The San Francisco call. [volume] (San Francisco [Calif.]) 1895-1913, 1895-09-14
RODE WITH DURRANT,
Mrs. Crosett Saw Him on the
Valencia-Street Car
April 3.
SWEET PEA GIRLS IDENTITY.
She Is Miss Rose Holland and Is an
Cid-Time Friend Of the
Prisoner.

The prosecution in the Durrant case has
secured another important witness. 1t is
Mrs James Crosett, who lives at the corner
of Washington and Laurel streets. Mrs.
Crosetts testimony will be very damaging
to the alibi which the defense expects to
prove for Durrant, but it will be by no
means as convincing as would be supposed
from the story circulated yesterday con-
corning the evidence she would furnish.
Hitherto the prosecution has. had no
witnesses who saw or claimed to have seen
Durrant and Blanche Lamont together be-
tween the corner of Powell and Market
streets and TwenIy-frst and Bartlett. 1t
is to connect this break in the prosecu-
tom chain of circumstantial evidence that
Mrs. Crosett is expected to supply the
missing link. She will testify that she saw
Durrant on the Valencia. street car
between the points named on the after
noon of April 8, but this is as far
as her memory serves her. She does not
remember whether he was accompanied
by lady, or if he was she does not know
who it could have been. She processes to
know nothing further than that she saw
the accused on the car and says the other
timony she would give are entirely untrue.
Mrs. Crosett is able to fix the day by
reason of the fact that she had attended
tea party that afternoon and was on her
way to the Mission. She rode on the
Powell-street car and transferred at Market
to the Valencia-street line. AS she entered
the car she saw Durrant already aboard.
She says he did not recognize her, as has
been stated, nor did she speak to him. She
left the car at Twenty-fifth street, instead
of Twenty second; did not stop on the
curb to shake hands with Durrant, and
was not presented to Blanche Lamont, as
has also been stated.
In fact, according to her statement yes
terday she merely remembers seeing MIN,
and cannot remember where he left the
car.
She observed lady sitting next to Dur
rant, but does not recall their holding any
conversation, and she does not remember
how The lady was dressed or whether or
not she had books IN her lap.
Mrs. Crosett arrived at the residence of
her son, James f. Crosett, at the corner of
Twenty-ffth street and San Jose avenue,
at few minutes past 4 O'Clock, thus it
must have been about the time Durrant is
supposed to have made the journey to
the Mission with Blanche Lamont
that she saw him on the car. Her
testimony therefore, indefinite as it may
be. will serve as strong card for the pros
ecution in its effort to trace the steps of
the prisoner and his supposed victim from
the Normal School to Emmanuel Church.
The Crosett family are warm friends of
the Durrants, and because of this and the
indefinite character of the old lady's knowl-
edge they feared she might have been mis-
taken and endeavored to keep the matter
secret, in the hope that she would not be
called upon to testify.
Mrs. Crosett's eyesight is very uncertain.
This fact and the defects in her memory
as to details will be made the most of by
the defense when it attempts 10 prove mis-
taken identity in the cases of the various
witnesses who have testified and will tes-
tify to seeing Durrant atafternoon.
The identity of the ''sweet peas girF' and
her motive for visiting the courtroom have
at last been divulged. Much has been said
since the trial of Durrant first commenced
of girl who at first visited the courtroom
almost daily and was said to carry always
a bunch of sweet peas, which she inef-
fectually tried to induce the prisoner to
accept, but whose attentions were frowned
upon by Durrant. The young woman did
not put in an appearance at the courtroom
for some days until Thursday, when she
again sought and was granted admission.
Because of her frequent attendance. and
the fact that there seemed to be an under
standing between herself and the prisoner,
Captain Lees conceived the idea that her
acquaintance with Durrant was of such a
nature as to render it more than likely
that she was possessed of certain informa-
ton concerning him. Detectives were
therefore detailed to trace the girl, and if
possible to discover her identity and her
secret.
She has proved herself too clever for
them, however and the police are as ignor-
ant of who she is as they were the day she
first appeared in court with bunch of
sweet peas on her breast.
1t has developed that the girl is Miss
Rose Holland; that she lives across the
bay. between Berkeley and Alameda, and
that she is an old-time friend of Durrant
The two met at an Endeavor meeting held
at Oakland once upon a time and have
since been warm friends.
Miss Holland denies that it is because
of any infatuation for the prisoner. Her
reason for wishing to elude the detectives.
she explains. is to avoid the notoriety she
was afraid the disclosure of her identity
would give her.