The San Francisco call., 1898-12-31

 her nerves. Later on the sisters put their heads together and carried on an animated talk with the Rev. Mr. Mcclure, husband of one of the Brown sisters.
 1 The closing argument for the people by District Attorney Hosmer was brilliant effort. This was not from a rhetorical or an oratorical point Of view, but for it's masterful analysis of the testimony presented in this case It was cruel, pitiless, in the scattering to the four winds the defense presented by Mrs. Botkin. It was all such cold, hard reasoning that there was no es caping the conclusions arrived at by this master analyist. Take the letter admitted to have been written to Gov ernor Budd by Mrs. Botkin requesting the appointment as a nurse in the army.
 MT Knight thundered away at this and explained to the jury that his client could not possibly have written it with Jack Cunning in her mind. as if she secured the appointment the only place Governor Budd could send her to would be Manila. This all sounded very good and reasonable until MT. HoSmer dissected it. He found it dated early in April of this year. soon after Cunning had left this city: He then pointed out that the gallant Dewey had not made Manila a place open to Americans until May 1st. All Knights eloquence could not contro- vert that cold fact.
 He told some wholesome truths re- ,:1 q hoI lNI-f bo defense in the intimidation of wit nesses. This he claimed was not for the purpose of contradicting the wit nesses but to hold them up to .scorn and ridicule. It showed the des- perate straits to which the defense was put, especially as. they were unable to show any witnesses un- worthy of belief His slow, measured dramatic words had their effect on the followers of Mrs Botkin. When he laid bare her life in this city, away l from her husband, he talked plainly He spoke of her life with Cunning as degraded, dissipated. lcentious.
 MT. Hosmer was honored with the largest attendance of the trial He was prepared for a great effort and outdid all his previous efforts, and as some one remarked, proved that he was, as has been claimed, the brains of the District Attorneys office for the past ten years" The courtroom was filled with ladies. He held the attention of his auditors from the start. as he had a thrilling story of crime to tell them.
 He questioned the good taste of the attorneys for Mrs. Botkin in coming be- i1I1-x rolna hot were serving without hope of compen- sation. They could not urge that as defense for their client. He asked that they try her as man, without fear. favor or affection. He then described the terrible crime by which two inno- cent women were murdered without ad- monition or warning that they had an enemy in all the world.
 He showed where counsel for the de- fendant were at variance in their req. soning on the case He scoffed al the contention that the box of candy had never gone through the mail, claiming that it had been proven absolutely. He pictured the scene on the porch of the Pennington homestead, when the candy was brought from the postoffce, and the little group tried to decipher from | whom had come the box and its loving note and dainty handkerchief.
 He likened the person who sent the poisoned candy to a snake. but said the latter gave warning when it was about to strike. He said he expected to prove the poisoning to have been done to gratify the lust of a designing woman She stole the livery of heaven to serve the devil. She took this moth . CT out of this life not for hatred but to satisfy lust that could not other wise be satisfied:
 He said witnesses on the stand were entitled to as much consideration as they were accorded upon the street. They should be free from insult and intimidation which was never used to effect any good or wholesome ends. h. [ suit and innuendo do not prove that a man uttered falsehood on the stand. He cited questions asked witnesses that were intended to give wrong impress 1 sion to the jury, and went down the 1 list of witnesses that Knight had baited upon the stand. These included the majority of the witnesses for the prose- 1 cution.
 ! He traced the probable development 1 u lHe put lOS hlll llllS NOlisof anu | showed how little at time would be accomplished. That the person who 1 planned so frightful crime would have many struggles with her conscience, ! that at times must have been over ] whelming.
 For the motive he traced the. rela- | tions existing between Mrs. Botkin and ! Cunning from the first day they met in Golden Gate Park. From her testimony she made Cunning appear to be waif, neglected by the world and taken under her wing for protection. She told all 1 the good she had done, but hesitated at the evil. When she told of the bracers | of whisky we get glimpse of the char l acter of a woman who is not virtuous. Cunning told of their life and showed that it was one of degradation, dissipa- tion, licentiousness; a story of the race track, back doors of saloons and every thing that would make up total de- l pravity.
 The only conclusion we can draw from all her testimony is that she was not acting the good Samaritan. but was actuated by mad infatuation for this &1-z