The New York Herald Newspaper, January 12, 1879, Page 6

6 KATIE COBB. The Alleged Husband Poisoner Entirely Self-Poised Under Trial. A FACE LIT WITH SMILES. Bishop, the Cowardly Villain, on the Witness Stand, ———— EE NOT LIKE A PLAY. Will Kate Be Hanged Because the Grorer's Wagon Stopped At Her Door? UNCORROBORATED — ASSERTIONS, More Medical Testimony—Arsenic Eating Said To Be Practised in Styria Pa SS A CHILD ON THE a ternener arn STAND. Norwicx, Conn., Jan, 11, 1879, It would seem impossible that in such a quiet and sequestered village as this, where every home breathes of comfort and every hilltop of poetry, a trial should eve: nr for a crime so heinous as that charged against Katie Cobb, so startling in the inci- de which followed it, Coming out of the crowded court room—where I believe I was brought face to face with © gossip-monger in Connecticut, and where I bad a plessant with Katie Cobb herselt—I took a stroll over the sue- cersion of declivities on which the town is built, A more picturesque village cannot be imagined, #ven St. Thomus, in the West Indies, perched as it is on the sides of a mountain which rises out of the sea, is not more romantic in its situation, As I stoodon the plateau below the Court House and gazed on the two rivers which meet at the bottom of the hills f could not fail to recall Stedman's lines included tn Longfellow’s “Pooms of Pigees,” and feel how delight- tul it must de in summer time to idly wander where Shetucket flows meandering, or Yantic Leaps through the cloven air, Why anybody should build a city here, unless Ind- ian tradition and the spirit of Uncas, whose name one sees everywhere about, was the incentive to it, is auore than I can conceive, although the more practical reason that here is the head of tidewater may have had something to do with it. Let this be as it may, Iwas very mnch impressed with the snow capped beauty of the crested hills, with their lines of ter- raced New England cottages dotting their sides. When I met Katie Cobb—being introduced to her by her senior counsel, Congressman Wait—it was of these things I spoke to her, and she became thoroughly un- restrained in manner, if not absolutely enthusiastic, as Tled her to dilate on the natural beauties of Nor- here are some delightful drives in the neighbor- hood," she suid, “and in the summer there is not a more beautiful town anywhere in New England,” A CHAT WITH KATIE COBB, It was a fortunate circumstance for me that I had been so much impressed with the beauty of the place and that this was a subject on which Mrs, Cobb was naturally responsive, or I should have made a sorry mess of the interview, for although I had expecially sought it I stammered like a schoolboy attempting his first declamation, and, finally, in the midst of my blundering, blundered upon a congenial topic to both of us, The allusion evidently was pleasant to Mrs. Cobb, Her face lit up with a genial smile and a pleased intelligence looked out of her eyes, While she spoke I had time to study her contour, and I may say just here that fora New England woman she stood the inspection well, Tall and thin, she is not angular, and in a softer climate she would have developed into majes- tic womenhood. Her face is not beautiful—her fea- tures are too regular, her chin is too square, and her mouth is too large aud straight cut for beanty. But there are intelligence and apparent candor in her Jooks that recompense for these physical imperfec- tions. Then she is so natural and unaffected in her conversation, and so easy and self-poised in her man- ner, even with the shadow of a great crime hanging over her, that, seen at her best, she cannot fail to be fascinating, and so Wesley Bishop's infatuation is not @ matter of such great surprise. IMPRESSIONS OF THE DEFENDANT. 'To give my interview with Katie Cobb in detail would be impossible. It was a rambling couversa- tion, jumping from theme to theme and from place to place without any connection or consecutiveness. ‘There was no mention of Bishop, of course, but in everything Mrs, Cobb said the mind of the listener would naturally recur to some allegation of his either in his confession or his testimony. When she spoke of the delightful drives in the neighborhood she was talking on a subject which would have been agreeable to her if Bishop had never ex- isted, manner showed that she was of what was in my mind— of driving with her. Then spoke of Troy and the “Mohawk * referring to those worthy Knicker- Dockers somewhat disrespectfully, and accompany- ing the remark with a neat little gesture of detesta- tion, Strangely enongh, it was to Troy she went when Bishop says she corresponded with him and was in such haste to yet back to him, and it was at Troy where Charlie Cobb was when Bishop claims he spent whole nights in Mrs. Cobb's company. But the remark was drawn from her as the sequence of an observa- tion of mine, and I do not believe she thought of Bishop for the moment or suspected that | was think- ing of him; I was anxious to catch a glimpse of the woman in ammoment of forgetfulness of the ordeal she is undergoing, and either I succeeded or she isa much better actress I think she ix, As T was turning away her little daughter came up to her to take leave of her for the day, and si Kissed the child in an easy, motherly way that Lad no trace of the sorrow that is impending over both of them. As I left her she bowed and smiled faintly and sadly, “Can it be possible,” I asked myself as I walked away, ‘that this woman, so seif-possessed in ber extremity aud yet so free from everything like overscting, should be a criminal as determined and ferocious as the worst character French fiction has derived from the imagination of Gaborian ?" 18 SHE LIKE GABORIAN'S HEROINE ? Up to that mowent [ had never thouyht of the Cobb murder in connection with “The Mystery of Oretval, Then the parallel came to me with striking force. Gaborian’s heroine was a fiend; her accomplice was ® villain and » coward—just such @ coward and villain and her oblivious p's story as Bishop has shown himself to be in his confessions. | About him I had—1 could have no doubt, As he eat in the witness’ chair during the day, clam- mily unfolding his tale of horror—clumsily trying to evade the gallows by fixing the guilt of murder tpoa the woman whose paramour he pro- fexwed to bet had ample opportunity to wateh and study him. In mental grasp and in moral perception | te is simply what he is in personal appearance— oleared, cunning, shuffling and angular. In every Mttribute he is what would be called # very common man among common men, A manly impulse would be impossible to #uch a nature, though @ secret and Unreasouing passion might bind and hold him, Self- conitessed as & betrayer, & poixoner and a liar, he can mething too monstrous for nan who e she must hay his detects: physical. But it i* in ber blind y ts which led to it and so sickening in the events | chat of half an hour | ‘EW YORK HERALD, SUNDAY, J ANUARY 12, 1879.