The San Francisco call. [volume] (San Francisco [Calif.]) 1895-1913, 1895-05-01

marks of the lead. Others have dates at
tached, of which the most remote is 1887
and the most recent April II, 1895. Some
names are joined with the word land, y
while others are surrounded by a rudely
sketched frame.
F. Seagrace, E. Worth and G. Miller Wis
tied the belfry in 1882. Bert Wallace and
j. BroYder were there on October s, 1898
". Taber and f. Raicevich explored its re-
: cesses together. 'Mateo came" October 8,
1898. Other names which can be dis
+tinguished from the multitude of pencil
= scratches are c. n. Slack, c. w. Shaers, J.
;: +. BrOwdy, II. D. Clark and J. S. Mendell.
The two last visited the tower since the
finding of the bodies.
=; The boys of the church congregation
were accustomed TO resort to the belfry to
escape the church proceedings. There
they played games and cut capers while
j. their elders worshiped below. This an
noyed the guardian of the building and he
locked the tower door to keep the urchins
below stairs. That at least is the reason
which was given by Janitor Sademan upon
the witness-stand.
The disfgured door at the foot of the
tower is likely to be an important exhibit
: in the murder cases. When first visited
by the police the knobs had been broken
off and the shaft which turns the latch re-
moved. The door was locked, but it bore
marks where some one land no one doubts
that it was the murderer of both girls)
had tried to pry it open with an iron bar.
The knobs and shaft were afterWard found
beneath the flooring within the tower.
This makes it evident that the murderer
. possessed a key to that door. Janitor
Sademan swears that when last he locked
that door the knobs were in their proper
place and had they been absent he would
undoubtedly have noticed the circum-
stances. 1t would be interesting to know
what persons have keys to that door.
The murderer also had key to the side
door of the church. That circumstance
has been thought by some worthy of but
little notice because of the sworn testi-
mony that the lock of the side door was a
common lock which could be opened by any
ordinary key. The lock is, however, of good
quality and is what is known as a five
ward lock. No ordinary key can open it
and not only that but there is no skeleton
key in existence which can shoot back its
bolts. The murderer, If he had a key
which would open that door, had one
which was specially fitted to the lock.
Conversation" temptation" - these
are, possibly, the last two words written by
Rev J. George Gibson within the study of
Emmanuel Church.
= They are inscribed upon the base of a
tablet, as though jotted down as memoir
andum of a subject for future discourse
=: Thomas Piper read few chapters of De
Miles "Cord and Creese," killed Mabel
Young, between services, i'll the tower of a
Boston church and was hanged. John
Wilkes Booth delighted in tragedies. DIR.
Webster reveled in collections of criminal
trials. Both were assassins. One was shot,
the other was hanged: Libraries often in
dictate the trend of their owners minds.
Interest attaches to even the smallest
things connected with those who are asso-
ciated in the public's thoughts with the
tragedies in Emanuel Church. The pas
tors library displaysa broad taste in litera-
ture. Upon the same shelf with the ser
mons of Sturgeon is Ideals, by Sarah
Grand, described as "the story of an I'M
conventional young woman, possessed OF
referring to the marriage relation, social
immortality and the equality OF men and
women" On another shelf is ''The Com
panions of Our Lord, y danked by rs Lie
Worth Living?" ''Ships That Pass in the
Night" when Mans Single'-al pa
peT-covered novels.
Durrant read textbooks, crammed science
for his examinations and is said by his
family to have read little or none OF the
lighter literature of the day.
George King, also student, like his
friend the accused, deVotes himself to his
textbooks and his music.
The sexton, Sademan, may have literary
tastes, but of them nothing is known.
Apropos of the sexton, a tale is told that
has set many tongues to wagging.
It is stated that the reason for his pres
.ence at the ferry on the afternoon of April
II, when he states that he met Durrant,
was to seek his boy, who had run away.
The boy was found, and had during his
hours of freedom made sundry purchases.
His father sought in his company to re-
turn the goods and regain the money, but
without success.
To one of those from whom he purchased
The lad stated, 81 don't want to work any
longer in that church, y with an emphasis
npon ''that" which, with later knowledge,
nas an echo of plaintiveness.
The dealer told the tale, the police have
listened, and one detective is seeking the
reason of the emphasis.
The sexton is cleaning the church. The
lowers and Easter decorations, except one
bouquet of paper flowers: are heaped a
mass of decaying vegetation behind the
Office.
In that heap OF debris is the bunch of
lowers borne by Minnie Williams from