The Savannah morning news., 1902-11-11
NEARING CONCLUSION
CELEBRATED MoLINEUx TRIAL
REACHING THE CLIMAX.
THE ARGUMENT OF COUNSEL
WAS HEARD YESTERDAY IN ne
HALF OF DEFENSE.

Prosecution Seems 10 Bnse Its Case
Mainly Upon Testimony of Hand
writing Experts-scathing Denun-
citation of Harry Cornish by Ex-
GOV. Black. Counsel for Defense,
who Says All Evidence Points to
Actual Guilt of Cornish, Rather
Than NoIineux.
New York, Nov. 1O.-The fate of Ro-
land B. Molineux will be determined to-
morrow. When court adjourned this
evening Justice Lambert announced
that he would allow Assistant District
Attorney Osborne but two and a half
hours more to finish summing up,
which means that the court will de-
liver it's charge and the case win go
to the jury during the afternoon.
The courtroom was crowded to suf-
location when. at the opening of to-
days session ex-Gov Black rose to
sum up for the defense After a gem
eral defense of Molineux. whom. he
declared. the prosecution had utterly
failed to connect in any way with the
death of Mrs. Adams. Mr.. Black passed
to scathing denunciation OF
Harry Cornish to whose guilt and not
that of Molneux. he declared, every
circumstance in the case directly
pointed. More than half of Mr.. Blacks
address. which occupied nearly four
hours. was devoted to Cornish.
Mr.. Osborne based argument for the
prosecution to-day largely on the testi-
Of he Ixnv ,I...r
which, he said, conclusively showed
Molineux to be the writer of the pol
son package address and of the other
disputed exhibits.
MIR. Blacks Argument.
In opening his address, ex-Gov.
Frank S. Black said that Molineux was
a director of the Knickerbocker Attn
letic Club. where Cornish was employ
ed. Molineux did not like Cornish and
he did not like Harpster. Ee had many
friends in the club and perhaps many
enemies. Cornish wrote what MoM-
neux considered an improper letter,
and Molineux complained of II.
Was that any reason for Molineuxs
sending to Cornish quantity of poi
son sufficient to kill any man in that
club?" asked Mr.. Black. M
Cornish insulted Molineux and Mo-
hnepx behaved like a gentleman, re-
garding the difference of their station
and passed on. Is that proof OF muir
der? Nothing else under the sky has
been produced here to indicate any mo-
tive Molineux could have for wanting
to kill Cornish
The trouble between Cornish and
Molineux occurred more than a year
before the poison package appeared.
No evidence has been presented here
to show that in all that time Mr.. Mo-
lineux said one unknd word, or ut
tered one uncharitable thought toward
Cornish. All the evidence in this case
points away from Molneux and to an
other man. / shall indicate who that
man Is before sit down. The case
points to that man just as surely as
the needle points to the north star"
Mr.. Black laid great stress on Mo-
lineux's Willingness to write for the
prosecution when he was under sus-
picion, and his arrest, and argued that
1t was remarkable that the experts had
found few points Of resemblance in his
writing to the disputed writing AS To-
the Barnet letters he said:
Il don't know and / don't care when
or where they were mailed, and Mo-
lineux does not know and he does not
care
Counsel analysed the testimony OF
the handwriting men to show how they
differed and how all had admitted,
under INSTRUMENTATION, that there
were hundreds of characters in the
disputed and conceded writings that in
no way resemble each other. Mr. Black
said that IL a man wanted to send a
package to himself he would not need
to write the address at all.
my Office is full of envelopes ana
wrappers addressed to me-" said he.
Gould l not take one of those II
wanted to send myself a package?
Molineux never wrote that address
don't know who did, and, In my opin-
ion, the man who wrote it has not APP
peared in this case"
Coming to the connection of Cornish
with the case, Mr.. Black declared that
he was not arguing for the punishment
of anyone, but that he felt It his duty
to show the whole case to the jury as
he himself saw 1t.
There was a crime and there was a
motive" he said, land the motive
points TO Harry s. Cornish"
Mr.. Black recited from the records
the story of Cornishs divorce, his
meeting with Mrs. Rogers, then sep.
arated from her husband. and her late
divorce.
Mrs. Adams. Mrs. Rogers mother,
was a good woman" Mr.. Black said.
do you think she looked with COM
plaisance on the condition that pre-
vailed?
There is motive, a great consuming
motive for all things. The motive
Gerufsh had against the life Of Mrs.
Adams, compared to the motive Mo-
lineux had against the life of Cornish
was as the volcano of Martinique to
the tapping OF waves against the
statue OF Liberty in our own harbor."
Mr.. Black called attention to the evil
dence given that the purchaser OF the
bottleholder in which the poison was
sent, said he wanted the holder to
match the silver on a lady's toilet ta-
BILE, and from that he argued that the
purchaser knew the pattern of Mrs.
Rogers silver.
Cornish, who was in court appeared
to be little concerned by Mr. Blacks
line of argument. Once or twice when
his name was mentioned, he laughed
aloud.
Ex-Gov. Black touched lightly on the
testimony given by Mrs. Stephenson,
and argued that extraordinary as II
appeared and fantastic as Mr. Osborne
may call 1t. everything she said was
within the bounds of possibility. He
reminded the jury that II was in reply
TO the prosecution and not TO any ques-
tons from the defense that Mrs
Stephenson partially identified Cornish
as the man she saw in the pogtbffice.
Returning 20 Cornish. Mr.. Black
said:
Cornish took that dirty little bottle
home, but when did he take IT. He
((.ontfnsed an prtfth f,.1.