The Topeka state journal. [volume] (Topeka, Kansas) 1892-1980, 1898-06-22
NO END IN SIGHT.
Third Day of the Collins Murder
Trial Opens
With the Sister of the Accused
On the Stand.
INTEREST CONTINUES.
Women Still PredOminate in
the Court Room.
The Prisoner Maintains His
Cool DemeanOr.


has been but as usual nearly all the
spectators were women.
John Collins was brought from the
Jail Is minutes before the time fixed for
the opening of the hearing, Grant
Meade, his stepbrother, accompanied
him and took his accustomed seat next
to him in the court room.
Miss Grace Collins, who was to be
the first witness arrived at just >
o'clock with Attorneys GODDARD and
Hayden. She was dressed entirely in
black and her delicate features were
covered with a black veil. She wore a
hat of dark straw with black plumage-
When she entered the room she walked
straight to where John sat and he arose
stiffiy and shook hands with her John
then shook hands with his attorneys.
Miss Grace Collins seemed more COM
posed than she has at any time when
she was questioned. She answered At
tOrney Stafford with a firm low voice.
There are no seats in the body of the
court room but more than 100 women
stand with stretched necks listening
eagerly to catch every word.
One woman, at least 60 years old with
gray hair has occupied a place near
the rail ever since the hearing began
and she keeps her place in spite of the
crowds and heat.
The morbid curiosity of the public
seems to center in the women of To-
peka for while men come and go at
the trial, it is seldom that a woman
leaves the room.
The reason County Attorney Jetmore
questioned Mrs. J. S. Collins so closely
yesterday afternoon on a few points,
was for the reason of showing that her
testimony was given most unwillingly,
and also for the purpose of showing
that since the cOrOner'S inquest, and in
deed since she made a sworn statement
for the insurance companies, she had
changed her statement of a certain cI--
cunstance, probably for the purpose of
protecting John Collins.
In the inquest, also in the insur-
ance affidavit, both of which records
were in the hands of the county attor-
ney, Mrs. Collins Swore that John Col
Inns was In Topeka Dewey day and
that he returned to Lawrence that
evening on the fast mail. Yesterday
when closely questioned she stated that
he did not return until the next morn
ing, adding that she remembered of his
having called to them as he passed
their door early in the morning on his
way to the train. When asked why she
cOntradicted her own testimony, she re-
piled that she was telling just as near
the truth as she could. The facts in
the case cOrroborate her testimony of
yesterday. The object of the state was
to disprove the alibi which would sure
ly have been claimed by the defense in
the matter of the Crook Wright Incl
dent 1t was on the evening of
Dewey day that Johnson Jordan and
Crook Wright claim that John Collins
was at the 400 club on Smoky I;ow,
where the gold watch is supposed to
have been given Jordan.
The state therefore scored another
point in the case. Another thing about
the matter was that Mrs. Collins stated
that John told her on the Thursday be-
fore the murder, when he returned at
noon that he had purchased a one
fare-for-th ticket and it
was cheaper for him to come to Topeka
for medical treatment than to stay in
hos
special rates were in effect at the time
John came to Topeka, which was May
p
The state also gained a point by hav-
ing Mrs. Collins examine Grant Meade's
diamond stud in open court. She had
stated that Johns diamond stud and
that of Meade were set similarly When
she examined Meade's stud and the one
which the state claims is Johns, she
identified both.
Mrs. Collins bore up under the ter
rible fire of questioning with remark
able nerve. Her answers were clear
and at times had a tone of indignant
displeasure in them. She did not break
down, nor even begin to.
There is no man in the court room
more calm than John Collins. He seems
to take the hearing as a good joke and
if he cOntemplates the serious side of
the trial his demeanOr does not indi-
cate his true feelings. He often smiles
when a witness is testifying and ap-
pears to be confused.
When his intimate friend and school
mate, Webster Wilder, was on the
stand John Collins leaned forward to
hear every word. When he told about
the wine supper in his room in which
Collins participated but did not help
pay for, people in the court room
laughed and John Collins Joined in the
merriment as heartily as any one in
the room.
Attorney H. c. Stafford said this
morning: q do not see how we can
complete the evidence in the case today
There are many more witnesses to be
examined and it is not at all likely that
it can be cleaned up by tonight
The length of the trial is accounted
for by the searching examination made
by the attorneys. No material point is
neglected and often much time is de-
voted to things which do not appear to
bear on the case, with the evident pur-
pose of unearthing some hidden fact.
Attorney Stafford carefully avoided
any questions about what Miss Grace
Collins heard on the morning of the
murder. For this reason nothing was
brought out about a noise in the upper
hall which Miss Collins testified to at
the coroner's inquest
Miss Collins evidence was rather un-
certain. She avoided as much as pos
sible making any positive statements
1t was only when she was asked
whether John Collins was at home the
night of Dewey day that she was posi-
tive. She said she was certain that
her brother John Collins, was at home
Jordan and Crook Wright say that Col
Inns was at their place on Smoky Row
The friendship of Grant Meade for
his stepbrother, John Collins, is a no
ticeable feature of the trial Grant
Meade has an excellent face and his af-