HOLMES CASE—PART THREE

H. H. Holmes.

Cortland Evening Standard, Thursday, October 31, 1895.

MRS. PITEZEL'S STORY.

Pathetic Tale Poured Out In the Witness Box.

SWINDLING SCHEME REHEARSED.

The Heartbroken Woman Tells How, In Addition to the Loss of Her Husband and Children, She Was Robbed of the Insurance Money.

   PHILADELPHIA, Oct. 31.—Four long hours under the scrutinizing gaze of a courtroom crowded with strangers to her, a pale, worn woman underwent an ordeal which well might have broken the nerve of many a strong man. She was Mrs. Carrie Alice Pitezel. With bravery and fortitude she stood the test, in spite of the fact that her physical condition has been so shattered by the multiplicity of woes, under which she has all but succumbed, that she was obliged to interrupt her pitiful narrative at frequent intervals to accept spoonsful of medicine from the trained nurse who attended her.

   In a voice broken with grief she told the whole distressing story. How her husband was spirited away from her and murdered out of sheer greed of gain; how she bade her little ones goodby, confiding them to the care of Holmes in all trustfulness, little thinking that when next she would set eyes on them the two little girls would be lying side by side on the marble slab of a morgue, cold in death, and the boy a parcel of mouldering bones.

   Between her bitter sobs she related every detail—from the first meeting with Holmes up to today, and so affecting was the story that even District Attorney Graham, long used to tales of misery and distress, paused in the examination to wipe away a furtive tear.

   The woman's physical condition was such that the court crier had to repeat her testimony after her because of her weak voice.

   Throughout it all, the shrunken, pallid figure in the dock—who would never be taken for the arch-criminal of the age—sat unmoved.

   But never once did the woman look toward him. During every moment of the long examination she kept her eyes riveted on the commonwealth's officers or counsel for the defense, as if she feared to shift them to either side lest in their course they should fall upon the face of the man in the dock.

   There were other witnesses called, but naturally, Mrs. Pitezel's testimony was the feature of the day.

   An easel was brought out, and placed upon it were two crayons of Holmes as he appeared when arrested, one a full face picture and the other in profile. Between them was the crayon of Pitezel, which has already been exhibited. Two big photographs of the Callowhill street house were also produced.

   F. X. Quinn, an employe of the Fidelity company identified Holmes' signature to a statement prepared by Quinn, as notary public. This statement was read and is in substance as follows:

   While in jail in St. Louis Holmes had met Hedspeth, who said they could get out of jail for $400, Holmes to get $300 and other parties $100. Holmes told him of a scheme to defraud an insurance company but that he needed a lawyer. Hedspeth referred him to Howe, and after several visits to him Howe confirmed Hedspeth's statement about the money needed. They discussed the insurance scheme, and Howe asked where they would get a corpse. Holmes replied that that would be all right, as he had plenty of experience in that line.

   The details were carried out and Holmes made arrangements in New York on Aug. 9 to get a body, but the one obtained lacked the wart and other marks peculiar to Pitezel. Holmes meanwhile came to Philadelphia and saw Pitezel. While here he got word from New York that a body was ready.

   He went there, got it and brought it back here to Pitezel. Holmes and his wife then left town. He went to St. Louis, where he found Pitezel's wife and children much excited.

   The money was finally obtained and Howe kept $2,500 of it, Mrs. Pitezel being given the balance.

   This concluded the statement. During its reading three women were ushered into court by a side door. One was Dessa Pitezel and another, her mother.

   There was a buzz in the courtroom when District Attorney Graham called: "Miss Pitezel."

   A tall, slender woman, dressed in shabby black, her face pale and worn, took the witness stand. In answer to a long series of questions from Mr. Graham, she said:

   "My name is Carrie A. Pitezel and Benjamin F. Pitezel was my husband. In July, 1894, we lived in St. Louis. My husband had taken a policy in the Fidelity company for $10,000. On July 29 he left for Philadelphia in connection with the matter. I know the prisoner. Before July, 1894, I had seen him several times with my husband while he was in Philadelphia. I knew he was living under the name of Perry."

