St. Paul daily globe. [volume] (Saint Paul, Minn.) 1884-1896, 1891-10-21
THE DONNELLY SUIT.
1t Is Pushed Along at a Merry
Rate.

The great IgnatiuS Donnelly dam.
age suit is on. Ali morning there was q
suppressed air of expectancy in the old
court house on Eighth avenue south.
The sensational Parker divorce case hal
palled OH the taste and all were
anxious for a new kind of a sen
sation. They got it. The largest
damage suit in the history Of Min
nesota was the second on the calendar,
and was to be taken up as soon as the
Parker case was disposed of. There
was large crowd present. Almost
every walk i'll life was represented.
Public interest is very strong in the
case, and the DonnelIy-Pioneer. Press
libel suit was the topic of conversation
throughout the day. Thatit was to be
battle of brains all agreed, and all
wished to be present to see the struggle
and listen to the cutting repartee.
1t was after 10 o'clock when Judge
Hooker called the case. Excitement
was at fever heat. and all pressed for
ward as the Jury was called. Consider
able time was occupied in obtaining
twelve coed men and true, who were
acceptable on both sides. At last the
jury was impannelled as follows: Karl
NJ. Schmidt, c. Ii. Henke, 4. j. Foster.
w. NJ Crawford. p. j. Bran, p, Lueb-
ner. George Oliver, j. l.. Beckman,
George Hobhouse, NJ. l.. Gardner, f. O..
Drew and Herman Rose.
During the wait of two hours before
the case was called, lgnatius Donnelly
passed the time in walking around the
old structure, occasionally stopping to
shake hands and pass few words with
friends. His smiling cOuntenance. was
unrutfied by fr0wn, and he appeared
in the best OF spirits. The attorneys
one of the foremost lawyers of the day !;
and his partner, "Bill'' Erwin. At pres
ent Mr.. Erwin is absent up country on
business. and consequently most of the
work will fall on Mr.. Wellington. Still,
it is expected that Mr.. Erwin will re-
turn before the case is through and lend
his valuable assistance. The Pioneer
Press presented fine array of legal
talent. There we've Judge Charles E.
Flandrau and his partners, Squires and
Cutcheon, of st. Paul, and asso-
ciated with them was Capt.
f. B. Hart, of this city. 1t is
understood that the case for the de-
Tense will be opened by Capt. Hart.
Mr.. SQuires is taking the testimony,
assisted by the others. while Judge
Flandrau will sum up at the conclu-
sion. Managing Editor I. Il. Cowles,
of the Pioneer Press. was present yes
terday for the paper.
After the work of empaneling the
Jury was complete, recess was taken
until 2 o'clock.
When court was called in the after
noon an air of business and determin-
alton could be seen on the faces of all
those interested in the case.
The first breeze Of the coming storm
was heard when Capt. Hart requested
the court TO decide which side should
have the privilege of opening and clos
Ing the trial.
Counsel can arrange that to suit
themselves" responded Judge Hooker
with a pleasant smile. Wellington
smiled also and stated that the plaintiff
claimed the privilege. Then Capt. Hart
commenced an argument on statutory
points in regard to the presentation of
evidence. He claimed 1t was a queS-
ton whether the statutes had
changed the common law ruling. His
argument was long and eloquent and to
the effect that the affirmative in the
question should have been the opening
and closing, and that the defendant
claiming the truth of the article pub
lished was the party to prove the affirm
alive.
Mr.. Wellington replied to the argu-
ments of Mr. Hart, His eloquence was
just as great, his authorities Just as
good and his manner equally conyinc-
ing. The question TO be determined, he
said, was to establish just how much
malice the publisher of the Pioneer
Press had when the article was pub
liShed, and claimed that the burden of
proving such serious charge preferred
against any one rested with the plaintiff.
After both sides had argued the case
point was scored by Mr.. Donnelly.
Judge Hooker ruled that the case