The Saint Paul globe. (St. Paul, Minn.) 1896-1905, 1897-02-25
BENZ'S WITNESSES SAY YES.
WILLIAM WALDRON AND ROBERT
GRADY SAY THERE WAS NONE
AROUND.
AFFRAY AS SEEN BY BOTH SIDES
Stories Are Decidedly at Variance
Case Is to Be Resumed This
Afternoon.

| keeper, strike Paul Benz with a billy
! or simply with his fist? That Is the
| question before the jury now engaged
in trying the case of the people against
! Waldron who is charged with assault
! in the second degree
| There were eleven jurors in the box
when Judge Kelly assembled the bench
yesterday forenoon. The twelfth man
was secured out of the special Venire
of fifteen ordered the previous day, and
! the trial began in earnest. Immediate
! ly after the opening of the case by
! County Attorney Anderson, Paul Benz
/ the complaining witness, was placed
| on the stand. MIR. Benz repeated in sub
J stance the testimony given by him at
the preliminary examination in the mu-
nicipal court. He had gone into Grady
! & WaldrOn's saloon on the evening of
Oct. II and ordered drinks for him
self and the workmen with him.
II never was in the saloon before
testified Mr. Benz, land I never saw
Waldron or Grady before There was
no row there, nor alteration. When
Grady asked me to pay for the beer,
l said: L will in a minute, but we are
going to have some more Grady
.
was no way to do business. Then he
struck me twice with his fist Sud
denly 1 was struck from behind 1
couldn't see who struck me. 1 wasn't
doing anything when / was struck
1t all happened in about three min
utes'
On cross-examination by T. D.
O'Brien, Benz told the same story.
Asked by Mr. O'Brien if he had not
tried by every means in his power to
! punish Waldron and Grady and if he
had not gone before the mayor to have
! their license revoked, Mr.. Benz replied
in the negative to both questions.
The second witness for the state.
! He man Barfuss, one of the men who
accompanied Benz into the saloon, had
worked for the Benz's for sixteen
| years. Mr.. BarfusS testified that Benz
ordered the beer and that Grady served
! il. There were several people in the
saloon at the time. Witness said thai
| he stepped over to the lunch counter
and that Benz did likewise and stood
waiting by the counter for a cut of
beef Then it was that Grady came
out from behind the bar and asked
for the man who had called for the
beer. Witness heard Benz acknowledge
| that he was the man, and then saw
i Grady punch Benz on the side of the
i face. What are you hitting me for.
I'm going to pay for the beer" wit
| ness heard Benz eXclaim. Thereupon
! the witness was startled by a sharp,
cracking noise which he, tried to de-.
scribe by slapping his hands together.
Turning around witness saw Benz fall
to the floor, and beheld Waldron
standing behind Benz with his hand
aloft, grasping something round and
dark and about a foot long.
T. Peter Trueto1 was the first witness
called when the court convened at
p. m. Mr.. Truetel, who was also a
member Of the party that accompanied
Mr.. Benz, cOrroborated the testimony
Of the preceding witness to the effect
that he saw WaldrOn strike Benz with
an instrument that looked like a billy
and was partly covered with leather.
On cross examination Mr.. O'Brien con-
fused the witness somewhat by pro-
ducing the record showing his testi-
mony on this point in the municipal
court upon which occasion his testi-
mony was net of so positive character
regarding the appearance of the billy.
The remaining members of the Benz
party-William Post, William Loosen
and Gus kalberer-were called to the
stand in SUGGESTING, oil corroborating
the testimony Of the preceding wit
nesses.
The state then called DR.. Arnold
Schwyzer and DR.. G. A. REM, the two
physicians who attended Benz and ex-
amined the wound on his head. Both
physicians testified that. in their opin-
ion. the injury sustained by Mr.. Benz
could not have been inflicted by a
human fist. but must have been caused
by contact with a blunt instrument.
The state rested at this point. This
defense, without any delay, put the
defendant himself on the stand. In
response to Mr. O'Brien's questions
Waldron told his side Of the story in
substance as follows:
He had not expected to be on duty
at the saloon that evening, but Grady
had asked him to stay for a couple Of
hours and help him out, as there was
a big rush of business at that time
He had scarcely got behind the bar
when he saw Grady in front Of the
bar engaged in a scuffle with a crowd
of men, of whom Benz seemed to bf
one At any rate, Waldron rushed
to his partners assistance, and Benz
being the first man he reached, he
struck him once with his first on the
side of the face or neck. WaIdroI
swore that he used no billy or wea
pom of any sort and that he struck
Benz only once
Asked if he had ever seen a billy
about the saloon, Waldron admitted
that there was an article of that de-
scription about the place some years
ago, but not during the past two Of
three years.
Pierce Butler cross-examined Mr.
Waldron, and, while he did not shake his
testimony as to the billy he extracted
an admission from the defendant. that
when he struck Benz, the young man
was not making any offensive demon
STATIONS and his back was turned TO-
ward WaldrOn
why did you strike him then?" in
quired Mr.. Butler.
Mr.. Waldron hesitated, whereupor
Mr. Butler suggested: ITO get him
out Of the way?''
Yes, that's it, to get him out of the
way" answered Waldron.
Waldron's partner Robert Grady
was then called. Mr.. Grady explained
ito the jury how the trouble started
After Benz had ordered the beer, he
and his friends moved away toward the
lunch counter in the rear Of the saloon
where there is door leading outside
Suspecting that the men, who were
all strangers to him, might bolt Out
the back door without paying fer thei1
beer, Mr.. Grady inquired who was
going to pay for the beer. According
to Mr.. Grady's testimony, Benz retort-
ed: Il will when I get - good and
ready and not beforer
Thereupon Mr. Grady struck Benz IN
the face with his fist but did not iniure
him. Then Mr.. Waldron cut in.
Mr.. Grady when asked If there was a
billy or club in the place at the time
answered emphatically that there
never had been such a thing in or
about his saloon.
Court then adjourned until %. m,
today.