MONDAY'S TESTIMONY

A VISIT TO HOLLIDAY’S COVE

On Saturday afternoon the jury in the Baker case, accompanied by the Judge and the court officers, the Sheriff accompanied by the prisoner, and also the counsel in the case, were furnished with carriages, and drove across the county to Holliday’s Cove, for the purpose of viewing in a body the scene of the murder. The route along Kings Creek, and down the beautiful Cove valley, was quite enjoyable to the entire party, with perhaps one exception. And even the prisoner seemed to enjoy it after a fashion, perhaps as well as he is capable just now, under the terrible strain of the trial, of enjoying anything. It certainly must at least have been a great relief to him to get away from his gloomy cell and the grim walls of the court house, for a time, to breathe the cool, free, refreshing and life –giving air of heaven. Yet what associations must have crowded themselves upon the mind of the prisoner as he viewed the scenes of the terrible tragedy, for the perpetuation of which he is being tried. But we will not attempt to intrude upon the secret thoughts of his heart at such a time. Suffice it to say, that if the blood stains which still remain upon the floors of the cottage on the hill, (within a stone’s throw of the beautiful village church where Baker himself had been an attendant upon Divine service the day before the murder,) were mute witnesses of his guilt, no on present on the occasion of the visit could guess it from any word or emotion of countenance on the part of the accused.

HOLLIDAY’S COVE

Is one of the last places in the universe one would ever suspect as being the scene of such a tragedy as that enacted in its isolated borders on the 9th of May last. The neighborhood is quiet, peaceful, secluded. The building of a railroad through it, some years ago, and the projecting of another recently, produced a jar upon its retired natural surroundings, which has seemed almost like sacrilege. The people who live in the neighborhood of the murder scene, are generally the same who lived there twenty-five to forty years ago, in many cases occupying the same houses. The McWha family had occupied the premises where the murder was committed about twenty-five years. Robert McWha, the head of the family, had been a well-to-do farmer, who had sold his farm, invested his money in bonds and mortgages, bought the little house in the village, and settled down to end his days in peace and quietness, which he did about six years ago. Eliza McWha was a middle-aged maiden lady when she married Baker, which she did certainly without a knowledge of the character he bore among those who knew him during the life-time of his first wife.

THE SCENE OF THE MURDER

Was found with all the surroundings left as nearly as possible as they were after the commission of the foul deed. There were the dried marks of the blood, on the floors, the door jams, the spots on the windows; the marks of the woman’s form still visible on the floor where the body of Mrs. McWha had lain, writhing in its gore; the windows covered over with garments, newspapers, etc., --to shut out the light of day, and to give seclusion from prying eyes, --and as the jury passed over and about the scene, which had been vividly pictured to them by the testimony of the witnesses already examined, they must have been enabled to shape many things in definite form which otherwise might have been more or less obscure.

BAKER’S FATHER

The aged father of Van B. Baker, who came from his home near Cross Creek village on Saturday afternoon, visited the prisoner that evening, and the meeting was quite affection. The old gentleman wept bitterly. He was present also and sat beside the prisoner during the taking of testimony this forenoon.

MONDAY—BUT LITTLE PROGRESS

This morning upon the assembling of court, at 9 o’clock, Mr. McCloud, who was on the stand Saturday when court adjourned, was further examined briefly by the counsel for the prosecution, and afterward questioned by the defense, without eliciting any new facts of any special importance to the case beyond those published in our issue of Saturday. Mr. Brown, the editor of the Independent, was called, to restate the points of a conversation had with the prisoner after his arrest, and he testified that he could not recall with a certainty the conversation held; if allowed to do so, he would produce a copy of the interview, which he had published a the time, and which he could verify if allowed to secure a copy of his paper in which the interview was published. He was excused until he could produce the paper referred to.

Wm. Davidson, who had been on the stand on Thursday last, was recalled, and stated that the paper or article of agreement for the rest of the stable was an old one that had been used on a former occasion, and few changes were made so as to answer their purposes; we were not at the house a great while; it was between twelve and one o’clock on Monday, the 9thof May; we were at the home I should think twenty or twenty-five minutes or half an hour; as we went down over the hill from the house the R. R. men were going to work after dinner; the time they worked by was twenty minutes faster than local time.

