Q. From his general reputation for truth would you believe him on oath? THOMAS DRENNEN, residence Elkton, Maryland, sworn and examined. Q. State your occupation and how long you have lived in Elkton. A. I knew Mr. Cameron very well, and formerly did business with him often. A. Yes, sir; I associated with the same people he did. I have been to parties and danced with him. Q. Had you opportunities of knowing the estimation in which he was generally held as a man of veracity? A. I had. Q. Was his character for truth good or bad? A. Good. Q. You would have no hesitation in believing him on oath? Cross-examined by Mr. PIERREPONT: Q. You danced with him, did you? A. I did frequently. Q. Was he a clergyman? A. Not at that time. Q. When did he become a clergyman? A. I cannot say when. Q. He danced during all the time you knew him? A. He did dance when we met at a party. By Mr. BRADLey: Q. You did not say he was a clergyman? By Mr. PIERRepont : Q. You did not know the fact that he was a clergyman when he danced? A. I was not aware he was a clergyman. I was aware that he danced, and that he danced with me. His reputation was, I believe, as good as any man's in Elkton for truth. As a business man he was a little off-handed at times, like some other men. JOHN R. HOGG-residence Cecil county, Maryland-sworn and examined. By Mr. MERRICK: Q. State your occupation and how long you have resided in Cecil county? A. I have lived there about forty-five years. I am a railroad man, and have been for the last thirty years. Q. Did you know Stephen F. Cameron, a witness who has been examined in this case? A. I did. Q. Did you have opportunities for knowing his general reputation for truth and veracity? A. I knew him very well, and I know generally with whom he associated every day. Q. What was his general character as a man of truth and veracity? A. Very good; he was looked on as a very strict churchman. Q. From his general character would you have any hesitation in believing him on his oath ? A. O, no, sir. Cross-examined by Mr. PIERREpont: Q. When you said he was looked on as a very strict churchman, what did you mean by that? A. At one time he thought the church was too old for the society, and he went around and got a subscription, and he assisted the ladies in getting up a fair to build a new church, and that church goes by the name of Cameron's church to this day. I always speak of it in that way. Q. There was nothing erratic or singular about him? A. Nothing, except that he would do whatever he undertook to do with more energy than most people. Q. Was he a clergyman? A. I never heard him preach. I have heard that he preached. I have heard him pray. Q. Do you know where he went? A. I have heard that he went down south. Q. Joined the southern confederacy? A. I heard that. Q. When did you last see him? A. I have not seen him since 1861. REBUTTING EVIDENCE. Mr. PIERREPONT said that the prosecution would have been able to close its rebutting evidence to-day but for the failure of men connected with a certain railroad to respond to the subpoenas of the court. From some influence (he did not know what) parties connected with the railroad seemed to have placed every impediment in the way of obtaining information. He had, however, one or two witnesses upon other points, and would proceed to examine them. Mr. MERRICK. What railroad does the gentleman refer to ? Mr. PIERREPONT replied, the railroad between Baltimore and Sunbury. Q. State how long you have lived in Washington. A. I have been a clerk in the Treasury Department here for about two years. I formerly lived in Philadelphia. Q. State to the jury whether you knew John Lee who was a witness on this trial. A. I have known John Lee about fifteen years. I knew him here, and before that in Philadelphia. Q. In what capacity did you know him in Philadelphia? A. He was a constable there-an officer. Q. Did you know personally with whom he associated in Philadelphia ? A. He associated with a great many in his business relations. Q. I ask whether you know his reputation for truth and veracity; and if so, state whether good or bad. A. I never heard it questioned. I think that he had a great deal of business with influential men, and I never heard it called in question until during this trial. Q. Then you would say his reputation was good? A. It was good. Cross-examined by Mr. BRADLEY: Q. Do you recollect of his having been indicted and convicted at any time? (Question objected to by the District Attorney, as having nothing to do with the character of the witness for truth, and Mr. Bradley said it might involve an indictment and conviction for perjury. Objection sustained by the court. The reputation of the witness Lee could not be proved in that way. The ques tion might be asked of this witness whether he had heard Lee's character for truth and veracity discussed.) Q. Have you ever heard his character for truth discussed in Philadelphia? A. No, sir. Q. Did you live in his neighborhood? A. I have been frequently with him. I kept a drug store at the time, and he used to come there very frequently. Q. How long ago was that? A. It was in 1851 or 1852 when I first became acquainted with him. Q. How long did he continue to live in Philadelphia ? A. I think eight or nine years I remember being with him and meeting him occasionally. Q. He must have lived there, then, until about 1860 or 1861 ? A. Yes, sir; and I saw him after he came on here to Washington. WILLIAM HARKNESS-residence, Washington-sworn and examined. Q. Where did you live and what was your occupation on the 14th day of April, 1865? A. I was boarding in Washington at that time, and had an office in the Naval Observatory. Q. Were you making observations of the weather? A. No, sir, I was not; I was making observations of the stars during that night. Q. Will you state the condition of the sky between the hours of nine and twelve o'clock that night? A. From nine until twenty minutes past