, 1897-09-10
THE LUETGERT TRIAL.
THE CROWDS OF SPECTN TORS
NOT AS LARGE AS HAS BEEN
THE CASE.
The Prisoner Comes in Pale and Wan.
the Jury is Feeling the Effe.s o:
the Hot Weather-Chemica EN-
parts Prove to be Very Poor Wit
nesses for the State.

nesses for the State.
Chicago, Sept. 9.-For the frs, line
in the history Of the Luetgert triIl no
curious crowd today blocked the en-
rance to the criminal court building
or Judge Tuthlll's court room, pr b? to
the morning session OF the court. The
pUblic seems to have learned after sew
eral tiresome lessons that it is useless
to seek Tor entrance without a reasonable
excuse other than curiosity. In The cDurt
room the usual crowd OF spectators gath
ersd, the women outnumbering the men
as usual.
The big prisoner was brought mo
cur earlier than usual and was in his
seat in front OF Bailiff Reed before jrdga
or jury entered the court room. Luat-
CERT plainly showed the effects Of con-
hrsment and warm weather and his Sat
ures were more than usually wan.
The jury also seemed to feel the e.
fects OF the several days OF hot weather
and the two weeks of confinement which
.lsy have endured.
The first witness called was n F.
Kruger. the druggist who sold Watch
man Frank Bialk the medicine which
Lue'stert ordered his employe to pur-
chase. The testimony was infaried
merely a. corroborative OF the watch
mans testimony, as to time. for the pur-
pose O. showing the hours between
which the alleged murder was supposed
TO have been committed.
The second witness was DR.. Charles
B. Gibson, the chemical expert, who was
placed on the stand for redirect exam.n-
alton in regard to his analysis OF heAhy
s~ubg:ances and slime removed from he
vat where the state is attempting to
prove the wife murder was committed
Gibscn's testimony proved to be of 1t
lie value to the safe. Although the wi
ness freely admitted hat the bits of
neshy substance and organic matter TAX
en- from the solution were similar to hu-
man flesh. he was equally candid in his
admission upon cross-eXaminaticn by
Attorney Vincent, chief counsel for the
defense, that the flesh was as similar 10
the flesh Of any other animal as il was 10
the human.
Prof. Gibson testified that a body could
be disintegrated in the manner charged
by the prosecution. but denied that the
homes would be affected in the manner
that the state has endeavored to estab-
fish. The witness testified that the bones
would Re merely scttened at the ends,
but would not be dissolved. The law
vers for the defense were highly pleased
at the result OF the cross-examina,ion
and feel that their case had gained as the
result Of the evidence.
Pref. Mark D~elafontaine. a Swiss
chemist, was reXt put on the sand.
Prot. Delafontaile was educated only in
the technical terms OF English. and it
was impossible for him to couch his an
swers in language that the jury could
comprehend. In addition to this defect
in the manner Of his testimony, the wit
ness was possessed Of a very faulty de-
livery and his low tones could hardly be
distinguished by the court and lawyers
who were very near him. However, his
testimony IA necessary to the case Of
the state as a witness, as without the
story O. experts neither the name Of
Mrs. Lue,gert's supposed murder nor the
fact OF her death car be established.
Testimony concerning bones was the
chief portion OF the evidence submitted
to the scrutiny OF the learned chemist.
who was questioned as to whether they
were human bones. His answers were
SO vague and uncertain as to be value
less as evidence. Several times the cCu
attempted to have the witness define
himself as to certain terms and express
sions. hut such attempts were futile. The
chemist gave as his opinion nat a body
could dissolve in caustic potash, heated
to the boiling point, in the space OF three
or four hours. nothing but the bones and
some Of the ligaments and cartridges
remaining. However. he would not COM
nit himself further than Prof. Gibson,
who preceded him on the stand.
At the afternoon session Prof. Della
tontaine was cross-examined by he de-
tense.