-QUADRUPLE SHEET. inferior to her that the paral! with Gaborian's i! it Bishop's story is true, Katie Cobb could » been more Lke the unnatural and fiendish woman the novelist depicts if she had studied the novel to imitate the heroine—if she had modelled tie poisoning of her hus band after that terrible example. The whole theary he prosecution and the defence, the whole ques- depends on er to the assumption of Wesley Bishop that so loved hin that she was willing - erything in the world for him—naino me, husband and children, ana even Meve guilty passion will not answer requirements of such a case. It been all absorbing, soul-devouring love. Whether she wasso swayed by an unreasoning and overwhelmii mi is a revelation which the story itselt must disclose, and so I have been at the trouble to gather and collate all the facts. CHARLIE COBB. The first important tact or tacts in my inqui was Charlie Cobb himself, He was a comparati young man—healthy, vigorous, industrious, seli- Tespecting and respected. He had been in boul the army and na and at the time of his death he an influential member of Sedgwick Post, G. 4 He was also a prominent Mason, # prominent Templar among the ‘Temperance Knights and a prominent meuber of an organization here known as the 0. D.O, I asked what the O, D. O. was, but only got for answer, “Oh, auc social vela- nd it is generally pier in his home. verything was pleasant between Cobb and bis wife,” said Betey Gurdne who was in- timate with the family p the mur der. he was a very neat keeper,” testified Mrs, Fuller, Cobb's only sister, venerable Mrs. Cobb, the mother of the deceased, whose testimony was full of the bias of grief and affection, was ‘always on good terms with her daughter-in-law. But more important than all this, Bishop says, in his first confession, that when he urged the wife so to conduet herself that her husband would renounce hor, she replied, arlie would not | leave me and the children on any provocation,”’ It was in such a household that Bishop, clammy, uncouth and ungainly, claims that he wus the tempter. If he was he was a veritable Black Crook among lovers. Charlie Cobb knew of Bishop's visits to his house; he was not unaware that the gossips e busy with his wife’s reputation; his father, his mother and his sister told*him of these things, but he went on trusting and loving his wife till he died. ‘Lhe excellence of his domestic relations—or at least his own satisfaction with them—is es- tablished beyond all eavil in question. All this I conceive to be important, not only as a cireum- stance in this singular narrative, bat as the very foundation of the startling drama to which it is the | prologue, coBR’s HOUSE. On the dramatic stage no tragedy is even offective unless the scene is well laid. This American melo- drama would be incomplete withont a glance at the scene plot. Because of this, and because the situation of Cobb's honse has been made an important feature in the trial, I give a diagram of the neighborhood. | COoIT STREET. Oe fa | | | TT PEARL STREET. pte {1 “L33u4S NNV “L33ULS NNV ai MAPLE STREET. MAIN STREET. If. Webby William J, Merrill, . ‘The house is situated on a plateau on the heights above what is known as the cove. Through this cove waters of the Shetucket fow, On the opposite bank and between the Shi and the Yantic on the bluffs and in the gorges is Norwich proper. The Cobb side of the stream is not so imposing as the other and the Cobb house is about a hundred yards back from the river. It is a New England cot- the regulation style of architecture. ‘There is a portico or verandah over the front door, and a bay window on Pearl street and a side entrat on Ann street. It is peculiarly exposed to observa- tion, and Bishop's wagon, stopping in Pearl street many times a day, could not fail to elicit remark. WHAT THE 5 The trial shows that all the neighbors, especially those whose houses are marked on the diagram, were busy taking notes. Mrs. Brown noted tbe pro- od visits of Bishop to Cobb's house; Mrs, J. hem from her kitchen window; Mrs, counted them and found they as) many six. im one di Mra. Merrill ‘timed Bishop’s call once and found it was half an hour, and Mr. Axa} Young, who was often on the lookout fo e him orders for groceries, got in the habit of timing him two or three times weekly. Although the neighbor- hood was thus engaged for year or more, and in the face of much gossip, there was no scandal, Charlie Cobb ‘went to his work in the morning and returned to dinner, went to work again in the afternoon ana came back in the bof ay wit! often oF how long “Bishop's wagon street, Finally, iu February, 1878, he ai after several similar attacks he died in June. ‘kened and During his illness Bishop's wagon came au all the same. Cobb was poi i—of that there i no doubt. His physicians suspected poison—both he and his wife were told of it, and atter his death Pro- fessor Doremus found it in large quantities in his stomach. He had been fed on arsenic and he was saturated with it; he shrank into a mere skeleton; his hair and beard fell out; nobody doubted that he had been murdered, and suspicion pointed naturally to Kate Cobb and Wesley Bishop. CHARLIE COBD'S FUNERAL, When the reports of Charles Cobb's death and its concomitant circumstances were noised abroad the excitement in the village became intense. It was the only subject of conversation among rich and poor. Even the children discoursed on the amours of Wesley Bishop and Katie Cobb. The funeral was an imposing affair, It took place on Sunday, June 6. All the night before it had rained heavily, but in the morning the clouds broke away and the sun shone out brilliantly. ‘The heights overlooking the cove were crowded with adense multitude, all cagerly discussing the one theme, The roadbeds and sidewalks wero filled with people, and men and boys even clung to the fences or perched themselves aloft in the trees. Through Main and Washington streets there were Jong lines of idle konsippers gazing anxiously across the river and waiting impatiently for the procession to move. The procession itself was, in the eyes of the villagers, a great pageant. Three hundred Masons in full regalia had places in the line, Folicwing them were the Waureagn Fire | Engine Company and Sedgwick Post G. A. K, all wearing badges of mourning and sprigs of evergreen | and flowers. Floral tributes were supped in pro- | fusion by the O. D. 0. and other organizations to which Mr. Cobb belonged, and the burial took place under the auspices of Somerset Lodge. Around the urave were neurly five thousand people, aud when the interment was finished the funeral Gy re- solved itself into one vast Committee of the Whole to watch the judicial investigation. BISHOP 8 FIRST DISCLOFURK, ‘The preliminary examination took place in the Court House. It wan a aweltering week in June, and each day the court room was crowded to suffocation. ‘The inquiry lasted several days, In the beginning Bishop showed not the terrors of a guilty conscience, but the vain attempts of # man caught in the meshes of crime to be free were apparent from the outset. The before the funeral he went to Arthur Brewer, who, like himself and Cobb, was a Mason, and asked whether he would be warranted in disclosing @ secret affecting him and Charlie Cobb; something that could not hurt Cobb and that might help him. At the time he knew that Professor Doremus was ana lyzing the contents of Cobb's stomach. Brewer | thought there could be no harm in revealing the secre’ under the ciretmstances, but declined to listen to it himself, and suggested