The St. Louis Republic. [volume] (St. Louis, Mo.) 1888-1919, 1903-07-10

4 Mrs. Cummings will not be con- .
g victed on this charge. John .
& I. Martin. .
q These statements OF the defendant o
. and her counsel were made after the .
q adjournment OF court at o'clock. .
No = . . . . e 8 = = = . . . . q
Dennis Cummings bloody clothing intro
duced at the trial of his wife. Mrs. Minnie
Cummings. who is charged with killing
and caused the collapse Of Mrs. Eleanora
| Duff. one Of the States principal witnesses,
yesterday afternoon.
The bloody garments were carried into the
courtroom at o'clock by Walter Graham.
night morgue superintendent
They were tied in large package. After
Graham had stated his name and occupa-
| ton he was asked by Assistant Circuit At
torney Andrew c. Maroney if he was on
| duty at the morgue when the body of Cum.
| mings arrived.
| II was" replied the witness.
Did you take charge Of the body?'
YES"
WAS it dressedT'
1T was"
Mr.. Maroney arose from his chair and
| stepped to table where the package had
| been placed.
| Slowly he united the knot. Mrs Cum
| mings watched him closely Her face be-
J came even paler. She welded the palm leaf
fan more vigorously.
| The bundle united. the Assistant Circuit
| Attorney. pointing tragically to the stained
| garments. asked:
Are those the clothes worn by Cummings
| when his body was received at the
| morgueT'
| Graham turned over the coat. vest. trous-
| ers shirt and overcoat carefully and re-
| piled: They are
| MRS. CUMMINGS SHIELDED
EYES WITH PALM LEAF.
| Mrs. Cummings raised her now downcast
| eyes from the floor and glanced at the table.
where lay her husbands garments. covered
| with his lifes blood.
The fan stopped. Mrs. Cummings turned
| her head and covered her eyes with the
palm leaf. Her hand trembled SO much that
| 1t could be seen from all parts of the court
| room. Tears dropped from her eyes and fell
to her waist. She removed her eyeglasses
| and used her handkerchief. Her effort TO
| control her feelings was masterful. In 4
minute she was seemingly the well-com-
| posed woman of which much has been
| told and written, but close observa ton
showed that her emotion still was great.
Graham was questioned about the wounds
on Cummings body. and then left the
stand. The bloody garments were allowed
| to remain on the table. Colonel Martin re-
marked in an undertone about the attempt
| to affect the defendant. and the trial pro-
ceeded.
Several witnesses on irlmaterial points
| were examined, and then Mrs. Eleanora
| Duff, a small. comely woman, at whose
| home. No. 2s1i Locust street. Cumming s
| met his death. was brought in.
Mrs. Duff appeared much frightened.
With difficulty she mounted the witness
stand. and her face wore deadly pallor.
What is your name?' asked Assistant
Circuit Attorney Maroney.
The witness trembled. She had not yet
seen the bloody garments. She looked to-
ward Mr.. Maroney and then toward Mrs.
! Cummings. The garments were Just be-
meath her gaze. She lowered her eyes. and
| ing.
| WITNESS OVERCOME
BY BLOODY GARMENTS.
She recognized the garments Instantly.
She shuddered. Tears came to her eyes.
! and she was unable to tell her name for
several minutes. AS she told the story of
the shooting OF Cummings she glanced sew
era1 times apprehensively at the clothing.
| Assistant Circuit Attorney Maroney saw
the cause of Mrs. Duffs excitement and
! had the clothing removed.
| Mrs. Duff then went On to tell how she
| had admitted Cummings to her home on
| the afternoon Of April IS. when he was
| killed. He remarked about the weather.
she said and then went on up the stairs to
| his wife's room.
1T went back to the kitchen where 1 was
preparing supper" said Mrs. Duff, family,
land did not know of any trouble for per-
| haps half an hour, when Mrs. Cummings
came downstairs and told me that she had
shot her husband. She said that he had
attempted to kill her. and she shot him in
| self-defense. She declared that she had
searched the body. I remember she said
she found a pawn ticket for $50 in his
| pocket"
Mrs. Dun grew more excited as she CON-
| tinued, and the Assistant Circuit Attorney
announced that he would excuse her for the
time being and recall her later. Mrs. Duff
was assisted from the courtroom and wen,
to her home.
Mrs. Cummings wept when Mrs Dun
showed such emotion. but with another
great effort controlled herself.
ATTEMPT TO DISPROVE
DEFENDANTS STATEMENT.
One question asked by Assistant Circuit
L n