The Saint Paul globe. (St. Paul, Minn.) 1896-1905, 1897-11-25
SAW MUM WRITE
REGISTERS CLERKS so TESTIFY
AGAINST THE LAWYER IN HIS
TRIAL.
ONE SLIGHTLY SHAKEN.
NOT POSITIVE, ON CRoSS-ExANINA-
TION, THAT IT WAS IN THE
RECORDS.
NEW CHARTER TAKES FORM.
Three Chapters Made Readv for the
Printer-NeVvs of Mime
apoIis.

against A. H. Mum, charged with for
gerry, was called, and w. A. Ryberg,
one OF the clerks in the office of the
clerk of courts, was sworn.
The witness testified to what he had
seen In the office vault on the day the
tax book is alleged to have been mark
ed. He saw Mum at work on the
DOCKS, and, as the office force had been
suspicious for some time, he tried to
see what page Mum was working on.
but failed to do so. He could see that
Num- was at work on a tax book, and
he went back to the case where they
were usually kept and found that it
was volume l Of the delinquent tax
books of 1895 which was being used
The witness noticed that Num- had a
blotter with him on the page upon
which he was working. After Mum
left the room he secured a blotter which
he believed was the one the accused
had been using, and looking at GER
tain pages in the tax book upon which
there were fresh ink marks, he put
the numbers of the page in pencil upon
the blotter.
THE fresh ink marks on the page"
said, were of light blue color, while
the rest of the writing on the page
was black. The ink on the blotter was
also of light blue color"
Mr.. Purdy asked the witness to tell
upon what pages the fresh ink marks
appeared, when the defense objected
The court said the state could only
use the other pages to show that Mr..
Num- was in the room, and not for
any other purpose, for the evidence
as to other pages must not be allow
ed, because the Indictment specified
one certain page.
well, we will admit he was there"
said Mr. Brown, and the evidence was
ruled out. This was a hard blow to
the states line of evidence, which had
intended to make exhibits Of all pages
marked. The witness was allowed to
read the numbers of the pages that
he had marked on the blOtter, how
ever.
Can we see the memorandum from
which the witness is reading?" asked
Mr.. Brown.
mot now" said the court. This pre-
vented the defense from getting a
sight of the blotter, the main exhibit
of the state.
Mr.. Brown and kept to his story with
rigid eXactness. He was even more
positive on cross than direct eXamina-
ton. He swore positively that he saw
Num- marking upon the tax book, and
that he saw him take a plotter and use
it upon the page after the mark.
Mr.. Brown asked him if he did not
testify before the grand jury that he
could not swear positively that he
SAW MUM MAKE THE MARK
upon the page: that he might have
marked upon some paper on the page.
The witness sWore that he had told the
grand jury that he saw the mark
made, and that it was on the page OF
the book.
He was asked if he had not told
Frank Barnard and others that he
could not say positively that Num- had
made q mark on the page, and this he
denied also. These were questions lay
ing the foundation for Impeachment.
The cross-eXamination was put on a
line showing that other persons and
ATTORNEYS had access to the vault where
the book was kept, and that they often
used the books. At one point the de-
Tense asked to see the blotter, which
is one of the main reliances of the
state, and the court was about to al
low it when Mr.. Purdy objected.
1.-THE court probably does not know
he said, that application was made
bv this defense for an order to have
this blotter shown to them, and it was
refused by this court for reasons which
appeared good upon that hearing"
ooh, we don't care to see it, cried
Mr.. Brown. Keep your old blotter."
Court adjourned until afternoon.
Ia the afternoon Mr.. Brown had
Ryberg sit at table, with the book
before him, the lawyer standing ABOUT
fifteen feet away, at the back OF the
witness, in the position the witness had
said he stood with relation TO Num-:
When confronted with this piece OF
acting the witness explained that he
did not see Num- make mark on the
naner. nor did he see the point of the
pen touch the paper. This was very
different from his testimony OF the
morning. when he swore to seeing the
marks made.
George Hemperly, vault cleark, testi-
fed that Mum had come to the vault
and gone to where the tax RECORDS
were. then took book out. He sWore
positively that he saw Num- hold
fountain pen between his first and
second fingers and make two marks
upon page.
II saw him take that blotter," said
he from a. pile on the table, which
had not been touched. That was about
ten minutes after he got the book L
got a fresh pile of blotters that morn
ing. and the one he took came from the
pile. He raised up in his chair and
reached over and took the blotter
could see the page of the book plainly
and there was no paper or memoranda
nm on the page l was sitting down
reading a paper and watching Mr..
Num-"
The witness was subjected to long
cross examination, especially as to
his habits with the blotters. The wit
ness testified that he invariably had a
clean pile of blotters on the table each
day.
''But you did not go to that pile that
morning. and run them all over, to see
if there were any marks upon them?'
was asked. mo, sir, of course not"
The witness was asked If he had not
told a Tribune reporter, at about the
time of the occurrence, that he could
not swear that Num- marked on the
page. He denied the question as put.
Henry J. Altnow, chief deputy clerk,
was put on the stand, and the mass of
documentary evidence began to be in
troduced. MIR. Altnow had had his at
tention called to the erasures in the
/ book, and had gone over the pages
WIFI NY DGIS, anu lOOA Tic LCiIlDSIS VI
the pages where there were fresh ink
marks. He took his memorandum and
from that, gave the pages and the
marks. On page POS, he testified that
there was variance in the matter be-
tween the Indictment and the page in
the book This had to be accounted
for and the witness did so by swear
ing that at the time the copy of the
page was made for the indictment, the
two were Identical but since that time,
some person had marked out the print
ed word Grange" in the book, which