Daily inter mountain. [volume] (Butte, Mont.) 1881-1901, 1899-06-12
His Bad Eyesight Saved Pat
rick O'COnnOr'S Life
WAS so BADLY BEATEN
That Assistance Was a Real BOOn--
Stories of the Battle Do
Not DOvetail.

the first degree, the firing of three shots
at Patrick OConnor in Tim %Sullivan's
in Centerville on the night of April
5, was commenced in Judge Clancy's
court this morning. The defendant was
represented by Attorney Kehoe. Only Is
minutes were consumed in securing a
jury, composed of the following persons:
r. NJ. Campbell, Charles Anderson, J..
P. Reins, James Naughten, Clinton H.
Moore, Joseph Hoar, Patrick Harvey,
George Holbrook, r. c. Levin, Daniel
Cameron, w. p. Griffith and Ernest
Rodgers.
The defendant has only one good eye
and at the time of the shooting it was
badly disfigured. Notwithstanding this
he mana ged to land one bullet in a barrel
just above O'Connor's head and clip his
left wrist with another.
Patrick O'Connor was the first witness
for the state. He said he was a miner
by occupation and remembered the 5th
of April. About 8 o'clock that evening he
was in the saloon mentioned. Thomas
Sadler was there and asked him to tax
a glass of beer. After shaking their thirst
they fell back and dropped into seats.
Sadler began to talk about Virginia City,
New. He made a comparison of that city
and this n spoke of the good times he
used to have in Virginia
II was not interested in the story" said
the witness. and started to go away,
when he stuck out his foot and tried to
trip me. l asked him what he did that
for and he said he did not fool with any,
one and did not allow anyone to fool
with him. l told him I could beat him
with my left hand. Somebody then told
me to look out, that he had a knife. l hit
him in the face with my left hand and
knocked him down. 1 told him to stop
fooling and come and have a drink. l
helped him up and he had a drink with
me. His face was bruised, and he re-
marked that I had put a nice face on
He sale he would get ever with
me and l told him he was foolish to talk
that way. l did not see the knife. After
the remark about getting even he left
the saloon and l sat down on a barrel.
BY and by he came back and fired three
shots at me. He was, perhaps, only eight
or nine feet way when he fired the first,
three or four when he sent the second,
and we were together when the third was
fired. 1t must nave been ten minutes be-
fore he began shooting after he returned
to the saloon. He had a drink in the
When he drew the weapon
he said: Now, I'll get even with you
I took the gun from him and hit him on
the head with it after the shots had been
fired. Then l threw it on the floor and
hit him in the face with my fist"
On cross-eXamination O'Connor said
he had known Sadler Is or 16 years and
had never had any trouble with him be-
fore. Asked if Sadler was in the saloon
when he first entered, O'Connor answered
in the affirmative.
Are you just as sure of that as you
are of the balance of your testimony?'
asked Mr.. Kehoe.
Hold o M said Judge Clancy. "That
is not proper. If you desire to ascertain
that fact you must frame the question
differently
Il want to test the memory of the wit
but will obey the court" answered
the attorney.
Indeed you will replied the court.
CConnOr was then questioned as to the
number Of times he had struck Sadler
and the length of time the latter had re-
NAMED down after being struck. He
thought Sadler had been hit three or four
times, and he might have been down half
an hour or an hour and a half; he did not
NOW exactly.
O'Connor further said sadler had cut
him in one or two places. He had not
complained against him until about three
weeks after the alleged assault.
James Whealan testified that all he
had seen was the knife supposed to have
been drawn by Sadler. While the trou-
BILE was on he had seen the weapon lying
on the bar and had picked it up and gone
out at the back door with it. The blade
was open. Whealan did not know to
whom the knife belonged.
Patrick Foley said he was standing at
one end of the bar and Sadler was at the
other end. OConnor asked Sadler to
play a game of cards and the latter re-
fused, whereupon the former remarked
that he did not give a blank for any man
in the house. Sadler retorted in similar
language and O'Connor started towards
him. Sadler drew a knife from his pants
pocket and witness called out: Look
out, Paddy; he has a knife!" The two
men at once mixed and Sadler was worst
ed. Afterwards he left and came back.
He accused witness of having taken the
knife. The latter denied the allegation
and sadler told him he was the biggest
liar in Montana and began firing at
O'Connor. The latter hit him seven or
eight times in return and left his mani
mate form on the floor. Both of Sad
ler's eyes, he said, were badly swollen
from the effects Of the first encounter.
After being knocked out Sadler, while
still lying on the floor, asked some one to
take him home.
Thomas Lynch testified that he, too.
was in the saloon when the war broke
out and had seen Sadler and his alleged
knife make a lunge at O'Connor. He had
also seen Sadler go out of the saloon, re-
turn 20 minutes or half an hour later, IN
dulge in a couple of drinks and punctu-
ate a get even' remark by drawing a
gun and turning it loose in the direction
of O'Connor. The witness also said he
had picked the gun up after it fell to
the floor and turned it oven to the sheriff.
The WGaDOn WAS UrO1uceH.
John Crowley, who was attending to
the wants of patrons of the ba. in the
saloon on the night of the trouble, said he
bad scnr SaGler Iull q kuife and make q