The Corvallis gazette. [volume] (Corvallis, Or.) 1862-1899, 1895-09-26
THE PAWN SHOP VISIT
Durrant's Trip to Oppenheim's
Establishment.

Establishment.
HIS TESTIMONY CORROBORATED
The Prosecution in the Great Murder
Trial Has Most of Its. Case
Before the Jury.
San Francisco, Sept. 25. = More
women than men sit and listen while
Durrant is tried. Every phase and in
cident of the drama is keenly watched
by them. When Mrs. Durrant comes
in of morning and imprints mother
ly kiss on her sons lips, the women on
the back benches peer and peek and
crane and futter. AS the kiss is met,
there is an involuntary indrawn ''Ah"
all along the line, and then, with a
wave of hats and bonnets and feathers
and flowers, these fauna and flora of
millinery shops subside into the pool.
This morning, Durrant was handed
an invitation to social, to take place
tomorrow evening. The invitation was
passed around, but he was obliged to
send his regrets-a previous engage
ment.
Adolph Oppenheim sat in front. Mr..
Oppenheim was breathing hard. He
knew what was before him in the way
of >cross-examination, and he was hard
ening his heart for the test. The de-
fense laid all sorts of traps for Open
helm; and whether they succeeded in
netting him in any of them will not be
made clear until they bring in such
evidence as they may have to impeach
his testimony. There is no doubt that
such is their purpose, for they laid the
foundation today.
The most dramatic witness of the
day was w. J. Phillips, now of. San
Rafael. Phillips may be described as
a British blonde, and he kept a cigar
store for five years in Victoria. Phil
lips has an important walk, and an i'm
posing manner. He stepped off the
stand, walked to the front, pushed out
an aggressive finger, almost threaten
ingly, and said:
''That's the man"
No hesitation about him or his testi-
mony. He said he would know Dur
rant if they had shaved his head in
stead of giving his hair the intermedi-
ate pomadour of the county Jail, sort
of midway coiffure between the city
prison and San Quentin.
Oppenheim was the first witness of
the morning, and he was taken in
hand by Dickinson for cross-examina-
tion. From the severity and searching
nature of the inquisition, it is evident
that the defense regards his testimony
as important. They have had detec-
tives working up his record, and have
sent people to him with articles for
sale in order to test his memory. They
showed him silver eorkscrew, a
watch charm, gold chain and couple
of watches, and asked him to say if he
had seen them before. He had seen
them. They had been offered him for
sale in his store. Then they asked him
to describe the clothes and appearance
of the men who offered the articles.
Oppenheim was able to do this in some
degree. It is altogether possible that
among the articles shown were some
that were never offered him for sale.
That sort of thing is called ''testing
the memory" of the witness. OF
course, Oppenheim's memory for
clothes and outward characteristics of
casual visitors to his store is a most
important element in the value of his
testimony, as his description of the
man he believes to have been Durrant
is specific and minute in detail.
Further, they asked him questions
regarding some transactions in which
he was mixed up with the police. The
bearing of the questions was not made
clear at the time, but were obviously
put to lay foundation for future testi-
mony in the way of impeachment.
The man who goes on the stand in the
Durrant case takes his reputation in
his hand.
The prosecution now has it's case
substantially before the jury. Its main
Witness have been heard, and all that
the district attorney will now try to
do is to. snbstantiate the evidence al
ready given with corroborative testi-
mony. Adolph Oppenheim, the broker,
who stated that Durrant had, about the
middle of last April, tried to pawn a
ring with chip diamond, identified
By Oppenheim as one belonging to
Blanche Lamont, was recalled for fur
ther cross-examination. The witness
was questioned at length by the defense
regarding Durrant's visit to his shop,
in order to ascertain the possibility of a
mistake in Identification. To test his
memory he was questioned concerning
other persons who had visited his
pawnshop on the day Durrant is
charged with having tried to sell the
ring. Oppenheim said only two othe-
persons had called. Both were strang1
ers, yet he described them minutely,
and recounted the particulars of their
visits as if they had occurred yester-
day.
Oppenheim was asked regarding
other specific days, answering prompt.
ly. In the minds of some spectators
in the courtroom he was too good a
witness, remembering events on special