder, one of the
jjt atrocious and cold-blooded that ever
rkcnci the aunala of crime, were Polly
ul and Cassie Munday. The former
.CI
Lsaumdcu laay, v years 01 age. cue
IsiJcd on a larm belonging to herself, in
.,:., J ).ii4 fif ir in Hrrkrlfl tnwnshin. A
ii -rv ci
bo;
Jeered hy-roai pursued its devious
i7 through her premises, but this was
lOLf
rrf
seiuom traveled, and neighbors were so
tacd io far apart, that the old lady may
I iv.J to have lived almost totally isola-
iom the world. Here she tilled her
j spot of ground, principally with her
. haDds raised and sold cattle dis
J of wood and timber to purchasers
I
through the exercise of strict econ
she had amassed a considerable sum
money. The exact sum possessed by
od lady is not known, and probably
'r will bo known till the last great
when the archangel's trump shall call
red-handed desDoilers to a bar of
;mcnt in which there can be no con
sent. But as to the fact that she
i money, arid a considerable sum of it,
nxQ a,no Question, oho had toiled
ftlljm early morn till late at night for a
ctime, denying herself measurably of
mtorts and pleasures, that she might
ass a competency from which to draw
r sustenance and support after that pe-
Iwhen the muscles relax and the flesh
jiaies a burden, before the inroads of
rr real decay. Perhaps she had a more
filing purpose io view in hoarding
rjfore perhaps the great central hope
her life was the endowment of a col
;c or a seminary, the giving of alma to
e poor, the amelioration of her kind
od knows ! But one thing is sure ;
Ualevct of money was possessed by the
j lauy leu a prey to tho murderers, for
was au kept concealed within her hum
i tenement, and the pitiful sum of
irtV-nine dollar wris nil that. fifnVtPRk
l8tJ Ich revealed after the enactment of the
i4 Imible tragedy. The fruits of a lifetime
iil to that of the Psalmist, a lifetime
ant
boh
Jbor and self-denial, were swept off at
roke, and saddest of thoughts !
& was labored for so assiduously and
"Mitred so scrupulously as a fountain of
"sings, proved a curso and its posses-
rhi
i destruction.
Toe other victim was a daughter of
f. Martin Munday, of Cambria town
!p, and was onlv 17 vears of ace. Miss
oi
ore
iul usually resided alone on her farm,
ndi
e I
at tne time of the murder, Cassie
11 "WisYiviner with hor aq an annren.
fgni
Jce to the v.. xl
er i
j
rc'
dors
e , . lua business, m me mys
ncsol Which buhineaa Mice Paul was an
xperf. Cassie had served with her in
ductor a year, and i
ould have finished hrr
5 th
racd to herfather's hnf: Tn ..
i ft-
?tion of her return nnmc fthar
rid turrhnsoil fi n . ' ....
i iVi vassie a loom, taat sne
xerc:se in her own behalf her ac
"ot
, v'""" me remorseies
nd fo. r cuc asunaer at once
Uiiorever the w.ir oi r t u
i
eanti th,e,yunS Hfe whose bloom and
I Tld have transformed the bare
era ot the cumbrous machine into the
Moment of symmetrical perfectness,
"irowa around iY
in:
oetrr uulu ui
'
renty ani seventeen tho January1
"Wane nf lift t Q! ,,.,
ft
rot
k.j - w u&cuijr, wnu its iroStS
Snows, its fephlf nnlsfl and nalU
2ff -ted rcam an( anxious glances
the river to where the pale boatman
!tjf expectantly waiting ; seventeen,
:J lJ beauty, and innocence, and confi-
w , m uoa ana nature, its odor of
violets, ita token of high and clori-
. twuuscaa unioided through a long
"'Of onenintr vcara nf ennohina ml
1 Surely, 8urely, tho heart
, could conceive and tho hand
fQe,,d?Uberat0murdcr for money, of
' &fi 1 v. " 1U "-"e. grave, ana
.T' y""n and innocence en-
c7m. Is a mane-both weak
fct Jr0mu th0 P38ibilitv ot succor
oave been animated by a epirit of
hellish atrocity and fiendishnesa which
devils might envy.
