New-York tribune., 1899-02-10
THE ADAMS INQUEST BEGUN.
HARRY s. CORNISH SHARPLY EXAM
INED BY MR.. OSBORNE.

GRUDGE AGAINST HMM
CURRY GOES ON TO-DAY.
Coroner Hart started his inquest in the
Adams poisoning case yesterday morning lis
trict- Attorney Gardiner and Assistant plstrlct-
A,,ornevs Osborne and Blumenthal. appeared
FOR the people The case. in addition to the sen
sational testimony promised by the Distrlc'-A'-
torney. had other features which caused large
number of people TO try to obtain adml''ahce
to the Coroner's courtroom in the Criinhdl
Courts Building. peculiar thing was the al
rooet unnrecedented manner Of beginning the in
ouirv. Instead of calling witnesses to prove
! that Mrs Adams was dead. and that she had
actually died after taking cyanide OF mercury
administered to her by Mr. Cornish, the District
Attorney and his assistants started in with the
! assurnntion that crime had been committed
and that they knew the guilty person When
the hearing adjourned last night the jurors had
no evidence before them which would prove
Mrs Adams's death by poisoning. Neither the
Coroner's physician nor the experts who anal
wed the contents of Mrs Adamss stomach were
called nor were the doctors who were with her
when she died put the stand. The natural
course in all cases similar to this is 70 call the
physicians who attended the person as to whose
death the inquest is being held 10 prove that he
or she had died, and under what circumstances
Then would come the Coroners physician to tes-
tify as 10 the autopsy. and after him in pois-
oning case the chemical expert would have been
called to show that some poison had actually
caused the death.
CORNISH THE FIRST WITNESS.
Instead of doing this in the present inquest
the Coroner and the DistrictAttorney called
Henry 8. Cornish manager Of the Knicker-
booker Athletic Club, to the stand as the first
witness. Mr.. Cornish received the package con-
tanning the poison through the mail the day be-
fore Christmas, and on December % gave some
Of the contents Of the bottle, which was sup
posed TO be bromo-seltzer. to Mrs. Adams. and
this caused her death. Mr.. Cornish was called
to give testimony which the District-Attorney' s
office had promised would be sensational and
would show actually who the person was who
sent the poison.
Mr.. Cornish was the only witness yesterday,
and his testimony did not appear TO he entirely
satisfactory to Distrct-Attorney Gardiner, who
had depended so much on him in carrying out
the theory of the Dstrict-Attorneys office.
After the adjournment Colonel Gardiner said in
regard to Mr.. Cornish's attitude a witness
Il was only in the courtroom for few minutes,
and did not see or hear much. I have been told
since however. that he evaded some Of the
questions. I have complete confidence in Mr..
! Oshorne's ability to pump him dry The fact
that Cornish gave Mrs. Adams the poison is in
| evidence and it bchooves him to clear his own
skirts Under the law his admission Of giving
| the poison makes It possible to secure his in
dctment for murder. Whether or not this will
! be done remains. OF course. at the discretion Of
this Office"
The inquest did not begin until II o'clock, al
though it was called for 1880. The Coroners
courtroom was filed with witnesses and news
! paper reporters and artists long before the hour
| set The twenty-five talesmen from whom the
| jury was TO be selected were in an adjoining
room.
After several consultations between Coroner
| Hart and Dstrict-AttOrney Gardiner, twelve
! names were selected out Of a panel Of
! twenty Ave, and they ordered 10 be ready
70 listen to the case Coroner Hart then came
into the courtroom. accompanied by Coroner
! Bausch and they took their seats at the Coro-
| ners desk.
! Meanwhile Assistant DistrctAttorneys Os-
borne and Blumenthal seated themselves at the
! counsel table. Each talesman Of the twelve Sc
| lected was called in and sworn. after which the
! Assistant District-AttOrneys closely examined
! him as to whether not he had formed any
opinion as to the guilt or innocence Of any per
son mentioned in the case. There was no oh
lection made t. the jurors until the twelfth was
called. George F. Miller was first called, and
said that he was acquainted with DR.. Beaman
| Douglas witness in the case. Mr. Miller was
excused. John A. Disney. the next man called,
said that he had formed an opinion to the
| case He was also excused.
THE JURY.
Finally the jury completed as follows:
| OTTO B. AMEND. druggist and chemist Of Third ave.
and Eighteenth ST.. foreman.
| CHARLES 4. SWINDEIIA grocer ot No II Perry-St
| GEORGE WlCHELNS. grocer of No. 3i3 Hudson-st.
| Dr. +. G.. BDG-LI.EE of No. - Narick-st
J EDWIN FLETCHER MERWIN. furnishing goods dealer
O. 10 400 Canal-st
| IT, J sCHEUBER real estate dealer. Of No l22 West
| N.ulty-dfh- st -