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wrote them, I should not undertake to say who wrote it, but there are dissimilarities which outweigh any such consideration.
“it is written in an irregular manner, some of it is crooked and looks as though it was writton [sic] in an unnatural style.”
“Some of the words are in the natural style of Mr. Trefethen. The letter, I believe, was written under unusual circumstances, and probably disguised to some extent. It is characteristic all through of Mr. Trefethen’s handwriting.
“The ‘th’ in the letter shows Trefethen’s habit of running off the cross, as was his characteristic in the standards. There are about 100 ‘d’s’ which I have examined, and they are similar to Trefethen’s.
“The word ‘get’ in the letter is irregular, and in my opinion an attempt to disguise the regular hand.
“The letter ‘g’ in the word is characteristic of Mr. Trefethen’s handwriting, and is nowhere in Miss Davis’ writing. He throws off the final ‘t’ with an upward sweep, and the ‘t’ in ‘get’ looks like an attempt to disguise.
“Letters are made in most cases by an automatic motion of which the man himself is very often unconscious.
“ ‘Shall’ in the letter is very irregular. I have compared it with the word ‘should’ in the memorandum. The word ‘be’ in the letter is very similar to the same word in the memorandum, on the fourth page, and ‘the’ in the letter is a word in Trefethen’s natural handwriting. There is not in Miss Davis’ entire handwriting anywhere any word ‘the’ written as that is written. There is no similarity whatever between the ‘th’ of ‘think’ in the letter, and any word in which the letters occur in Miss Davis’ handwriting. But it is such a distinct characteristic of Mr. Trefethen’s handwriting to have the up lines of the ‘t’ and the ‘h,’ what I call sag, or turn outward, that I could almost tell his writing from one work in which these letters occur.
“The word ‘is’ shows a marked similarity to the same word in Mr. Trefethen’s handwriting, and I have been unable to find any parallel for it in any of Miss Davis’ handwriting.”
The witness pointed out several other peculiarities in the writing of the letter, which in his opinion were characteristics of Trefethen’s handwriting.
A recess was taken at 1 o’clock.
It is expected that the Government’s Case will be Closed
this afternoon at a late hour.
There are only one or two other witnesses to be examined, and their testimony will deal mainly with the relations alleged to have existed between Trefethen and Miss Davis.
The case for the defence will be opened by Mr. Coggan, and the summing up at the close will fall to Gov. Long.
A number of witnesses will be examined to account for the whereabouts of the two defendants on the night of the 23d of December. It is anticipated that the defence will take two days to present the prisoners’ side of the case, so that it will probably not be given until Monday afternoon or Tuesday.
As the case draws to a close public interest in it increases to an extraordinary degree-
The largest crowd which yet filled the courtroom and precincts was in attendance this afternoon, the entire passage outside the door being blocked by a struggling mass of humanity, while those who were fortunate enough to get in, only did so by taking the seats which had been vacated by those who were present at the forenoon session. Just as soon as the recess had been declared.
Some did not leave the court room at all, so anxious were they to retain the vantage ground they had captured.
The counsel for the defence would not express themselves as to the outlook, but it is understood that they are very hopeful as to the result, and feel that the government has not made out a sufficient case to warrant a conviction.
At 2 o’clock Mr. Fairbanks continued his testimony.
He said: “I call particular attention to the “avis” of the name “Davis” on the envelope.
“The ‘V’ is a round turned bottom one, and Miss Davis never made one like that as far as I have been able to find out. The “avis” corresponds exactly with the same letters in all of Trefethen’s writing, broad at the bottom, narrow at the top, and then thrown off.
“The word ‘ferry’ on the envelope is the same as the same word in the memorandum. The ‘f’ is crossed exactly in the same way, and the “r’s” have the same little straight line as a turn to form the letter at the top, and is the same in each case.
“The same is the case in the word ‘Everett,’ and it is similar in the agreement, varying the same way, and it is the same in Trefethen’s letter to Seville.
“The abbreviation ‘Miss’ has the same general characteristics. The ‘M’ in the abbreviation is the same as the same letters in the same word in the letter to the sheriff, and also in the agreement.
“The word ‘of’ is the same in the anonymous letter, in the letter to Seville and in that to the sheriff.
“I have compared the “lt” in “guilty” in the anonymous letter with the “lt” in “Deltena” in the memorandum, and there is a great similarity.
“Now I call attention to these two letters, which form a combination which settles this matter.”
Gov. Long – Now I call the attention of the court to the language which this witness is using.
The court – “State your reasons, Mr. Witness, and let the jury judge of the weight to be attached to them.”
John O’Callaghan. The Boston Globe – 29 Apr 1892,
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