that other Masons be asked to hear it, All who were bs agg on the subject were very reluctant; but, finally, Mr. J. B. | Mershon and Mr, Joseph T. Wait consented to hear | the disclosure in conjunction with Mr, Brewer, stipu- | lating that their holding the secret should uot tend to the concealment of # crime. Bishop agreed to and then came the lame and impotent conclu- bout two months ago Charlie exacted » Masonic pledge from wi d then asked me to get him some arsenio—I th Ws Bishop said bb and asked jestingly, not going to take it yourselt 7? ie, 1 don’t to take it myself,” Cobb an- o want Even the j must | | ! and then elosed bis disclosure to bis Masonic brethren with the words, ‘That is all.” THE ARSENIC POWDERS, Tt was out of this allegation that the theory of suicide originally sprung, but it was soon abandoned 4s untenable. The reason assigned by Cobb for want- ing the arsenic was to poison a dog, It does not pear, however, that he ever poisoned any of hi: neighbors’ canines and Bishop very sgon pro- nounced his story to his Masonie brethren a lie. The defence, however, in the last two days of the trial has evolved out of it a theory that is pot the least startling feature of the pase. In the last year or two of his life Charlie Cobb was so thin that he was knamed “Skinuy."’ His associates used to laugh at him about it, and he was very sensitive in regard to it. He was anxious to get fat, and his wife swore that he took arsenic powders for that purpose. It is a singular story, and it may be true, but he was not the less poi by some other hand than his own for all that, DEMEANOB OF THK TWO PRISONERS, Bishop's disclosure was made previous to the ex- amination which was held at New London in those hot June days, aud, a8 was intended, it all came out during the investigation. op evidently believed this feeble story would save him, not only from the gallows, but from the necessityof under- going formal trial, even. Accordingly he ahnost gay and light hearted, When he me into eourt he seemed much at bis ease, looked round him naturally and almost non- chalantly, aud even bowed and smiled when he recog- nized au acquaintance in the crowded room. 1b marked contrast with such conduet was Katie Cobb's behavior, When she came into court the first day 5] showed that she had been weeping, but outwardly she preserved the appearance of calmness in are- murkable degree. She fixed her gaze on the floor and scarcely removed it during the whole time, seeming ab- sorbed in her own thoughts. As the examination pro- gressed she became completely broken down, and tottered rather than walked in and out of the ¢ room, One day she fainted and for a long time lay inaswoon. That same morning Bishop came down the hill toward the City Hall with Officer Bowen, smoking @ cigar and chatting cheertully with h companion, It was in these conditions—the one buo; ant, the other despondent—that the two persons went back to jail to spend the weary months which must intervene before their trial. BISHOP'S FIRST CONFESSION. Once permanently housed within the prison walls Katie regained her composure and securely closed her mouth and her heart against the world, An equally marked change came over Bishop’s manner and feelings. He saw the gallows staring him in the face and he trembled. Death had a terror for bim which he could not withstand. He sought for solace in religion; but religion has no solace for such as he. He begau to devise means of escape, gnd nis first thought was to free himself by hanging the woman. As he had made up his mind to hang her he thonght she might as well be hanged for two crimes as one, and so he charged her with poisoning not only her own hus- band but his wile. It was after much hesitation and doubt that the first of his so-called confessions was made, He narrates with great particularity the poisons he purchased for Mrs. Cobb and her manner of administering them. The motive of the crime is also explained—love for bun, and, he says, “I was completely carried away with ber.” He tells the story of the way in which the intrigue began, and an_ exeeedingly teeble and foolish story’ it is. Be danced with ber at a ball and “she seemed yery affectionate.” During the winter he met her at five or six other balls aud the atfection grew apace. At the same time he was deliy- ering groceries in the other part of the house where the Cobbs lived and “Kate was always at the window and I would stop and talk with her.” Atter that. he says, when she saw him she always took pains to re- ‘ize him, and one day when she was out riding with sy Garduer he hitched her horse for her to alight and helped her out of the vehicle. “She threw her weight on me,”’ he says, “‘and put herarms round my neck, but only for an instunt. She spoke to me about this afterward, and said she could not help it.” On another day as he was driving by the house “the door was open and she threw a Kiss at me.” In this way the unsophisticated Wesley Bishop became infatuated with the designing Katie Cobb, and was finally Jed to the heroic declaration that he would do anything he could for her, and if necessary would die for her. NOT VERY LIKE A PLAY. Lhe rest of the Bishop drama may be formulated thus: = Karie—If you die I don't want to live. Westey—Where is all this to end? Katre—I don’t know. Westex—Do you ever expect to be mine? Kartz-—I do, Westey—When? Katre—Some time before lone, Wesiny—How is this to be brought abont? We cannot go away and get married, as I have not money enough to take you and go away, Katre—If it was not for my children I would do it. Westey (with oe wisdom)—I know of only one way, and that is by a divorce. " uld perhaps get a divorce, but I couldn’t. ground, Wes_ey—You cap conduct yourself in such a way that Charlie will leave you. Katte—Charlie would not leave me and the chil- pren on any provocation. Wersiey—How, then, do you expect to be mine? Katie—I only know of one way. Wesiey—What way is that? Katie—By burying the one I live with. The foregoing is the exact language of both, as quoted by Wesley Bishop in the confession, and fol- lowing these last words in which the man tries to make fe appear that the woman is the instigator of the crime is this, which to many minds will go far to knock over all his accusations :— “I then asked her if she was willing to bury Charlie in order to become mine. She said she would think of it and let me know to-morrow might. The next morning, at her house, Lasked her it she was ra to answer that question, and she replied, ‘I will tell ou to-night as L agreed.’ In the evening I called on er as arranged, when she answered the question by saying she would be willing to bury Charlie in order to live with me.” Then the poisoning began. A FRENCH CONTRAST. Contrast with this and with what follows a little acene from the novel to which I have reterred, which 1 have taken the tronble to dramatize for the sake of the illustration, to show how guilty women act when. they make up their minds to poison a husband for alover. This is the way the French Katie bb put the subject before the French Wesley Bishop:— Wesiky—We must be patient and wait, Karin—Wait—for what? Till he’s dead? Wrstey—Don't speak #0. Karm—Why not? (going up to him). afew hours to live. her poeket), mistaken. He has only See here! (drawing a vial from This is what convinces me 1 am not (becoming livid and unable to repress his h, poison! almiy)—Yes, poison. You have not used it? I 5 Wratey—You will not use it again. (Turns toward the door.) This very night I shall quit this house forever. Katie _{ptopping him)—Reflect before you act. (Coldiy)--1 will betray the fact of your relations with me. Who will then believe plice? (She looks at him. He trembles.) Speak! ‘Betray me if you choose, Whatever happens, for happiness or misery, we shall no longer be separated. Our destinies will be the same. BURYING CHARLIE. How like and yet how unlike is the story Bishop tells. As Chartie was hard to bury he repeatedly im- plored Katie, so he says, to stop, and suggested that ‘he would go away. “If you want to kill me,” he says Katie said, ‘do #0, for Lcannot live without you. You have become 70" are not my accom. art of m: life.” Pie again tried to induce her to desist but she answered, “No, I have promised to be yours aud I want to be and shall be—only have taith in me and trust me 4 little longer.” So he kept on getting more Pel and she persisted in a it, but Charlie wouldn't die, aud oue day Katie said she thought he was poison proof, Then he told her bis getting so much poison would get him int “They will not think it all for one persor Katie, according to Wesley. me try once more.” Charlie died at last, and Professor Doremus found that he was not altogether poin THE SUPPLEMENTARY NP 5 In his first confession Bishop said that that he should give pis wife morphine, but re. "A few days attorward he my wife Hattie E. Bishop ® powder of m three grains, instead of throwing it in the Gre.” When Katie Cobb was told of these confessions her face flushed and her eyes kindled, and she answered with emphasis, “I love Wesley Bishop! Why, I had a good husband aud whi juld I want of Bishop?” WESLEY BISHOP'S TESTIMONY, It was thus the matter stood when the case came on for trial and Wesley Bishop took the stand as the principal witness inst Katie Cobb, Tne whole effort of the prosecution has been to corroborate the man's statements as against the woman. This at- tempted corroboration has been threetold:— 1, That Bishop was frequently seen in KatieCobb’s company, that they met clandestinely and that the relations between them were criminal. 2. That he made her presents, once of # handmir- ror, once of a gold pencil and once of « gold tooth- pick marked “Pot,” 2 That sho by ed him ye sentimental cli mm the Waverley Magazine and the Poets’ pos Logg the Norwich Bulletin, As the evidence has been fully reported in the Heruarp within afew days it would be useless to re- capitulate it. Ihave been at more pains to ascertain the impression created by it than to measure its logal value. Summarizing ite effuct, then, as it is shown by the conversation of the people of this vil- lage, I find public sentiment strongly against both prisoners. Wesley Bishop is vot believed, while Katic Cobb is condemned. Prejudice is stronger against the woman than the man. “She will broak down om cross examination’ was a phrase on every tongue. Lnvolved in # mesh of contradictions every- body seems on the lookout for circumstances that will corroborate Wesley Bishop. Closely examined it is surprising how trivial most of these ciroum- stances are. A tall woman was eu- tering Bishop's house at night—she must needs be Katie Cobb. Chance mi in the streets, possibly, are magnified into clandestine and illicit assignations and multiplied many times with deadly effect, “While her husband was dying this women was keeping appointments with Bishop on the street.” cry the gossips, “exchanging trinkets and sending him lovesick - try. hatever corroboration of his «i tasnte there is in the testimony of the witnesses for the Stato is to this effect, Itis upou @ coucatenation of cireumstances, each one slight in itself, that this woman is to be convieted, if she is convicted at all, and if she is hanged she will be hanged because Wes- ley Bishop's wagou stop) at her deor and chanee circumstances connected her tate with his. BALANCING THE PROBABILITIES, Leonfess to something like # bias in favor of Katie Cobb; but this bias is result solely of Biah- op’s contradictory stories, “If he paleo his wite, as he hus coufexsed he did, but whose death he had previously charged upon Mrs. Cobb,” I asked myself, “aay not he also be the sole poisoner of Charlie Cohb?” His opportunities of administering the poisons were ay good as hers. He was Cobb's viend, “Lhave known Wesley Bishop longer than you have,” Charlie Cobb said to his mother When she urged him to discard Bishop's company. They ate and drank together, Cobb's medicines were accessible to Bishop at all times if he did not actually furnish them, was @ pretender to some medical knowledge and he had a predilection toward arsenicai poisoning, for before or about the time Char- lie Cobb was first taken ill with poisonous symptoms he hud tried it successfully on wife and buried her without suspicion, This is an important ele- ment of the case without being # part of it in its legal aspect. Iv all that he has said about either ease—the poisoning of his wile or the poisoning of Charlie Cobb—there is only one assertion which is not inconsistent with other known fuets, and that is his avowed infatuation for Katie Cobb, That avowal furnishes a motive for the double crime, Unless Katie Cobb shared in it he alone is gnilty in both cases, and the evidence is far from convincing on this point as against her, She was apparently happy in her home aud to the last was secure in her husband’s love, Bishop's wife was her most intimate friend. In character, in mental gifts and in social position she was his superior, The in- tatnation on her part has not been proved, to say the least of it. Indeed, there is no corroboration of the allegations of Bishop which would establish it. Although he says she wrote him many letters he offers none in evidence, and the only serap of her writing in his possession ig.on a newspaper cutting and is simply the date “July 16, 1577." It is a straight up and down handwriting, character and comeliness. Like everything else about the woman, it preposseases one in her tavor, The letters would have n conclusive, aud in balancing the chances it is more likely he would have pre- served them than the poems. These he produces, but not those, In view of all this her explanations ave exceedingly natural—she never wrote him a letter | in her life and the poetry was sent to Mrs. Bishop. In the poem on whigh the date oecurs are the lines— Binee I have known her love was mino How bright the stars above me shine, In the first line the word “her” is changed to “his” with a pencil. She says she did not make the changes, and an inspection of ‘the pencil marks does not show that the changes were made with the same pencil or by the same hand that wrote the date, Even apart from these considerations, her explanation in regard to the verses is more natural than his, hey are stanzas that one woman might send to another, but not such verses as Gabo- rian's heroine would give to her paramour. In a to the presents, too, her story seems more acceptable than hi She gave him ‘some trifli presents, but the “pet”? was her husband; the hand- mirror he