The herald., 1895-09-06
GREAT JAM OF SPECTATORS
Women Get the Best of II in Gaining
an Entrance
The Accused Not at School on the
Fatal Day
Falsehood Told Detective Anthony Soon
After the Finding of the Body
of the Murdered Girl
In the Church
Associated Press Special Wir

rant case TOOK matnemaGiCdl turn tO-
day. Straight lines and angles, figures
and things, photographs, maps and dia-
grams furnished the subjects for the
jury's reflection all morning. They were
prominent after recess, as well, and di-
vided the time, If not the interest, OF the
afternoon with Detective Gibson, who is
one of the most important figures in the
case. He told of the finding of the body
OF Blanche Lamont in the belfrv of En-
anuel church on Easter Sunday morning,
and incidentally came in for some point
ed and searching cross examination at
the hands OF the defense.
Lines and angles and figures, ordinar-
lily, would have the effect of driving peo-
Pile from any court room. In the Dur
rant case it is different. The same
crowds that have camped about Judge
Mnrphy's court since the trial began,
much augmented and constantly grow
ing, focked to the new city hall early in
the morning. jamming and Glowing for
positions in the same old way, just as
eager as on the first occasion to catch a
glimpse of the prisoner. Those who did
not get it and those who were not FORUM
ate enough to gain admittance to the
SQUIRT room cooled their heels in the CORR.
dors, waiting and hoping for the next
time. Women predoimnate, as is also
usual, and seemed to have better luck
| than their blothers in passing the depu-
! ties at the court room doors. Solid phal-
/ anxes of them were safely seated when
Judge Murphy took his seat on the bench
and the days work was begun, with Off
Ger Russell on the witness stand. pointer
| Il
| tower of Emanuel church in front of
| him.
Then began the flood of figures. 1t was
| a dreary two hours, but no one moved to
| depart. 1t was the general feeling that
| behind all the seemingly aimless, unin-
teresting testimony there must lurk
| something particularly significant. The
was correct. There was, and is, a signifi-
cance in the figures, however shadowy it
may yet appear. which is likely to have
! direct bearing on the case. At least
that is the theory the lawyers worked
| steadily.
One very i'm portant feature of the case
| seems likely to lend to the questions of
today their full signifcance-that is, at
/! what place in Emanuel Baptist church
was Blanche Lamont murdered? No one
| seems to know, not even the prosecution.
II it really does it has not yet told. The
defense is noncom initial. 1t has nothing
to say, but from the drift of It's questions
today it seems prepared to fortify itself
strongly on this one point.
The general impression of the public is
that the girl was murdered on the outside
of the door leading to the berry, and
that the dead body was then dragged by
the murderer up the three crooked flights
of stairs beyond that door to the third
landing, stripped and left to decompose.
Whether Blanche Lamont met her fate
IN the gallery, near the bslIry entrance,
in one of the rear rooms, or in the IL
brary, where Minnie Williams came to
her end. is all mystery. 1t is almost
a certainty that the prosecution has not
established that point to its own satisfac-
tioa; and it Is almost equally certain that
the district attorney considers it the one
weak point in his case, but one which
he does not think important enough to
imperil the outcome.
The attorneys for the defense asked
mum ber of questions which tended to in
dicate an intention to show that Miss
Lamont was murdered in one of the lower
rooms OF the church and her body carried
to the bclfv after death. If this fact could
be established it would be strong point
in Durrant's favor, from the fact that it
would be argued that man of the
prisoners physique could not carry a
body weighing 140 pounds up a long, mar
row, winding stairway.
DURRANT IN A FALSEHOOD.
A strong link in the chain OF evidence
that will be thrown around Dprrant to
convict him of the murder of Blanche
Lamont will be fixed by Detective An
thony. He will give evidence tnat the
prisoner was suspected of the disappear
ance of the unfortunate young woman
more than week tefore her body was
discovered in the belfry of the Emanuel
Baptist church. Blanche Lamont was
at the school on Wednesday, April 3D., and
when she left there after the classes were
dismissed on the afternoon of that day
nothing more was seen OF her. Eleven
days afterwards her body was found and
Theodore Durranu was a prisoner.
On Tuesday, the day alter the girl was
missing, Charles g. Noble. her uncle, and
ex-Supervisor Ryan called at police head
quarters and asked the aid of the police
in finding her. Ryan merely vouched
for Mobiles veracity. and asked Captain
Lees to make the hunt for the missing
girl personal matter and influence the
police as much as possible in revealing
her hiding place. Detective Anthony was
detailed on the case, and on Friday he
called at the normal school and ascer
tained from Miss May Lanigan and two
of her school companions that when Miss
Lamont left the school on Wednesday
afternoon she was met near the school
door bv u Young man who. accom- panied
bv the unfortunate young girl, boarded
Powell street car and went toward
Market street. They gave an accurate
description of the young man, and armed
with that description the detective
called on several of her friends in the