St. Paul daily globe., 1895-08-31

lamp. explosions, and said no lamp
would explode when full.
You are positive %
| Yes; no lamp ever has, or ever will =
Would one partly full?''
Wen, lamp one-third full would
! expl3de easier than one half FULL
We. T i was fs only third full; it
IF it got not e eaan ahl, .--x
did you know that lamp had been
burning na1hg all night?"
Would that cut any figure in your
They would have to have a-.pretty
to explode even when the burner is
| out of ORDER
Don't you know that it is the lamp
| plodes?"
No, you know bet'b than that, Mr..
IF you heard the lady, who was
would you believe her?"
Objected to, and objection sustained.
| Mr.. Hall piled number of ques-
| tions to get the witness to admit that
the lamp might have exploded. The
witness said that the second time he
| came, Mrs. Perkins told him that her
| sister told two doctors that the lamp
exploded. But 1 don't believe that"
she had said. ''I think she must have
turned it over" She went on to say
that when she went to the door, the
bed clothes were all ablaZe. Mr.. Hall
was very particular here to learn who
was present when the conversation
took place. %
There were three MEN there the first
time, he said, and he tried to give a
description of them. The second time
he came, there were no witnesses to
the conversation.
INSURANCE MEN BEGIN.
c. S. Dickerson, the local agent for
the Fidelity and Casualty Insurance
company, who wrote out the 5000 poll
cies for both Mrs. Perkins and Mrs.
| Hawkins, was next called to the stand.
He said: .-
Mrs. Perkins called at my Office and
asked me if could give her an acci-
! dent policy. I looked up the matter.
and told her that in the Fidelity and
Casualty company could give her in
surance from 81 900 to IS, 600, with week
ly indemnity. Then she told me of
other people who she thought would
take out big policies. She took some
blanks and came in later with policies
made out, one of which was for her
sister. He went out and had Mrs.
Hawkins sign it"
THE STAR WITNESS APPEARS.
L. K. Thompson, local agent of the
Security Mutual Life Insurance asso-
citation, was called next. He has been
MANAGER
and a half.
Did you ever see Mrs. Perkins?"
Mr.. Nye asked. "Yes, in my office, the
9Th of April last"
What was your conversation at the
time?" 1T was about life insurance.
She told me she wanted life insurance,
and as 1t was a little unusual for peo-
pie to call, asked her why she wanted
it. She told me that she was living
| with her sister and her little boy, and
her sister was in poor health, and did
not know what her sister would do if
she would die. She did not give her
name at first. I showed her policies,
and told her terms. and finally she
said she would take one for herself
She then gave her name as Mrs. Lola
Hawkins"
Did you ever see her sister that she
mentioned?" NO, sir"
The witness was shown a photograph
of Mrs. Hawkins. and said he had
never seen her. Mr.. Hall objected to
the testimony, as the picture was an
old one, and no description of Mrs.
Hawkins later appearance had been
given The objection was overruled.
Mr.. Nye then asked for the witness
recollection of the conversation, but
again Mr.. Hall objected.
HALL PROTESTS.
"If the person to whom he talked was
policy was made out, then this evil
dence is incompetent, irrelevant and
immaterial. We must have proof that
this woman was Mrs. Perkins and not
the dead woman. This is an attempt
to prove fraud without the foundation
of a scintilla of evidence. The lips of
the only person who could give this
man the lie are now cold in death.
The only other person who can tell of
the truth or falsehood of this story is
now here accused of a crime. 1t is a
question of identity. 1t seems to me
that there is no evidence now to war
rant the admission of this evidence
Judge Holt OVerruled the objection,
with the remark that it was clearly
competent, from the weight of the evf-
dence. The examination Went on.
She gave as her reason" said the
witness, that she wanted to protect
her sister, and her sisters child. Her
sister was an invalid, and she was
doing most Of the supporting. l sug-'
gested to her thar she take only g. 600,
as that would be easier to keep up, and
make quarterly payments. When it
came to the beneficiary being named
she said it was Mrs. Perkins. and she
further said that they resembled each
other so closely that I could not tell
same room with me-"
/ Mr.. Nye produced the application and
the witness identified it, also identified
Mrs. Perkins as the woman whose
ton.
Court then adjourned.
ALIEI FCR MRS. Perkins. =.
That's their case said Bert Hall
Yesterday, when court adjourned after
the testimony of Insurance Agent
Thompson. This bit of testimony was
strong blow tc the defense, and they
will make their chief fight in a refuta-
ton of his testimony. An endeavor is
being made to prove an abili for Mrs
Perkins on the day when she is al
legged to havecalled on Thompson.
But there is another point, which will
be followed hard. 1t will be claimed
that it is a case Of mistaken Identity
that Mrs. Hawkins, worn by illness,
and in her street dress, looked SO much
like Mrs. Perkins, and SO unlike the
picture of her introduced in evidence
that the agent can easily persuade him
self that it was the woman now on
trial. The defense viii also use the
signatures attached to the various ar
plications and policies. Comparison
was made yesterday of the signatures
to the Hawkins life insurance policy,
alleged to have been made out by Mrs
Perkins. and the accident insurance
policy, which the other agent saw Mrs
Hawkins sign, and they were found to
have remarkable similarity, while
the accident policy signed by Mrs
Perkins is entirely different. Mrs
Hawkins wrote a smooth, flowing
| regular hand, with slight pecularities
which appear in both, without their
being enough alike to cause suspicion
of their being forgeries. Mrs. Perkins
hand, on the contrary, is very irreg~
ular, angular, and crooked. even in
signatures. It will be urged by the de-
fense that 1t would have been impos-
slble for her to counterfeit the sigma
ture of her sister. Expert testimony
will probably be dragged in by both