The Topeka state journal. [volume] (Topeka, Kansas) 1892-1980, 1905-03-27
MELODRAMA CASE
Sylvester Harrison Is Insane,
Say His Parents.
Strange Tale Develops in the
Hearing at Wichita.
is A POISON EXPERT.
Mrs. Rogers Trial Was Instigat-
ed by Him.
Made Charges That She Killed
Her Husband.
is A POISON EXPERT.

Wichita, Kas., March 27.-SyIvester
Harrison, who is on trial in the pro-
bate court on a charge of insanity
filed against him by his father. stated
| on the witness stand that he believed
his father and mother had attempted
to poison him while he was staying at
their home in Colwich. 1t developed
from the evidence that Sylvester has
been making a study of poisOns, and
4 is the man who caused the charge to
| be brought against Mrs. Benjamin F.
Rogers, of California, accusing her of
poisoning her husband about two
years ago.
Testimony in the Harrison insanity
case reads like a chapter from one of
Edgar Allen Poe's romances- As the
details and incidents in the life OF Syl-
vester Harrison were unfOlded by his
own and the testimony of parents,
/ brothers, neighbors and friends, the
recital grew steadily more interesting
/ and the plot became more intricate.
Is Harrison insane? If he is, the
/ affection is so cunningly concealed
that even experts are unable to an
swer the question properly If he is
not insane, he has had more than his
share of strange experiences in life.
Poison seems to follow him. Like
Jane Stanford, whose recent death is
still an unsolved mystery, he has har-
bored the fear that someone would
administer a dose of some drug that
would end his life. He professed to
believe that his own parents had de-
signs upon his life He refrained from
eating dishes into which there might
have been put strychnine, arsenic or
some other poisonous substance. He
studied medical works for the double
purpose of guarding against attempts
of this kind and for tracing the de-
tails of the Rogers poisoning case in
California.
The strangest part of his story is
his connection with that case. He
made love to Mrs. Rogers. widow of q
wealthy ranchman, but after he had
become well acquainted with her, he
believed he discovered that she had
poisoned her husband. He caused
her arrest. He aided her heirs in liti
cation over the property, to take il
from Mrs. Rogers.
The prosecution is attempting to
show that his suspicious of poisoning
are merely Authorizations That no
attempt ever has been made to admin
lister a deadly drug to him and that
the Rogers case was based solely upon
the weird meanderings of a diseased
mind
Never in the history of the courts
Of this county has a jury in an insan-
ity case faced a problem such as that
which is presented by the mass of
evidence already introduced. If the
poisoning stories are Authorizations
the prosecution of Mrs. Rogers in |
California had no other ground than
the statements of man whose mind
fact for the proceedings in the Rogers |
case, why does the suspicion that some
one is attempting to poison him, fol- |
low Sylvester Harrison
These are the points that the jury |
will be called upon to decide, when it |
reaches the case.
And the most pitiful feature of the |
case is the quarrel for possession OF /
the four years old boy. Accused and /
accusers love the child. The grand 1
parents desire that their son be sent
to an asylum, fearing that his eccen- |
trio ways may bring harm to the /
child. The father maintains that he is \
of sound mind; that he has right to |
his own child and that his parents and |
brothers are falsely accusing him.
Behind it all is the fortune of SIS
600 to which the chubby four-year-old
boy is heir, completing a plot that |
would furnish material for a norbidly !
sensational melOdrama.
The complaint on which Harrison is !
now being tried was filed against him /
by his father, who says he is afraid 1
that Sylvester viii make an attempt on |
$4,000 from the mother when she died
over three years ago. The case is at |
tracing wide attention and when it was
called in the probate court the crowd |
was so great that they were compelled /
to adjourn to the city court room. Ami
don & Dale are defending Harrison and /
Judge T j. Wall and O. H Bentley APP /
pear for Mr.. and Mrs Harrison. The 1
case is a hotly contested one and several |
heated arguments were INDUCED in dur |
ing the afternoon.
Jasper Harrison, a brother of the de- |
PENDANT, was the first witness called. |
He lives on a farm about four miles !
from the Harrison homestead. He stat |
ed that he thought Sylvester was GER !
tainly unbalanced on the subject of !
money and poison. He said that fire. |
quently Sylvester had borrowed sums |
OF money and after keeping it a short |
time without using it would return it l
with interest. He also said that his |
brother would sometimes go to a per
son and make arrangements to borrow /
some money and then never call for the |
loan.
He corroborated the testimony of the /
mother and father in regard to the I
queer statements that Sylvester had |
made in regard to taking the little boy 1
away and never letting them see him |
again. He said that his brother asked |
do If he did take the little boy away /
with him and not let them know where |
he was He said that he told him if I
such a thing should happen he would I
be called to account before a. committee.
In cross examination Mr.. AmidOn
brought out the fact that Jasper and
his brother Sylvester once had fight
and that Jasper struck Sylvester with
a lamp Mr.. Amidon asked the witness
if he considered himself sane at that
time The witness replied that for the
moment he might have been insane
DO you consider yourself sane noW?"
asked Mr.. Amidon.
'sWel, I guess I can manage to get
along" the witness replied.
Arthur Harrison, another brother, was
next put on the stand His testimony
was given with much hesitancy as
though he did not thoroughly under
stand the attorneys questions. He told |.
Of sylvester's taking the little boy away