Daily Kennebec journal., 1911-01-16
Enormous Crowds at Trial
Of Mrs. Laura .SChenk.
CIandesiine Intimacy Exposed
Between Prisoner and Clerk.
Proof TO Be offered Showing Pur-
chase Of Arsenic and Lead.

Wheeling, w. Va Jan. 1.-THE
tedium of hypothetical questions was
| suddenly Jared in the Schenk case
Friday when. toward the close of the
session. the state brought into the
court records the first intimation of
scandal. in its prosecution OF Mrs.
Laura Farnsworth Schenk on the
| charge of administering poison to her
| wealthy husband, John o. Schenk.
| Ever since the arrest of Mrs Scheuk
! last November. there have been init
nations from the prosecuting attorney
| that "a well-knOwn young man of
| Wheeling" would be called to show
probable motive for the alleged poison
| ing. Daniel Phillips, a member of one
of Wheeling's first families. was call
ed Friday In no plans OF the prosecu-
ton that have been given out. had his
name been mentioned.
| Phillips, who is Il piano salesman,
told of long automobile rides with Mrs
ScheEk at her invitation covering a
period of more than Is months before
her arrest. During the last year Mrs.
| Schcnk had talked to him about plans
to procure a divorce and later talked
almost constantly of the strong proba-
bility of her husbands death.
| Phillips admitted that Mrs Schenk
on various occasions had given him
many presents. among them a diamond
pin and smoking Jacket. but denied
any knowledge of the purchase for him
Of a $500 FUR coat. which, it has been
alleged. he was to have received the
| very day she was arrested.
| The state attempted several times
| tilpnupt lirnif innipo 70 oil
| lish Intimacy between the witness and
the DEFENDANT but, to all questions
along this line Phillips refused to an
swer. oa the ground that he would in
criminaate himself. His position was
| sustained by the court.
| Phillips testified that after he be-
came acquainted with Mrs. Schenk she
| visited his place of business so often
that he was forced to ask her to stop
coming. She then resorted to the tel
| epnonc and he was so often called that
| this means OF communication was
| gradually abandoned. She then sent
| her chauffeur, Lundy Wilson. with
notes. according to Phillips. or the
| chauffeur would Call up Phillips to
make arrangements for automobile
| rides. He told of meeting the accused
at Martins Ferry and other Ohio
| points. Beer. wine and sandwiches. he
said. were always taken on these rides.
! The witness said further, under the
rain of questions from the prosecutor,
that on arriving at their destination. a
| point near Smithfield, Ohio the re-
freslments would he disposed of. the
chauffeur dismissed. and that he and
| Mrs. Schenk would remain in the car
| When they desired to return to the
city, Wilson would be summoned by a
certain signal on the automobile horn
The witness exhibited much nervous
ness on the stand and hesitated in his
| replies.
| Mrs. Schenk was agtated more than
a. any time during the trial. keeping
| ler head lowered and fumbling with
papers on the table before her. The
defence refused TO cross examine the
witness, and he hurried from the court
| room after his testimony had beer
| given.
| Throughout the direct examination
the defence fought bitterly against al
lowing the witness to answer ques-
| tions. but was over-ruled on nearly
| every objection. Judge Jordan said
e'iS't VIC ibii AdtiS SiiOQlu be Dl(SEHItu
| to the jury. just before leaving the
stand. the witness admitted that i'm
| medidtely after Mrs. Schenk's arrest,
he called up Prosecuting Attorney
Handlan and offered to tell all he knew.
Tie first witness of the day was
DR.. o. W. Burdatts dentist who
examined Mr.. Schenk's teeth five days
| before his removal to the hospital
He noticed blue line on the gums
| and testified this was not due to dis
eased condition, but must have come
| from other causes.
Prof. John w. Malett. F. Il. S., Of
the University of Virginia, one of the
| experts who tested the mineral water
| alleged to have been poisoned testified
| that the sample of water sent to him
! contained eight-tenths of a grain of
pure white arsenic to the pint. or so
grains of FoWlers solution, the COM
| mon form of arsenic.
Edward McCalaster. a druggist from
whom the mineral water was pur-
| chased, was sure neither of the bot
| ties contained either sugar of lead or
arsenic.
DR.. J. 7. Thornton, who conducted
pioou anu otHci teStS III al clloTt 10
procure d correct diagnosis of the case
| in answer to a hypothetical question
said that the symptoms alleged to have
been shown by Schenk. might have
been due to lead poison. Symptoms
enumerated in a second hypothetical
question, he declared indicated arsenic
poisoning.
On cross examination he admitted
that the same symptoms might be due
to serious disorders of the stomach.
which was the chief point made by the
defence during the day.