The San Francisco call. [volume] (San Francisco [Calif.]) 1895-1913, 1898-09-02
LEES CHAIN WAS
MADE. OF FOG
All the Links of Evidence Gathered
by the Venerable Chief Blown
AWAY Like Mist

:. The whoe fabric of alleged evidence
that for two weeks past Chief Lees has
been weaving around. Mrs: Cordelia Bot
kin. was yesterday. so rent, and torn that
not one shred remains behind which the
Chief may seek to hide his. chagrin and
disappointment. The whole wobbly struc-
ture of Inconsistencies that the prosecu-
ton has built up around the woman &C
:cused of the Dover murders has fallen and
its builders are sadly. mixed up with the
ruins.
Through the efforts of Detective
Gibson the work of weeks is .undone and
the scene of.deepest investigation is Shift
ed from Stockton to San Francisco and
. from the candy store of Kuhn to the
store of G. w. Haas. Chief. Lees must
begin anew his. search for evidence that
will warrant the Charge OF murder against
Mrs. Cordelia Botkin.-
+ Since the beginning, despite the many
absurd Inconsistencies that The Call has
pointed out, Chief Lees. and Detective
McVey have pursued the theory of the
Stockton candy box, blind to all posi-
BILE channels of information outside that
theory. Using the drag net they have
this last week gathered in from Healds-
burg and from Stockton their witnesses
and their. .clews, and one by one their
witnesses have developed that they knew
nothing and their clews have dissipated
into thin air.
vertised as one Of the brightest of the
galaxy Of the prosecutions stars, knew
little and told nothing when on Tuesday
she was brought by, Detective. Wrenn
from Healdsburg and subjected to the
sweat box by the Chiefs board of STRAIT
egg. Miss Lizzie Livernash submitted all
of the evidence that she had not. and
the efforts of the inquisition adduced as
much from the other channels, of which
Station d of the Postoffice Department
was the most important.
Then, to complete the ruin of the Chief s
unique. theory, came, like a bolt from the
skies, word from Detective Gibson that
the box and It's contents. the ribbon and
the wrapping, had been fully identified by
George Haas, the well-known Market
street candy man. as the output of his
store; furthermore, that his establish
ment is the only one on the coast which
For two days Detective Gibson had
been displaying. among the different con-
fection-shops the box and its attach
ments, but with no result until he placed
It before one Of the ten pretty girls of
the Haas establishment. She Immediate
ly recognized it as one of the store boxes,
as did all of her co-workers to whom IT
was shown. To clinch his sudden good
fortune, Gibson called In Mr.. Haas, who
corroborated the statements of his en-
II recognized not only the box but the
candy as soon as 1t was shown me- said
Mr.. Haas. I'VE are the only people on
the coast who use the box, which is
made by Jones & Co. of Philadelphia /
morning to the City Hall, where, With a
strong magnifying glass, 1 made a most
minute observation of the box and its
contents, and l did not hesitate to say to
the Chief that the box and the candy
were without doubt from my store. One
feature of the box which makes my iden-
LITIGATION doubly sure is that the box is
or was-pink and not white in color, as
has been reported. This 1 proved to Mr.