S. Ferrall, conductor on the Panhandle R. R. was recalled. On the afternoon on Monday, May 9th, he was running a passenger train from Steubenville to Pittsburgh. The prisoner had been a passenger on my train on that afternoon; he got on at Holliday’s Cove, and left the train at Hanlon’s Station; he had formerly been very social, and spoke to many of the passengers; he had always been in the habit of speaking to me; at he Cove, as we were coming into the station, I noticed Baker, he took his seat; I did not notice him speaking to anybody; he did not speak to me; Thompson Gilmore got on at the Cove station that day’ the next I saw of the prisoner was coming in on my train on the morning of May 10th; he got on at Hanlon’s Station and got off at the Cove; his manner attracted my attention; he seemed very nervous; he did not speak to any one; after I had passed him, I turned and looked at him a second time, remarking to myself his strange appearance; he was looking out the car window; he reached his ticket to me without looking around.

Cross-examination—I had put Baker off my train on a former occasion, on account of some difficulty about the payment of fare.

Re-direct—I put him off my train when in the discharge of my duty as conductor; I noticed him closely on the day in question, because I had learned to watch such fellows

James Lysle, who resides one mile east of Cross Creek, was a student of theology, and in the habit of preaching during vacation. He testified: I never had a personal acquaintance with Baker until May 8th, at the Cove Church. I met him in W. M. Lee’s Sunday-school class; I saw him Monday at Hanlon’s Station, a few minutes after four o’clock; I had gotten off the east bound train, having taken the train to Holliday’s Cove; Baker was on the platform when I got off; I was going to speak to him but he did not seem to notice me; Baker met James T. Marquis and asked him if he had a conveyance; he said yes, he had a wagon and he (Baker) could go along with him; Mr. Marquis gave me an introduction to Baker, when Baker said he had forgotten his umbrella; Mr. Marquis said he would try to keep him dry if it should rain; the prisoner started off and did not return; I went up with Mr. Marquis in the wagon toward Cross-creek village; it is about six miles; we started in about fifteen minutes; Marquis waited for Baker; but he did not come; I recognized Baker when I saw him; I preached at the Cove church morning and evening on the 9th of May.

Court took recess until one o’clock P. M.

HOW LONG WILL IT LAST?

There is a good deal of speculation as to the length of time likely yet to be consumed in the trial of this case, and the prevailing opinion now seems to be that a conclusion will not likely be reached before the middle or latter part of next week. The counsel for the defense began to show decided evidence of impatience, under the rigid examination of numerous witnesses for the State.

A POSSIBLE RESULT

Upon the presumption that the juryman Jester is in the box with the object of “Hanging the jury,” to use a significant phrase in court parlance—which opinion has been somewhat freely expressed—in case a disagreement should follow, a retrial would be necessitated on indictment No. 1, or else another jury could be drawn for the purpose of trying the accused on indictment No. 2. It will be remembered that the indictment upon which Baker is now being tried is for the murder of Mrs. McWha, Indictment No. 2 is for the murder of Mrs. Baker.

MONDAY’S SLOW PROCESS

After dinner on Monday considerable testimony was taken to show that the article of agreement about the rent of the stable had had the date changed from May 2d to May 9th, and that the names had been written in since that time.

The white shawl that was used in blinding the kitchen window was brought into court and was recognized by a witness. Saw it on May 10 on the back window of the kitchen on the upper half of the window. Both ends were forced over nail on either side of the window so that it completely covered the upper sash.

Silas McConnell narrated a conversation with Baker the day after the murder about the changing of the $50 bill.

Thompson Gilmore told much the same story. He saw the prisoner on the day the murder is supposed to have occurred, when Baker told about the rent transaction, saying, “I had to stay and help make a bargain—that was what kept me so late. You know how queer they are.” I sat in a seat behind him on the train. I did not notice anything unusual about the prisoner. The spring was 200 feet from the station. He had to cross two or three fences and a mill race to get to the spring.

The statement of Baker at the Coroner’s Jury was then offered by the prosecution, and objected to by the defense. The court sustained the objection on the grounds that the Justice failed to certify to the same in a proper way.

Dr. E. J. Owings was then called. I reside near Holliday’s Cove; had no acquaintance with Mrs. McWha; am a farmer. I called at the house as a juror, and served as much; I examined the bodies about 2 o’clock, May 10. I saw how the bodies were dressed. They had petticoats and undergarments, waists and nightcaps on; no stockings. I saw in the kitchen. Everything was in what seemed to be the usual order. I was there when Baker was examined on Wednesday morning. I don’t take the Steubenville papers. The beds were all tumbled up. There was blood on the carpet. It was moist enough to stain my pants when I knelt down to lift the bodies up. I talked with Baker about the three men who had been talked about as being there to rent the lot. Witness did not reveal the import of that talk, when he left the stand, to be recalled.

