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Show SAVED FROM THE GALLOWS. On Tuesday, September 9;h, 1S74, a Miss Anna Friczo of Kullaud, Vt., was murdered in her house, robbed of somo money and jewelry and her dwelling set on tire. Tbu Finoke attractad attention, and tho body of the woman was found lying upon a bid iu an upper room, with her tkroat cut and ssveral gashes about the neck. Tiio purp03o of the murder mur-der was evidently for plunder. The excitement ran high and a reward of $2,-300 was utlercd for the arrest and conviction of the murderer. John P. Phair, a workman in the railway Bhopa of Rutland, was shortly arrested oo suspicion. On the SAtuiday oveuiug previous to the murder he had accompanied the woman to the circus, and oa Tuesday ho Isft by train for Bjston. Iho eviJence against him was purely circumstantial. circumstan-tial. In a Boston broker's cilice were found a shawl and a watch which were identified as belonging to Mies Frieze, that had been left with the broker by a man giving the name of E.F.Smith of St. Albans, Vt., who said he was stopping at the Adams 1Iolu9 with his sister. The' name was found upon thu register, and in tho room which "no occupied I was fuuui a half sYiwl, which w.w readily recouizjJ as be!enni:n; to the victim. Tho writiug on the hotel j register was proven by experts to bo identical with that of Phair. Other' corroborative evidence was cfTereJ.t and regarded so conclusive in i:s naturs of the prisoner's guill that lie) was convicted of murder. A dcw triaTi was applied for and re f Lined, Phair Btrongly protesting hia innocence, though admitting that hia relations with the woman had been intim&te, as he said others had been; Two points in tho defense were urged. It was proven that ho left Rutland at least threo hours booro Mis Frieda's j house was found to be on lire, and was at hia lodgings an hour bofore; that, and he was returning to Rutland Rut-land when ho was arrested. On application ap-plication being made to tho governor he refused lo extend executivo clemency, clem-ency, and on Thursday, April 5th, the day previous to that fixed for the execution, Phair made a statement that on the morning of the murder ho left Rutland by tho 4:30 a.m. train for Providence, K. I,, whore ho expected to iind work. Not finding employment be ptnrted for Hutland, and was arres'.ed on iho way. Ido claims that tho pawnbrokers pawn-brokers who identified him had lira', seen phot'-graplis ol mm, in mo very cioinej which ho woro when idenliliud. lie hddad: "if, when upon Lka gallows, pardon par-don should bo oll'-ircd mo on condition that 1 would confess the crime, I would not porjure my soul to save my life." At this point commences the singular singu-lar feature of the caBo, which will render it notable in criminal recoids. The statement of Phair was published in the Boston Globe, and was bulletined bulle-tined by that paper with tho expression expres-sion of a doubt respecting the condemned con-demned man's inuocenco. The information o( this fact was given to M. D. Downing, president of tho American Novelty company, whose curiosity was excited so that he sent out and bought a copy ol the Globe, and carefully road Phair'a long statement. state-ment. When Mr. Downing reached the portion of tho atory in which Phair told of hia failure to sccuro employment em-ployment at Providence, Mr. Downing jura ped out of hia chair and exclaimed : "MY GOD! TntCY 1IAVK O0T TUB WHOSO SI Alii" His words and excited manner nuon-ished nuon-ished hia aaEociatus, and as soon as ho becniiio calm ho stated that bo went to 1'rovidonco on tho morning of Juno 10, LS71, and returned upon a train which lefi. Providonco in tho forenoon, and reached uVston about noon on that day. His memorandum book was referred to at oueo, and tho lima was found to be coned. Oa that train earning to Boston, Bos-ton, ho mot and talked with a man I whom ho lirmly believe! lo bo Phair. I and on reading tho abovo statamcnt of I Phair's ha saw how important a link he i might possibly supply. Tho render will remember that .the inur !er was upon Jutiai), 1S71, and that Pbair claimed that ho was in Providenco on the evening of that day, and loft thero on tho forenoon fore-noon of tho 10th, arriving in Boston nt noon. This led Mr. Downing to recall to mind all tha circumstances of the tiip, , and HIS BECOLLKCTIOS OF THE TACTS is about os follows: Sir. Downing left Boston by tho enrly train, and ctme back in tba forenoon, as statsd, boing anxious to keep an appointment wi'.h a gonlleman in lioston, in the afternoon, on an important business raaUav. Stepping Step-ping into the smoking Ctirat Providence, tio rodo in that until ha had finished a cigar, and then pa;soI into a passenger ea-. Tho man whom he now suppose to bo Phair, sat in a ecfiI alono. Taking a seat by bis side, Mr. Downing soon onterod into conversation with him. Tho mr.n saiil hi hailod from Vermont, whereupon Mr. Downing, who was bim-fo)f bim-fo)f born and raised in Vermont, inquired in-quired what section tho man was from. "1 am from Rutland," sa d the man. "I eamo down ycsto:day und tried to get work of tho Screw company, in Providence, Provi-dence, but it was so dull 1 could not, and I am going back to Rutland." Thb led to FURTHER COJiVKl'-SAHON. Mr. Dowsing was in a lino of business in which ho employed a good many agents, and bsing favorably impressed with the man's appearance and his evident evi-dent intelligence, ho told him if he did not find any work ho had bettor t'iko an agency for 'Rutland and vicinity fir his goods. Tho idea did not seam to impress tho man favorably, so tho subject was dropped. Neither know or inquired tho name of tho other. They talked on genera! gen-era! topics and separated. Mr. Downing paid no particular attention to tho report of tho murder or tho trial, and read neither. Of course ha could not have known that Phair was the man he had call the matter to mind until be read Phsir's statement yo-tcrday. Thinking it vory improbablo that two men had left liutland on Juno 9, 1S74, and applied ap-plied to tbo Screw cjmp my for work, and took tho samo train fur Bofton, Juno 10, 1S74, ho conc'.u led that Phair might havo boon tho man. Whon he ha.l reached this conclusion it was nearly 12 o'clock, and Phair was TO 111 HANQKD IX AHOVT TWO HOURS. 'Downing then went to the Globe office, and to tho chief of polico office, dentifiod Phair's picture aa that of the man he had met on the cars in 1S74, and then telegraphed the facts to the governor of Vermont. Tho result was a reprieve for the prisoner, with the almost certainty that he will have a new trial. The whole case borders closely upon the rayaterious and marvellous, and if the prisoner shall bo proved innocent, tho fact will be largely duo to a piece of newspaper newspa-per enterprise, as the Bjstou Globe wa3 tho only paper to publish Pbair'B dying statement. |