St. Paul daily globe. [volume] (Saint Paul, Minn.) 1884-1896, 1894-05-19
THE EVIDENCE ALL IN.
the LI6EL Csc C0sS TO TIE JUR Y
TODAY.


The Opposing Attorneys Present
Their arguments. and This
Morning tn, Judge Will
Charge the Jury-Cha Qnery Is
"What Will the Verdict Be?"
Able and Caustic Spec chcs.
So far as the evidence is concerned,
the libel case against Aid. Mortimer B.
Rollins is over. The attorneys for both
sides made their argu ments yesterday
afternoon. and this morning Judge
Russell will charge the jury. There is
considerable speculation as to what the
verdict will be. 1t is understood that
several aldermen made bets during the
afternoon that the verdict would be
for acQuittal, or else the jury woul d
disagree. During the forenoon session
Superintendent of Police Smith was on
the stand, and testified in regard to the
HOlbrOok andEast side burglar inveStiga-
tionS, which came Oft under the mayors
personal supervision. The intention of
the defense was 10 show that the mayor
had protected burglars" and "cham-
pioned the cause of gray-headed liber-
| tines" The superintendent insisted in
his testimony that the mayor had used
no undue influence in either of the
| cases, and so far as he knew had neither
protected burglars nor championed lib
crimes.
E. o. OLSON, the Tribune's police re-
porter, identified an article written by
himself Immediately after indictments
had been returned against the East
side burglars. He stated that the
mayor had admitted to him that he was
responsible for the boys getting off as
lightly as. they did. MIR. Spooner. at
this point, announced that Rumber of
his witnesses could not be found, al
though subp9nas had been issued for
them. The subp9naS had been re-
turned. he said. the deputy sherifIs be-
ing unable to find the witnesses. Their
names were James Henderson, F. A.
! Briggs, w. A. Mills and Harry Chap
man. II was expected that these wit
| nesSes would be able to show that the
! mayor was receiving ais per cent rake
OFF, from the gambling houses.
Tom Scott. a miller, who was a men,
Der of The grand jury which found the
bill against Aid. Rollins. went on the
stand and swore that to the best ct his
recollection Mayer Eustis was present
and testified regarding the matter.
There was considerable wrangling over
the thing, he said, for he and several
others were of the opinion it was only
political fight. Mr.. Hall. OH cross-ex-
animation. asked the witness who was
present In the grand jury room. He re-
piled:
II don't remember. thought it was
dirty scrape, political fight"
elf the mayor were to say he was not
there, would you say that he wasp"
ut wouldn't change my evidence
bit. not Bit
Now, Mr.. Scott. wasn't it at an in
formal talk beforehand or on the out.
side?"
No. sir. I don't think ever spoke
to the mayor ON the outside"
WHO was clerk OF the jury?"
Mr.. Chad5ourne'
Mayor Eustis remarked as he left the
court room moment later that he
hated to see man 60 on the stand and
perJure himself about such trivial
point" Judge Elliott was called as the
next witness, ana Judge Russell admin
lstered the oath to his colleague of the
bench. He had been called to straight
en- out the matter of the fines of the
East side burglars. His testimony
showed conclusively that Mayor Eustis
had more to do with the case than he
would admit of. The judge said:
Tine young men were brought I'D in
the afternoon, and pleaded guilty. They
were each fined SIS. After leaving the
court room l Went into the clerks office,
aid there l met several persons who
were relatives and friends of the boys.
They expressed considerable dissa It's
faction at the amount of The fines i'm
posed, and went into my chambers to
talk over the matter. There they said
that the fine was larger tlau the mayor
had stated TO them it would be. and if
they had known the fine would lie so
arge they would have had the BOYS
lead not guilty. as they did not think
the boys could be convicted. AS soon
as learned that the pleas of guilty had
been made under standing |
RENTED $50 OF the fine. Mayor Eustis
came to my chambers later that after
noon. l was somewhat surprised that
he should have made any such arrange
mentS with the parents of the boys. and
so expressed myself to him. He replied
that he had not made any such state
ments to them, but they had probably
inferred that. since he had told them
that charge of petit larceny would re-
Quire less than S25 to be specified in tn
amount. That was all there was to the
conversation"
Other witnesses examined were Bald
win Brown. Adolph Edstin and N. z.
Whiting. Court then adjourned Tor
dinner, and in the afternoon the uppos-
ing attorneys made their arguments to
the jury.
Mr.. Nye made an able and eloquent
argument. He maintained that the
case was an important one and that the
issue meant great deal, inasmuch as
1t would in measure stand as prece-
dent In the matter of libel and SANDER.
That Mayor EustiS had been slandered
there was no doubt. Mr.. Nye, in terms
anything but Complimentary, referred
to Aid. Rollins and mis- connection with
the case. He characterized him as be-
ing as foul as the mud he had thrown
at the chief executive of the city," He
cOnjured the jury to find a verdict for
the state: in fact he said that under The
evidence and the failure of the defense
to prove the allegations of the article. it
was the jury's duty to bring in a verdict
for the state.
MIR. Spooner was more matter of fact
Ill MS address. He dwelt more on the
cold facts of the case and characterized
the whole affair as gigantic farce. 1t
was not worthy of the sober consider
alton asked by the attorney for the
state 1t had begun as a farce and
ended i'll about the same manner. In
referring to the charges in the indict-
ment ne said that the state had been
very careful not to bring in anything
that referred to the mayor being drunk
at the Lord Mayor Snanks banquet.
The reason this was not mentioned was
because it was one of the easiest Things
for the defense to prove. When Mayor
Eustis heard himself arraiynei in this
manner he grew red hot clear to the
roots of his hair and behind his ears.
He rose III his chair and attempted to
address the court, meaning, no doubt.
/ TO eXpostulatc at the attorney for the