THE MURDER.
The murder was committed on Wednes
day evening, 7th June, 1865. The two
women were last seen alive by a
neighbor at about the hour of five o'clock,
p. m. An hour or more later, in the
early twilight, a young girl, Mary Stibo
liski, daughter of a neighbor of Misa Paul,
while hunting cows, heard some unusual
cries, as of a person in distress, near the
house of tho latter. She drew closer, and
beheld two men running toward the barn.
Becoming greatly alarmed, she hid be
hind a stump till the men had got into
the barn, when she proceeded swiftly home
and related to her parents what she had
seen, remarking that she believed the men
were bad men and that there was some
thing wrong at Miss Paul's. Her parents,
however, took the view that the two men
were butchers buying cattle Miss Paul
was known to have had cattle for sale at
the time and dismissed her fears as
groundless. The next day, at noon, eigh
teen hours after the occurrence of the
events here narrated, the little girl, from
whose mind could not be banished the
belief that the two men seen by her were
on some direful errand bent, returned to
Miss Paul's, to inquire into the condition
of the household. On nearing the house,
she found at once that something teas
wrong. No one was astir on tho premises,
and a general sense of desolation was
everywhere apparent. As the little girl
testified before the Court and it is a
graphic description of the scene of desola
tion "the cows were in the orchard ;
there was no smoke in the chimney ;
could hear nothing about the house; and
the calf was bawling in the stable." She
again returned home and told what she
had seen, and this time her note of alarum
was not suffered to go unheeded. Her
father raised the neighbors, and together,
to the number of three or four, they re
paired to Mis3 Paul's.
The door of the house was ajar. Tho
men entered, and found the house tenant
less, and its contents in dire disorder.
The chairs and tables were upset on the
floor, the drawers of a bureau were dis
placed, and the beds were ripped open
and their contents scattered about. It
was self-evident that a general search had
been instituted by some one for valuables.
Pretty soon, a club was discovered in the
house. Had murder been added to the
crime of robbery ? had the miscreants
been detected in their work of spoliation,
and, on the principle that "dead men tell
no tales," had the two women been made
away with f Where, oh ! where were Polly
Paul and Cassie Munday ?
A systematic search was made from
cellar to garret, but no indications of the
whereabouts of tho missincr women could
be discovered. The coal-house was next
searched ; then the spring-house, and final
ly the barn. In the latter structure, in a
stall of the cow-stable, the dead body of
Miss Paul was discovered. Her skull had
been dashed in, and she was lying in a
pool of her own blood. Further search
revealed the body of Cassie Munday lying
in' tho orchard, about fifty yards from the
house. She was stone-dead, with hideous
bruises on her head and person. A club,
uuiform in size and shape with the one
found in the house, was discovered lying
by her feet.
The presentiment, the foreboding fears
of little Mary Stiboliski were more than
realized. A deed of blood had been done,
almost in her presence, so dark and hide
ous that it must have caused the angelic
hosts around the eternal throne of God to
shudder with affright, and to turn away
their eyes from beholding the awful
spectacle.
tfie coroner's inquest.
A Coroner's jury was speedily sum
moned, and after a thorough investigation
of the facts as they appeared, a verdict
was rendered that the two women had
been murdered by some person or persons
unknown.
POST-MORTEM EXAMINATION.
A post-mortem examination of the bod
ies was made by Drs. Bunn and Gardner.
Dr. Bunn testified before the Court that
upon examination of the body ofliss
Munday, he found the skull on the right
side dashed in, and evidence of other
injuries produced by a club, and that in
his judgment her death was as instanta
neous as though her heal had been cut
off; and that upon examination of tho
body of Polly Paul, he found her skull
fractured and injuries which would cause
instant death. His testimony was corrob
orated by Dr. Gardner.
