St. Paul daily globe. [volume] (Saint Paul, Minn.) 1884-1896, 1886-09-17
ANOTHER BIG CENT.
Frank B. Smith, of St. Paul, Gets Dam
ages to That Amount From the
Tribune.
The Sensational Harriet Burner Case Re-
called in an Action for Heavy
Damages.
How an Intriguing and Designing
Woman Wove Her Web over All
She Met.
The Court Instructs for Damages and
the Jury Returns n Verdict for
Cent.
Awarded One Cent.

The sensational adventures of Harriet
Burner, now serving sentence in the Still
water prison, were again brought to puohc
notice by the suit of Frank b. Smith, of ST.
Paul against the Tribune, to recover $50 600
damages for libel. tried in the district court
yesterday. Sumner Ladd. of Minneapolis,
and ex-Gov. c. X. Davis are fighting the case
for Smith, while the Tribune has retained
Judge Flandrau of St. Paul, and John Nj.
Miller of Minneapolis. A struck jury heard
the case and was composed of L. Barber.
Charles A. Eaton, E. f. Fisher, A j. Board
man, George L. Caldwell, john Everard, r. w.
FOrmau, Wesley Neil, .. E. Greeley, Nj. Z.
Hawkins Robert Hale and W. H. Harrison.
The peculiar facts which came TO light during
the Burner trial lent Il subtle interest 10 the
proceedings, and the court room was crowded
Mrs. Burner was present as witness, having
been brought here from saltwater by q
special order of the court. Her lmpnson-
meut has had Softening effect upon SIN
hardened face and hut for the knowledge
that she was a convict she might have
passed for some respectable woman in the
lower walks of life. She attracted conSidera-
BILE attention by frequently bursting into
tears and gazing at the judge and jury IN
that wistfuL pleading style for which she
gained such uotorieLy at her trial. In order
TO fully comprehend this case it is necessary
TO give a little of the history of it. The action
of Mr.. Smith against the Tribune was COM
menced soon after Mrs. Burner was SEN
fenced to prison tor poisoning
LITTLE LILLE HEDDERLY.
The alleged Iibelous articles appeared in the
Tribune May % and March 81, 1885. In one
of them il was stated that the fact had been
known to Mr.. Smith for some time; that IN
the preceding January Drickayer named
LosSe had shot himself in Kansas City, Mo-,
and before the act he had written letter 10
the father of Miss Nellie French, TO whom he
was engaged. giving Us reason Tor kllhng
himself that he was in the power OF FRANK
Smith. of St Paul. this person, he said, hay
ing compelled him TO bring false accusa-
tiOns against an innocent woman who
was put in prison in consequence.
The woman referred to was Harriet
Burner. and rather than tell any more lies
about her he had concluded to suicide. In
the other article it was stated that when re-
porter questioned Mrs. Burner in jail at the
time of her trial in Minneapolis she had said
Smith had trumpet up the charge of her be-
ing a procuresS in Topeka in order to get her
out of the way, so that ne might secure the
property of ward of hers. Numerous other
statements and letters were printed by the
Tribune in which the property Mr.. Smith was
said to be trying TO get was valued at $4,000.
In making answer, the Tribune admitted the
publication of the articles, but claimed that
they were copied from the Kansas City Times
and the Memphis Avalanche, and published
as a matter of news. 1t is claimed that be-
fore he killed himself LOsse, the brick layer
referred to, wrote the following letter to Mr..
French. the father of Miss Nellie French, his
promised wife.
THE LETTER.
Kansas City, Jan. p, Saturday night, II o'clock.
Dear French: Ere this shall have come to
hand. | shall be dead. | am tired Of life. Frank
Smith of ST. Paul, has, for the last two years,
held power over me that could not free my
self from and he is determined L snail swear
Salsely in February for to convict person he mas
charged with crime L learned TO night that
thev was dying if not dead; and the objectionable
sin that he would compel me TO do by swearing
falsely for TO convict one that know that is not
guilty. cannot DO, 50 chose death Care kindly
for Nellie. She would have soOD been my wife.
Shun frank Smith, of st. Paul, Mimi, he is
wicked man; very wicked. Write him all; tell m
that 1 said 1 sooner die than swear the falsehood
he says L must
His address is Frank B. Smith, Dayton avenue.
