The Wilmington daily Republican. (Wilmington, Del.) 1890-1902, 1898-12-13
THE TRIAL
UNDER WAY.
Important estimony Heard
in BOtkin Trial at
San Francisco.

San Francisco, Cal, Dec. 12-The trial
OF Mrs Cordelia Botkiu. charged with the
p0isoning of Mira Mary n. Dnnning,- was
resumed this IN 1rning despite the efforts
of Louie p. Boardman and William j.
Bostdman and William l.. Harper to de-
lay its progress by writ Of injunction.
Neither tho prosecution nor the defense
mem toned the matter to Judge Cook, SO
that officially the Court knows nothing OF
the conduct OF BoardmAn. Mrs Botktn
showed deep interest to-day In the pro
ceedings. Yet she evlnced no emotion ut
the testimony.
The prosecution will have some difficult
ty, 1t 10 believed, In proving conclusively
that Mrs. Dunning died Of arsenical pois-
oning. No autopsy was made upon the
say Mrs. Dunning had been poisoned un.
til a day or two after her dea'h. 1t was
then too late to perform an autopsy rs the
body had been smbalmed with u prspara.
ton containing arsenic. This lisa strong
point In the defense.
Thomas NJ Goodsn. postmaster at Dover
Del, was the first witness to testify to re :
ceiving q package on August addressed o
Mrs. John p. Dunning and to placing It In
ex.CongrsssMan Pennington's post office
box.
Then Harry Pennington tho 10 year old
nephew of the late Mrs INNING, told Of
taking che package from tho post Office to
his graudiaLhsr's house and giving II to
MrL Duuntng He ldent ifisl the wrapper
and the box in which the candy came and.
the.note aud handkerchief which were in
closed In the box. Young Pennington re-
laVei how Mrs. Dunning, Mrs. Deane, Le-
LIN Drane, Miss BatemLn and Miss MIL
lington ana himself pnrlook VI the candy,
and how Mrs. Dnnning AMI Mrs Dsano
died within two days.
Leila Deane, the IL year old daughter of
Ms. DeHDe, one of the women poisoned,
related how ths candy was passed around
tho family circle by Mrs. Dunning, and
told Of her mothers death.
Josephine Batemau, school teacher Of
Dover, who ate Of the poisoned candy, tes-
titled to finding three small pieces Of .
white substance. resembling arsenic, and
each 40 largo as a grain Of wheat, In her
III, nth.
"At that time did not know" said
Miss Bateinan, that the substance which
found Ia my mouth wa arsenic. Later
that evening however found piece Of the
same substance imbedded In one Of my
teeth When removed 1t found that
my gum was badly liberated The next
day my lips were sore and painful. was
Ill for day or SO after eating the candy"
After the noon recess, Ethel Millingtoi,
a neiyhbor Of the Penningtons In Dover,
who was visiting tho family on the night
of August y, told how she ate Of the candy
and became III. She was followed by Jos
hua 4. Deane, husband Of one Of tho VIC
tins, who testified to his wife's sufferings
after che was taken Ill on the night she ate
OF the caIdy and Of her death q day later
Mr. Deaue testified that the symptoms
mt fnrAI hxy Mira n nj 4, his 6ur rht
and by Harry Pennington were similar to
those attending tho Illness Of his wife.
Their condition indicated that they oil sui
fered from the same disease
Ga cross examination, Attorney Knight
sought to have shown that Mrs. Deane
might have been poisoned by something
she ate for supper. He did not succeed,
however, as Deane testified he ate OF almost
everything served at the meal aud yet was
not rendered i'll.
John B. Pennington, the father OF the
dead women, was the last witness of tho
day. Tie told OF the receipt Of anonymous
letters rejecting on John P. banning
which had been received by his daughter.
He was struck by the similarity OF the
writing Oh the wrapper about the box and
that Of the letters
The letters received by Mr.. Penning.
ton are sup osed tp have been written by
MIS- Bod kin to bring about u separation
between the Cummings, for Mrs. Botkin
was madly in,aIuateI With Dunning and
according to her own statements would
have married him had he been free and
willing.
Dover, Del, Dec l2.-Lawyer Henry R
johnson. apersonal friend Of Attorney
General White, to day received advices
from the Delaware PROSECUTOR who Is now
in San Francisco assisting III the trial OF
Mrs Cordoba Botkin for the murder Of
Mrs. DunnirR, Of this town.
These adv!ces state that The prosecution
had to look out for the growing sentiment
against capital punishment. Several
prominent men went from the jury box
because they could not reconcile IL with
tn Ar cOnsci noes to send a human creature
to arbitrary death. One man very frankly
owned he could not vote o hang u woman
Whatever her crime and lief the box amid
sun laughter. Of oil the four score men
examined he wa, tho only man who would
no hanga woman US quick las man.
Not u few Of the talesman split on the
rock of Circum sthntia evidOdce, declaring
positively that they would not hang u hui
man being on circumstantial evidence en-
titelv, particularly ii there was any miss.
ing links in the chain. Several said they
would require thu defendant to prove their
little while in tho box. Twelve leading
business men of San Frunei,co were first
placed in he box, but uf these W. S. Kit
tie proved to hhave been classmnte of
Dunning while at college, and d. Block
who greatly resembles Chauntey NJ. De.
pew, was anxious to serve, and Sc attract
ed tho ntten' ion OF the defense and was
challenged. All the jurors were closely
Questioned as to whether they had been
rendiUg the newspapers on the ca.e, and
some admitted that they never read below
the headlines in criminal cases Of this
kind. Two Of these we're ministers and
they were excused. The de ense liz said to
have admitted it did not desire church
people on the jury anyhow. lest they
might be tempted to hartor the belief that
a'purson who would violate one command.
ment would break another
The Delaware people describe the de.
PENDANT ms stOu', ILntronly looking per-
son, apparently considerably loss than h0r
forty three years. She dresses we'll and
quietly. Whatever may have been her taste
in the past, she is sedate as u QnakeIess
now. She has even abandoned the old flip
of the skirt and old to.s Of The head de-
scribed in the carrier stories. Solitude and
confinement must have had u very soften
ing effect on this woman, who declared
that the next timo seo Jack Cunning
will be before court of jus ice"
She constantly wears neat well fitting
black serge gown, made in tailor fashion
but with absolute plninness. Her round
hat is black and simply trimmed, only n
glimpse of white linen at the throat reliev-
ing the monotony of color. Her gloves
are black, and by way Of extra wrap she
carries II small black fur cape. Over her
black chiffon veil which mules her feat
ures and leaves visible only the eyes These
are full and bright and BY far her best
| feature
Superior Court.
| Superior Court spent much OF its time