THE CLUBS.
The instruments with which the cruel
deed was committed were each about two
feet four inches long, one and a half inch
es thick at tho larger end, and tapering
to three-quarters ot an inch at the smaller
end. A lenob was cut on the smaller end
of each, to prevent their slipping from the
hand when being used. They bore evi
dence of havinc been prepared with great
care. A singular fact connected with the
clubs is that no one person has been found
who is able to give the proper name of
the species of wood from which they were
manufactured. The wood is very heavy,
and is peculiar to marshy grounds. It
grows in abundanoe in the neighborhood
or aii S3 raurs.
I WOULD RATHER BE RIGHT THAN PRESIDENT. Hiset Clat.
EBENSBURG, PA., THURSDAY, APRIL
POPULAR EXCITEMENT AND INDIGNATION.
When the facts connected with the
horrible tragedy became generally known,
the excitement and indignation which
agitated the county from its centre to its
circumference knew no bounds. It was
resolved as with one mind that the mur
derers must be apprehended and punished
that earth should be allowed to contain
no hidiDg-place sufficiently concealed to
shield them from the stern retribution
due a crime so unprovoked, so fiendishly
cruel, so utterly abhorrent to the moral
sense of the community. In obedience
to the popular demand, the Commissioners
of Cambria county promptly offered a
reward of Five Hundred Dollars for the
arrest of the murderers. This reward, we
may mention in this connection, was some
weeks since paid to Detectives Hague and
M'Kelvey, of Pittsburg, who were mainly
instrumental in effecting the capture of
Buser and Hou3er.
ARRESTED ON SUSPICION.
On the Friday following the murder,
one J ohn Ream, a resident of Conemaugh,
Cambria county, was arrested on suspicion
of having been concerned in the murder.
He had borne a rather bad character for
some time previous, and some remarks
which he had made several years before,
to the effect that he believed Polly Paul
had a "heavy pocket-book," and that he
could possess himself of the same by mur
dering her, were remembered to his dis
credit. It was also attempted to be shown
that a penknife found in his possession,
with a peculiar nick or defect in the edge
of the blade, was the self-same knife with
which the murderous clubs had been pre
pared. This was attempted to be demon
strated by cutting a piece ot wood with
the knife, and then comparing a ridge or
roughness left by the nicked blade with a
like ridge or roughness to be seen on the
clubs, caused apparently in the same
manner.
One David Riddle, a brother-in-law of
Ream, who formerly resided in Cambria
county, was arrested on the 22d June, at
his residence in Jefferson county, on
suspicion of being the oilier guilty party.
He was present whdh Ream threatened to
kill Polly Paul for her pocket-book, and
avowed his willingness to go "lialf" with
him in that undertaking.' The two men
were committed to jail here, and at the
regular September sessions of the Cambria
county Court, were brought to trial.
TRIAL OF REAM AND RIDDLE.
The indictment was laid before the
Grand Jury on the 6th September, and
in due course of time a presentment of
murder was returned. On the 9th the
ca3e came up, when the prisoners elected
to be tried separately. Ream was. tried
first. This case occupied the greater part
of three days. Seventeen or eighteen
witnesses were examined, and although
some of the testimony bore heavily on the
prisoner, yet he experienced no difficulty
in proving an alibi, and the prosecution
was abandoned. His honor J udge Taylor
directed the jury to return a verdict of
"not guilty" from the box:
Immediately after the disposal of
Ream's case, that ot Riddle was taken up.
It occupied a little over a day in the try
ing, and resulted, like Ream's, in the
abandonment of the prosecution by the
Commonwealth. Ho established a clear
alibi, and a verdict of "not guilty" was
returned from the box.