   "Did you know anything about the property of Holmes—the Sixty-third street 'Castle?'"

   "By my husband telling me about it."

   "Did he have any interest in that?"

   "My husband said he did."

   An objection being here made on the ground of irrelevancy, Mr. Graham said he proposed to show that the Fort Worth and Chicago properties were in the name of Lyman and that both Holmes and Pitezel—-Lyman being an alias of the latter—were interested in them. This, he said, related to the motives in addition to the desire to get the insurance money, that actuated Holmes in killing Pitezel and the children, and would be followed by proof of a quarrel between Holmes and Pitezel concerning the ownership and title to the property.

   "Did you have any talk with Holmes about the insurance case before it was carried out?"

   "Once he spoke to me about it when he came back from the South and he asked me if Ben had told me about it. I said, 'Yes,' and I did not want anything to do with it. He said Ben would be home from the South soon; that he was sick down there."

   Continuing, Mrs. Pitezel said:

   "I know Howe through Holmes. By his advice I employed Howe and gave him the power of attorney to collect the money. I don't know who presented it, but Howe brought it to be signed.

   "I saw in a paper that a man named Perry had been killed by an explosion, but Holmes told me my husband was all right."

   "In whose care did Alice leave St. Louis?"

   "In Howe's. She went at Holmes' suggestion to Philadelphia to identify the body, because I was sick. I asked Howe to take care of Alice, and Holmes said he would. Minnie Williams, Holmes' cousin, he said, would take care of her, and if I grew very sick he would send Benny to take care of me.

   "I next saw Holmes on Sept 27, when he came to our house and said he had brought Alice back to Cincinnati, He said he would take Howard and Nellie to Alice so that she would not be alone and had made arrangements for Alice to meet them in Indianapolis. I took Nellie and Howard to the depot. Howe was there and said the insurance money had been paid.

   "Holmes said to me: 'You had better give her some money,' and Howe gave me $5. I bade the children goodby and they got on the car.

   "On Oct 22, Holmes came to the house in St. Louis and we went to Howe's office. Holmes was there and Howe said the scheme was a fraud and he washed his hands of it. They wanted me to sign a paper in regard to Howe's fee and after being assured that I would not be implicated in the affair, I did so. Holmes there went under the name of Howard. He demanded $300 or $400 of me and I gave it.

   "He wanted to go to some bank to pay off the note due on the Fort Worth property. I got the $5,000 and he took it. We went around to the bank. The money was in $100 bills, all but one old note, a $1,000 bill. He took the money and went to a side window. Then be came back and brought the note, saying it was paid. He told me to take care to show it to Ben when I saw him."

   "How much did you get in all of this insurance money?"

   "I received $500. That was all I ever got."

   "After this money transaction what became of Holmes?''

   "He took another $100 for the children, who, he said, would need some in Indianapolis. He went away and some time afterward sent me a letter from Detroit to come on there to see my husband."

   "Did you see your husband?"

   "No. He then sent me to visit my parents at Galva, Illinois."

   In answer to further questions Mrs. Pitezel went on: "When I went to Detroit with Dessa and the baby he met us and took us to Geese's European hotel. I said I expected to hear from the children and he said they would write in a few days. Holmes registered for me as Mrs. Adams. We remained in Detroit until Oct. 18."

   "Did he explain why your husband was not there?"

   "He said he had looked all over the town and could not find a vacant house where it would be convenient for me to see Ben. On the morning of the 18th he said we had better go to Toronto. He thought Dessa should join the other children in Indianapolis, where they were in charge of a widow, he said. I asked him the name of the widow my children were with and he said: 'It's a peculiar name. I cannot think of it now.' We went to Toronto, where he also registered me as Mrs. Adams. My husband, he said, was in Montreal waiting for word to come on.

