The Dickinson press., 1896-05-16
Second Week of Court.
Horace Merrill Acquitted. Geo. E.
Rand Forced to Trial-Weakens and
Pleads Guilty. Gets q Sentence Of

Testimony in the Merrill case was
all in Saturday afternoon, and the
summing of testimony by the attor.
neys was begun in the evening, Mr..
Burnett leading for the state. He
concluded at about 8 O'Clock, and
Mr.. Miller for the defense, occupied
the remainder Of the time that night.
He cited the fact that the principal
witnesses Beck and Ellinger) for
the state were p~erjurers and thieves
according to their own statements
in court; he did not believe that A.
n. Jefferies and Ben Lawlis had
known what the true situation was
when they permitted the case to be
started. Mr.. Miller contended that
Beck, Ellinger ct al were after the
$500 reward offered by the w. bar
outfit (Pierre Wibaux), and that they
themselves were the criminals in
stead of the accused. His argument,
which was continued nearly all of
Monday forenoon. was clear and rea.
sonable. Naturally Mr.. Miller had
the advantage. The main evidence
introduced by the state was wholly
discredited; while the evidence of
the defendant, Horace F. Merrill,
Mrs. Merrill, and all of his witnesses
was straightforward, uncontradictcd,
and left nothing to indicate that he
had committed any crime. Mr..
Simpson. who lead the prosecution,
made a hard fight for conviction but
he had nothing on which to estab.
lish a case which was evident to
most people when the state rested.
The jury was out three minutes by
the clock; elected Patrick Mckinley
foreman, and returned a verdict of
"Not Guilty."
It is but fair to Mr.. Merrill to say
here that Beck and Ellinger left
Dickinson Sunday morning-3B hours
before the trial was finished it
having been rumored that warrants
were out for the arrest of one OF
both Of them.
Mr.. and Mrs. Merrill left Tuesday
morning for their home in Alfred
county, going via Glendlve.
The Rand case came up for trial
Tuesday morning. The .prelimi.
naries were watched with consider.
able interest and amusement. A
motion by Mr.. Simpson was made
for a change of venue on the ground
that defendant could not get a fail
trial in Stark county. This theory
was exploded by the testimony of g
few reputable witnesses and the mo-
ton was promptly denied. 70 CAP
the climax. the defendant made afli,
davit that he could not get a fair aud
impartial trial before Judge Winch
ester. The law is such that the
state could not resist the motion, al.
though the law does not contemplate
that a person shall take advantage
of it to seek delay in trial as was the
probable intent in this case. The
court granted the motion and all
nounced that an outside judge would
be in attendance to try the case by
the time they had finished the other
jury cases.
Mrs. Fowler vs.. Peter F. Stults
was next called. Mrs. Fowler came
out from Chicago last year. worked
for Mr.. Suits family for a short
time, had some slight difficulty, anG
sued for $1,000 damages. 1t vas :
petty case which had no place il
court. The jury acquitted.
The state VS.. Haas, an alleged cas-
of shooting a neighbours horse. wa
called Wednesday, and occupied tn
day. F. E. Calvin was the complain
ing witness. The evidence was pure
ly circumstantial and the jury di.
not find ground sufficient for convic
tion.
Thursday morning Judge o. E
Sauter, of the 7th district, took u
the Rand case. An effort was mad
to get a continuance. This failing
the work of %impaneling a jury wa
begun. Four jurors were drawn an,
sworn at noon.time. By this tim
the defense Saw that they cound no
avoid trial and knowing that if thei
case was forced to stand on its mer
its,;a severe sentence would follow
they decided to plead guilty was tn
easiest way out. Defendant Ran,
plead guilty to the charge of rape an
was sentenced to hard labor for foul
years.
Laura A. Rand's having received
divorce from Geo. Rand Wednesda
night was a strong point for the state
as it gave her the right to testif
against her late husband.
Ella Fredricks vs.. Peter friedrich.
divorce granted plaintiff.
!. c. c. Mccarthy vs.. F. A. Power'
ordered to be tried in Cass county.
. Eva Graham vs. H. F. Beckett {
al, put over term.
Court adjourned Thursday aftel
5 noon.
The Biggest Fool at Large
. Is the individual who persistently neglects h
health, ::and the means of preserving ..and I
: storing it. Many persons who are not constit
: tional idiots do this. They are genuine objec
of compassion as well as censure. A failure
e appetite, loss of sleep and flesh, impaired {
gestion, an uncertain state Of the bowels al
symptoms of billiousness arc SO many warnin
: of the approach of disease. To disregard the
t is AFFECT folly, which offended nature in d