bought for her, and she thought it was to be paid for just as the groceries were paid for, aud the gold pencil she found. The clandestine meetings and the illicit ‘relations she denies. On all these points her word is better than his, for she has never told but one story while he has contradicted himself in regard to every essential fact. BISHOP AS AN ADAPTER. In view of all his assertions, of his many contra- dictions and of the venials with which stories: have been met, I can only regard fuer as a very in- terior novelist when he comes to work out his plot. Tn Ins confessions and in his testimony the plot of his story is identical with that of the “Mystery of Oreival.” It is surprising how like they are, and I have been almost tempted to believe that Emile Gubo- rinn is Bishop's favorite noyelist. But he has none of Gaborian’s skill in putting the flesh on his skeletons. Allhis averments are based upon or suggested by some actual cireumstance., Bishop's is not @ creative mind, but, like the modern pioyeright, he shows the adaptive faculty in a remarkable degree, It is when we consider him in this regard that we begin to see how he may have been led to impute both crimes to Katie Cobb. He simply changed places with her—placed the woman in the man’s shoes— and cried out to the world, ‘Behold the tiend who in- fatuated me by her devices, and then, when I was captive to her will, made me the accomplice of her crimes!" Ido not know but that I go too far in at- tributing so mucn cunning to Wesley Bishop, but he undoubtedly suppli the groundwork for Another hand may have wrought it form and, as far as possible, con- To regard him asa fool would be to fail utterly in understanding him, His story is a start- ling one—too startling for the pluin-faced, self- restrained, Katie Cobb even to have played the ieud- ing part in it—and I cannot shake off the feeling that Wry Bishop has been trying to exchange places with her. THE PRIKONERS AS WITNESSES, The demeanor of the two prisoners, so marked in the early stages of the case aud so marvellous in the changes which subsequently took place, was not less apparent in the final struggle. On the witness stand Bishop always seemed to be feeling his way, as if look- ing out for the pitfalls which he himself had dug. His story had been carefully framed, thoroughly consid- ered in every particular and it ‘was told as if it had been rehearsed over and over again, He exhibited none of the gropings of a forgetful actor fishing for his lines, but on his cross-examination he seemed doubtful whether his drama was point lace or calico. Up to that time I had never seen the man, [ watched him carefully, and as I looked into his clammy, hypocritical and angular face and followed him in his furtive mannerisms and awkward tures I —— in the shuttling witness the wilful murderer. Then I read his testimony at the prelim- inary examination and his confessions, and con- trasted them with his latest story. The poetry was a new feature in the case, supplied, I believe, to strengthen the story of the correspondence and the illicit connections. His account of his infatuation was not as pronounced, but he increased the number of the illicit connections and was more malevolent than ever in blackening the character of the woman. Occasionally he would smile, and whenever he sprung some fresh surprise upon the Court there woud be a merry twinkle in his eyes. It was a spec- tacle even more saddening than disgusting. All this time Katie Cobb sat before the accuser calm, digni- fied, unmoved. Only once or twice did she deign to da look of fierce hatred at the man on the wit- ness stand, What she thought or felt no man could tell, and it was just after Bishop had left the stand for the last time that I followed her into one of the private rooms of the Court House, aceompanied by her counsel, and had the conyersation with her which I have already de- seribed, ‘What do you think of Mr. So-and-Ho ?” said Mr, Wait to me, naming a prominent politician. 1 protested I did not want to say, but he pressed me. “Well, if I had any business relations with him I would watch him.” “Would he make a good hus- band?” asked the lawyer. “Idid not know you ‘were 8) ing of matters of the heart,” Isaid. “I should say yes, decidedly, if the lady loves him.” Mrs. Cobb langhed almost aloud, and I almost wondered whether Mr. Wait was going to supply Mrs. Cobb with a husband as soon as he succeeds in ac- quitting her, MRS, COBB IN COURT. All day Thursday and yesterday she was on the witness stand, und she bore the ordeal well. Those who expected’ her to break down were disappointed. She was as self-contained op the stand as when she sat under Bishop's accusations, and all her answers wore frank and straightforward. ‘The impression she made was excellent, and her emotion when she de- scribed the deathbed of her husband was uot over- strained or overacted. The case is not yet closed, but it will beon Monday, and then will follow the arguments of counsel, the charge of the Court and the verdict of the jury, which may pecepanet, be only an ante-climax preceding the fi full of the curtain, PROGNESS OF THE TRIAL, ‘The trial was resumed at nineo'clock this morning, d, occupying a seat on the bench as a visitor, was © Hovey, who is taking a rest _atter five weeks of the Charter Oak Company case at Hartford. THR THROWY OF ARKENICAL POTRONING. The first witness called for the defence this morn- ing was Dr. Pliny A. Jewett, of New Haven. The Doc- tor isa heavy, dignified gentleman, with iron gray mustache and mutton chop whiskers. He bi ht into court adozen medical works in which entcal —I have oisoning was Been a practitioner for forty years and bave giveu much attention to poisoning and haye been engaged in every cave of this kind in the New Haven courts for many years; arsenic poisoning I have oiten invest ; [have no personal knowl- edge of arsenic eating in various parts of the world, but I know it from best authorities; in “Heal- land on the Action of Medicine on the System” he Pr Bes is recounted the visit of several European physicians to Styria, in Lower Austria, whore arsenic eating is practixed, and men were seen to tak five or = ne ate & single grain is deadly to ® person uni omed to ite tse; the strongest form of arsenic ix arsenic acid or white arsenic; ‘Taylor's Medical Jurisprudence,” page ‘21, says that the influence of poison is chiefly erived from organic poisons, and doubts the stories of arsenic eating in Styria abd corrosive sublimate eating in Turkey, but iu the appendix to the work is rocounted the practices of the people of Styria, where aa took weckly enough to kill ten ish jults. A STYRIAN SUPERSTITION. Yet in this country uo physician has ever found anything corresponding; death is the final result of the practice; an absurdity referred to by ‘Taylor is that the Styrians take this poison at certain stages of the moon, on the same principle that some old Country people im America will not kill their hoys at certain stages of the moon, through fear that tl flesh will shrink in the when boiling; in a later edition of Taylor's work ia recounted the death of an arsenic eater, with all the symp- toms of chronic poisoning; in this ‘case, which was in Halifax, the man had been an arsenic eater ior