The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1897-07-22
LOOKS DARK FOR H
HE MAI COME TO GRIEF THROUGH
DIMENSIONS OF COUNSEL.

-
TIVE Pennsylvania ana Two Now York Law
Jers. and Each IL Jealous OF the Others
A Proposition to Administer Prusuic Acid to
Living Animals In Court and Before the Jury.
BATAVIA, ". Y, July 2l.-The defendants
case In tho Bcnhom murder trial Is rapid
ly drawing to q close, and may BIO summed up
and submitted to the jury on Saturday. AS tho
case drags on 1t becomes more and moro cvi.
dent each day that Benham has come to grief
IN, tho multiplicity Of his advisors. Two OF the
counsel for the defence are Pennsylvania men
anu two arc New York practitioners. Each
has made a record for himself in the trial OF
criminal cnses, and leach is profoundly jealous
Of the others. This Is especially truo in two
instances.
Great things wero expected Of the learned
DIR. Richmond 1t was said that with his ex-
pert knowledge and skill In crot s-exnminatlon
he would have little. difficulty In annihilating
tho testimony given by tho witnesses for the
people. That he has not done this may be due
20 tho inner workings OF tho machine for the
defence, but the fact remains that since his
examination of the first witness DR.. Richmond
has had worry little to do with the case. The
doctor bears tho weight Of nearly threescore
md ten years on his shoulders, and Is a Spirit
ualist Of national renown. Since he has been
IN Batavia he has visited several OF tho local
Spiritualists, and this fact has had no little
effect In exciting q strong prejudice against
him..
Then there 10 Lawyer Mackey Of Buffalo, who
10 criticised by some as having the ambition to be
The "whoe thing" DR.. Heinrich Stern, the New
York chemist. Is highly incensed over a re mark
addressed to him by Mr.. Mackcy. DIR. Stern
speaks English with q decidedly Tcutonic &C
cont. In response to a suggestion OF his Mr..
Mackey retorted: Bah! Why don't you talk
through your whiskers instead OF through your
nose" As a consequence Of this remark DR..
Stern refused to testify and returned this after.
noon to New York city.
Mr.. Scarlet, the other Pennsylvania LAWYER.
IL q primo ,favorite with everybody. He keeps
his head and works from morning to night
The fourth attorney for the defence, Mr.. Web.
but little part In the examination of the wit
aesses, leaving this portion of the work for his
more distinguished associates.
This condition of affairs makes the outlook
still darker for tho man who has not only his
reputation At stake, but life as well. il the
TO administer prussio ncid TO living ami
mails in court before the jury and show them the
mails: also to take some fresh human blood and
make prussic acid from,it to prove that the poi
cera might have oeen formed by the natural
process of decomposition and not necessarily
evidence, however, in all probability will be OBJ
jeeted to by The prosecution as incompetent:
Inc experts VINO were sworn To-Day were III.
Buffalo. and DR.. Hill Of the same city. DR..
p.iis va ssdieGS6siy e Of Bnffalo oAS Of "tdhS o vi:e @aa so ny
faulty. The temperature under which it was
conducted was too high. There are certain
parts, no said, in the saliva, blood, and urine,
which under high temperature decompose and
produce potassium sulpho- cyanide, which yields
q reaction similar to prussic acid.
DR.. Wilton made a savage attack on the
autopsy CONDUCTED by the Batavia physicians.
winch, no declared, was managed In an lncOm-
plete and shiftless manner. He said that, as
Stunning the facts stated in the hypothetical
stances surrounding Mrs. f5cnham's death, no
did not think her death could have been due to
Mr.. Kencflck nuliifod the effect of DR.. whiton's
testimony. on the cIoss-eyamination by showing
that there was not the best Of feeling between
the witness and DR.. Townsend. who conducted
br. Wilton accounted for the patches found
on, Mrs. Benham's liver by the action Of the EN-
balming fluid. He had seen the same thing in
had been treating Benham for a certain disease,
but admitted to the District Attorney that he
had never prescribed prussic fcid for tho all
Attorney Webster testified that the cabinet
which was In the bathroom of the Benham house,
and which disappeared at the time of the arrest
several boxes Of red powders. He had removed
the cabinet and given the contents to DIR. John
4. Miller of Buffalo, the chemical expert of the
DR.. Miller took tho stand and told about tho
bottles and powders found in the cabinet. Tho
boxes contained, morphine, he. said. One of
the bottles, which was produced in court. tho
chemist said contained a solution of nitrate OF
silver. The other bottle contained II solution
OF prussia acid. The bottle was about half full
and the solution contained about three-One hun
dredths, of the acid, equal to about iiftecn-one
hundreds of a grain to an ounce OF the solution.
Mrs. Martin C. Benham, mother of the prison
pr, was recalled. She was asked what converse
tion she had had with Mrs. Benham before tho
latter drew her will. The witness said: "a few
day6 prior to the execution of the will I had a
conversation with Florence. She told me she
purposed to give her brother the sum Of 81, 900
or $1,000. and to the child that was to be tho
sum OF 49, The remainder she was coins
to give to Howard. At the time the will was
executed she said she would not sign the will
prepared by Mr.. Clark because it did not leave
to him the house and lot in Byron. She asked
Howard to draw another will bequeathing tho
house and lot to him"