Omaha daily bee., 1899-12-15
HEAVY FINE FOR PREACHERS
Judge Scott Says They Must Pay or Co
to Jail,
COURT FINDS THEM GUILTY OF CONTEMPT
Rev. Mnckay's Punishment is As
scsScd at $500. while the others
Get Half of that Sum-Dc-
PENDANTS Take Appeal.

Il find you guilty Of contempt each OF
you. RS~ Mactay, | find you the most
guilty, because you admit that you insti-
gated this contemptuous letter, and you are
fined 5000 Rev. Herring and MIR. Hartford,
you are fined 800 each and the three OF
you stand committed until you pay. But
will not lock you up tonight-Ill give you
until 10 o'clock in the morning to bring
down your money"
Thus spoke Judge Scott at the close OF
a two hours harangue in the contempt pro-
Ceedngs growing out of the fact that Rev
T. j. Mackay, Rev. II. c. Herring and w
p Hartford wrote Judge Scott a letter max
ing suggestions bearing upon the habeas
corpus case Of the Dodd children.
The defendants will appeal, and 1t is ex-
pected that they will keep out of jail on
a supersedeas which will probably issue inn
mediately from the supreme court at Lin
coin. In any event, the men OF the cloth
are not reckoning on spending any time
behind the bars.
Get closer to Christ, and preach Christ
and Him crucifed," You have sown the
wind and you shall reap the whirlwind,
'1'll do my duty in this case as see it II
go to my grave without one mourner," This
society ought to be called the 'Children's
Hell society instead of the 'Children's Home
society,"
The foregoing are a few of the most
salient quotations from the lengthy roast"
heaped upon the preachers by Judge Scott.
The case opened at 10 o'clock in the morn
ing and 1t was nearly o'clock in the after
noon before it ended.
The forenoon session was taken up with
the examination of witnesses. Attorney
Churchill, who prosecuted the con-
tempt proceedings, devoted his at
teni on to bringing out testimony
tending to show that the Nebraska Chiidren's
Home society, the custodian of the Dodd
children, over whom the habeas corpus
originated, is a sort Of Do-the e-boy's hall in
stitution. Evidence along this line came
from Minnie and Rosa Dodd now living with
their parents in South Omaha. The pur-
pose of this testimony was to refute the
statements made in the defendants letter to
Judge Scott in which they assert that the
children were not properly cared for at
home, and that after being placed in the
care of the society they had splendid
Christian homes
Rosa Dodd testified that she lived with
several families where the society placed
her One OF these was named Cooper, and
the witness said Mrs. Cooper was brutal;
that she once threw her upon the ground
and stamped her with her feet; that she
threatened TO cut ner neaTI OUT anu W
gouge her eyes from their sockets, and then
as a climax to run red-hot iron down her
throat After a lengthy recital of this kind
Judge Scott pointed his finger at Revs.
Mackay and Herring and Mr.. Hartford and
said to the little girl:
while you were living with the Cooper
family, did either Of these gentlemen call
upon you to see what nice Christian home
they had found for you?"
The child replied in the negative.
Minnie Dodd testified that within the two
years she was a ward of the Nebraska
ChiIdren's Home society she lived with nine
different families. Some of them treated her
kindly, but she was shifted from place to
place at the instance of the society, she said,
and some of the homes given her were far
from pleasant. She swore that in several
instances the families receiving her were
required to pay money to the representatives,
of the society. At one place she said she
was thrown out of cart, sustaining
broken arm. She not taken to doctor
until ten days after the injury and her arm
has never become Strengthened, she asserts.
Asked for a comparison between the treat
ment she received at home and from the
society she said she Jared much better be-
fore she left her parents, even though they
were poor.
Dollie Dodd is an 1S-year- daughter of
benjamin Dodd, the plaintiff in the habeas
corpus proceeding. She Is a midget about
twenty four inches tall, weighing probably
thirty pounds, but perfectly formed and neat
as her first name implies. she has never
had any experience with the society, but
she was placed on the witness stand to tes-
tify in favor of her parents She refuted the
assertion that she had been sent out to beg
money.