SAW BAKER RUB HIS FINGER

William Bonus,--I reside at Dinsmore Station, on the P., C. & St. L. Railroad; work on the railroad; was working at Hanlon’s Station on May 10; I saw prisoner at the station; when I first saw him he was standing on the platform; the train is due at 7:36; I saw Baker at 6 o’clock at the station; he came up to where I was working, I saw him talk to the foreman and saw him wet his finger and wipe it on his pants; he repeated this three times; he then went to the milk stand and took out his handkerchief and rubbed his pants.

Cross-examined.—I don’t know what he was rubbing off; the roads were a little bit muddy

Re-direct examination.—Baker stepped aside ten or fifteen minutes when he rubbed his pants.

Bartley Campbell was called into the witness stand. Objection was made by the defense that this witness had the custody of the jury to his charge.

McSweeney made an argument, followed by Mr. Cook, and the objection was over-ruled by the Judge.

The witness said; I reside one mile form Holiday’s Cove; Mrs. Baker and I were school mates. I saw the deceased four weeks before the tragedy; I heard of their death on Tuesday at 11 0’clock, and went to the house as soon as I could; I was in the house about tow or three o’clock and saw prisoner; had no talk with him that day; talked with him on Wednesday. His manner and coarse of action on Tuesday at that place was peculiar. He was round about the yard talking to parties; his treatment of me was as usual, was friendly. I went to him and told him; “The Jury wants you.” H sprung out of the buggy and walked fast to the place where the jury was sitting. He was nervous and seemed to be excited. He was talking to some one in the buggy. When in the parlor on Tuesday he was talking to ladies that were there. I had a conversation with him on Wednesday. His manner when arrested was excited. When Baker came off the witness stand I spoke to him. He said: “My God, what is that?” On the way coming to Cumberland he said it was cruel to take him away from the bodies of his wife and mother-in-law. He said: “ That would be a beautiful place to fish.” When coming to a bridge crossing the creek. He told me the story about the three men and also said that he saw Mrs. Brown when he was going across the field to the station. He described the three men to Sheriff Lindsay and me. He said that one of those men had a mark tattooed on his arm and had a black stubbly beard. He was one half mile from the scene of the tragedy on the old turnpike up toward the post office. He had been at the post office and got his mail; this was Wednesday morning. He gave no names of the parties who rented the lot. Only one lot was mentioned as being rented. I did not go out to look up these men. They were not going to keep a boarding house.

ARRESTED THREE MEN

I detained three men on the day of the funeral that answered the description he gave me. At the meeting of the Coroner’s Jury on Friday they were discharged. They were detained twenty-four hours. The man that had the India Ink mark stayed for two or three weeks working for Samuel Ralston. The warrant was not in my possession more than thirty minutes before I arrested him. Baker was on the witness stand. He said he was in or about the house when the women, Mrs. Brown and Mrs. Swearingen, called. He did not say anything about the three men being in the orchard with him at that time, but said the three men might have loitered about until he went to the station, then returned and murdered his wife and mother-in-law. I don’t know whether he tried to get away or not. The three men detained worked all day Friday and were discharged on Friday evening. Two of those men are now in East Liverpool.

Mr. J. J. Henderson said: I reside at Holliday’s Cove. I was at home on the 10 of May and saw Baker pass down from the station towards the home of Mrs. McWha. I heard the alarm of murder given twenty-five minutes after he passed. I could walk the distance from my house on the McWha property in five to eight minutes. The distance is 450 yards.

Cross-examined.—I heard some noises; went down and saw everybody going to the house.

W. H. Mooney, of Steubenville, was next sworn, and said: I am a banker; was acquainted with Mrs. Baker; was connected with the deceased in business. I have the bonds in my possession; I collected the interest on the Allegheny bonds, collected last on the coupons for 1887. I got the bonds sometimes in the month of May. After the tragedy one of the banking firms of Sherrard, Mooney & Co., looked at the bonds and found the coupons of July, 1887 and January, 1888 were detached.

One of the bonds was shown to the jury and offered in evidence, and the usual objection was made and overruled as usual. The point was fully argued by McSweeney on the part of the prosecution and Mr. Braddock for the defense.

Coupons of July, 1887, and January, 1888, were not detached by us. Mr. Patterson and Mr. Lee gave the bonds into the hands of the bank. I found the coupons were detached from the bonds about the 28th of June. Each coupon was worth about $25, and would pass currently as they were made payable to the bearer. Were payable at the Commercial National Bank at Philadelphia. It was supposed that one of these had been presented for payment, but it was a mistake.

(Abstracted from the July 30, 1887, "The Saturday Review", Vol, 8, No. 42, Page 7 newspaper,East Liverpool & Wellsville, Ohio)