three years, and became greatly emaciated; Stillé’s “iateria Medica” de- scribes the effects of arsenic aa used in Styria; the arsenic taken begins with a half grain, which is taken several times weekly, and continues it for mouths to familiarize the system thoroughly with the use of the poison; then the quantity is gradually increased; the taker becomes volatile in manner and is enabled to endure great fatigne and ascend great heights; it is noted, however, that serious results eventually occur; the practice cannot readily be wbandoned; great emaciation occurs for some reason — whic’ cannot be explained, — but is attributed to a disease resulting from the practice ; Ringer's “Handbook on Therapeutics’ remarks that the statements regarding the effects of thy habitual use of arsenic are contlicting; the use of the drug in Styria is deserived, women Using it for ther complexion and the men to erable them to endure fatigue. Yet the system never wholly tolerates Isis, © 333, says that arsenic acid in medicinal domes ‘ial, and reters briefly to the Styrian . The “Chemistry of Common Life,” 7 johnston, second volume, edition of 1865, page 166, says that white arsenic, in minute doses, is a tonic aud alterative; itis sometimes used for cutaneous diseases; but it is rarely used by phguielane, and has never been a household medicine. e Styrian prac- tice is described and its results stated, the practice having great antiquity. wh A PONSTEL MELEMAD'S, a pcre e young peasants arc greatly imp) y wen, eke in face aud figure. A story is told of o millauaid who took : with the intent of attract- ing her lover. She became rosy and her figure bean- tifully rounded out; but endeavoring to increase the effects she incautiously took ap overdose und died 4 victims to ber anit, 0 evidences of chronic poison ing are noticed while regular doses are taken; but it they are Seopyed there are bad symptoms, and if over- doses wre taken there are slight symptoms of poison- ing. Roscoe's *Chemistry,’’ edition of 1878, mentions the Styrian cases, and notes that the practice is usa- ally carried on in secret. ‘The opium eater practises his habit in secret, so do all persons adicted to similar practices, for they are pechanl ashamed, Continuing Dr, Jewett said:— Upium is taken in various forms, sometimes as pare- Several payes from the *Me- moirs of the Literary aud Philosophical Society at Manchester,” publis! in London in 1865, were read, State Attorney Waller objected that the writers quoted ure not recognized as authority. Chiet Justice Park ruled that these statements must not be taken as sworn evidence or facts proven in thiscase, They really are statements {rom which See authority has drawn certain theories and conclu- sions, Witness quoted largely from other medical authors on the effects of pot 5 Cross examined—I haye never seen an arsenic eater in my life, neither have I seeu-a physician who had acase; Iget no American opinion that the human body can tolerate arsenic in large quantities; I haye uo knowledge of the human body being capable of sus- taining what erdinerily are considered fatally poison- ous doses, ‘The prosecution read from “Taylor on Poisons,” edi- tion of 1875, an approved authority of the doctor's, to show there was no authority for ‘saying that human beings can habituate themselves to the use of arsenic in ordinarily fatal doses, for the doctor's indorse- ment; but he did not readily indorse. Also from the same authority he read of the precuutions of arsenic miners in stopping their nostrils and mouths to pre- vent poisoning by inhalation, I do not allow the Styrian stories to influence my opinion of arsenic eating in this country; I advise uo one to try it. Re-uirect examination—The falling of the beard is an indication of disease in the system; the action of vinegar bitters, Calitornia wine bitters, Atwood's bitters and Winchester’s byperphosphate, taken in doses, prove deleterious to the system, Mixs Jennie Douglass reealled—Mrs. Cobb came to see ine the last part of May; Ido not know the time ot ae I should sey vetween seven and eight o'clock, Howard L, Stanton, called and sworn, testified :— On the #ist o. May I was ut the Delaney engine house; Teame out about nine o’clock and met Mrs. Cobb and her little daughter, and walked to the corner of Pearl and Fairmont streets; she was going home, { think. Cross-exainined—I knew it was after nine because the boat train had arrived, THE “'PET'’ CUP AND SAUCER, Mrs. Betsy B. Waterman was recalled by the prose- eution:— Q. In answer to # question yesterday, “Did youn show your little granddaughter 9 cup and saucer marked ‘Pet’ and ask her if she remembered her father making her mother a present?’ A. I did not; T never saw the cup and saucer, Q. Did you not tell the little girl she was mistaken about the **Pet’’ eup and saucer? A, I did not; I never heard of the cup and saucer till I heard of it in court; the little girl came home and asked about a motto on the wall, and I told her the motto was on the wall over the door; the little girl said she was asked by the lawyers about a cup and saucer, and that she toid them that if her mother had a cup and saucer marked “Pet” her grandtather must have it, as he had taken her mother's dishes. Mr. L. W. Dudiey was culled to testify to the pur- chase of a second mirror by Bishop in the spring of Asis. goric, a8 a yum, &e. Hugh Montgomery, called and sworn, tes- Rev. titied:—I am pastor of the Central Methodist Church ; I was at Bishop's house the day she died; 1 met Mrs. Cobb on the street a few is the west side of the house; she was weeping and apparently feeling very bad; { went in and saw Bishop; I called at Mr. Cobb's an hour after his decease; I saw Mrs. Cobb; she was weeping very bitterly; 1 think she was seated on ths sofa with w lady triend weeping; 1 prayed with the temily and then left, A CHILD'S TESTIMONY, The prosecution called the little girl Della W. Cobb, aged less than ten years next March. The defence objected to her testimony on the claim that she was too tender in years jogive evidence, District Attor- ney Waller teclingly addressed the Court regretting the necessity that demanded suen an expedient, but deemed it the only thing left for the Btate todo under the circumstances, She gave her name prettily as Della W. Cobb. She said, in answer to the attorney, “Lé L swear to tell the truth all tell the truth; it Ido not tell the truth it is Judge Culyer interrogated her pleasantly as to who would punish her if she told a talsehood, and she replied, “God.” In response to Colonel Wait, of the defence, as to whether she understood the nature of an oath, she said, No, sir.” The Court, Gooming the child had a sufiiciently comprehensive idea of right and wrong, admitted her testimony. District Attorney Wailer asked her who was present when she told the counsel for the State about the cup marked “Pet,” and she readily called each person present by name. In answer to a question what her grandmother said to her when she got home she said, “Ido not remember,” Colonel Wait, of the defence, denied the right of the proseeution to go into an inquiry between the child | ond Mrs. Waterman, as Mrs. Waterman was not on The prosecution had called Mrs, Waterman and made her a witness for the State to get her