The San Francisco call., 1898-12-15
The Suspected Woman Picked as the Purchaser of Poison
 and Candy.
Prosecution Finishes a Critical Day in the Presentation of Its Case-A Series of Sensational and Exciting
 Incidents.

drug to bleach a hat. The witness who gave this testimony Is Frank Grey, a clerk in the Owl drug store.
 There was nothing new in the facts of ! his evidence. He had told the story | before and no one in the courtroom | expected him to swear to anything else. It was the method of his identi- fication of Mrs. Botkin that supplied the sensation of the day. People for got that Grey knew Mrs. Botkin be- fore she bought the poison, gave her name and address and legally admitted the purchase. But when Knight com
 manded his client to stand, and the lit
 tie, fat, black-gowned. black-com- pleXiOned woman arose and was point
 ed out by Grey as the woman who had purchased the poison there was a buzz of suppressed excitement In the court room.
 Grey then related the circumstances | of the purchase as they have been re- lated. He sold powdered arsenic to
 Mrs. Botlzin. But both powdered and lump arsenic were found in the poi sOned candy. The prosecution has
 failed yet to show where the lump ar
 senic was obtained.
 In attempting to do so yesterday the
 officers of the State met with a most lamentable failure. David Green was placed on the witDesS-stand and proved to be a boomerang for the prosecution. He worked for the Star drug store, on Market street, near Fifth, in the latter part of May and the early part of
 June. About that time he sold lump
 arsenic to short, stout, flashily
 dressed woman. When asked if Mrs.
 Botkin was the woman Green hesi-
 tated, stumbled and collapsed in con-
 fusion. There was a rapid exchange of
 sharp remarks between the attorneys
 as Knight sought to force the vacillat- ing drug clerk off his feet. Sharp re-
 marks and quick retorts served only to make confusion worse confounded for the helpless clerk, who finally declared in desperation that he could not idsl- tify Mrs. Botlin as the woman to
 whom he sold the poison. The defense
 had won it's first victory, and the morn- ing session closed rather gloomily for
 the prosecution.
 The lost ground was more than made
 up in the afternoon by the State. The
 next effort was to show that Mrs. Bot
 kin had purchased at the establishment
 of George Haas & Son the box of candy that was subsequently, poisoned and
 then sent on its mission of murder to Dover. The central witness of the af- ternoon was Miss Sylvia Heney, a ! young saleswoman employed by George Haas. Miss Heney is bright, quick,
 pert and ready of wit. Her story, which may be of serious moment to Mrs. Botkin, seemed to have been well | rehearsed, for the girl never stumbled
 under the badgering, broWbeating
 cross examination of George Knight. | Miss Heney remembered that she had
 sold a fancy box of candy on the after noon of July 31 to a short, stout woman, who, in manner of gait, movement and 1 appearance, resembled Mrs. Botkin. l When asked if Mrs. Botkin was the l purchaser of the box the saleswoman replied impressively: T believe she is" There was a rustic and a sup
 pressed buzz throughout the court room. Time and again Knight sought | he failed He shouted his questions ! threateningly at the girl, but she only
 arranged herself more comfortably in | temper and undisturbed assurance.
 l Knight assumed to disbelieve the 1 girls assertions, but the assumption
 was unheeded if 1t was understood. l The lawyer grew insinuating, but his
 soothing tones were as unavailing as
 his disturbing shouts. Each effort to cajole or threaten the girl into a modi- 1 fcation of her calm assertion that she | believed Mrs. Botkin to be the woman
 who bought the candy met only with
 renewed failure. It was rather an in- | teresting battle between a lawyer l trained in all the subterfuges of the
 law and girl who had probably never been in courtroom before. It seemed as if Knight wished to retire from the l field, but did not know just how to do
 so without meeting the litter that would
 proclaim his defeat.
 The attorney finally gave up in de- 1 spair He could neither confuse nor 1 frighten the witness. He could involve i her in no contradiction and her testi- mony remained as it had been given
 upon direct examination. Miss Heney
 had positively identified the box and
 the candy and had reiterated until re- iteration became monotonous that she | believed Mrs. Botkin had made the
 purchase. While this testimony was being given the accused woman leaned back in her chair and with eyes closed remained in that position.
 The last witness of the day simply corroborated some of the more impor- i tant elements of the testimony of Miss l Heney. This witness was Miss Kitty
 M. Dittmer, another clerk employed by