Daily globe. [volume] (St. Paul, Minn.) 1878-1884, 1881-07-17
A NARROW ESCAPE.

quiet little town or -, While patrOl-
ling the streets to pick up stragglers from
the camp on the outskirts of the town,
Corporal Julius Fry was shot and killed
by one of three men of bad character.
who were in company and upon terms of
open enmity with the soldiers. The men
were arrested, committed to prison, and
brought to trial at the next term of court.
Two of them were gamblers and desper-
ADDE'S, and supposed to have more than
once had their hands stained with human
blood. The third, whom l shall call
Short, though bearing an unenviable re-
putation, was regarded as one unlikely to
slay fellow-man, except under compul-
sion of circumstances. On account of
the character of the men and the trouble
they had already brought upon quiet,
law-abiding citizens the sentiment of the
whole community was strongly against
them.
In order to clearly understand the
force of the testimony given upon the
trial and the subsequent result, it is i'm
portant to bear in mind the physical
pecullarities, dress and general appear
ance of the three prisoners.
Short was small man of not more than
five feet six inches in height, slender,
weighing scarcely one hundred and thirty
pounds, with fery-red hair and side
whiskers, and at the time of the murder,
wore light felt hat and an old light
blue army overcoat
Ryan was fully six feet in height, of
robust frame, with black hair and mus
tache, dressed in dark clothes, and wore
black Derby hat.
Grey was heavy, broad shouldered
man of medium height, weighing fully
two hundred pounds, with full black
beard reaching nearly to his waist But
as the evidence subsequently showed that
he had not fired the shot, it is unneces-
sary to describe his appearance more mi
nutely.
Certainly it is difficult to imagine two
men more unlike than Short and Ryan, or
less liable to be mistaken for each other
even by strangers, much less by their &C
quaintances. There was no possibility
here for case of mistaken identity.
Short and Ryan were tried together
with their consent, Grey had asked for
and obtained separate trial, and each
was defended by separate counsel.
After the preliminary proof relating to
the post mortem examination, the cause
of death and the Identification of the
deceased as the person named in the in
dictment, the Commonwealth called as
its first witness woman, Mary Bowen.
She bore bad reputation, but nobody
questioned her purpose to tell, reluctant
ly, it is true, the whole truth The pris-
oners were all her friends, and were con-
slant visitors al the drinking saloon of
which she was the proprietress. She was
woman of powerful physique, almost
masculine frame, great force of character
and had more than ordinary intelligence.
From her testimony it appeared that a
colored woman with whom she had had
some dispute had hit her on the head with
stone and ran, and the three prisoners,
coming up at that moment, started with
her up the street in search of the fugitive
Although the night was dark there was
snow on the ground, and a gas lamp near
by gave sufficient light to enable one to
recognize person with ease some feet
away. After running about one hundred
yards the pursuers came to the corner OF
an alley and stopped under the gas lamp,
being challenged by the deceased, who
was in uniform, in company with one of
his squad She swore that when the cor
poral called "haltl' Short, whom she
had known intimately for years, replied
$50 to h--l!' and while standing at hel
side, so that their elbows were touching
both being Immediately under the gas
light, he pulled out pistol, pointed it al
the deceased, who was four or five feet
from him, and fired, and then ran down
the alley, the deceased pursuing him
She heard four or five more shots fred
and immediately the deceased returned
wounded, and Short disappeared. While
the shots were being fired, she saw botf
Ryan and Gray standing at the corner
some feet away from her, and after thai
they separated and she went home L
was also proved that this alley was bound
ed on either side by high board fences
difficult to climb, and led to a stream Of
water about fifty feet wide and three OF
four feet deep. No trace of footstep:
were found in the snow except those o.
one man leading down into the stream
and it was evident that the person who
had fired had not climbed either fence
but had waded through the stream an(
had disappeared On the other side
The next witness was the soldier wht
stood close by the deceased when the frs
A0t was nre0, ana VINO, not knowing
either Of the prisoners, described tie per
son who had fired and run down the allie,
as the man with red hair and side whisk
ers, dressed in light blue army overcoa
and white soft hat, and upon bein;
directed to look at the three prisoners
identified Short as the man whom he hat
seen do the shooting.
The testimony Of these witnesses wa
in no way shaken upon cross examina
ton.
Then the sworn anti-mortem state
mems of the deceased, taken by magis
trate, was read to the jury. He said tina
he had known Short personally for som
time, but had never had any difficult
with him. He fully identified him as tn
man who had fired the first shot, an
then ran down the alley, firing one sho
after another, until he fired the last an
fatal shot almost in the face of the de
ceased. He also fully described til
clothing worn by Short as it had bee
described by the other witnesses.
These were all the witnesses to the oc
currence, except the prisoners themselves