St. Paul daily globe. [volume] (Saint Paul, Minn.) 1884-1896, 1895-01-12
He Is Subjected to a Sharp
Cross-Examination by MP.
Butler,
WHICH He DOES NOT RELISH.
Great interest Excited by the
Introduction OF Expert
Testimony.
BUFFERS SHARP REBUTTAL.
The Case Will Probably Go to
the jury by Noon
Today.
WHICH He DOES NOT RELISH.
BUFFERS SHARP REBUTTAL.

The Hawks trial excited more gen.
eral interest yesterday than at any time
since its commencement. This interest
was largely due 10 Hawks appearance
on the witness stand and County At
torney Buffers rigid cross examination,
many of the questions being pointed
with darts Of sarcasm that mu5t have
made drops of cold sweat chase each
other down the witness spinal column
at times, Notwithstanding his apparent
ease.
But the greatest interest seemed to be
excited by the expert testimony intro
duced by the defense, ard the sharp
rebuttal on the part Of the state. 1t was
time for adjournment last evening be-
fore the testimony was all in. so the
arguments OF counsel Will be made this
morning, and the CAGE will probably be
given to the jury by noon.
When the case was called on the
opening Of court il the morning. Hawks
took the stand. Witness testified to
his connection with the Nickel Savings
bank and the Seven Corners bank. He
was cashier Of the latter Institution
from July, 1892, to July, 1873. and prior
10 that time had been assistant cashier
lie was trustee of the Nickel Savings
bank. Miss Shepard was the one 10 re-
ceiye deposits for the latter, but in her
absence himself or Mr.. Hoffman re-
ceived them. He was then shown the
pass book Of the complaining witness.
and in answer to the question as to
whether he made all the figures in the
entry $l27, replied:
No, sir. made the and :, but not
the l."
In answer TO the question as to wheth
er he remembered OF Fuerst making the
deposit, he said he had no personal
recollection, except by The entry in the
book. If the deposit was 1927 the money
would have been put III the drawer and
the deposit slip would show the amount
He admitted that the figures 1922 en-
tered in the total column of the pass
book were made by him, but maintained
that the entry must have been an error.
On being shown a deposit slip for 800
deposited to his credit in the Seven Cor
ners bank OH June 90. five days after
the FuerSt deposit had been made, wit
ness said that the money came from his
wife's account, and that there must be
check for it somewhere. as it was drawn
from the Nickel Savings bank, and the
bank book showed it, He never appro-
priated 5l0O of the banks funds to his
own use.
The ink used in making entries was
Statford's ink. Here bottle OF ink was
offered in evidence, which led to Il war
between the attorneys. The court ruled
it out. Witness said his attention had
first been called to the discrepancy In
Fuerst's account by MIR. Evans. Fnerst
had seen HIM At barber shop and told
him of it. lie replied that if there was
any error he would make it right. When
the witness was turned over to- the
states attorney
A Hot Contest
was opened up at once by Mr.. Buffers
attempt to go into the operations Of
witness while he was iii Colorado. This
being the subject of another Indictment,
and having no direct bearing on the
present case, objection was made ON the
part of the attorneys for the defense.
Mr.. Butter then went on TO say that
he desired to show to the jury what kind
Of man Hawks was, with view OF
enabling them to Judge as to whether
he was not the kind of man who
would steal 500. He wished to attack
his credibility. 1t was not aquestion
of stealing 800 only. but $4,000. He
wanted TO show Hawks connection with
Doug II. Tandy and his part ership
with him when he had known all along
that Tandy was not worth anything.
MIR. Flandrau replied that he dared
the prosecuting attorney to lmpeach the
witness by any legal testimony. He
could show his real character so that
the county would wish it had him for its
treasurer.
Let him bring back that $4,000 of
the county's money" retOrted Mr.. But
Ter.
Finally the court ruled out this line
of cross exam iuation.
LII plISHCl w lul tllCL Law ND
admitted that he owes the bank $4,000.
"Where IS the money ?' asked Mr..
Butler.
The witness declined to tell.
In answer to the question as to wheth
er he could pay the Oanll or not. witness
said he could, every cent.
why don't you pay it them" was
asked.
Because don't want to-" came the
cool reply.
Witness did not remember exactly the
kind of ink he used in making ths entry
in FuerstS book, but inasmuch as only
one hi nd of ink was used in the bank, it
would have been impossible for him, he
said, to have made the entry with any
other. He always used stub pen,
though at times he had used Miss Shop
ards fine pen.
The figure in question gives evil
dence of having been made with Il line
pen. None of the figures look as though
they were made with Il stub pen, though
they could have been, the shade Of lines
made by stub pen varying with the
manner of holding the pen.
At the conclusion of Hawks testi-
mony Prof l.. B. Wilson, teacher of
biology in the st. Paul high school, was
called as all expert witness. Here was
where the
Fun Began ia Earnest.
Prof. Wilson had microscopic lens,
and he made an examination of the S127
entry in the pass book. He discovered
two different colorS i'll the figure l and
lines indicating plainly that two strokes
Of the pen had been made in making it.
The paper under the figure l indicated
that it had been scratched, as il by an
erasure. Prof. Wilson admitted that he
is not an expert on the question of diff
ferent colored inks, but he is familiar
with different colored dyes. He was
then led into testIfying about greenish
blue ink and q broWnlsh black ink, that
made him an easy mark for the wiley
prosecuting attorney.
Mr.. Butler handed him the pass book
and requested him to prove by practical
demonstration that lie could remove an
ink spot from the pass book with an
erasure and leave the surface the same
as it was where the figure l was placed.
The counsel for defense at first con-
scented, and when the court assented to
the proposition III the absence Of objec-
Il Al,.~ -,