New Mexico state record. (Santa Fe, N.M.) 1914-19??, 1917-04-20
BLANCETT TRIAL
OF GREAT INTEREST
TO LOCAL PEOPLE
THE COURT ROOM HAS BEEN
PACKED AT EVERY SES-
SION BY A CROWD WHICH
HAS TAKEN GREAT INTER.
EST IN EVERY DETAIL

The trial OF f. w Blancctt for
the murder of c. d. Armour which
began on Friday of last week has
$ continued to be the big interest
event every day this week.
The court has been in session from
! to II, : to o. and to II every
. day but one, since the case was cal
led and that day missed only the
evening session,
I The court room has been full all
1 the time and packed to the rails
I every afternoon and evening. Some
/, of the people who have tried to
tollow the case fully have gone to
. secure seats as much as full hour
| before the proceedings started at
each session.
Up +" Thursday noon the prose d.
hon represented by District Attor-
ney Crist, Assistant Davies and
Special Counsel Dunlavy have been
putting on their evidence, with the
prospects favorable to the compe-
ton Of their side OF the case Thurs
day evening
The defense, represented by Mr..
bably not better criminal defense
lawyer il the state, has not yet re-
yealed anything to indicate along
what line they will proceed
Witnesses from Dakota, Wash
ington, California, Iowa, Nebraska,
Missouri and Texas have been heard,
and from Las Vegas, Albuquerque,
santa Ee and the southern part of
Santa Fe county in great numbers
Many string incidents have oc-
CURED during the trial. and they
have been Of sufficient frequency to
llp.d the attention of the audience
At all times.
Tie overshadowing tragedy of the
/ glsc : the presence of the two moth
rrs. The sympathy of every mem
Der OF the court and jury and every
spectator can not help but go out
t. both OF them. One of the news
paper men, Of whom there are a
Iulmbcr in attendance, sent the fol-
| lowing graphic story of this situation
TO the La, Vegas Optic early this
week
over in Santa Fe, where the mur.
der case of Elbert w. Blancett. charg-
cG with the killing Of his motor com
panien. is being tried, two mothers
sit, anAiously awaiting the result of
tie tria. which will demand the life
80 ilaucctt in payment for his awful
crime, or which will exonerate him
from the terrible shadow hanging
over him NhiIe the two mothers
wait for the end, the states attor-
neys are drawing the net of circum-
Stantial evidence closer and closer
about the accused man until it seems
there is no chance for him to escape.
And the defense is using every effort
SHOWN to the students Of aw to free
him from the charge, or to leave the
shadow of doubt in the minds OF
the y jurors into whose hands the
final decision will go.
The mothers sit and wait. Mrs.
Armour, the quiet, gray-haired little
mother of the man whose gnawed
bones were found bleaching in the
sun, almost three months after he
met his horrible death, has lost all
hope. Her light went out when the
skeleton of her boy was found Yet
the fear that he had met a more
horrible fate was greater than the
knowledge that he was dead For
weeks she fought against the news
brought her by her son-in-law, that
Clyde Armour" was a drunken Ii
Dcrtnc. and that he lived life of
sin in Santa Fe and Albuquerque.
She knew her boy, her hoy, and she
lid not believe this was true She
,noW| today that her boy did not
To the things which people, konw-
uC the "Clyde Armour" in Santa
Re and Albuquerque, said that he
l'd He /, dead. But his charac-
er is freed from the suspicion Of
rimc
rs there a trial harder for a moth
= ti7f to Identify the possessions Of
'rr so". which had been stolen by
iS murderer. and to tell how and
When he had obtained each article?
Ia. he had purchased this buffalo
ohe 10 years ago. and that he had
rized it above all his possessions9
'et she did this willingly, hoping 60
ring the murderer OF her boy TO
ustice. And now she sits, perhaps
er heart full of sympathy for the
ther mother; yet she hopes the man
hargcd with the crime may pay the
enalty according to law.
And that other mother, her hope
ahting against odds to free her boy
rom the awful shadow, watches the
-ial as it progresses. To her the
Dung man accused of the most hor-
ble crimes. is but her boy, and she
ghts and hopes and prays that he
lay win in his struggle for his life
nd honor She is the primeval
lother, fighting for the possession
her offspring. At every session
the court she is present, sitting
; near to him as she may, and
eep in her heart she believes him
of the accusation of kill
g his friend and leaving his body
, rot in the hills.
"1s there not a bond of sympathy
etween these two mothers? And do
ley not appreciate the fullness of
lch others grief? They sit, the two
them, able neither to do nor to
~ aught that will help their causes.
hey wait, and while they wait, the
- "a =.