His box is 405 st. Paul, MINI. Forgive me, and
ask God to forgive. Your unhappy friend,
GUSTAvE LoSSE.
HELD TO BE TRUE.
The defendant holds these facts to be true;
chat the Burner woman was referred TO in
this letter and that Smith had been most
Jealous and vindictive in the persecution of
Mrs. Burner, having hired detectives and
employed counsel against her. The defens
stated that it also believed to be true
woman of immoral character TO testify
against Mrs. Burner at her trial in Topeka,
but that Mrs. Burner was acquitted aiter
hearing. The statements thus far make Il
very complicated story, which the plaintiff
endeavOrs to set right in the following reply:
In 1884 he was agent for the piano firm of
Estey s. Camp, and in that capacity had bust
ness relations with Harriet Burner He was
puzzled on visiting her house to see little
girl whom Mrs. Burner called her daughter.
His discovery led to subsequent developments
in court. The child revealed the terrible
facts of her life. Mrs. Burner was arrested,
the child was taken care of by Mrs. L. b.
Walker, but Mrs. Burner finally got out of
Jail and regained possession of the child, i'm
prisOned her in st. Paul, where she was
again placed in charge of Mrs. Walker.
Jacob Burner, the divorced husband of Mrs
Burner, then attempted TO get the Child on a
writ of habeas corpus but Judge Lochren
denied the writ, and the custody of the child
was awarded to Mrs. Walker. Mrs Burner
who was then under bonds. fed, but was
arrested in December. 1884, in Topeka, Kan
saS under the assumed name OF Hattie
Guerin on the charge of procuring one
Mary Cook for the purpose of inducing her
to become q prostitute. While in jail she
made an attempt to hang herself. When
tried
SHE PLEADED GUILTY,
but before sentence was pronounced es-
caped and went to Kansas City, where she
arrived on the morning that the suicide of
Losse was discovered. Here she seized upon
the opportunity and wrote letter to Miss
Nellie French similar to the one already
printed, which it was claimed Losse wrote.
This she took to the Kansas City Times.
where she attempted to palm herself off as
the aGianced wife of Losse and asked them
to publish the letter. AS ia result SEN
sational article was published which stated
III.
thinking she and Hattie Burner were one
and the same persous and that the damaging
statements in regard to Smith should be taken
with considerable allowance. Mr. Burner
suddenly left Kansas City, and the pretended
letter of Loose to the mythical Nellie French
grew very much in proportions but preserved
the same tenor of falsehood. 1t was in this
same way palmed off on the Memphis Ava
lanche. She then went to OttHmwa, Ia, and
gave the story with variations to the Ottumwa
Press She then returned to Minneapolis,
but was arrested on an indictment which
charged her with poisoning the child Lille.
These are the details of the remarkable and
sens stional case. The attorney for the
Plaintiff, in making his argument called at
teution TO the remarkable faculty of Mrs.
Burner for imposing on people, Hncluding
LAWYERS, Judges and even reporters. Her
character he painted as very black, and
called attention to the fact that Frank B.
with whom he had come in contact that was
able to resist her evil influences, and it was
owing to the revelations made regarding her
relations with the child Lille Hedderly
that he
INCURRED HER ENMITY.
This it was he said, that she secured the
publication of the articles which were the
foundations of the articles in the Tribune,
that paper, however, suppressiug the explain
atory matter which was printed especially in
the Kansas City Times, throwing doubt on
the probability of the story. Luther Little,
of the St. Paul GLOBE, employed on the Trl-
bune when the matter was printed, was
sworn and stated that he had gained his in
formation for the alleged history from copies
of the two papers referred to, but that he did
so without malice, but as matter OF news.
Mr.. Bletheu, the publisher, and Charles Will
Jams, the city editor, were also sworn, but
their testimony had no direct bearing on the
case. EX-Judge Davis made the closing ar
gument for Mr.. Smith and made strong i'm
preston on the jury. He dwelt in a forcible
manner upon the character of the libel, and
said it was very peculiar that some of the
Tribune people could not have looked into the
matter or at least seen Mr.. Smith who re-