The Mankato free press. [volume] (Mankato, Blue Earth County, Minn.) 1879-1924, 1895-03-15
NYE'S LONG TALK.
The County Attorney Delivers
a Five-Hour Address to
the Hayward Jury.
ANALYZED THE TESTIMONY.
Not a Single Important Point
Passed Over in the
Summing Up.

plead for the sacredness of the laws of
the commonwealth of Minnesota. He
came into court with pale emaciated
face, and tottered to his place before the
jury box. Expressions of deepest re-
greet were heard on all sides, but for five
long hours Mr.. Nye held his auditors
spellbound. His summing up of the
great mass of evidence that has been
accommodating for weeks was masterful.
1t is almost inconceivable that in so
short time he could have covered even
the important points in the testimony
with the elaborateness essential in so
important task, but those who have
followed the case day after day and
read columns of testimony will look in
vain for a single omission of conse-
quence. In truly wonderful manner
he condensed the testimony of scores OF
witnesses, and when some happy point
needed amplifca.ion, notably in the
case of Blixt, he analysed it with min
utest care.
Harry's Bad Record.
Mr.. Nye's closing argument was in
the main review of the evidence pre-
sented by the state. He went briefly
over the record of Hayward's career, his
course as a gambler, his associations
with the murdered woman and his fate
full influence over Blixt. The murderer
had confessed his crime, he had told the
awful story and laid bare the horrible
character of the man who had melted it.
That man was Harry Hayward, who had
been the constant companion and
tutor of Blixt during the weeks
preceding this frightful affair. The
crime had been committed by Blixt, as
he himself had told the jury, fearing
nothing, hoping for nothing. He de-
scribed the despair presented in Bixt's
life during the day before conscience
asserted itself; and then the man had
told the truth, fully prepared to take
the consequences, whatever they might
be. He had asked for a chance to tell
his story in the light of justice. 1t had
been asked why the state did not try
Bhxt first, and the answer was it de-
sired to probe to the very bottom of the
damnable conspiracy, to.sound the mind
that was so infamous as to conceive so
vile plot.
Made a Plea for Blixt.
Mr.. Nye made a strong plea for Blixt
and it was naturally put before the jury.
Accomplices, he held, were not gener.
ally selected from the ranks Of the saint
~, and Blixt was criminal in that he
had committed this awful crime, but a
different feeling had been inspired in
the mind of the states attorney toward
this poor, benighted man than had ever
appealed to him in behalf of
a criminal during long experience
with criminals. He had talked
with this man in his cell, had analysed
him on the witness stand, and he was
convinced that no greater moral misfor-
tune had ever overtaken human soul
than that which had drawn Claus Blixt
under the baleful influence of this man
Hayward. He was not murderer at
heart. Had not his hands when dis
patched on this fearful errand been
black and grimed with the marks of
honest toll?
The Power of God.
Continuing, Mr.. Nye referred to Err
wins scoffing treatment of Blixt's
religious fervor and faith This poor,
ignorant man, he pointed out, had sat
through scathing cross-examination op-
posed to man unequalled in the art of
conducting such inquiries. What had
been the result? Why, and the prose-
cutting attorney smiled seraphically,
Mr.. Erwin had been for two days doll,
a puppet in the hands of this poor
creature with the light of Gods al.
mighty truth shining in his haggard
face. The power of God had come to
him in his hour of peril and darkest
need. God had made him the instru-
ment of truth and justice
While the attorney was talking the
10 jurors leaned forward in their seats
and listened most earnestly. Dyer, the
aged invalid of the jury, sat with a
slightly leaning attitude in his wicker
chair.
Adry Haywards Story.
In the afternoon Mr.. Nye went deep
into the story of Adry Hayward. He
and dramatic gesture that scene in the
Oneida block Office between the two
brothers. The attorney drew upon a
dozen circumstances to prove that
Adrian Hayward had at first attempted
to shield his brother. He doubted
whether any other young man under
the same circumstances would have
been more honorable or more fair.
The absolute truth and innocence of
the simple faced Mrs. Blixt was shown
in true word picturing, and the impos-
sibility of inventing such story as that
Blixt and the brother told as witnesses
was shown. Mr.. N We was almost at his
best in the latter part of the day, and
he painted the horrors of this crime in
the most vivid colors at his command
College Boys Shoot Negroes.
MONTGOMERY, Ala, March 6.-News
has been received of rot which &C.
CURED at Auburn between the college
boys and some negroes in which two
L l. L IL