The daily Republican., 1902-12-20
LAURA BlCCAR
ON THE STAND
Says Bennett Destroyed the
Marriage Certificate in a
Fit of Anger.
STANTON MADE DUPLICATE
Kept Wedding Secret,IShe De-
clares, Upon Her Hus-
bands Demand. At
tecting Scene.

mtst of the time, and several times
apparently on the verge Of faintlng,
Laura Biggar yesterday on the wit
ness stand, in her trial with DR.. C..
G. Uendrick and Samuel Stanton for
conspiracy to obtain the entire for.
tune left by Henry NJ. Bennett, told
a story that her attorneys are more
than hopeful will convince the jury
OF her innocence.
So extreme was her apparent ex-
hauston that II was almost painful
4, to watch her efforts to retain her
se!t-control AS she was compelled to
relate the circumstances pt her child q
birth and death III DR.. Hendricks $
santarlum last summer she sOObed
violently and her examination had TO
be suspended until she could regain
her composure.
OF all her testimony the most i'm
pDrtaut to her case WIS the cXplana-
t.on of the loss Of the marriage cer-
tit,cate She declares she received from
Stanton when he married her and
M. Bennett in 1898. necessi tating
The making out of duplicate, which
Stanton now remem bers having senJ
70 her last spring Almost equally
important was her statement OF The
reason she never until few months
ago, proclaimed her marriage.
SAID HE WOULD LEAVE HER
For both OF these circumstances
she holds MIR Bennett responsible.
Aoout a year after the alleged mar
rage in IIoboken. in 1898, she says
he and she quarreled, and in a fl of
aDger he tore ths marriage certiti-
cate to pieces, telling her he was
leaving her forever. out he returned
the next day. Her failure to decIar.
hersell his wife, she testified, was
entirely due to his demand at the
time Of ths,r marriage.
''lIe insisted upon my leaving the
stage she continued, 'asking me
to marry him, but dem anding that
the marriage be kept secret, as
his first wife had died only a couple
OF months before and he said it
would cause unpleasant gossip il it
we're known he had SO soon married
again.
After leaving her company in
Wilmington, Del, on New Years
Day 1898, Miss Biggar said she
catue to New York to the Hotel
Marlborough. tn g next day, the
day of her marriage, She went to
My Bennetts office, in the Star
Theatre Building, and went with
him to Hoboken, where they were
married by Judge Stanton.
Often she said she had pleaded
with him to proclaim their marriage
but his only reply was that he
would do it in his own time and
way. Not until after his death was
slle able to find Stanton and get
from him Il duplicate OF the certif-
cate She says Bennett destroyed.
SoHs, on THE STAND
oobbing as she spoke, she told
the Jury that SO far sha had not r.
ceiyed any mo icy from the Baunett
estate not even jewe!ry he had
given her before his death: that She
hal been living Oh M )ney hat anne
to her from her fathers life i'll
slrance, and finally nal been com
},nied to return to tAn stage in
order to earn cnou III money to pay
th.expel~,As Of har leten,'4.
With greater intensity ldtD at any
other point in her tt;tDwDIN. ,A-
begged .he Jury 10 h3"'y sh- EHl
instituted the pr"-'Alin&, IN the
Orphans Court sole = 10" tn! Dlu-
pose Of rlflriu4 her uWu mans aud
~ establish the legitimacy Of the
rn;tl tNat hal bean h)ru to h"r
after Beunett's death. Sever shes;til
hti she intend to pros a,utt ths pro.
cu'liug t, The Oh bll ol.i - far
n to lti>,re that the worll would
know her rs his wife. In 10 way,
yhs N'larah, did she ."k t. obtain
4 greater sllAre Of tn estate b$ this
means
There has bren a IN -: 1rOIs wit
MSS for the DrU+.'yltlua d. tAa
American Hotel here several days.
Ia court to-day it hAy5!n?tl thlt
this witn.@s is Molly Disaiu. fOr-
merIy Il ntll ia The" nDoy OF Ben.
natt, an tbs plrp)i' o. tlt t.,,''
m,uv sh4 will give "a N! odt GA the
crh5,.evaniination Of Miss Bi-r ar.
UH H.:NDEINN TEITiFlE>.
'DlJ Won "v.r,ly lo h4r, In PITTS
burg. ;,h M,'jy, wi I;hDapa, m:an-
NIX lIaun=tt, would IN t"ry me- II he
d rs I,pw II! ct npthinI; ana at
another time did sh" ask ii.lu,tt, IN
yuHr pre..nce. Wicrc goa w.re to be
bu.,4I, and did he rcpy tAat you
were 10 b. bnriel in Wilmington.
ur home: thatnobo " bu: his wife
aud ia nIy would rest in ms iol?'
she vas asked, and gave indignlut
deniat' to the questions. Her cross
examination hal not been finished |
wu'n cJart was a lournal This after
nn.n untH Monday mOrntnr.
hr,l interesting Of the evidence
extracted rom DR.. llsnirich. TIE
ntucY principal witness t0-day WAS Il !,
letter which he wouId not deny hav.
ing written to Miss Ejs,sr from
lrerhoId. on Juno 10Th. while she
VI, 10 his sanitarium.
'Well, mamma, how is the kitten?
III. ha.' The letter real II am
lionel Tor mamma. That's all. Yours
Charley"
tie admitted that under the terms
OF The will Miss Biggar would re-
ceive nolhlng, potonly for five years,
under the trust clause, but for the
fourteen years a lease Of the Biou
Ihsatre.n Pittsburg, still has to run
THIS fact the prosecution poiuts 10
as 4 motive for The alleged consDiracv