The Anaconda standard., 1896-04-16
In THE PUBLIC MIND
Relatives of The Explosions Victims
Seeking Rsparation in Court
MINNIE A. CAMERON'S CASE
: uit Against j. A. Murray to Re-
Recover Taxes Claimed to lie
Due-Mcrsgage foreclosures
"A Divorce Default.
MINNIE A. CAMERON'S CASE

The trial of the $4,000 damage suit
OF Minnie A. Cameron against the
Kenyon-Connell Commercial comany.
M. j. Connell, w. II. Kenyon, w. A.
Clark, c. H.. Palmer and ]. r. Gaylord.
was begun in Judge McHatton's court
yesterday morning with an opening
statement for the plaintiff by ATTORNEY
I. j. Walsh. The pleadings in the
case were read, the answer of the de-
fendant company setting up as a de-
Tense that the ground upon which the
warehouse was situated was private
property and that Angus d. Cameron.
the fire marshal. was a trespasser and
went upon the ground at his own risk.
The answer Of w. r. Kenyon denied
any knowledge of the powder stored
in the company warehouse on Jan. Is.
1895. and was in no way responsible for
the frightful results of the explosion
Mr.. Connelrs answer was similar in
effect, and Mr.. Gaylord and c. H.
Palmer also denied alb knowledge and
responsibility. The7T four defendants
were made parties to the suit as trus-
tees Of the company as was also Mr.
Clark, but Mr.. Walsh said they had
been misinformed as to the latter and
would make no claim against him. Mr.
Walsh related the well known facts
about the great explosion, how the fire
department had responded to an alarm
of fire on the fateful fifteenth of Jan
uary and how while they were fighting
the fire at the Kenyon Connell ware
house the first of two big explosions oc-
CURED and killed more than a score
of people including nearly every mem
Der Of the fire department. Mr.. Walsh
called attention to the fact that the
state law limited the storage of DOW
der within a city to so pounds and said
that 1t was notorious fact that the
law had been openly and notoriously
violated by the Kenyon-Connell com
pany and great quantities of powder
were constantly stored in the ware
house.
John F. Forbis, for the defense, told
the jury that neither Mr.. Kenyon nor
Mr. Connell knew a thing about what
was going on in their warehouse and
although Mr.. Kenyon was vice pres-
dent and general manager of the COM
pany he did not know there was any
powder in their building, and that the
warehouseman kept it there entirely on
his own responsibility. Mr.. Forbis
said that while Mr.. Connell was presi-
dent of the company he didn't even
know where its warehouse was situa-
ted. The old defense that the first ex-
losion occurred i'm the Butte Hardware
building was also outlined by Mr.. For
bis. BY stipulation of the attorneys
tne testimony OF some OF tne witnesses
taken at the former trials was read to
the jury by Stenographer Macdougall
from his notes instead of calling the
witnesses to the stand to repeat their
testimony. The first testimony read
was that of Thomas T. Baker a civil
engineer. who had made a map of the
wrecked buildings the morning after
the explosions, and had testified as to
the position of some of the stuff
thrown out by the different explosions.
The testimony of II. B. Refs was also
read to the jury and then the witnesses
Magee, Orr, Burns, Allerton, Dunton,
Gertie. McElroy and Riley who also
gave evidence in a former trial, testi-
fled that the first big explosion came
from the Kenyon-Connell warehouse,
where the fremen were at work and
that there was no fire in the Butte
Hardware building at the time.