Deseret evening news. [volume] (Great Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1867-1920, 1908-11-27

EVIDENCE ALL TECHNICAL.
Chemical Lore Delvcd Deeply Into by
Both Sides in Effort to Ascertain
Effects OF Poison.

That neither the beating alleged to
have been administered to Mrs Thorn
as Vance, nor the poison alleged to have
been given her afterwards by her hus-
band, was alone responsible for her
death, but that these two causes, oper-
ating conformity, or either Of them pro-
duced the murder is what the prosecu-
ton in the Vance case will seek to
proove.
This point is the essential one
brought out at this mornings session
of the Third district court, in which
Judge George G. Armstrong opened the
session by ruling on the motion of the
defense, made Wednesday afternoon,
that the prosecution be compelled to
elect one of the three counts alleged
in the complaint.
One of these counts alleged death
from beating, another from poisoning,
and q third from a combination of both
beating and poisoning. Judge Arm
strong's ruling, which was given at the
opening of court. was that the motion
of the defense would be overruled thus
allowing the prosecution to prove it's
case on any one OF three counts.
the defense made no extended state
nent of it's case IN opening this morn
ing. The impassioned plea to the jury,
d, familiar occurrence at such times,
preceding the more impassioned effort
in the summing up arguments, was
entirely lacking.
The first move of the defense, on OBJ
tanning the case through the resting of
the prosecution Wednesday afternoon
they hope to prove that Mrs. Vance
herself took another poison, as lnedi-
cine, which was the real cause of her
death, and that this other poison could
have produced the symptoms recorded,
ms easily as mcrcuric- bi-chloride, which
it is alleged Vance put in her drink
ing water.
through whom it was sought to prove
that the severity OF the beating admin,
istered had been overdrawn by the
prosecution. John Kelly. IN expert
pharmacist from Ogden. who was ask
cd as to the effect of lnercuric BIZ
chloride tablets on water, and the
length Of time it would take tablet
sufficiently dissolved to poison a glass
Of water; State Chemist Herman
Harms, who had already appeared for
the prosecution and Dr. J. T.. Monahan,
introduced as a medical expert techni-
cally equipped to judge Of the effect OF
essential oil of savine taken Internal
IL. 1t had already been stated by a
witness present while Mrs. Vance was
seriously i'll at her home, that she had
smelled oil of savine In the Vomil of
the patient.
MISS LENA VANCE.
The first witness called to the stand
by the defense was Lena Vance, daugh-
ter Of Mary and Thomas Vance. The
defense attempted to prove that if the
beating administered to Mrs. Vance
by her husband had been very severe
she could not have carried her small
child down town, Immediately after
wards.
Judge Maginnis, attorney for the de-
fense, asked the witness how old the
baby was when her mother went UP
town and where her mother had in
tended going. The witness replied that
the baby was two years old and that
her mother went to a blacksmith shop,
the location of which she did not know.
Tho witness was then dismissed, and
Dr. John T. Kelley, an Ogden pharma-
cist, was called to the stand and gave
expert testimony concerning the nature
and length of time necessary to the
solution OF mercurlc bichloride.
The defense sought to prove that un-
der the conditions of the Vance pois-
oning case that mercuric bichloride, II
administered in a glass of water, could
not have gone into solution in sufficient
quantity to cause death.
DR.. Kelley testified that he had made
many tests and experiments upon the
solubility OF mercuric bichloridc under
various and diverse conditions He
said that if a 1nercuric bichloride tab
let were dropped into a glass of wa
ter and was not shaked or stirred 1t
would take five hours for the tablet to
dissolve, 1T the solution was stirred or
shaken. however, solution could take
place in 10 minues and II the tablet
were crushed solution would take place
in a very short time. DR.. Kelley was
asked by the defense If he filled the
prescription in question and replied
that lie had no recollection Of SO do
ing and that he did not believe that
it was filled at his drug store, In re-
ply to q technical question he replied
that he had tested the water in the up