eleven I can state. After that I can only state from the observations that were made. During that time the weather was tolerably clear-not perfectly clear. There were some clouds floating, but it was clear enough to observe very small stars. Q. Do you know about when the moon rose that night? A. I made a memorandum of that. It rose about twenty minutes before nine. Q. That was Good Friday. Can you tell how near the full it was? A. The moon was full on the 10th, at nineteen minutes past cleven p. m. Q. Look at the observation you made at 9.45. A. I have an observation at 9.43, and another at 9.49. Q. What was it at 9.43? A. The star I observed was a very small star, not visible to the naked eye, and could not be seen except through a very clear atmosphere. Q. What was your next observation? A. At 9.49; that was a star also not visible to the naked eye, Vesta, one of the asteroids. Q. You could see the asteroids, then? A. At the place where that star was it must have been clear or I could not have seen it. Q. How was it at eleven o'clock ? A. At eleven o'clock exactly I observed another star, also invisible to the naked eye. Q. That proved what? A. That where the star was it was clear. Q. At 11.18 what observation did you take? A. That was my last observation that night; it was a double star; at the time I observed it there must have been a light cloud floating over; that was a star that required a good telescope to see it, and is altogether invisible to the naked eye. By the COURT: State again at what time the moon rose on the night of the 14th. A. The moon rose on the night of the 14th at twenty minutes before nine o'clock. Q. What is the difference in the time of the rising of the moon from one night to another? A. The question is too general; the difference varies very largely. Cross examined by Mr. BRADLEY: Q. You have the memorandum of the time the moon rose? A. No, sir; no memorandum made at the time. My statement of the time the moon rose does not depend upon my personal knowledge. I took it from the Nautical Almanac. Q. When did you make your memorandum of the time the moon rose that night? A. I only made that memorandum to-day. Q. Were you superintendent of observations at the Observatory at that time? A. At the Observatory we had three instruments. I had charge of one instrument. Each observer has charge of his own. Q. Did you report to anybody? A. No, sir; I did not report to anybody. Q. Do you not report your observations? A. There has been no officer in charge of the Observatory. Each observer is supposed to have charge of his own instrument. course, drawn off and published. The observations are, of Were the original minutes made by you when this report was made out? A. Yes, sir. Was Professor Eastman employed that night? A. I do not know. I do not remember. State to the court and jury in what part of the heavens these stars were to which you have referred that night. A. They were on the meridian. If you want to know what altitude, I should have to look to the observations. The last one I observed was nearly on the zenith. Q. That was the double star. Where was Vesta? A. I see by looking at the book that it was on the meridian, twenty-two degrees south of the zenith. At what time did you observe Vesta? A. At nine o'clock forty-nine minutes. Q. And the double star when? A. At eleven o'clock seventeen minutes. Q. Were these the only observations you made? A. I made observations at 9.54, 10.2, 10.45, and at 11. All these observa tions were on the meridian. Q. And all south? A. All south except the last one; it was about ten minutes north of the meri dian. Q. Your observation was at the time they passed the meridian? A. Yes, sir. Q. Now, do you recollect at all the condition of any other portion of the heavens, whether there were clouds or not? A. No, sir. I could not make any such statement as that. Q. Do you recollect whether the moon was obscured after she rose? A. Yes, sir. I do not know that I ever found floating clouds confined to the meridian. Q. Might not the whole western hemisphere have been clear, and the eastern covered with clouds? A. It might possibly have been. Q. You cannot say whether it was or not? A. No, sir. I do not pretend to say. Q. Why did you cease taking observations shortly after eleven? Q. State, if you please, whether it was a clear or a hazy night. A. According to the best of my recollection at the time, I stopped work about twenty minutes past eleven. The sky was covered more or less with clouds, and looked somewhat hazy. It was not a foggy night; you might say it was hazy. Q. Was it very moist? A. My recollection is, it was rather a damp night. Q. You have no recollection about clouds nearer the horizon? A. I think that I could see enough to continue my observations prior to about twenty minutes past eleven. Q. Have these notes given you any information, except as to whether there were clouds on the meridian? A. That is all. By Mr. PIERREPONT: Q. You may tell us something about the time. We do not understand sidereal time. A. The time I gave you was mean time. Q. Was that the time you gave as about the time of the rising of the moon on the 14th April? A. The time of the rising of the moon I got, as I stated, from the Nautical Almanac. It might have been twenty minutes before nine; it might have varied five minutes one way or the other. Q. Have you any means of telling which way the wind blew? A. No, sir. I could get it from the meteorological register. I have no other means of telling. Q. Which way was the moon in relation to these stars you have mentioned? A. The moon was east of the meridian; did not come to the meridian yet. By Mr. BRADLEY: Q. Do you recollect at all the ascension of the moon that night? A. The moon was pretty far south; its highest point did not exceed forty degrees altitude. Q. Did it get higher than thirty-six ? A. It would be somewhere in that neighborhood. It was pretty well south that night. |