   "One day he brought me a letter from Nellie. It was in cipher and he read it to me thus: 'Dear Mamma—We are all well and going to school, but Howard won't mind Alice. He will get dirty. We have plenty to eat and the woman is real good to us.'

   "We were in Toronto from Oct. 18 to Oct. 25. Holmes did not stop at the same house with us. I don't know where his different stopping places were. On the afternoon of the 25th he came to the hotel and said he wanted to hurry up and go to Prescott, Canada, and there cross over to Ogdensburg, N. Y. We went to Prescott and stayed at the National hotel until Nov.1.

   "From there we went to Burlington, Vt. Holmes had here rented a furnished house on Minooka avenue. He told me that I had worn out the name of Adams and to go by the name of Cook.

   The second week we were at Burlington. I said I was not going to stand it any longer. I wanted to see Ben, and I told Holmes I believed he was lying to me. He denied this. I said: I do not hear from my children, and you said I would get the rent from the Fort Worth property, and I have not a scratch to show. I said I would go to the children in Indianapolis but he said: 'No, not until you see Ben.' He said he was going to take Ben to the States, get him to sign papers about the Fort Worth property and sell it.

   "For two or three days I did not see him, and then he came and told me he had taken the children to Toronto. He said he had put heavy coats on them so they would not catch cold and that they were perfectly happy. He said he would have to go to Montreal as Ben had been drinking and was not taking care of the diamond dyes he had been sending him. He told me to go into the cellar and under the potato bin I would find a bottle of dynamite which I should carry to the attic. I did not carry it up stairs, though.

   "Holmes was there known as Judson. He told me Ben had been drinking and was sick and asked me what I'd do if he should die. He said: 'I have one grave marked for him.' All my letters were given to Holmes to mail. He said he sent them to Chicago, where Pat Quinlan, the Janitor of the 'Castle,' took them to my husband."

   A number of letters written by the witness and given to Holmes to mail were identified by her. None had been mailed. She was shown two others written by Alice and Nellie. That from Alice was marked by childish affection for her absent mother and bore a rude drawing of "Uncle Tom's Cabin," which the little one had been reading. At the sight of this the mother's heart overflowed and she wept bitterly. The woman who accompanied her and Dessa arose and, walking to the witness stand, gave the bereaved woman a teaspoonful of medicine.

   There was no one in the crowded courtroom who did not appreciate the pathos of this scene, but the only change it made in Holmes' expression was a malicious grin on his thin lips.

   "Have you ever seen your husband since he left St. Louis for Philadelphia?''

   "I have never seen him since July 20, 1894, nor heard from him since Aug. 29, when I got the last letter in his own handwriting," she answered tearfully. "That was from Philadelphia."

   "Have you seen or heard from Alice, Nellie or Howard since this man got possession of them?'

   "I have not heard from them."

   "Have you seen them since?"

   Sobbing bitterly, the woman answered: "I saw Nellie and Alice lying side by side in the morgue at Toronto. I never saw Howard, except what belonged to him, in Indianapolis, in the coroner's office."

   This ended the examination in chief.

   In answer to questions from Mr. Rotan, the witness said she was married to Pitezel in Galva, Ills., in 1878. She did not know where he and Holmes had first met. She thought it was to 1889. She first met Holmes in the restaurant at Sixty-third and Wallace streets, Chicago, the Castle, when she was with her husband there, in 1893. She did not see much of Holmes until this insurance matter came up.

   The court reassembled at 7 o'clock, and during the few moments that lapsed before the business of the case was resumed Holmes sat in the dock reading "Stephen's Digest of the Law of Evidence."

   At 7:15 o'clock Mrs. Pitezel's trying ordeal was resumed, after she had taken a liberal dose of medicine from the trained nurse who accompanied her and her daughter, Dessa.

   The cross-examination was continued until 8:25, but developed nothing to controvert her evidence in chief.

   District Attorney Graham then showed her the crayon portrait of Pitezel, and she said: "Yes, that is a good picture of my husband as he left home."

