St. Paul daily globe., 1894-02-04
WHITE FIRED The SHOT,
AND slim pUcAH HELD TIE LAaTs8A.
SAYS MRS. HaRRiS.
,rHE TRIAL HAS BEGUN.
The Jury iu the Famous Murder
Case Was Completed Yester-
day Morning and in the After
noon the Wife of the MUIR
dered Man Took the Witness
Stand-Her Identification.

4 N-oJ -0OAhi RbN itA WIG shAtOA-
|. noon the Wife of the MUIR
dered Man Took the Witness
Stand-Her Identification.
The murder trial is at last under way,
and James Dugan will find it necessary
/ to make desperate struggle for his
,1ife. That he will be aided ma a,erially
in his struggle goes without the saying,
for his attorneys, Messrs. Davis and
Penney. are top notcherS" III the line
of law and criminal practice. The panel
! pf Jurors was completed at 80 yester-
.dryman, residing at 1922 Clinton ave-
nuo. anu James K. Farnham, a
'orlck manufacturer at 50 Camden
Place, were sworn i'll during the
forenoon. and just rounded out
he dozen. 1t is conceded by both the
state and the defense that an eXcep-
llonally intelligent jury has been Sc
cured. Mr.. Davis is well satisfied, and
that. means a great deal, for lie is con-
consiuered hard to suit, as a general
propusIllon. MIR. Nye asked to have the
case 20 over to Monday, owing to the
state uesiring as much time as possible,
but Judge Jamison decided it would be
unfair to the jurors to keep them any
longer than necessary.
The first witness for the state, Mrs.
Mary L.. Haines, wife of the man who
was SO foully murdered, took the stand
in the afternoon at the conclusion of the
states opening argument, delivered by
A. Ii. Halle She Is an old lady of very
pleasant face and iron gray
hair smoothed carefully under
becoming crepe bonnet. She has
will of her own. which fact was
demonstrated more than once by the
positiveness of her testimony. On
examination by tile state she told of the
tragedy and the events which led up 10
aud followed its occurrence. A plan of
the residence, 627 Fifteenth avenue
southeast, was handed to her for refer
ence and she explained in detail how
!. her husband was killed. She said:
II awoke. and as l opened my eyes |
saw a man holding the door out INTO the
dining room. l got up. My neighbours
SONS were in the habit of coming in to
wait for my son, as they carried papers
early III the morning. As l stood up l
saw another man standing near the din
ing room door going into the kitchen.
They spoke together. and then one of
the men came toward me, one hand
down, the other holding the light to my
face. He said: Give me money and
just then my husband awoke."
Then she went on and related how
the shot was fired, and the positions of
the four men who had entered the bed
room. In spite of her age and the eX-
cltement under which she labOred, Mrs.
Harris told good story in a graphic
manner. Joe White, one of the sus-
poets, was brought into the court room,
and Mrs. Harris was asked if she could
identify him.
= A ripple of excitement passed over
the big crowd when the lady identified
him positively as the man who fired the
shot which killed her husband. Then
she identified Dugan as the one who
held the lantern on that eventful
night. 1t Is doubtful. however, if
her identification will carry much
weight with 1t. Under the skillful
cross examination by Mr.. Davis
it was shown that her Identification
was not much more than a sort of a re-
membrance, mental impression. Her
impressions are strong ones, however,
and no amount of crOSs-axamination
could change her mind. She identified
White from a peculiar shifting move
ment and a strange manner Of inciining
the body, which she noticed when
he leaned against the jamb of the
door i'll her bed chamber. 1t Was the
outline of his shape i'll the gloom, and
Jerk of the shoulders, which aided her
in selecting him as the man who fired
the pistol. Dugan she identified by the
width and height of his forehead, and
the two men together from the fact that
one was lighter than the other. OF
course, yesterday was not the first time
she had been called upon to identify the
men. She was brought to see them at
the county Jail soon after their arrest.
During the crOSS-eXaminati0n Mrs.
Harris was again asked how she was
able TO Identify the men so positively,
when on the morning the murder 0c-
Cured it was so dark the men found it
necessary to use dark lantern in the
bedroom. She reiterated what she had
told the county attorney on this point,
and when she came to the description
of White she said in trembling voice:
Il recognized him as the man who
took the pistol and shot my husband"
"Are you Sure?" asked MIR. Davis.
IL am sure" she repeated.
"You feel it?'' said the attorney. lift
ing his eyebrows and looking at the old
lady sharply.
Il feel it," was the response.
/ She could not identify the lantern, but
swore the silk handkerchief, presented
in court, resembled very much the one
found in her room the morning of the
1s
| that it was in the same condition at the
present time as when she found it.
Mr.. Davis had an ulterior motive
in bringing that point out, and
he laid considerable stress upon
it. In cross examining Mrs. Harris
on the manner in which Sheriff Ege had
| conducted himself on the occasions of
her visits to the county Jail to identify
the various suspects, Mr.. Davis brought
out certain matters which the county
] attorney thought were reflections on
| the sheriff. He endeavored to straighten
| them out by asking Mrs. Harris the
! questions over again, when Mr.. Davis
| with flushed face broke in with:
| 81 object to this suffocating apology
for the sheriff"
! "He is an officer Of this court" said
MIR. Nye, land want To-
Il am also under this court, retOrted
| Mr.. Davis. land can't see how that is
any excuse for this kind of examina-
ton. l object"
The court sustained the objection,
and the croSS-eXamination was pro-
ceeded with. Mrs. Harris swore that
she knew nothing of the descriptions
given out in the circulars sent to all
| parts of the country. She did not
know how the descriptions were
secured, unless from certain
things she might have said. At any
rate the descriptions were not right.
This circular contained descriptions of
two men who bear no more resemblance
TO Dugan and White than the old court
house resembles the new county build.
ing. Yet the circ ular was sent out all
over the country and reward of 81. 600
was offered for the capture of the men
described. Mr.. Davis referred to this
fact IN his cross-examination.
At 5. Is the defense and the state
announced that they were through with
| Mrs. harris, and court was adjourned
until Monday morning. Two women
whose regulations are anything bul
savCrY and who are well known to the
police, took advantage of the adjourn
ment of court 10 hold a somewhat
lengthy conversation with White. They
condoled with him and assured hin
they were convinced of his innocence.
| He is an ilI-faVOred- looking individual,