The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1898-01-23
HIS WIFE'S ALLEGED THREAT
SHE is SAID TO HAVE BEEN DE-
sPoNDENT OVER THEIR AFFAIRS,
And to Have stated She Did Not Want
Making Incident Related.

was greater even imam the DAY before ana
long lines of people stood outside waiting
for an opportunity to.pass the guards at the
entrance to Judge Gary's room When
Luetgert took the stand this morning he was
apparently much more composed and an
swered the questions propounded him by
| his counsel in a firm voice. The defendant
was inclined to go into details more than
his attorney, Mr.. Harmon, desired. When
asked to pay less attention to detail, Luet-
| CERT, with some show anger, said he would
| tell his history throughly or not at ALL
| The most important feature of Luetgert's
| recital to-day was his explanation of the
presence of the potash in the factory. He
| said it had been in his place of business
| for nearly two months before the day of
his WifeS disappearance; that it had not
| been concealed, and that he was to make
| soft soap out Of it. The prisoner also told
| of his sleeping in the factory, which, he
| explained was necessary because there were
| many things which required attention at
night. A question was asked by Luetgert's
| counsel regarding Mrs. Feldt, but this sub
| ject was passed over quickly, Luetgert sim
| ply saying that Christine sometimes visited
his house Luetgert said his Nife's health
previous to her disappearance had been bad
and she was frequently troubled with head
| aches. His own health, too, was bad, partly
| on account of his irregular hours. II al
| ways had to get up at nights said the de-
PENDANT, sometimes two or three times,
to attend to matters at the factory. 1t was
absolutely necessary for me to sleep there
| 1t was known all over the neighborhood
that 1 was sleeping there and that I had
! dogs there so that burglars knew better
| than to come there"
bne Ina 1Ixy cd hot inf
OF his story concerning the happenings on
| May /, the date of his wife's disappearance,
| the audience and jury paid the closest at
| tentiOn.
do you remember what transaction you
made the morning of May IL" asked At
| torney Harmon.
What was the first thing you did that
day."
go to the basement to remove some barrels
of salt | then went down and saw that
three barrels of tallow were in their place."
Continuing the witness told of buried
bones he had in the factory basement and
of fat he intended to convert into soap. He
| Quoted.
you purchased a barrel of potash early
in March?" asked Mr.. Harmon For what
purpose?''
10 make soft SOAP.
What arrangement, if any, had you with
reference to cleaning the factory?"
"One day, after the New FORK trip, Mr..
Charles came home and said there was
| chance to sell the factory. He told me to
keep the place very clean, as these people
did not know anything about the business,
and what we would call clean they would
| call dirty. Well, / figured the stuff / had
| then for fat L could not sell; potash was
| cheap, and / thought it was cheaper to
| make soap When L used to work for En-
| gel Brothers 1 learned the recipe for max
| ing soap"
Inspector Setback, who sat alongside the
| jury, smiled as Luetgert told OF his expert
| ence in the line of making soft soap.
when did you first see this barrel of pot
ASH asked Mr.. Harmon.
| The next day..
where did it stand?'
1T was between the office and the meat
market, where everybody who came in
could not help but see it,
| rel?"
Eyes, L told 'Smokehorse' Frank to break
| it up l told him 1t was bad stuff; that it
| would burn him, and that he should cover
| his face SO he would not get hurt
Now, will you tell me why you delayed
| from March until two weeks before May
| before making the SOap?'
| 1.-The men came too soon to see the fac
| tory--before it was cleaned?"
| What time Saturday, May l. did you re-
| turn homer asked Attorney Harmon.
'Oh, can't tell the exact hour. 1t was
| late in the afternoon"
What was said in the conversation be-
| tween you and your wife while eating sup
Luetgert here hesitated for some mo-
!
made some remarks | do not like to re-
peat" finally answered the witness.
Tell US all about that conversation"
| said Mr.. Harmon.
Mr.. Harmon" replied Luetgert II will
| not repeat what my wife said that night
| unless / am forced to-
| MIR Luetgert" said his senior counsel
| "you will not be forced to tell anything
| you do not wish to- but, as your counsel. |
| want you to tell every word that was said
| between you and your wife that evening"
| My wife asked me about the manner Of
| foreclosing mortgages, and when told her
she said then we Will lose everything I
| told her would. Then this is ali we
| have for our thirty years hard work since
we came to America she said l told her
! it could not be helped: that ] was not
afraid to work and would face the world
afresh and work hard for living if nee
| esSary."
AS he told of the loss of his fortune and
| his willingness to begin all over again Luet-
to bs 70 eye De k chin TeSed n
| Jumps rose in his throat My wife said she
was not afraid but that could work and
earn living, continued Luetgert. But
| what will people say? They viii laugh at
u.s. she said. | told her TO let them laugh,
that their laughing would not take away
my work She said if this should come in
she did not want to live. She said she
1 wished the children were dead. About this
| time Louis came in and asked Tor money
1 to go to a circus and mis- mother told him
| we had no money for creEses- 1 gave the
| boy ten cents
| mon
'tShe said If the sheriff should come you
will not find me here l told her that ii
was foolishness to talk that way. She said
| it was not foolish that there was nothing
| foolish about it and that ii things kept on
| as they had for the last two months would
not see her any more. laughed and said
| she had better stay with her children. She
| said / always laughed at her [ did not
pay much attention to her remark because
| she had been talking like that for several
months
| How was Mrs. Luetgert's mind affected
| by the long sickness of your little boy FL
] mer, the winter before, asked Mr.. Har-
| mon.
1T affected her n great deal ard she often
made the remark that she would rather
| sec the children dead than alive. She made
| these remarks in the presence OF both chill
| dren.n
DO you recolIect what time OF the night
| it was2'
Il don't remember exactly.
Luetgert then told of his going horne. and
said: AT home / saw my wife sitting in the
kitchen against the east wall am reading a
paper. l thing it was German paper. /
could not find the tea and asked where it,
was She said she did not know but that
the girl always tended TO that The girl
was in bed. I found the tea in the base
ment pantry and went upstairs again. There
I saw Louis and my wife. Luetgert told
next of speaking to Louis and of carrying
a lantern, which, the witness said, he al
ways did at night in goinS 10 the factory.
In answer TO a question:. he said.
turned and left the house by the north door.
Yes: that was the last time i saw my wife,
Lietgert had his eyes liked on the jury as
he said this. The jury leaned IN their seats