The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1897-09-02
lit Was by the Sausage Makers Order
that He Filled One of the Watts
with Caustic Potash.
FOUND SMALL PIECES OF BONE
AND A SUBSTANCE RESEMBLING
FLESH THE NEXT MORNING,
Which Luetgert Ordered to Be Scat
tered About the Neutrality-suspicious.
inatiOn of Frank Bialk.


were on the stand in the Luetgert trial to-
day. and when the court adjourned the evil
dence of one of them was not completed
and will be resumed tomorrow. The first
witness was Frank Bialk, the Waterman
of the factory who was on the stand yes
terday giving his direct evidence, and to-
day he was turned over to the defense for
! cross-examination. His testimony was in
the main mistaken, although the defense
drew from him the fact that it was. by no
means an unusual thing for Luetgert to be
around the factory at all hours of the
night He said, in his direct examination,
that he thought Luetgert was acting in
suspicious manner on the night of the al
| legged murder, and to-day said that he was
in position from which he could have
seen everything that Luetgert did at the
vat on the night the murder is said to have
taken place but not look at him. The
other witness was Frank Odorofsky, an
employee of the factory, who placed the caus-
tic potash in the vat on the order of Luet
CERT. He has been working around the watts
for long time, but that night was the first
| time that he had ever seen any caustic pot
ash in the factory He testified to finding
in the morning near the vat into which he
had put the potash on the night before
mass of Shiny brown matter in which he
| found pieces of bone and pieces of sub
| stance which he took to be flesh. Luetgert
| told him to take the stuff away and throw
| it around the yard, but instead of doing
| this he dumped it all in one place and aft
| erwards showed the police where he had
| put it.
The interest in the trial was undated to-
day majority of the spectators were
women who had come early Outside the
court hundreds waited In line. unable to
enter. The big sausage maker, the central
figure in the trial, was apparently in the
best of spirits betraying no outward eff
fects of the strain of the trial. He COM
mented, not in bitter terms, on the testi-
mony of his old employe, Bialk, the watch
man. who, he said was simple, honest
man. He is an ignorant man." said Luet-
CERT, land, like an elephant or bear, can
be trained He has been we'll trained ny
the police" t5d
When court was called to order Assistant
States Attorney McEwan announced that
he had authorities at hand on the questions
which were left undecided yesterday,
whether the visits of Mary Simmering, the
Luetgert family servant, to Luetgert in the
factory was admissible as evidence, but the
state would prefer to argue the question
later. Judge Tuthill said Bialk could. be re-
called later in the trial and the question de-
cided.
BIALK OSS-EXAMINED.
Attorney Vincent then began the cross
examination OF Bialk and put to him ques-
tons regarding his connection with the po-
lice since May 16 Mr.. McEwan objected,
but Attorney Vincent declared it would be
shown that Bialk had not been out of the
sight of a policeman for five minutes since
4
not been able to get a minutes conversa-
ton with him. The cross-examination pro-
ceeded, and Bialk testified that since May
16 he had been with officer Klinger, living
at the latter's house and paying board.
He had done no work, but Inspector
Setback had provided means for his wife
to live and pay rent. Mr.. Vincent brought
out the fact that previous to May l the
Waterman had met Luetgert in different
parts of the factory at all times of the
night Sometimes the sausage maker
walked about the building, even in the
yard, at late hours. Blalk said he regarded
May ] as suspicious, because he turned on
the steam into the basement at 8 o'clock
This was unusual
cross-examination that Bialk, from his
position in the boiler room, could have
looked through an opening near the eleva-
tor and have seen Luetgert at the vat in
the basement He did not do so, he said
because he knew it would not do for him
TO be- caught at it, Bialk said that al
though Luetgert had barricaded the door
leading directly from the boiler room when
he went to the basement there an
other route by which he could have walked
into the basement. He did not go into it,
he said, because Luetgert had told him to
go back to his fires alter he had delivered
the second bottle of medicine to him. Luet-
CERT did not at any time tell him not 70
enter the basement. The Waterman said
he could have looked from the upper floors
of the factory across a court into the part
Of the building where the watts were and
could have seen Luetgert and his lantern
but did not do so. The cross-eXamination
of Bialk which had taken all the fore
noOn was concluded shortly after the aft
ernoon session began.
Frank Odorofsky was next called as a
witness. He was an employe of Luetgerts
whose duties We're around the watts. Odor-
ofsky said he broke up the caustic potash
and, under Luetgert's directions, put it In
the middle vat. The witness then told what
he saw in the basement on Monday morn
ing, May 3. Beside the middle vat was a
mass of reddish brown stuff which had
overlooked from the vat and had been car
ried part OF the way toWard the sewer
opening on the floor. The stuff had an Of
Shiny and greasy; Near the vat were three
doors which had been taken from the
smokehouse nearby. Two of these doors
were smeared with the same substances as
though they had been on top of the vat
and the contents of the vat had boiled up
against the doors. He said he took a guam
tity of the stuff on a shovel and examined
it carefully. In it he could see small pieces
of bone and what appeared to be particles
of flesh. OdorOfsky said Luetgert ordered
him to remove the stuff from the floor and
vat, which he did, and the sausage maker
then told him to take it out into the yard
and scatter it all over the yard. Il took it
out into the yard" said the witness, but
/ did not scatter it around. Instead, /
dumped it in one place and put some dirt
over it.
The witness said that after the police be-
gan their investigation of the case he
showed them where he had placed the ma
terial from the vat and they took part of
it away. Odorofsky said the fuel used in
the smokehouse furnace was sawdust and
day before the 1st of May. Luetgert then
directed that a new supply Of sawdust be
placed in the furnace and this was done
When court adjourned for the day Odor-
ofSky was still the witness stand and
his testimony will be concluded tomorrow.
Body Hanging to "a TrOt Line.
PINE BLUFF. Ark. Sept. 1.-The dead
body of a negro was found hanging to a
trot line in the Arkansas river yesterday
near Rob Roy A rope around the neck
and several gashes in the head indicate
thrown into the river. There was nothing
the body by which the man could be
identified and no lynching has been re-
ported in that vicinity recently.
Mob Waiting for Him.
CHARLESTON w. Va. Sept 1.-Henry
Kransten, near Maiden. six miles from
here attempted to assault to-day his four