   This concluded Mrs. Pitezel's testimony and at 8:30 o'clock she gave way for her daughter, Jeannette (Dessa.)

   Her testimony was hugely corroborative of that given by her mother concerning the departure of the children and the subsequent travels of Dessa and her mother under Holmes' guidance to the various cities named.

Annihilating Time and Space.

   A telegraphic transmitting machine lately invented by Mr. Patrick B. Delany has made for it the extraordinary claim that by means of it 1,000 words a minute can be sent any distance. The inventor proposes to try to get his machine used in connection with the postoffice department, either being bought outright by the government and by it operated, or else run by a separate company in connection with the United States mails.

   The instrument works automatically, and it can be operated at a cost not greater than 5 cents for 50 words. Thus a message of 1,000 words, quite a lengthy letter, can be sent for 50 cents between, say, New York and Chicago over a wire weighing 850 pounds to the mile. This is considerably heavier than the usual telegraph wire. The present cost by telegraph or telephone of a message the same length would be $9 or over. The ordinary telegraph transmits at the rate of not more than 150 words a minute, so that the importance of the new invention will be readily seen.

   In matters of pressing business or commerce it will be possible to get a long message between San Francisco and New York and an answer by this mail telegraph in two hours, even with the letter written and deposited by the sender in the ordinary way in a letter box, when the new machine works in connection with the mails. Letters for China can be telegraphed to San Francisco, there written out on the typewriter and sent to their destination five days earlier than could be done if they were dispatched on the fastest mail train. Mr. Delany hopes his mail telegraph will largely take the place of the fast mail train.

TRUTH ABOUT TAXES.

The State Care Act, Which Adds $2,500,000 to the Taxes, Was Passed by the Democrats.

   The Democratic newspapers are freely stating that the tax rate is "the highest known in many years," and they have reiterated this falsehood until they appear to believe it. The truth is the tax rate was higher in Cleveland's first year as [New York] governor, and it was practically as high in 1885 and 1886. There was no essential difference. A contrast is made with the tax rate in 1891. This is the year when the Republican congress returned to the state more than $2,200,000 of war taxes, which rightfully should have been apportioned among the different counties, but which the Democratic officials turned into the state treasury.

   The state care act, which added $2,500,000 to the tax roll, was passed by the Democratic legislature of 1893 and signed by Roswell P. Flower, the Democratic governor. It is a Democratic measure, and the people of the state are taxed to pay a Democratic debt. Republicans are in no way responsible for it. There is no comfort for Democrats in an exact statement of the facts.

THE TRIAL TRIP.

I. H. Palmer Takes a Spin to Truxton and Return.

   The new locomotive, I. H. Palmer, of the Erie & Central New York R. R. was fired up yesterday morning and made its trial trip yesterday afternoon, under the charge of E. J. Burton Of Lima, O., the representative of the builders, the Lima Locomotive & Machine Co., who came on with it. F. A. Bickford acted as fireman, which position it is expected that he will hold permanently. Upon the locomotive were Superintendent of the Road J. S. Bull, Constructing Engineer R. W. Jones, a representative of The STANDARD and a number of others, making fifteen in all. The run was over the E., C. & N. road to Truxton and return and Patsey O'Brien of that road acted as pilot.

   The start was made at 4:40 P. M. and Truxton was reached in about forty minutes. No attempt could be made at speed as the through freight train was just ahead, nor was that desirable, as the object was simply to inspect the workings of the locomotive, and the matter of speed was assumed. Two or three stops were made on the way to look over the different parts of the machine.

   The locomotive backed down to Cortland arriving shortly before 6 o'clock. It proved to be very satisfactory in every respect and was accepted by the superintendent, and Mr. Burton returned home last night.

   The locomotive has a very powerful voice. It is capable of as much emphasis in the way as its namesake in his way, and when it runs through the Solon valleys it will undoubtedly wake the echoes of the surrounding hills and make it very evident to the inhabitants that the long looked for railroad has at last arrived. It is thought that that time will not now be long delayed.

