The San Francisco call., 1910-12-15
LII eta smith
FAR TOO KEEN
TO BE TRAPPED
Lawyers Fail to Shake Testi-
mOny Of Chief Witness
Against Doctor Burke
Woman of Strange Beliefs De-
clares She VIII Not Sue
Alleged Dynamiter
By HARRY DAVIDs
LSpecial Dispatch 10 The CoII

L~F~~t4t AJtSl9GlCE 70 = ne I dlLl
SANTA ROSA. Dec. HI h oetjen.
a member OF the jury trying Dr. VIII
lard P. Burke. was attacked with ague
and chills today and made necessary
the postponement Of the case until Fri
day At the adjournment Lu Eta
Smith was stiu On the witness stand, to
All appearances as keen and emphatic
as she was when she first began her
strange testimony last Thursday.
IN the face Of her remarkable story
anc stlll more remarkable beliefs there
has been transferred 10 her the interest
ei-1 curiosity usually centered in the
defendant in criminal cases. The pub
ltc sentiment OF the community, in
irving TO fathOm the workings Of her
mentality. in en6eavoring to harmon
i-e ler statements with her shrewd and
oNicS min6, has lost sight Of Doctor
Bnrkc and the dynan hitting charge. To
read her theories srouses a doubt as
- Lef sanity. and 70 agree with the
Ne-e--se THAI the woman is a victim of
hailuclnauols. To see her on the wit
ness stand, parrying with retort and
answer the skilful questioning of two
81 the best attorneys in Sonoma county.
10 observe her. coolness where another
woman would be. in Mysteries to watch
subjects brought 10 her notice, removes
al thought OF her being insane Never
once during the entire long cross ex-
animation did she allow herself TO be
trapped: never once did she trip. At
times after she would make z sensa-
tional answer. il seemed that she had
broken down and the public expected
her total discontinue nnonlentariIy. but
she would smile and with an explana,-
tlcn or word make her position
stronger than ever.
WOMAN AN ABLE WITNESS
That she had good working knowl-
edge OF court procedure was evident,
and the presumption was that she ac-
oIl ed u while acting as stenOgrapher
for law firms in Oregon. She seldom
asked 10 have a question re-read TO
her. but frequently safeguarded her
self by saying,
II have answered that question once,
sir"
And the probabilities were that she
had She seemed 10 be fully aware Of
her privileges and rights as q witness
and under no consideration would she
allow them 10 be rrampled. II the dis
trict attorney defended her. well and
Eood' il not, she defended herself.
Her weakest moments were when
she tried 10 explain her metaphysical
reasonings Her language was cor
rect and fluent and her arguments, at
Irst blush. more than plausible. It be-
came evident however. as she proceed
ed that she was suffering from the
common complaint Of indigestion from
over and rapid eating OF the fruit Of
the tree of knowledge.
For the last 10 years she has satiated
herself with religious literature. She
has delved into Hinduism, touched
ShintOism, gobbled philosophic treatises
rr-- ~9-.@-
ali the food Of socialistic and unso-
Ciable views Of almost all the self
dubbed prophets the age has produced.
The yogi man has found Ia her a ready
pupil She has toyed with telepathy
and snuggled TO the supernatural She
has sought the unique, the strange, the
queer and seems TO have found them
al-but found them imperfectly. Her
PHILOSOPHERS are the result OF her semi
education. They seem warped. want
ing. like structures on unstable founda-
tions. shaken and Influenced by every
gust Of passing thought.
The woman is far from beautiful.
She has high cheek bones, hollow
creeks and z poor complexion. Her
Iedeeming features are her forehead.
which is high and broad. and her eyes,
which are penetrating, keen and sharp.
There IS not an iota Of insanity in her
appearance.
DEALS WITH MOTIVE
The Vase. as far as il has gone. has
dealt merely with the motive Of the
crime. The charge proper scarcely has
been mentioned. The prosecution
holds that Doctor Burke dynamited her
tent to destroy her and the baby and
thus rid himself of an embarrassing
situation. I'd 10 the present all that
the state has done has been along lines
Of proving the motive, its theory being
that Lu Eta Smith. going 10 the sana-
toriuu as 2 well meaning and virtuous
woman. was inveigled into life Of
evil by the teachings Of Doctor Burke
There was little in her testimony to
prove that Doctor Burke impaired to
her any Of the views she holds at
present. apart from the thesis on free
love which he gave her. In the minds
of 2 large number Doctor Burke did
not, teach her these things, but took ad-
vantage Of her exotic beliefs.
From the evidence that has been
brought out both by the prosecution
and the defense, the conditions at the
sanatorium surrounding the principal
persons in the trial were base and
vicious
Despite all that Lu Eta Smith has
said. the defense holds that she is
either the most famboyant liar that
ever stepped into a witness box or that
The woman is the victim OF hallucina-
4ions. They have failed to prove either
fact on cross examination They tried
10 show during the session Of court
this morning that she was testifying
with view to bringing a civil suit
against Doctor Burke but she denied
this enpha tically. saying that she had
no intention Of suing Burke for the
alleged dynamiting, and that her sole
claim against him was for the support
of the child
When the case is opened she will
renew her testimony. There is little
else for her to say. Every possible
subject has been thrashed out over
and over again. and the probabilities
are that q few more questions will
bring her examination TO a close. That
the defense will try to impeach her is
freely admitted
Kurtz to Be Witness
BERKELEY. Dec. 14-Prof. Ben
sanssn Kurtz Of the English department
~ the university probably viii be
called to testify at the trial of DR..
T3urloe on the charge Of dynamiting the
cottage Of Miss Lu Eta Smith and her
fnfant child The university faculty
roan has been requested TO hold him
self in readiness to attend the trial