Mower County transcript. [volume] (Lansing, Minn.) 1868-1915, 1889-09-04
THEIR LIVES AT STAKE.

'HE'H LIVES AT STAKE.
C"ughlin. Wsullivnn, Beggs, Burke and
Auhze Placed on Trial ut Chicago,
charged with tho Murder of DR.. Cronn
Jurors Subjected to n Searching Ex-
amtnation-Tho Prosecution Relying on
C'roumstantial Evidence for Conviction.
| CHICAGO, Ang. 81 The Cronin trial has
begun. The tactics OF delay so skillfully
employed by both sides have been ex-
hauSted and the actual work OF selecting a.
jury has begun. When Judge Mcconnell
opened court yesterday morning both
sizes announced their readiness to pro-
| ceed with the trial A special venire tor
fifty jurors was issued, and an adjourn
| ment was taken until 2o'clock D. m.
At the afternoon session the prosecution
appear d for the first time in it's full
strength, Messrs. Hynes, Mills Ing
ham and AS istant States ATTORNEY
| Neeley entering the room with
Judge Longeneckcr and taking their
| seats with him on the States .ide of
tho lawyers table. Opposite them were
! Messrs. Forrest Donahoe, Foster, Ames,
! senator Kennedy and Judge Wing, while
| pehlnd them were the clients, the five
! prisoners on trial, Coughlin, Beggs and
Aun2e In the front row OF three chairs and
Burke and OSullivan bringing up the rear.
When the court came to order it ap-
| peared that forty-eight men had been sum-
| moned to act as jurors. Thirteen OF this
| number were excused for various reasons.
! This preliminary examination over the box
| was filed by twelve men. Judge Longe-
necker was about to test the qualifications
or tho twelve for jury service from the
| States point Of view when Mr. Donahoe
| made an objection to the appointment
| OF Messrs Mills, Ingham and Hynes
as associate counsel for the State on the
| ground that they had been engaged by
private parties to appear in the case. and
| had received money or the promise OF
money from these private parties
who were anxious to secure the
conviction Of his clients He fur
Their objected to Mr.. Hynes on
the ground that he was acruated by
motives of ennity to his clients, all OF
which he offered to prove by the testimony
OF the three lawyers themselves and others
Mr. Forrest for Coughlin and Senator Ken
needy for Burke also objected. States
Attorney Longenecker protested that it was
too late for these objections which had not
been entered at the time he asked for the
appointment of the counsel, and now that
jury was in the box to try the cause the
| court could not try another ISSUE
Judge Mcdonnell agreed with him
and ovcrruled the objections, to which
I'll Ing che usual exceptions were entered
Eight Jurors were examined by the State,
foHi OF whom were accepted and four re-
tected The court adjourned at 4:S0 p. m
Tho case has gone far enough to indicate
pretty conclusively the line of evidence
u ION which the prosecution will rely. If
the questions put to jurors on the examina-
tion point to any thing they point to the
conclusion that circumstnntial evidence
and that alone is relied on Tor
a conviction. Woodruff and his con-
fessions seem to have dropped out
OF the case us factor in it. At
any rate, whatever he knows or can tell
will be used rather as corroborating the
circumstantial evidence adduced than as
being direct testimony to the murder
or the conspiracy of which it was q
was examined by the State was ques-
tt ned closely as to whether he believed in
rcumstantial evidence. Any hesitancy on
} the part OF the prospective juror to clearly
| express his confidence in this sort of evil
| dence was the initial point of a search
ing examination by the States Attor-
noy. A principal question with
Mr. Longenecker, who conducted the Eek
animation of jurors on behalf OF the State,
was: 'Supposing it should turn out in the
! trial of this case that the evidence is
mainly circumstantial, if it convnces you
! beyond a reasonable doubt of the guilt of
! these defendants would you feel it your
duty to find them guilty just the same as if
the evidence was direct?"
While the State is evidently relying on
! clrcumstsntial evidence to procure a con-
viction, there are not wanting indications
that 1t expects to present q convincing ar
ray OF circumstances proving the
guilt Of the defendants or some of
them. The question of conscientious
| scruples about the death penalty
| is gone into with each juror Nor is
| any faltering on this point by juror al
| lowed. The juror who satisfactorily an
swered the questions as to circumstantial
/ evidence and the death penalty then had q
| combination O; the two thrust at him TO
DO a safe and sound juror in the eyes
OF the prosecution he must be willing
to intiict the death penalty upon
proof of guilt by circumstantial ev-
idence under the same conditions
that he would if guilt were proved by di-
rect testimony. Ii doctrinnlly sound on
the purely intellectual questions Of evil
donce and penalty, the juror was ques-
toned as to his past lite, associates and
business and social connections, to
see that no warp or bias had engen-
dered in him any OF those prejudices
or crotchets which render the sound
est intellectually unreliable. Where the
juror was born, where he lad lived, his &C.
cupation for years past, and the societies,
secret Or otherwise, to which he belonged,
or had ut any time belonged, were not Sec
ond even to the inquiries as to his acquaint-
unce with any Of the prisoners or their
counsel.
Acquaintance with Alexander Sullivan,
Lawrence r. Buckley, Thomas Murphy or
Harry Jordan was a matter to which
sedulous attention was paid by the State.
OF the jurors who were examined none
would admit acquaintance with any Of
these men except one. He was member
OF the Irish-American Club and was intro
duced to Alexander Sullivan on The &C.
casion of tho reception rendered to Patrick
Egan last spring.
Court adjourned before the State had
rendered any jurors to the defense Their
line of examination can therefore only be
coniectured.
TEN THOUSAND DIED.