The Salt Lake herald. [volume] (Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1870-1909, 1895-09-13
MERELY A RUSE.
Durrant Desired to Get King Out of
the Church.

Durrant Desired to Get King Out of
the Church.
SAN FRANCISCO, Sept. 1.-THE
prosecution in the Durrant case have
found another flaw in the story told
by the young medical student on the
day of Blanche Lamont's murder.
When Durrant was suddenly confront
ed in the church by George r. King,
the organist, he explained his condi-
ton of utter physical and nervous col
lapse by the statement that he had
been overcome by gas while engaged
Durrant asked King to get him some
bromo-seltzer The prosecution will
contend that if Durrant had been part
ly asphyXiated his knowledge of medi-
cine would have taught him that
fresh air instead of a nerve tonic was
what he needed Rurrants classmates
at Cooper Medical college will be
placed on the stand to show that the
prisoner as well as all of the other
students had been taught that the only
remedy for partial asphyxiation is
oxygen. Durrant would soon have
graduated from college, and the pros
ecution will contend that he was too
we'll informed to have ordered a nerve
drank It if he had really been suffer-
ing from the effects of gas.
The prosecution will also show that
Durrant's hat and coat were not. in
the library when King entered the
church, but were there when he re-
turned from the drug store. The infer
ence will be drawn that Durrant
wanted to get King out of the church,
not to bring him relief with a drug
but to give himself time to recover
from his CONSERVATION and an Oppor-
tunity to carry his coat and hat from
the rear of the church to the library,
where it had been his habit to place
them while working in the church.
Where Women Fought.
Pouring rain did not lessen the crowd
of curiosity seekers al the trial of
Theodore Durrant today. Even the
usual large percentage of women was
among the throng that pushed and
fought for admission to the corridor of
the city hall, leading to- the court
room where the trial is being held. AS
the interest deepens and the relevant
testimony is gathered in, all eyes are
on Durrant But the prisoner has so
far succeeded in battling all curiosity.
He listens to all testimony without ex-
hibiting any feeling.
Considerable Importance is being at
tached to the weight Of Blanche La
mont at the time of. her death. The
defense will lay stress on the inability
of one man to carry a heavy body I'D
such a steep fight of stairs as leads
to the belfry of Emanuel church.
Hence the prosecution was eIated at
the testimony today of Richard CharI-
ton, grocer, who stated that he had
weighed Blanche once a week for six
months to see if she was growing heav-
Ter by reason of her residence here
On the 9th or 2Sth of March she
weighed rs pounds. A week later she
disappeared. Her greatest weight was
121 pounds.
Durrant Grinned.
A new witness appeared in the per-
son of Henry J. Shalmount, cable
car conductor, who testified that Dur
rant and Miss Lamont had ridden to-
gether to school on the morning of
April g. He had seen them frequently
before. and his attention was particu-
larly directed to them on this day by
their behavior and their evident in
timacy. When he described Durrant
sitting on the dummy with his arm
around the seat behind Blanche and
lavishing sweet words on the girl, Dur
rant and his father. from their seats
in the court room, smiled broadly. The
son seemed to relish the remembrance
while the fathec acted as if he con-
sidered the affair a huge joke.
Several other witnesses were intro
duced to prove that Blanche and Dur
rant went to school together on that
fateful morning. Then the defense ad-
mitted the fact that they were to-
gether, and this line of inquiry was
abandoned by the prosecution.
His Baseness Shown.
Herman ]. Schlageler, a classmate
of Durrant at the medical college, was
put on the stand primarily to prove
the couples companionship, and
proved a good but unwilling witness
for the people. He manifestly tried tc
shield his college acquaintance, but
admitted that four days after Blanche
had disappeared, and before Durrant