New York Globe report of the Webster Case, 1850,
Image No: 28
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New York Globe report of the Webster Case, 1850,
Image No: 28
   Enlarge and print image (102K)           << PREVIOUS  NEXT >>
27 but thinking that Prof. Webster heard me, I desisted from- my work,- and afterwards laid down on the floor hear the door, and looked through the crevice between the door and the floor; pre-. sently I saw Prof. Webster come along with a coal-hod in his hand; I could see as high as his knees i 8e went to a coal bin, which is in the laboratory, near the privy, and which contains coal and, bark, which had been put in before the lectures commenced; I heard him moving things abot the room; I laid in this position about five minutes and then went back to my wife. About three o'clock I went up through the laboratory entry, and discovered that the right hand walls, along the stairs, were very hot; I knew that the eat proceeded from a furnace, where I never made a fire; could not bear my hands on the walls but a short time; was afraid that the building would take fire, and went to the store-room to get my keys; tried several of the doors, and found them locked; then went to the lecture-room, to see if I could get into the laboratory, but the doors were all looked; I finally got into one of the laboratories, where the small furnace=not the'fhrnace which heated the walls-was, and going to that, found that there was some fire in it ; the rim of the furnace was covered over with minerals and stone pots; I then went and got into the lower laboratory, through the window, and on looking into the hogsheads, found that the water which had filled them previously, had been taken. out; there was a copper spout leading from the hogsheads to the sink; I looked into the barrels used to contain pitch-pine kindlingc, and it looked as though about two-thirds'had been taken out; I went up the stairway, to the upper laboratory and there I saw spots of a peculiar appearance, not like anything I had ever seen before; I tasted of the material and thought it was acid; in going into his back private room 1 noticed the same peculiar spots on the floor of that room; the Cochituate water was still running; what made this appear unusual was that when some time before I had left the water running he had stopped it and said he didn't like to have it running; I had noticed in the entry, a box of grape vines and a bag of tan, and they laid in the entry some time ; I tried several times to put them into Prof. W.'s room, but the doors were fastened and I could not do it: my wife told me to put them down cellar; I received the order for the turkey on Wednesday, not Thursday, as stated before the Coroner's Jury ; I made the mistake and told one of the Jury of it in the afternoon on which I had the order for the turkey given me; Prof. W-sentme to buy for him a piece of lime about as big as my head. Here the Court adjourned until three and a half o'clock P. M. Afternoon Session. The Court came in at twenty minutes before four o'clock. Ephraim Littlefield reealled.-On Thanksgiving day I put the boa of grape-vines, and .bag of them, in the cellar, in the forenoon; I actually made the attempt to put them in the Professor's room on that day, in the afternoon; about three o'clock I began to work at the wall, under the vault ; I wanted to satisfy myself as to there being anything under the vault, for I could not go out of the College without somebody saying to me that Dr. P. was in the Medical College-that he would be found there if he was ever found anywhere; all the rest of the building had been f searched except that part of it; that I knew had not been searched because I had the key of it; I went down the front scuttle, lifted up the trap-door, went to the back side of the wall, where officer Fuller and myself 'had been the Tuesday before, and began to work; I had there a ham- mer.and a morticing chisel; I worked some time-got out two courses of brick-but as I could not do more with those tools, I gave up work about 4 P. M. ; that night I went to the Thanks- giving Ball of the Shakspeare Division of the Sons of Temperance, at Cochituate Hall; next morn- ing I got up about nine o'clock, and, as I sat at breakfast, Dr. W. came into the kitchen and took up a paper slid appeared to be reading it. He said, °° Is tfiere any more news?" I said there was none. He said that he had been in Mr. Henchman's apothecary shop, and Mr. H. had told him that a woman had seen a large bun- dle put into a cab; she remembered the number of the cab, and the cab was found, and discover- ed to be all covered with blood; I replied that there were so many stories about Dr. P., that we could not tell what to believe; Prof. W. then went up stairs; some time after this I was over- seeing the arrangement of some busts which I had employed some men to bring for Dr. Warren's museum; Dr. Bigelow was present; I told Dr. Henry J. Bigelow that I had commenced digging through the wall; I understood him to say, °° Go a-head with it;" I told Dr. B. all about Prof W. keeping his doors locked. [This last was ruled out as incompetent.] I went into the demon'- atration room, and there I found Dr. J. S. Jackson alone; I told him I was -digging through the wall; he got up and came toward me; said he, "Littlefield, I feel dreadfully about this matter, and do you go through that wall before you sleep;" he asked me what I should do if I found any- thing there; I told him I should go to Dr. Holmes; he said, "don't you go there, but go to old Dr. Bigelow, in Summer street, and then come and tell me; write your name on my slate, and. shall understand it;" I did so. Attorney General-" Oh, well, we will come to that presently." I then went to Leonard Fuller, and asked him to lend me a crow-bar. He asked me what I wanted to do with it. I told him I wanted to dig a hole in a; brick wall, to carry a lead pipe through the hole for water. He then replied, 11 I guess you do." I then went to the house, and locked all the outside doors, and left the keys on the inside, so that no one, not even Prof. Web- ster, could get in; let down the latch of the front door; then told my wife to keep watch, and see if anybody came, for I was going to work at the wall; told her, if she Saw Prof. W. come, to give four rape with a hammer on the kitchen floor, so that I could hear it before she let him in; - J - Nkomo i~