Daily globe. [volume] (St. Paul, Minn.) 1878-1884, 1881-04-10

Page-R Riley trial, " hlch has been not only tn
most protracted, but also the most intensel.
interesting trial ever had In Mower county
During its continuance your representative
has sought to report the evidence as it was
presented without coloring, and to relate sucf
facts and incidents worthy of note as were con
nected with il. At its close much the same feel
ing exists as before it began. There are still 9
Large number of people here who believe
that John A. Riley is the man who stole uI
to that window and pointed the gun
which but for o circumstance evidently un-
forseen by him would have rendered Sherman
Page corpse. Another large portion OF
this community are convinced OF his entire
innacence of this charge no matter what
other crimes he may have committed. On
one point, however, there is general agree
nent. There has been no satisfactory case
made arainst the prisoner Ever since the
prosecution rested and the defense began to
disclose their lease and produce testimony the
State has apparently been smitten with paraly-
sis. Whether from the conviction that they
had no good groundwork to rest upon,
or whether from the motives charged by the
friends of Judge Page, viz, feeling Of per-
sonal hostility to HIM, is Il question. Certain
II is that there was none of the "Greek meet
iag Greek" in the conduct of the case. Mower
county with its present social state, with a
feeling of warm personal friendship for, or
strong personal prejudice against, Judge Page
Is very poor place in which to try q case that
relates to him personally. So general has been
the issue and so oft repeated the contests
that the entire population have been
compelled to array themselves upon
either one side or the other and with the best
OF men, although perhaps unconscously,
such feelings as exist here mnst necessarily
warp to a certain degree their better judg
ment Strict neutrality in the premises has
been impossible. Politics, religion, or the
strongest personal friendship have been no
barrier in the array upon tms question. 1t
must be Page or anti Page, without any middle
ground for non-com5atants.
But however high this feeling may have
run, finding vent at elections, conventions or
public meetings, it is not true, as claimed by
the great irresponsible newspaper concern on
Third street, st. Paul, that il has paralized
business, checked the growth Of the town,
and that it is rapidly falling into decay with
the fronts of its business pllces boarded up
and tenantless. Among the business men it
becomes no barrier to the transaction of any
necessary business. AS it is in political mat
ters, none but q lunatic suffers this disagree
meut to prevent the transaction or inter
change of common business cOurteSes. In
no sense has it prevented Page man from
transactions with >an anti-Page man.
Upon Main street your correspondent dis
covers but one vacant business building
s'Yith it's front boarded up" and that one
happens to be an uncompleted one which viii
be ready for use as soon as the walls are dry
and will be at once occupied. Great indigna,
ton Is expressed by all classes at the das-
tardly insult and attempt of the PiraticaL
PtAndcrcr newspaper concern which has tried
so Systematically to convey the idea to the
public of deserted village" look of the city
of Austin. 1t may be possible that the poor
liquor absorbed by the writer affected his
optics, but this is the only apology possible
for so gross q Misrepresentation of facts.
That business in Austin is not in
Us hourishlng condition as IN
some other localities is true, but an almost
entire failure of crops for three successive sea-
sons is the true cause, and not any social diff
fsrences of its people; and in this regard she
but shared the fate of her sister cities of south
eastern Minnesota.
The closing scenes OF the great drama were
full of the interest that has marked each sue
eessive stage of the proceedings. The usual
morning hour found the customary crowd,
while upon the large stage the beauty of Aus
tdn figured prominently, large delegation of
the fair sex being in attendance On the street
all sorts OF rumors prevail. One to the
effect that two Of the jurors
were to be at once arrested for
perjury upon their discharge as having ex-
Page.
Mr.. Burlingame, of the prosecution, ad
dressed the jury, imploring them to consider
the facts and evidence with their minds free of
all prejudice. He dwelt upon the theory of
the defense that the procurement of the shoot
ing was a part of conspiracy on the part of
Judge Page to prorure the injury of the
Rileys by fastening suspicion upon them as
the perpetrators, and demonstrated its utter
impossbility as well rs improbablhty. The
chart prepared by Prof. Keyson as well
as the testimony of the professor and Others
showed that the gun could not have been
aimed above Pages head, but directly at his
neck. He next reviewed the question of
motive, and reverted to the expression of
Frank Riley that "his feelings toward Page
were about the same as Pages toward him"
VIZ: "That he would hit him over the head
with club if he got q chance" Which the
council claimed was the exact truth as 10
Franks feelings. The evidence of the State
connecting John A. Riley with the crime was
then reviewed at length, showing the evidence
of Wood to be corroborated and the albl
attempted by the defense to be failure. He
called attention to the fact that at the time
the prisoner was charged with crime here he
admits of having been committing other
crimes in Wisconsin, and that he had never
stated to any one off the stand that he had
made the money he had in gambling, but
IlFarl0Dly Ba1Q ne Ulauc IL IN Mlnne6Osa.
The explanation of the war department. docu-
ments concerning Detective Wood, showing
that upon the explanation to President Lin
coin of the facts in the matter, Wood was re-
leased and reinstated, having only been con-
fined three months, was made, showing the
entire transaction was not such as to impeach
the reliability of the witness. The plea was
certainly very able one, and reflects great
credit upon it's author.
At its close, haYing lasted two hours, w.
W. Erwin arose, and after having on the
part of all concerned in this trial, returned
thanks for the fair and impartial manner in
which his honor had presided and ruled in this
trial, addressed the jury He reveverted to the
fact that all of the evidence on the part of the
State was purely circumstantial. He noticed
the absence of Sherman Page from the trial
after having set in motion all the machinery
of the law, having deprived John A.
Riley for months past of his liberty,
and attemptedNo convict him of crime,
and characterized it as showing one of three
things: First, a lack of confidence in his OWL
ease; second, lack of confidence insthe court
and its officers; or, third, the intention OF
Sherman Page to impeach the members of the
jury after their verdict. He then, as had his
opponent, reviewed the evidence. fhe argu
ment TO show that no hostility on the part oi
the Riley family was made was of some extent
The evidence of Detective Wood was reviewed
at length, and characterized as a creation of hi.
own brain, by which he had duped even the
prosecuting witness himself, and which could
be traced throughout the entire case as tn,
genius OF the prosecution. The visit of Franz
Rlley TO Waupun was explained as purely
o,,It t,ta la q;