St. Paul daily globe., 1891-06-07
1T WAS A RED HOT ONE.
The Grand Jury Submit a Report
Full of SurDriSeS.


At 10 o'clock yesterday morning the
grand jury, which has been in active
session for the past week, sent word to
Judge Pond that it was ready to report.
When Judge Pond had occupied the
beuch j. Ii. Thompson. foreman of the
jury, addressed the court as follows:
'Your honor, the grand jury has completed
its labors. after making out several indict-
ments, and is now ready to submit report
John A. Schlener then read the fol-
lowing report;
Hon. C. NJ. Pond, Judge District Court:
The grand jury, having completed it's labors
and given careful consideration to all the
business brought 10 its attention, desires TO
submit the following supplementary report,
viz: Charges of gross immortality existing in
the city OF Minneapolis, county of Hennepin,
having been made by Rev. G.. l.. Morrill, and
Rev. T. T. Allen, they were subpRnad be-
fore the grand jury and their testimony
taken. 1t developed that the charges made
by them were based only upon hearsay,
whereupon the parties from whom they
claimed TO have received their facts in the
case were subp9naed. A large number of
witnesses were examined and the charges
were found to be only idle gossip, and ru-
mors such as are liable to arise and exist
in any community, except in one instance
where one witness testified that he
had purchased whisky once in drug store,
anCi that was over six months ago Your
grand Jury have no hesitation in saving that
they regret that the ministers of the gospel
should so far lower their dignity as to pro-
claim from their pulpits and through the
public press of this city the existence of evils
and an immoral condition of affairs that
"smeil rank 10 heaven" based only upon
hearsay and rumor.
We find that officer Samuel Kirkham. in
talking. even in joking manner, to Rev. T.
F. Allen in terms that might mislead and
give coloring to the belief that a condi-
ton of affairs existed which he knew did
not exist, was guilty of very serious breach
end gentleman got only a semblance of
authority for the statements made, and
that the subsequent statements made in
reference to the morality of the same city,
which they Omitted was one OF the cleanest
morally in the country, tended rather to sem
satiOnalism than to their earnest sense of
right seeking and right doing, which char
acterizes the high-minded and conservative
citizen.
j. R.Thompson, Fore Bernhard Stout
man, a D. Flnnegan.
John A. Schlener. George H. HUM,
William Chadwick, Thomas A. Clark,
W s. Mcleod, Lucien Swift.
Edmund Eichhorn.
Judge Rand then thanked the Jury
for the conscientious manner in which
they had performed their duty. In the
course of his address he remarked: Il
thank you for your thorough and earn
est laborS, and am glad you have made
the investigations you have. There
has been a great deal of sensational
talk about the laxness of morals in the
city, and you have by your diligent la
bors looked into them with care enough
to satisfy yourselves they do not exist"
Pausing few moments, he surprised
the members of the jury by adding:
'sGentlemen, instead of discharging
you from your labors, l will ask you to
meet here again in session two weeks
from next Monday, on June o."
This session, it is understood, is
called to meet any possible emergency.
Rev, G. l.. Morrill, remarked yester-
day afternoon, after reading the report
of the grand jury, the> charges were in
no wise presented by him to the grand
Jury or to the county attorney. The in
yestigation was complete surprise to
him and he had no opportunity to put
the evidence in shape to submit to such
BODY, or, in fact, to have any at all. 1t did
not follow, however. because no evidence
was forthcoming that none existed. He
considered it noteworthy fact that the
names of some of the grand jurors were
not appended to the report. and that
the court was desirous of further in
vestigation in two weeks. His suspi-
cions, he said. related to blind pigs
alone, ane not to Sunday saloons. gam
bling houses or houses Of i'll fame.