The Austin weekly statesman. (Austin, Tex.) 1883-1898, 1896-11-26
IHE UR1 MURDER TRIAL
RATHER A SENSATIONAL INCL
DENT HAPPENED YESTER-
DAY MORNING.
A WOMAN PEERED INTO BURT'S FACE
SHE WALKED UP AND, LOWER
ING HER FACE TO HIS,
LOOKED AT HIM
INTENTLY.
The STATE HAS CONCLUDED ITS TESTIMONY
The Defense Will Open Up Its Testi-
mony at $50 This Morning-The
Proceedings Yesterday Rather
Damaging to the Defense.
The State HAS CONCLUDED ITS TESTIMONY
(From Saturdays Daily.)

The reader is asked to picture In his
mind crowded court room, prisoner
who is charged with murder in chair,
with his guard standing to one side of
him, and woman, with all the curiosity
of her sex depicted on her face as she
leans her face to within foot oil the
prisoners face, and you can have some
slight conception of the scene enacted at
the district court room yesterday noon IN
the Burt trial, just after the court took d
recess for dinner and before the oris-
oner could be carried back to Jail.
The court had taken a recess for lin
ner and the crowd was slowly filing out,
with the exception of some men and quite
number of ladies', who hung back in
order to see the prisoner rise from his
seat and leave the room. 1t was
while Guard Hughes was waiting for the
crowd to leave the room that one of the
ladies in attendance, apparently carried
away by her curiosity beyond all
thoughts of her surroundings, pushed
past Deputy Sheriff Thorpe, who was
standing just to the left of the prisoner,
and peered with cold and unfeeling, as
well as decidedly interesting, eye into the
face of the prisoner. She seemed fairly
charmed at the sight and the writer, who
was sitting not four feet away, could lot
help but watch and wonder. She
looked at Burt very intently for possibly
two minutes and seemed not to want 10
leave when she was pushed aside, As
it was. however, she complied with the
request to move slightly and smiled
broadly up into Deputy Thorpe's face as
she did so. Her curiosity had led her to
Burt and she had satisfied its longings
to see him by leaning over his chair until
her face was within foot of his. She
had evidently been satisfied. She had
not only heard the testimony, but she
had seen Burt. and now she had looked
into his face. Her curiosity, her morbid
curiosity and her ambition had been salts
fed, in measure at least. She had
braved everything, even to running into
the crowd of men, to approach close
enough to Burt to look into his face, and
when once near she had voluntarily
thrust her face so close to his that their
breath must have mingled as it passed
from their respective lips.
What of Burt during this moment of
suspense? He paid no more attention to
the woman than if she had not been near
him. His eye lids did not even flicker.
All the time the woman was looking at
him he neither noticed her nor any one
else. She looked her fill and was then
pushed gently aside by the officers, but,
SO far as any action of Burt's gave evi,,
dence, he did not even know that she had
been in the neighborhood of his chair
1t was verify the opportunity of a life
time for the artist. 1t was certainly
something worthy of the poet, and as for
ordinary human beings, those who have
once seen such proceedings will not
soon forget them. Other ladies have
been in attendance upon the trial SINCE
its opening. They have heard ali the
horror of the deed, and they have seen
the man who sits there day by day,
charged with the guilt of the, heinoqs
crime. None have ever dared to ad-
vance to within arms length of the
prisoner, however, until yesterday, when
this lady in question allowed her curl curl.
osity to run rampant t. oyer yer everything hS dan
approached the prisoner at the bar and
secured that satisfaction which she will
probably never have again in life-that ad Of
looking at close range at man charged