evi- dence about 4 certain cup marked ‘Pet, and the At- torney for the State, he claimed, had uo right to bring a child to contradict bis own witness. Mr. Waller, for the State, said Mrs. Waterman had been an important witness for the defence, and the State wished to show she was an incredible witness, because she had tampered with other witnesses. The Court ruled that the State had a perfect right, under the rules of law, to impeach the grandmother as a witness re the testimony of the iittle yrand- daughter if had attempted to influence her to testify falsely. The little girl was then allowed to testify. She wore a white relt hat, trimmed with blue ribbon, sit- ting jauutily on her head, and a double breasted frock, beneath which hung @ pretty Scotch plaid winter dress. She was # handsome child, and the court room was hushed to the stillness of death that every word the child might say could be heard. She testified as follows:— I went home to Waterman's; saw her as soon as I went into the house; I do not remember what my grandmother said; Itold my grandmother all what she asked me; I told her I auswered all the questions you asked me; about the note Mr. Bishop gave me, and whether mamina was clever to papa, and about the motto on the wall, and about the cup; I told my grandmother you asked me if my mother had » cup and what it hed on it; IL “Pet;” I don't remember I told my grandmother about it; my grandmother told me she didn’t have any cup with ‘Pet’ on it; my grandmother showed me & cup With something on it and seid it was her cup; my grandmother told me it was her cup I saw; it said on it, “A present from Celia;” it was week be- fore last; I told my grandmother Bishop told me to tell mother something, Leould not tell what; I do not remember what grandmother said, ‘The Court then urned intil Tuesday at nine " ‘The pleas will be made Tuesday afternoon nd it is hoped # verdict night. THE DEAD MURDERER. THE BODY OF BENJAMIN HUNTER~—AN UN- SEEMLY EXHIBITION OF MOBBID CURLOSITY— THE ALLEGED ATTEMPTED SUICIDE. PHILADELPHIA, Jan. 11, 1879, After the strangled body of Benjamin Hunter, tho murderer of John M. Armstrong, was cut down from Sheriff Calhoun's newfangled gallows yesterday, it was given in charge of John C, Hunter, the broken- hearted brother. It was brought to this city as quietly a8 possible and taken to the undortaker’s shop of David 1. Kaliock, at Second and Bainbridge streets, There it remained until one o'clock this morning, when it was privately removed to the home of the sorrowing family of the dead man, on Tenth strect, below Wharton. Before the execution took place crowds of people began gathering in front of the house where Hunter had lived, and as the day wore on a motley and noisy throng idly waited for the expected undertaker's wagon containing the corpse of the murderer, But they waited in vain for a chance of satisfying their morbid cravings, and at length this disgracetul and ‘unseemly exbibition of bad taste was put an end to by the police, who, at the solicitation of the family, drove the throng away and assured them that their curiosity woukl not be ed. At one o'clock this morning, when the streets were deserted, the body was taken home and placed in the second story front room in an icebox, where it now lies, Mr. John ©, Hunter stayed with the family all night. The funeral will probably take place on Monday.“but wilt be kept as private as possible. No public announce- ment of the time or place will be made, To# crowds again lingered near the house, HUNTERS WILL. It is understood that Hunter in his will leaves what remains of his estate to his wife and children, A gentleman who interested himself in the doomed mans behalf, says that the defence not have cost Hunter less than $15,000, and to be week is taken from what he was represented along with his wife's interest, in all $40,000, woul leaye the family in very good circumstances, It said that the family will remove to the West. A MEDICAL OPINION, Dr. Thomas H. Andrews, Demonstrator of Anat- omy in the Jefferson Medical College, was present at the hanging, tu his official capacity, under the orders of the Sherif. He stutes that about ten minutes pre- yious to the hanging he saw the culprit. He was lying upon the bed, and pon being ques tioned did not answer, Shortly before ¢bm- said | | for such room or 3. down he my tons | cfintunigty, whee was a request for , granted ae in the si of about two ounces of whiskey. not enough, however, in the language of the doctor, to produce the semi-cousciousness which he showed previous to execution. This condition was the result neither of intoxication nor loss of blood trom his self-inflicted wound, but merely from the wretch’s terror and cowardice, The story of Hunter's suicide, it pow sppears, was @: rated. The cool investigations of science show that the “pint and a half of blood” amounted to scarcely an ounce, and the severing of an. “artery” was merely the re of a vein. Professor Andrews, who an tion ot Hunter's body for the purpose of certity his death before the Coroper, declares that there 22 on incision, otioeabie on the left beg. eee f e er the ut not in the neighborhood 9 any large bigod vessel. THE COURTS, ENFORCING THE COLLECTOR TO SHOW CUSTOM HOUSE FILES, Late in the fall of 1878 one Peddrick, the Custom House clerk of Benkerd & Hutton, ene of the oldest and largest importing houses in the country, ab- seconded, and the Custom House officers claimed that duties to the amount of over $120,000, gold, had been due and unpaid for some time from that firm, They were notified to pay that amount and have their ware- house bonds cancelled, The firm had issued checks for the full amount of these duties to Peddrick st the ‘time of the withdrawal from warehouse of the goods, ayd had always supposed that this amount had been paid at the Custom House in the regular course of business, inasmuch as the Collector had in every case issued permits to the warehouse men informing them that the duties were paid in full and authorizing the delivery of the goods to Benkard & Hutton. The firm at once sent to the Custom House their bookkeepers and clerks, who commenced the examination of their entries and bonds on file, which purported to show, 60 far as they went, that all the duties duc had been promptly paid, and the permits for delivery surrendered by Benkard & Hutton to the Collector upon receipt of their goods from the government warehouse in evel case recited that the duties had been paid in full, They began then an Inquiry how it could happen that the official records showed such payment if in fact no payment. had been made by Peddrick, and they were told by the customs officers that Peddrick had filled in blank [i ang in the permits to make them cover other goods than those upon which the dutios had been paid, and that he had probably pocketed the difference, The importers then inquired how it hap- ened that its were issued reciti: the payment of duty with blanks that cout be filled up to cover other goods, The only answer they have yet received was that, while they wore still examining the records of the Custom House, a suit was begim in the United States Circuit Court tor about $110,000 and another in the District Court for about $10,000; that in the former an at- tachment