Both prisoners were remanded back to
jail, to await trial on the charge of killing
cassie iuunday the indictment in the
cases tried charged the parties with the
murder only of Polly Paul ; but on the
night of tho 13th October following, thev
broke jail, since which time they have
not Deen heard ot.
ANOTHER ARREST.
A few days after the occurrence of the
tragedy, a man named Cassiday was ar
rested in Johnstown, on suspicion of be
ing concerned in the murder He was
committed to jail, where he remained till
the 6th July, when he was taken before
the Court on a writ of habeas corpus and
accorded a hearing. No evidence appear
ing to connect him with the body of the
crime, he was discharged from custody.
A STRANGE STORY.
About this time, a negro named Montz
wrote from Pittsburg to the authorities
here, statin? that shortly before the mur
der he overheard two men in Pittsburg
arranging a plan to come to uampria
county and rob and kill a maiden lady,
and averring that he could identify the
parties. He was immediately taken into
enstodv. and brought here and confronted
by all the prisoners iu the jail, including
Ream and Riddle. Alter a tnorougn
scrutiny, he unhesitatingly declared that
the two men were not of the number.
When Buser and Houser came, he also
failed to identify them or either of them.
Although little cr no dependence was
placed in his story, Montz was held in
nnstndv till December Court, when he was
discharged, without having been called
upon to tell what ne knew unaer me
sanctity of an oath.
BUSER AND HOUSER.
A couple of weeks after tho murder,
Dr. Camnbell. Warden of the Western
Penitentiary, wrote to District Attorney
Noon (who was unremitting in his efforts
to unravel the mvsterv. and to whose en
ergy and determination the arrest and
-subsequent conviction of the murderers
are mainly due; that a certain William
M'Creery, an inmate of the Penitentiary,
had made a disclosure to him to the effect
that he had overheard certain conversa
tions in that prison, which induced him to
believe that Daniel Buser and John B.
Houser were the murderers of the two
women. The District Attorney forthwith
repaired to the penitentiary, and after sev
eral interviews with the man M'Creery, in
the course of which he learned many facts
and circumstances going to fasten the con
viction upon his mind that justice was at
last on the right track, he ordered the ar
rest of Buser and Houser. The two men
were taken into custody' in Alleghany
city, their place of residence, on the 20th
July,' by Detectives Hague and M'Kelvey,
and were on the same day removed here
and lodged in jail.
THE NATURE OP M'CREERT's INFORMA
TION. For several years prior to May of last
year, Buser and Houser were inmates of
the Western Penitentiary, serving out a
sentence for robbing a clothing ptore in
Alleghany city. One Philip Fulgart was
also an inmate of the penitentiary at the
same time. This Fulgart was a resident
of Cambria county, and lived somewhere
in the vicinity of Miss Paul's. He was
well acquainted with the circumstances of
the old lady, and of her manner and mode
of life. The nature of M'Crcery's infor
mation to the authorities was to the ef
fect that he had had a conversation in the
penitentiary with Buser, in which the lat
ter had told him that he had been in
formed by Fulgart as to several places
where "points" (money) could be got by
robbing, and that he and Houser intended
going after one of these "points" as soon
as they got out of the penitentiary that
Fulgart afterward told him (M'Creery)
that one of the "points" spoken of by
Buser was at an old woman's who lived
by herself, a weaver, Mary Paul by name
that he overheard part of a conversa
tion between Buser and Fulgait, in which
the former told the latter that if he was
successful in making any of the "points"
spoken of, he would use some of the mon
ey obtained for the purpose of effecting
the liberation from prbon of Fulgart, while
Fulgart assured Buser that he could make
the "point" ca3y at the old woman, tho
weaver's, (Polly Paul's,) and that Hou
ser had given him to understand that he
and Buser intended going after one of
these "points as soon as they got out of
the penitentiary. Buser and Houser were
released from the penitentiary on the 17th
May, lboo. M Creery, who was serving
a term in the penitentiary for burglary
committed in Washington county, was
pardoned out in December, expressly to
enable him to testify in this case.
