OCR Text |
Show ; TRACING THECOLONEL He Was the Companion of Birchall, Under Sentence of Death for the Murder of Benwell, ' SAID TD HAVE WEITTEN THE LETS c Acknowledging That He Committed the Crimo Attempt to Discover His '' Present Whereabouts. - Woodstock,' Ont., Oct. 29. The Jackson, Mich., letter is regarded as . the clumsiest fabrication Birchall has put forth. An examination of the , handwriting and a comparison with the samples of Birchall's show a very general gen-eral resemblance between the two, and in some cases a very striking likeness. London, Oct. 29. Inquiries were .. made - at Morlcy's hotel. Trafalgar square", today, to ascertain what truth was in tho story from Montreal in regard re-gard Birchall, who is under sentence of death at Woodstock, Canada, for the murder of Benwell, elicited the information infor-mation that Mrs. Birchall and the - "colonel," the alleged author of the letter received by Birchall, in which1 the writer acknowledged that he shot and killed Benwell, wore at the hotel . last January. The books of the hotel show that an American 6tyling himself "Colonel Lewis." arrived thero January 1, and remained until tho 34th. Birchall ar- ' rived January 14, and was a guest tin til tao 18th. Mr. Stevens of Montreal, the gentleman who told of seeing Birchall, Bir-chall, Benwell and Col. Lewis at the hotel, registered at the hotel January 15, and left on the 20tU. Col. Lewis is well known by the servants ser-vants of the hotel. They retain vivid recolections of him. They describe him as a somewhat pompous looking man, 5 feet 0 inches in height, wore a long moustache, complexion inclined to fair, was a heavy drinker, and generally general-ly known as the "Colonel." ' Burchall aud "Col. Lewis" seemed to be on , intimate terms; were olten together to-gether and appeared well in each . others' confidences. Since January the "Colonel" often called at the hotel but did not remain. He left directions fof his letters to be forwarded to Streat- ham, Surrey. His exact address has , not been traced. I Burchall and Jhe Colonel, while at -the hotel often invited gentlemen to pass the evening with tjjam. The, servants ser-vants cannot identify any visitor who answered the description given of Ben- t well. ... . ' . .... - r "Colonel Lewis" went to America in October or November, 1839. His repeated re-peated visits to the hotel render it likely that he has been out of England . since January. |