was issued against the property of the firm on the ground that Mr. Hutton, who had a residence at Orange, N. J., was a non-resident of the State of New York; that this tied up their business and naturally caused much confusion and anxiety tor the time, and put a stop to their scrutiny of the Custom fouse = files; that the firm was of abundant stability and resources, and promptly deposited in the two courts the full amount of the government's claim and interest in gold, to abide the result of the suits, whereupon the attachment was vacated; that then it became known that the firm would defend the suits, and upon the application of their counsel to inspect tho Custom House files for the purpose of Senatng their defence Collector Merritt refused to permit any in- spection or access to them, According to the course of business at the Custom House, when duties are paid the record evidence of payment appears on the permits for the delivery of the goods and such other papers as are kept and filed in the Custom House; that the customs officers are instructed to and do customarily refuse to give any receipt for the payment of duties, and that no checks are taken, but the gold must be taken over the counter; and, there- fore, unless the importer in person pays the duty, he is at the mercy of a dishonest clerk or dishonest cus- toms officers, except so far as he is protected by the record evidence of ment on Custom House papers, The defendants, the refusal of Collector Merritt to their counsel to see the records, app! Choate in the United States District Court for » of all poe by the government until they should be permitted free inspection of these records, and also tor a mandamus directed to the Collector to compel him to permit such inspection, These mo- tions came on for argument yesterday before Judge Choate, gud the right ot the defendants to the imspec- tion of the papers covering @ foreg ound was discusses and the claim was made in behalf of the defendants that under section 14 of the Judiciary act the United States District Court could issue the writ of mandamus in the pending suit, and in aid of it, to enable the defendants to make their formal answer. Assistant District Attorney Jones ap- peared for the Collector and the government, and ex- Assistant District gg Faw er M, Sherman and ni John N, Whitin ants, Judge Choate reserved his jon, saying that he wor reach it during the coming week. DEOISIONS IN BANKRUPTCY, Judge Choate, of the United States District Court, rendered an important decision yesterday in the mat-' ter of Charles V, L. Pitts, bankrupt. This was upon # motion to vacate a stay of proceedings, by the effect of which a creditor of the bankrupt who recovered judgment prior to the ‘commencement of the pro- ceedings in bankruptcy was stayed from arresting the bankrupt. The judgment was recovered tor goods sold and delivered. Before judgment an order of arrest was made on affidavits showing that the plaintiff was induced to give credit for the goods by talse representations as to his credit and means, From this au » was taken, which was not finally determined till after the commencement of the bankruptcy proceedings, “The order was then affirmed,” says Judge Choate, “and.is now in force, and, under laws of New York, entitles the judgment creditor to an execution against the m.”* Tn conclusion Judge Choate decides that the stay whall be vacated “so as to allow the posnglnt conc on the judgment for the arrest of the rupt." C, Whitaker appeared for bankrupt and Bernard and Fiero for judgment creditors. Judge Choate also rendered @ decision yostardoy in the matter of Oliver B, Whitner, bankrupt. This ‘was @ motion to vacate or modify & stay of proceed- ings which prevents a creditor from proceeding to enforce by warrant of arrest a decree of « Su ate against the bankrupt as an administrator. “Tho creditor,” decides Judge Choate, ‘tis the owner by as- signment of certain claims against the bankrupt for moneys received by him as administrator, and which he has misappropriated, and for the payment of which a final decree was entered by the Surrogate, which has been docketed and execution issued thereon unsatisfied.” He directs that the stay be “modified so that it shall not prevent proceedings upon the basis of the Surrogate’s for commitment and arrest of the bankrupt.” THE BERRIEN DISPOSSESS CASE, In relation to the disposeess case of Beach against Berrien, a report of which appeared in yesterday's Heraup, Messrs. Dunne and Nolan, counsel for tho plaintiff and for Mr, Stotesbury, his grantor, allege that in order to place Mr, Stotesbury's relations to the case in a ie light it shoulda be stated that General Ward already contract for the purchase of the perty before Mr, Stotesbury's sympathies ‘were enlisted in the matter at all; that i was ouly when General Ward was unable to complete the cou- tract that Mr. Stotesbury consented to interfere; that it then became the understanding that each wes to furnish $1,500, and that in this General Ward failed, and Mr. Stotesbury, being bound in the contract with the pwner, was compelled to carry it out alone, and, with the assent of both General Ward and Mrs. Berrien, took the deed in his own name. As to the letter which Mrs. Berrien was given “twenty-four hours” within which to write, it is claimed it had relation to matters entirely disconnected with i desire on the part of Mr. Stotesbury to have Get Ward vacate his room, and did not origmate in any fancy on the of tho tormer other room ip ¢! house. The letter from which it was sought to infor # declaration of trust, it is alleged further hi counsel for the defendant, had relation merely to Mr, Stotes- bury's declaration of willingness to convey the prop- erty to Mrs. Berrien, within five years, on payment by her of the amount ex] thereon, and that this declaration he would gladly at any time carried into aifect, REPORTS OF ABSIGNEES, A motion was yesterday made before Judge Choate, in the United States Court, by Mr. Charles Strauss, counsel for Philip Wolf & Co., to compel the assignee estate of Charles Matty & Co., bankrupts, to See accounting of the estate in hi hands, The petition shows that the bankrupts adjudicated on April 28, 1876, since which time nothing has been done; that at a meeting held before Register Dayton Ernest F. bv oe was elected assignee by the friends of the rupts, and that bh ‘since col- lected a turge amount of money for which he refuses ‘These facta being made Judge hoate ordered the gory ym fl the assignee, and that to o o »: 1 be attached for bf Court in not appearing to answer the petition, and that he be personally charged with the expenses of the procecdings. ‘This ia one of several similar mo- tions which are made under the recent order ot Judge Choate to compel assignees to report their pro- cordngs to the Court. FRANCIS MURPHY'S FAREWELL. Prancis Murphy, the temperance advocate, who has been doing such good work for the past two months in this city, closes his labors this evening at the Free Tabernacle Church, Thirty-fourth street, betweeu Seventh aud Eighth avenues, During his stay here Mr. Murphy has induced 25,000 persons to sign the pledge, It ix expected that hin farewell iow York will be the friends of occasion for a, the the temperance cause, \