The San Francisco call., 1904-03-23

Excellent progress was made yester-
day in Superior Judge Cooks court in
the trial OF Mrs. Cordelia Botkin,
charged with the murder of Mrs. John
P. Dunning in August, 1898. by send
ing to her at Dover. Delaware, a box
Of poisoned candy from this city, of
which candy Mrs. Dunning and her
sister, Mrs. Joshua d. Deane, partook
and from the effects OF which they
both died a few days later.
BY the testimony Of Drs. Bishop and
Downs Of Dover. the prosecution SEEM
inglY satisfactorily established the fact
that the death OF the two women was
dus 20 arsenical poisoning. Both
phySiciAns were positive OF this fact
Or. Bishop was far from being an i'm
pre9sive witness and Attorney Knight,
who had pr1med himself for the oc-
cssfen, took the Eastern physician
over the medical hurdles until he
bGlked and took refuge from pertinent
questions in a plea OF ignorance. On
the other hand. DR.. Downs was ready
IN his answers. positive in his opin-
ions and prepared to explain intelli-
gently and convincingly. When he first
appeared on the stand he was asked
to describe the symptoms that affiict-
ed MIS-. Dunning when he first saw
her and he ripped out such a string of
sesouipedalian medical terms that the
stenographer nearly succumbed 70
neurasthenia- The doctor obligingly
spelled out all the hard names and
then got down on the ground floor and
explained TO the Iaity what they all
meant
Attorney knight did not have nearly
as much fun with him as he did with
DR.. Bishop. His cross-examination was
brief and hinged almost entirely on the
difference between powdered and lump
arsenic He scarcely attempted to
shake the doctor on HIS opinion Of the
cause Of Mrs. Dunning's death, but
seemed 10 derive considera bic satisfac-
lion when the witness stated that fish
was a prolific source of ptomaine poi
'soning. In this connection Knight let
slip an admission that probably out
Lines the theory Of the defense. In
answer 10 a question. DR.. Downs stated
that the cause Of death could not be
ptomaine poisoning. But I think ii
was said knight, suavely. That's
"a here we differ"
CHEMIST is CONVINCING.
The most imposing and important Of
the witnesses examined yesterday was
.Dr. Theodore r. Wolfe. State chemist
0f Delaware and professor Of chem
istry in Delaware State University. To
him at Newark. Del, DR.. Bishop took
five pieces Of the candy from the box
received by Mrs. Dunning and he an
slyzed three Of them. He subjected
them to five Of the recognized tests for
arsenic and found the poison in all
three. The other two he did not an
alyze. He was clear and convincing in
his testimony and no attempt was
made by the defense to inpeach either
his knowledge or methods
A new witness appeared in the per-
son OF Miss Mary A. Dunning, sister
of John p. Dunning, husband Of the
woman for the murder Of whom Mrs.
BOtkin is now on trial Miss Dunnine
fills the missing link in tracing the pos
session Of the box of poisoned candy.
BY the death OF John B. Pennington
Who kept the package in his possession
until il was formally turned over to
the Coroner's jury at the inquest, the
chain lacked completeness. For this
reason her testimony was important
Another important witness was
Frank s. Grey, a pharmacist, who
sold 10 Mrs. Botkin two ounces of ar
senfc on June /, 1898, while in the en-
fcation Of the defendant was some
thing Of a disappointment to the prose
cution because il lacked positiveness
but it was sufficiently certain TO an
sver all purposes.
All who could get into the court
room without violating the order made
by Judge Cook that the center and side
aisles leading TO the entrance should
be kept clear were present during the
morning and afternoon sessions. Hun
dreds were refused admission by the
police, eight Of whom were stationed
within and without the courtroom tc
keep the crowds in order. The mum.
Der Of women attending was not sc
great as on the day before, but there
were plenty Of them and they followed
the proceedings closely. When the
doors were opened for the afternoon
session a regular stampede occurred
Women emerged from the boiling
crowd with their hats of, their gowns
torn and their hair disheveled. Ever
the big policemen were unable to stem
the rush until the courtroom was
overfilled. Then all those who could
not find standing room in the allotted
places were compelled TO withdraw