The Topeka state journal. [volume] (Topeka, Kansas) 1892-1980, 1901-11-27
A Number of Witnesses Intro
duced in BOnine Case
To Establish the Fact That
Ayers Was Not Drunk.
PISTOL EXPERIMENTS.
DIR. GIaZebroOk Tells of Some
Which He Has Made.
Chambermaid's Story of Mrs.
BOnine's Relations to Ayers.

Washington. Nov 2l.-When Lola AUe'
Bonine entered the court room in Wnlcn
she is being tried for the murder oL
James s. Ayers today she was handed
three or four letters and was busiiy
engaged for the next ten or fifteen min
utes in reading them. The first witness
of the day was Johnson j. Hooper,
clerk in the census office who was out
with Ayers during the first part OF
the night on which he was killed. he
said that Ayers took three glasses OF
beer and that when he finally returned
10 the Kenmore about 1880 O'CLOCK III
the morning of May Is, he was perfect
ly sober He also testified thal the en-
tire party was sober, but tIal dll NelS
in good spirits He said on crOSS-eX-
animation that before starting out at
11:5O they had gone TO the rooms OF two
or three other young men IN the hoeel
and tried to get them out. In one case
he and Ayers had held Burns up TO the
transom of a boarder's room in their
effort to bring him out. ana that when
they returned, the crowd pushed him
over ON a night watchman, who was
lying on a lounge in the corridor ana
that all had then scampered up the
stairway
j. G. McCabe. another inmate of the
Kenmore testified to seeing Ayers IN a
saloon at IL o'clock on the night of the
tragedy when he went in with the party
from the Kenmore. AT that time the
saw him drink two glasses OF beer
Arthur E. McCubbin. who was a
member of the Ayers farewell party in
its rounds on the night of the homicide,
was next called He said that Ayers
was sober when he returned to the
hotel about 1870 O'Clock
John L Downs, who occupied a room
on the fourth floor of the Kenmore at
the time of the tragedy, said that he
had seen Mrs. Bonne the morning after
the killing She did not seem in any
way more excited than other boarders-
James Ford, fellow clerk of Ayers
at the census office and friend of his.
testified 10 visiting Ayers room the
morning after the killing. There were
then four or five ladies standing near
the room in the corridor, among them
being Mrs. Bonine. He spoke to her
especially. asking her if she had danced
with Ayers the evening before the kill
ing and she replied that they had danced
together. The next day she had eX-
pressed her regret over Ayers death
and her astonishment that in view of
the fact that he had no enemies he
should have been killed Her demeanOr
was different from that of other lady
guests of the hotel
On cross-examination Mr.. Ford said
that he had first met Mrs. Bonine while
he was a patient at a local hospital.
ALL WE'RE SOBER.
John A Taft, a Kenmore hotel board
er, said that ne had conversed with
Ayers as he went to his room at .35,
ed Indeed, he said all the Ayers party
were sober.
Michael Kane, another member of the
Ayers farewell party, testified that
Ayers was sober that night. He left
the party an hour before it separated
and went to his room Some of the
members came after him, and when
they failed to get a response from him
they lifted up one of their number so
that he could look into the room and
locate him
When Mr.. Kane was excused. DR..
Martin w. Glazebrook assistant cor
oner. who performed the autopsy on
Ayers body, was called. The face was.
he said, almost unrecognizable on ac-
count of the mass of blood which COW
cred It, and the arms were half folded
in front of the chest DR.. Glazebroolz
described the three wounds in the body
of the victim. One was in the left arm
one in the left thigh and one in the
breast, all except the thigh wound
showing powder burns and Indicating
that the weapon had been in close prox-
unity to the body when at least two
shots were fired The witness said he
mad experimental with the pistol found
in Ayers room, and he was about to
relate the particular experiments when
counsel on both sides. desiring to have
surgeons present to hear the statement.
secured a supension of his testimony
until afternoon
A colored chambermaid of the Ken
more, who had charge of Ayers room.
Was theH Called she said she had
never seen a pistol in the room She
said that Mrs. Bonine often came to
Ayers room when she was there. to get
a book She testified that on one occa-
sion, last February, she went to Mrs
Bonine's room and found her ILL., The
latter had asked her to tell Ayers of
her own accord. that she (Mrs. Bonine)
was sick in bed and to suggest that a
little whisky would do her good. She
accordingly told Ayers of Mrs. Ronine's
Illness, but he was so Indifferent that
she did not suggest the need of Iiouor
for Mrs Bonine- Ayers was at the time
reading a book, and had not looked uD
when she entered. In reply to questions
by Mr. Fulton. of counsel for Mrs Ro
nine, the witness said she had never
seen Mrs Bonine in Ayers room when
Ayers was there, and that when Mrs
Ronine had asked her to get the whisky
she had told her to get it from someone
else If she could not get it from Ayers
She mad obtained the whisky from an
other boarder and had taken it to Mrs
Bonine. .
AYERS ORDERED HER OUT.
Emma Brown colored. who was a
nurse IN the Kenmore, testified that
ABOUT TWO weeks before the ira gedv
she mad seen Mrs Bonine and Ayers
coming out of Ayers room about no
o CLOCK on Sunday morning; that
Ayers had on only his trousers and
undershirt and that Ayers Vent to +ba
bath room and Mrs. Bonine toward be,
own apartments.
On cross s-examination the witness
said she did not know but what Mrs
Bonfne had simply stood at the door
that Mrs Bonine was fully dressed an5
tnat there We're no signs of excitement
on the part Of either Ayers or Mrs
Bonine-
Mary Grayson, another domestic NJ
the Kenmore, testified that about Ma,-ch