THE PRISONERS NOT PREJUDGED.
Outside of the few immediately inter
ested in working up the case, nothing was
known as to circumstances which connect
ed Buser and Houser with the crime.
Neither of the prisoners ever resided in
Cambria county their antecedents were
altogether unknown what was expected
to be proved against them was kept sa
credly secret. So that, they went into the
dock when the trial came up, with tho
assumption entertained in their favor by
nine out of every ton that they were in
nocent of the charges preferred against
them. This is proved by the facility with
which a jury in the case was obtained.
Notwithstanding the extreme formality
entering into the empanneling of a jury on
a case of life-and-death importance, the re
quisite twelve men were obtained and sworn
in, in the short space of one hour. Only
thirty-five jurors in all were called, tour
of whom wero disqualified by reason of
entertaining conscientious scruples against
capital punishment, eight challenged tor
cause, eight challenged by the prisoners,
and three challenged by the Common
wealth. TIIE JURY.
Following are tho names of the twelve
men sworn to try the cause
James Davis,
William Katlok,
Newcomb Huntley,
Tuomp. R. Kimmell,
Nicholas Snydee,
Josue Parrish,
James N. Evans.
George W. Kebbey,
Bernard M'Coloan,
Henry F. Wagner.
John Myers,
John Buck,
THE TRIAL.
The trial came up at the regular De
cember sessions. A presentment having
been returned by the Grand Jury against
the two men for the murder of Polly Paul,
the caso was called on Tuesday, 5th De
cember. The Commonwealth was repre
sented by Messrs. Johnston, Reed, Oat
man and Barnes. The prisoners appeared
without counsel and without witnesses.
The Court appointed Messrs. A. Kopelin,
John P. Linton and W. H. Rose counsel
in their behalf, and awarded a compulsory
process for witnesses inJtheir favor. The
process was placed in the hands of an offi
cer, and the case was held over to await
his execution thereof. On Saturday,
December 9th, the process having been
served and the witnesses asked for
produced in Court, the case was again
called up, when the prisoners pronoun
ced themselves ready for trial. They
were arraigned in the usual form, and
plead not guilty. Court adjourned till
Monday, Dec. 11th.
THE TSSTIMONY.
Court mot again on Monday, and the
26, 1866.
case was resumed. Geo. W. Oatrnan,
Esq., made the usual opening speech for
the Commonwealth.
Some twenty-five witnesses wero exam
ined, some of them at great length. We
append a summary of the more important
testimony elicited.
William M'Creery testified in substance
that the plot to rob and murder was form
ed in the penitentiary ; that Buser and
Houser were informed in the penitentiary
of the circumstances and unprotected con
dition of Miss Paul by Philip Fulgart ;
that Fulgart told them that the old wo
man had plenty of money, which, as she
lived by herself, in a lone, unfrequented
locality, could be easily got at, and that
the money would most likely be found in
the bed (in this connection, it should be
remembered that the beds in Miss Paul's
house were found cut open and the con
tents scattered about, upon the discovery
of the murder;) that in consideration of
tho information given by Fulgart, Buser
promised Fulgart that he would devote a
portion of the money to be so obtained to
the procuring a pardon, for him ; that both
Buser and Houser gave him (M'Creery)
to understand that they would rob, and if
need be murder, Miss Paul for her money
after they got out ot the penitentiary.
This testimony, considered apart from its
bearing on this case, possesses a deep and
alarming significance. "It is, indeed, if
true, a startling thought, and one which
should excite public attention," said his
Honor in his charge to the jury, "that the
place provided and maintained by the
State for the punishment and reformation
of felons, may from defective construc
tion, or any other cause, become t place
.ere crime is concocted."
David M'Kelvy and William M'Creery
testified that Buser and Houser were dis
charged from the penitentiary on the same
day, on or about the 17th May, 1865.
