St. Paul daily globe. [volume] (Saint Paul, Minn.) 1884-1896, 1890-09-10
WAS HORT ON GUILTY?
The Old Story Of the Mysteri-
Gus Drowning as Related
by Witnesses.
Very Little That Is New Re-
vealed in the Testimony
Given.
An Admirable Display Of st.
Paul's Superb Fire De-
partment.
funeral Directors Elect Off
GERS and Discuss Newer
Methods.

An anxious, m0rDld-mlnded crowd OF
men and women assembled in the mu-
nicipal court yesterday afternoon in Or
der to hear the testimony of Walter f.
Horton, who stands charged with the
murder of his wife OH the night of Aug.
IA. 1t is to be regretted that women
with children in arms and Young girls
should be allowed to be present in the
trial of murder cases, and so crowded
was the court that Judge Cory ordered
the doors closed before the case opened.
n. NJ. Thygeson appeared for the
prosecution and n. o. Martin for the
prisoner. Horton was brought into
court soon after 2, and seated himself
next his lawyer and opposite the report
erS. He took but little interest in the
evidence, and when not engaged in
nervously pulling his mustache. he
watched the GLOBE representative TAX
ing notes.
James Miller, the first witness, said
he was fisherman and lived at the foot
of State street Oh the bank of the river
On the 14th of August Horton came to
his place and rented a boat about or
e in the evening. He showed him the
boat, and Horton said it would do. He
placed his wife and child in the boat
and went down the river. Horton sat
on the front seat. The boat was twenty
feet long and two feet wide at the bot
t0m.' three feet five inches wide Oh top.
1t had two sets of oars. Horton placed
a set of oais in the forward rowIocks.
Miller testified thathe had used the boat
frequently, and found it was impossible
to upset it. He had often used heavy
IiShing nets and sat on the side of the
side of the boat. but did not think it
would upset. The oarlockS fitted into
sockets. He saw the boat the following
morning at II at the ferry at South Park
right side up and full of water. He saw
HortDnthat morning, and Horton told
him that he had had an accident and
his wife and child had been drowned.
He offered to assist Horton in finding
the bodies. Horton simply told him the
boat had upset, but gave no particulars.
The night he routed the boat was very
chilly, and Horton said he was going
for row; d at say when h " 0ul1
return.
Frank NJ. Turner, of 400 East Belve-
dere. street, dry gauger at the st. Paul
dlStlllery, was the next witness.
On the 18th of August he was fishing in
the evening near Moriarty's slaughter house,
about three-quarterS of mile from Concord
street motor station. He was fishing near
the government dam, which is fifty or sixty
feet long, built of rock, running out into the
stream. There was a similar dam ON the OPP
poslte side OF the river The width of the
streai@ between the ends of the dam was
about 200 yards. 1t was very dark when
they gotto the river and he conld not see
across. ale, got ITO the river about 9 D. m
He had been fishing some time on the dam
when he heard boat coming up stream. He
heard man, talking continually, but no
Other voice 1t was very dark. and his little
boyshad, built a fire onzthe end of the dam
He7Was also engaged in building fire when
he heard the V0Pn 0t1d nm ad In
that some other people were on the river. He
heard noise, evidently like that made by q
body plunging i'll cold water. He would Judge
that the boat was about l25 wards west from
the end of the dam. a little below it, dis
lance OF 400 yards from where he was He
could not distinguish any or the converse
ton. He judged the boat was going up
stream, The click of The oars became louder
He did not think the boat was moving fast
White he heard the noise which he thought
Wassa person felgning drowning which
lasted about minute, he listened. About
two.mlnuteS after he heard a loud Whoop
from the river, followed few seconds after
by another He did notsthink it was that of
person in Distress, Soon after a person OH
the other sideaef the stream asked what was
the matter, but no reply was made. He then
heard the whoop lower down the river and
then it ceased. The whoopng was kept up
for nearly an hour. Finally the man on the
opposite side called out whats the matter"
and the person in the river called out. ga
boat. boat" The voice in the river said
bring boat. can't SWIM He then called
down river, and asked what the matter was,
and the voice answered, I'VE are in the
river" He said he had no boat, he was only
fishing. He then walked down the bank to
where he judged the voice came FROM He
then heard the whoop again, which came
FROM almost opposite to where he was which
was a little below the sandbar. about 400
yards from the slaughter house. 1t was about
half past nine when he heard the gurgling
sound first. When ne got down to
across the river. 1t was about 135 feet from
the sandbar, directly opposite. He waited
until the boat came, close, and heard some
questions; he could not distinguish what
Here | am: can't SWIM" The man in the
boat asked, why don't YOU wade ashore?''
and the answer was, Il can't swim; / am
afraid" He then heard the man in the water
say: My wife and badly are drowned: help
me find them" The party in the boat piloted
the man in the water ashore to the sandbar
The man asked hun for q lantern, as his wife
ard child were drowned. He went on: .My
little girl saw something i'll the water, she
reached for it and the boat upset" lie Gid
not point out TO witness where the accident
occurred. He went along the shore lighting
matches, but could see nothing. lie looked
up the river and saw boat coming down
with a light ahead. He heard one man say
TO the other, she sank twice. That mau
was Horton.
Cross-eXamined by Attorney Martin.
do you frequently see people boating at
the point you have mentioned?'
Yes, but not at night
do you think it was at night when you
arrived at the riyer:''
''Yes, SIR
Witness detailed in cross-eXamination
what he had already stated. and gave
an imitation of the sounds which he
thought were like person drowning.
His reason for thinking it was person
feigning drowning was that the water
was so shallow, and he judged there
was a strong man in the boat, from the
sound of his voice. The wind was very
still Oh the night in question. The wit
ness was cross-eXamined at great length
by the attorney for Horton, but his eyl-
dence was not shaken in any detail.
William Turner. s0E of the last wit
ness, said:
Il was with my father fishing on the night
in question. 1t was between and 8, and
quite dark. was building fire, and heard
the sound of oars on the water. heard a
man talking, but no reply to his converse
tons. | then heard splash and scream
1t sounded like child's voice, | said to my
father, Some one is drowning;'' but father
said it was only some boys larking. l then
heard the gurgling sounds, and then heard
the whoops."
The rest of the evidence of the wit
ness was in confederation of his fathers
testimony. Patrick III. Moriarty, OF
South st. Paul, then took the stand. He
said:
II was at the slaughter house, near the
scene of the drowning, on the night IL
question. The sandbar that has been spoken
of is about 400 feet from our place. know
where the dam is that the previous witnesse!
spoke of. Between the dam and the sand
bar is a distance of about 200 rods. The
depth of the water is from three to eight feet
The only distance man cannot wade be
tween the points is about sixty feet. The
water was about two feet lower in Angus
than it is now"
The witness then gave evidence
which was the same as he gave before
the coroner's jury.
August RAIDER, 'Six-fngered Jack.
was the next witness. and gave similar
evidence to that he gave before the cor
Oner. He testified that he went to Hor
ton in his boat, and took him out of the
water and rowed down to South st
Paul. Horton did not have on his shoe:
or coat when he found him standing il
the water.
Mrs. Elizabeth Landroches testified