St. Paul daily globe. [volume] (Saint Paul, Minn.) 1884-1896, 1896-02-20
LONG-WINDED ARGUMENTS IN THE
BLETHEN-LOWRY SUIT NEAR
AN END.
NYE's PLEA FOR PLAINTIFF
BUT FAIRLY BEGUN WHEN COURT
ADJOURNED LAST
NIGHT.
EXPOSITION BUILDING IS SOLD
Bid of the Park Board Accepted-Art
Gallery at Il Sacrifice-Minme-
apOIis News.

Today will see the last of the Bleth-
en-Lowry case.
Yesterday was consumed entirely
with the speeches of counsel, Judge
koon using all the morning and until
$50 IN the afternoon in a. careful, but
plain talk to the jury. Judge Koon
began his argument by taking up the
case at the point where Mr.. Lowry
was used as witness. He said that
MI Lowry was simply an indorser on
Mr. Blethen's notes, and that no other
relation had been proven to exist be-
tween them
The fact that the Tribune supported
LoWry's causes throughout the period
of the great contest in 1889 for supre-
macy over street railway transit was
mere incident which did not count
in the case.
Judge Koon then paid considerable
attention to the condition of affairs in
1890, the desperate condition Of the
money market and the difficulty with
Which money was to be obtained. He
commented at large on Mr.. Blethen' s
statement of the cost of the plant in
his letter of Jan. 16, 1891, wherein
1T appeared that there was an error
of $4,000. He used this to demon
strate that Mr.. Blethen didn't know
how the affairs of Tribune company
stood.
Taking up the contract at the house
Judge Koon undertook to demonstrate
that there was nothing more than or
binary assistance offered to the plain
tiff in the disposition of the Tribune
property. In fact, Mr.. Lowry did only
what any prudent man would have
done where he had SO much money
at stake. He felt that if he did not
undertake a change of ownership that
he might lose his debt, and was moved
by that interest to do whatever he did.
Judge Koon devoted some time to
the general situation of the Tribune
company in the winter of 1891, his pur-
pose being to demonstrate that no.
body knew its affairs.
Taking up the Murphy-Blethen con-
tract, the judge undertook to demon
strate that Blethen fixed the price of
the paper himself, and argued along
that line to a considerable extent
Judge Koon handled the Smith mat
ter with great care. He then under
took to disprove the probability of any
such contract as plaintiff testifies was
made at the house in February. 1891,
whereby Lowry undertook to get him
back at least $4,000 of his original in
vestment by reading and discussing
the various correspondence which sub
sequently followed.
Judge Koon handled his subject with
great prudence and dignity and con-
fined himself entirely to the facts of
the testimony, and an effort to eluci-
date the correctness of the position
taken by the defense. Judge Koon
closed his argument to the jury just
before 3 o'clock, when Mr.. Nye began
plaintiff.
MIR. NYE TALKS.
Attorney Nye then began the argu-
ment for plaintiff. The speaker
claimed that there was no idea on his
part that Mr.BLoWry was dishonest.
A business man like him naturally soon
became so that he weighed every thing
not by the moral obligation but by the
letter, the bond, and not alone the
written bond, but the written bond
which could be proved in a court of
law. He gave the idea that Mr.. Lowry
had forgotten that agreement of Feb.
20, in the heavier, more weighty bust
ness cares that had followed those cir
cumstances. He admitted that they
depended greatly upon the moral OBJ
admitted that Mr.. Blethen had faults,
and had made mistakes, but that he
thought should be to his good in the
suit.
The Tribune plant he claimed. was
well worth 100000, and we'll worth it
to any one who wanted to purchase it
The testimony in the case showed it
and it was uncontradicted. In fact
the speaker warmed UP when he came
was worth infinitely more.
The speaker then took up the letters
and read some Of them to the jury, to
show other meanings than those given
them by the former counsel The let
tiers, he thought, showed that Mr.
Blethen was continually consulting
Mr.. Lowry. He excused the mistakes
of Blethen in his letter writing by
stating that he was a very busy man
and had little time to think hence the
mistakes he made and the inaccuracies
in his letter writing.
The attorney will complete his argu-
ment this morning.