Miss Agnes Dimond, Mrs. Mary Hilde
brand, Mrs. Anna Cobaugh, William A.
Stewart and Jacob Giffin testified, some of
them so positively as not to admit the ex
istence of a doubt on the subject, to seeing
Houser in the immediate vicinity of Misa
Paul's on or about the 25th of May. He
was at the time moving about in a strange
and mysterious manner, the witnesses said,
making inquiries concerning the Widow
Paul, (no widow Paul lived in the neigh
borhood,) asking where she resided,
whether she wa3 at home, and whether
she lived by herself or not.
Mrs. Elizabeth Graham testified that
Buser and Houser came to board at a
house where sho was staying, kept by
Mrs. Miller, in Allegheny city, about the
28th or 29th of May, where they remained
till the 5th of June; that on the latter
day, they went away together, carrying
with them a tin box containing instru
ments for cupping and leeching (the pris
oners sometimes followed the profession of
cuppers and leechers) and a black carpet
bag.
Mrs. Susan Preall and Mrs. Sarah Paul
testified that on the day before the mur
der, a man, whom they both identified as
Houser, came to each of their houses, in
the near neighborhood of the scene of the
tragedy ; thai he 4 carried in his hand a
tin box, and gave out that he was a cup
per and leeeher; that he inquired con
cerning Miss Paul, asking particularly if
she was living by herself at that time.
James R. Cooper testified that on the
afternoon of the day of the murder, he
met two men answering the description of
the prisoners near Summerhill; one of
them carried a black carpet-bag in his
hand; they were going in the direction of
Polly Paul's.
Mary Stiboliski testified that she was
hunting her father's cows ou the evening
of the murder, close by Polly Paul's resi
dence; that she then and there heard
cries of distress, and that she saw two men
running toward the barn.
Mrs. Graham testified that on the 9th
or 10th of June, Buser and Houser re
turned to their boarding-houso in Alio-
gheny city, when Houser's feet were sore
and swollen, as though he had waited a
long distance, while his general demeanor
was that of a distresseu, heartsick man ;
that in a conversation she overheard soon
after between Buser and Houser, at the
boarding-house, the latter asked the for
mer for his "6hare of the money, which
the tormer reiusea to anow, saying "it
might get them into trouble" to touch the
money just then.
John S. Johnston testihed that in a
conversation he had with Buser about the
5th of June, in Allegheny city, he under
stood from him that he and Houser were
"going up the railroad, towards the moun
tain ; that before they lett they had no
money of account, but that after they re
turned from their expedition, 15 user of
fered to buy a house from him for $1,600,
and pay 500 down.
Several wituesses were called to prove
that Polly Paul' sold cattle, butter, lum
ber, &c, that she was economical, and
that she must have been possessed of con
siderable pecuniary means at the time of
her death; and the record of the admin
istrator on her estate was given in evi
dence to show that the sum of $39.62 was
all in cash that was found to administer
upon as belonging to her.
A tin box containing instruments for
cupping and leeching, which was found
in Buser's house by Detective Hague when
i. -1
he arrested mm. was given iu eviaenze.
TSRMS:f3'OOIER ANNUM.
ISa.OO IW ADYAtfCE.
NUMBER 28.
It was pronounced by Mrs. Preall and
Mrs. Paul to be identical in size, shape and
color with the tin box carried by Houser
when he visited their houses tho day
before the murder.
THEORY OP THE PERSECUTION.
The theory of tho prosecution, deduced
from the mass of testimony, and claimed
to have been fully proven, may be said in
few words to have been about this : That
the specific plot to rob and murder was
formed in the penitentiary; that Houser's
appearance in Cambria county, within a
few miles of Miss Paul's, during the latter
part of May, was an exploration of the
neighborhood preparatory to carrying into
execution the plot so formed ; that on the
5th June, Buser and Houser left Alle
gheny city together ; that they came to
Cambria county, and that on the 6th
Houser again explored the neighborhood
of the murder; that on the 7th, the mur
der was committed by Buser and Houser;
and that on the 9th or 10th, they arrived
in Allegheny city, on their return from
the expedition. The failure of the pris-'
oners to show, or to attempt to show, where
they were, or to give any account of them
selves for the period comprised between
Monday and Friday of the week of the
murder, was also claimed by the prosecu
tion as presumptive evidence of guilt;
for it was argued, and on high legal au
thority, that if they were in another
county (as they alleged) during this time,
they could without difficulty provo the
fact.