E. C. & N. engines 1-8 were similar models. This man's right hand is near the "heavy steel bar" driver.

A Narrow Escape.

   What might have been a serious accident, says the Elmira Advertiser, occurred on the E., C & N. railway about 10 o'clock Tuesday night. As the passenger train which arrives in this city about 10 o'clock P. M. was passing a point about two miles north of Horseheads and known as the "white house," one of the drivers broke and the heavy steel bar on the left side revolved at an alarming rate of speed. The bar struck the cab on the engine, knocking out the floor and cutting the fireman's dinner pail in halves. The fireman, who was sitting in the cab, narrowly escaped being struck by the bar and beat a hasty retreat to a place of safety. The engine was stopped without injury to the train, which arrived in this city about 1 o'clock Wednesday morning.

   The engine was No. 1. The engineer was Frank Knight and the fireman George Martlette both of Elmira.

HARKNESS-TICE.

Pretty Home Wedding at the Home of Mr. and Mrs. Tice.

   A pretty home wedding took place last evening on Lincoln-ave, at the residence of Mr. and Mrs. Adam Tice. Their daughter, Miss Eva, was married to Mr. Adam Harkness of this place. Miss Anna Bolles, cousin of the bride, played Lohengrin Wedding March and Miss Grace, a sister of the bride, acted as bridesmaid. John P. Tice, brother of the bride, acted as groomsman. The bride and bridesmaid were attired in white with white and pink roses and smilax trimming. Rev. Amos Watkins united them in wedlock.

   Beautiful presents showed the esteem in which the young couple are held by the relatives and friends, who were present to the number of about fifty. A wedding supper was served, after which Mr. and Mrs. Harkness left for Ithaca and Syracuse. Among the guests were Mrs. Schmeu of Syracuse, Mr. George A. Acker and Mrs. Eugene Badger of Binghamton, Mr. and Mrs. Charles Haight of Utica and Mr. John Harkness of Ithaca.

BREVITIES.

   —To-night is Halloween.

   —New advertisements to-day are—C. F. Brown, page 6.

   —The C. L. S. C. will meet on Monday evening, Nov. 4, with Mrs. G. H. Squires, 9 Homer-ave.

   —The regular meeting of the Loyal Circle of King's Daughters will be held at Mrs. A. M. Johnson's, 54 N. Main-st., Friday, Nov. 1, 1895, at 2:30 P. M.

   —"Scotty" Grant, the pleasing Irish comedian who gave such a satisfactory interpretation of Patrick P. Brannigan, the officer, in "The Darktown Fire Brigade," will again appear in the same character tonight.

   —In the north window of Brown's drug store is a fine display of tooth brushes. The brushes are arranged very tastily on a bicycle so that it looks like a bicycle made entirely of tooth brushes. It is the work of Mr. Harvey Brillinger.

   —The delegates to the conference of the Young Woman's Christian association which was held here yesterday all left this morning on the 6 and 10 o'clock trains for Syracuse to attend the annual convention, which is held there from to-day until Saturday night.

   —The offices of the Erie & Central New York R. R. have been removed from the third floor of the Keator block to the third floor of the First National bank building. A fine suit of rooms has been secured and the offices will be exceedingly pleasant and convenient.

   —Beginning November 1, the McGrawville cars will start from the postoffice corner [Standard block], instead of the Cortland House corner. This will be a great convenience to the patrons of that division of the road and this new plan is quite in keeping with the constant effort of the Traction company to furnish the best possible service. The cars will continue to start as at present on the hour from the Cortland end, and on the half hour from the McGrawville end.

   —Quite a little attention is attracted at the Emerald Hose company's fair to the new style of bicycle hubs patented by Messrs. Robert and Thomas Kennedy of Cortland and manufactured exclusively by the Wesson-Nivison company. This is the hub referred to few days ago in an item in The STANDARD about the Wesson-Nivison wheels. The Kennedy Brothers retain a half interest in the ownership of the patent and have sold the other half to the Wesson-Nivison company.