St. Paul daily globe. [volume] (Saint Paul, Minn.) 1884-1896, 1894-05-02
THE LITTLE MRS. BROWN.
SIZE TEiiS WHIT ST.: KNOWS As0
TIE MURDER.
SHE'S A QUEER WOMAN.

The Letter Written to Mrs. Harris
Read Before the Jury-AIrs.
Brown Thought 1t Her Duty to
Talk About the Case-The
Trial Drawing Large Houses
The Defense Fully Under Way
The White murder trial is drawing
good houses after all. Yesterday the
court room was crowded. and in the
afternoon especially the members OF the
fair sex were there in great numbers.
During the forenoon the evidence of
John Feeley and portion Of Jim Sheri-
dams testimony before the Dugan trial
was read by Mr.. Penney. L. S. Beals,
U. S. weather bureau for Minneapolis,
WAS called 10 the stand TO testify as to
the condition OF the weather on the
night Of the Harris homicide. A lengthy
wrangie ensued over tho introduction of
a leaf from Ayers almanac from 1893.
The witness testified that the rain gauge
of the bureau shaved that ligh. rain
had fallen Gil the night in question.
''Hoke Smith," police reporter for the
Times, was called in the afternoon TO
testify as to the conversation he had
with Mrs. Harris on Nov. II regarding
the arrest Of Dick Reed. He testified
that Mrs. Harris told him that Reed was
another poor unfortunate. and that she
had no hope OF ever getting the men
who murdered her husband. She also
told him that she did not believe she
could identify the men if she saw them.
He stuck 10 thls during cross-examina-
ton.
The much.talked-of Mrs. Julia Brown
was The next witness. Mrs. Brown is a
peculiar-iOoking woman. She is very
small, thin and old. Her face is covered
with wrinkles, and she has a distress
ful affection of the muscles of the face.
During all the time she converses there
is a twitching of the mouth. the uppe +
lip dancing upward toward the eye.
She was dressed entirely in black, and
kept one Of her gloved hands over her
eyes while testifying.a as though the light
affected them. When asked why she
did that, she said she was thinking. She
told the story of the murder as she
knew it. and stated emphatically that
she attended Mr.. Harris up to his death.
She also conversed with him, and
this she swore to positively. i'll
spite of the fact that both
Mrs. harris and her daughter
denied That she had seen Mr.. Harris
previous to his death. or that they had
cunversed with her about the affair.
She swore that Mrs. Harris had talk ed
,,.i,t Hon 81 l,a, I'D II,
she had said that she could see nothing
of the men that would allow for an
Identification. "One man was taller than
the Other. one was heavy-set, and both
had their coat collars turned up and
their hats pulled down. They were
nothing but boys" is what Mrs. Brown
SAID that Mrs. Harris told her. She
swore that Mr.. Harris had said that he
Gould handle dozen such boys, but
that these were armed.
On crosS-eXamination Mrs. Brown
diu not fare very well. and the twitch-
ings of her mouth were more noticeable
than ever. She admitted tina. she had
talked about the case 10 many people.
including Attorney Frank Davis,
Messrs. Penney and Welsh, Mr.. Dow
and Joe Whites mother, Mrs. Elms. 1t
was with reluctance that she admitted
she had gone to Mrs. Ems house, but
she added that she felt it her duty to
talk not only to Mrs. Elms, but to the
other people, because of certain grave
mistakes that had been made in the
testimony at the Dugan trial. When
asked why she did not communicate all
this to the county attorney, if she
deemed it her duty to correct mistakes.
she said she did not know where to 60
or how to so about to do so.
A short time after the Dugan trial.
Mrs. Harris received letter purporting
to come from Mrs. Elms. The construc-
ton of it and the language demon
strated, however, that Mrs. Elms was
not the author of il, so that it was with
a degree OF satisfaction that the state
yesterday afternoon forced an admis-
sion from Mrs. Brown that she was
practically the author of the letter.
She said that she had gone over to see
Mrs. Elms, anG. feeling that she was a
woman who needed pity ana sympathy,
spoke to her concerning the trial. To-
gether they arranged The letter, and
Mrs. Brown copied it, and it was sent
| to Mrs. Harris. The letter was a re-
markable one. 1t was well written, the
grammar was good, but the spelling was
poor. 1t was replete with poetic pass
ages, and referred to ''pearling streams"
tlt utW llidt lccuS tue UUuUfHS rose
aud ''sIiilit meadows 1t Went on to
| state that Joe White was innocent, and
that it was also evident that Dugan
| knew nothing of the crime for which he
i was sentenced TO prison. 1t lntimated
that airs. Harris had testified falsely in
order to shield her sons from the gal
lows. for it had been talked about on the
street cars that none other than they
! had committed the crime. Designing
men. the letter said. who were after the
reward, had hypnotized Mrs. Harris,
and she was really not responsible for
| tine manner IN which she had testified
! against Dugan aud the stand she had
| taken against Joe White. The letter
wound up with plea for mercy. Dur
| ing the time that Mir. Hall read this let
ter to the jury. Mrs. EIms was visibIy
affected. and kept her handkerchief to
her eyes. The attorneys for the defense
entered strenuous objections against
the introduction of this letter, but the
| court oyerrued them.
In the cross examination Mrs. Brown
! contradicted herself in several instances
! but she still maintained an independent
| demeanOr. She will take the stand
| again when court opens this morning.
Base Bail TODAY.