CIRCUMSTANTIAL EVIDENCE.
It will be observed that the evidence
against the prisoners was purely presump
tive or circumstantial. No eye save tho
eye of Omniscience beheld the two women
stricken down by the remorseless murder
ers ; and to the end of convicting and
punishing the guilty, it became necessary
to resort to the establishment of certain
independent fact?, which facts, unexplain- "
ed and unaccounted for, should form a
chain of evidence so strong and convinc
ing as to exclude every other hypothesis
savo and excepting that of guilt.
Circumstantial evidence is defined by
Wharton as "the presumptive proof, when
the fact itself is not proven by direct tes
timony, but is to be inferred from circum
stances which either necessarily or usually'
attend such facts."
Said C.J. Shaw: "The necessity of
resorting to circumstantial evidence . . ..
is obvious and absolute. Crimes are se
cret. Moat men conscious of criminal
purposes, and about the execution of
criminal acts, seek the security of secrecy
and darkness. It is therefore necessary
to use all other modes of evidence besides
that of direct testimony, provided such
proofs may be relied on, as leading to safe
and satisfactory conclusions; and thanks
to a beneficent Providence the laws of
nature, and the relations of things to each
other, are so linked and combined together
that a medium of proof is often furnished
leading to inferences and conclusions as
strong as those arising from direct testi
mony. . . In a case of circumstantial ev
idence, where no witness can testify di
rectly, to the fact to be proved, you arrive
at it by a series of other facts, which by
experience we have found bo associated
with the fact in question, as, in the rela
tion of cause and effect, that they lead to a
satisfactory and certain conclusion ; as
when foot-prints are discovered after a re-
cent snow, it is certain that some animat
ed being has passed over the snow since ife
fell ; and from the form and number to
the foot-prints, it can be determined with
equal certainty, whether it was a man, a
bird or a quadruped. Circumstantial ev
idence, therefore, is founded on experi
ence and observed facts and coincidences,
establishing a connexion between tho
known and proved facts and the fact
sought to be prored."
Said C. J. Gibson : "Circumstantial
evidence is in the abstract nearly, though,
perhaps not altogether, as strong as posi
tive evidence ; in the concrete it may bo
infinitely stronger. A fact positively
sworn to by a single witness of unblem
ished character, is not eo satisfactorily
proved as a fact which is tho necessary
consequence of a chain of other facts
sworn to by many witnesses of doubtful
credibility."
TIIE FATAL CHAIN.
iewed in the aggregate, the indepen
dent facts proved, and going to establish
the guilt of the accused, formed a chain
from which net a single link was missing.
The expressed plan, purpose and motive
of the prisoners in the penitentiary ; the
well attested presence and conduct of ono
of them in the near neighborhood of the '
scene of the tragedy the latter part of
May ; the disappearance of both from their1
boarding-house on the 5th June, carrying
with them a tin-box filled "with cupping
and leeching instruments, and a black
carpet-bag; the reappearance of Houser
in the neighborhood ot the scene of the
tragedy the day before the murder, having
with him a tin box purporting to contain,
cupping and leeching apparatus ; the
presence of two strange, euspicious-lookin- '
men near Summerhill on the evening Q
the murder, who were going towar
Polly Paul's, and one of whom carrie j
black carpet-bag in his hand; the c.,
that the murder was committed by t;
men; the reappearance of Bosev :i0tj
Houser at their boarding-house in A.Ze
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