The Mankato free press. [volume] (Mankato, Blue Earth County, Minn.) 1879-1924, 1900-08-17
THE SAD STORY,
Miss Watson Relates it to the
Attorneys.
duplicates Hack Driver Graves In the
Assault but Mitigates His Part
i'm The Offense.

County Attorney hughes retuIueu
Thursday from ST. Paul, where he and
County Attorney Kirwin, of LIE Sueur
county, had talk with Miss Edith
Watson, the young lady who was SO
brutally assaulted in hack Fri
day night Miss Watson is much i'm
proved and was able to leave the hos
pital at Minneapolis and go to st.
Paul to get some articles that she had
left there. She met the two prescott
ing attorneys at the Ryan hotel and
went over the details of the terrible
affair with them. She was naturally
much reserved and disliked to discuss
some of the features of the evening
events However, she appeared at
the preliminary examination at Kasota
Aug. 10Th and told her story.
Miss Watson said that she telephoned
to Mankato last week and called fol
J. Safer, not knowing that there were
two parties of the same name. Joe
Salfer answered the call, but she
quickly discovered the mistake and
called for John Safer, who then talked
with her over the line. 1t will be re-
membered that John Safer denied that
he had talked with Miss Watson over
the telephone, claiming that Joe Sal
fer had done all the talking. Miss
Watson said that she could distinguish
the difference in voices and knew John
Salfers voice John Safer asked her
to come to Mankato Thursday, and
she agreed to do so. She missed the
train and wrote to Mr.. Salfer that she
would come Friday evening and sug-
gested that he meet her at the depot,
as it might be inconvenient for him
if she came to his room. Nothing was
said in the letter about money.
Miss Watson came to Mankato on
the :05 D. m. train Friday, and when
she saw that Mr.. Safer did not meet
her at the depot she went to his sa-
loon, across Front street from the city
hall There it was agreed that Mr..
Safer should meet her at the post
office with hack. This also contra
diets Salfer's story, for he claimed
that ne did not agree to meet the
woman at the post Office Miss Wat
sons first remark on seeing Salfer at
the saloon was, well, I'm here. =
Salfer replied, 81 see you are. . Miss
Watson asked what he wanted of her,
and Safer replied that he had wanted
to take her to dance.
Miss Watson, continuing her story,
said that after she had gotten in the
hackalone, expecting it to stop for Sal
fer few blocks down town, the hack
stopped and Martin Murray entered on
one side and Joseph Safer on the other.
One had lighted cigar in his mouth.
She did not know either party and be-
came frightened and wanted to get
out, but they would not let her do SO.
They began almost Immediately to
take liberties with her and to insult
and abuse her, and kept this up con-
stantly. She did not know where the
hack was being driven to, and shouted
to the driver, but he paid..no attention.
She screamed when teams passed, but
the two brutes with her gagged her
and swore at her and told her to keep
still. At one time they told her that
they would throw her into the lake If
she did not keep still.
The hack was turned around several
times and driven backwards and for
wards. The hack driver came into
the hack several times and Joe Salfer
got up on the drivers seat and drove.
Miss Watson said that Dick Graves,
the driver. also took liberties with
her, but was not quite so brutal as
Murray and Safer, who seemed to
have no idea of mercy. She became
unconscious several times, having a
sort of epileptic fit, and during those
periods was perfectly rigid. On re-
gaining consciousness one time she
heard Graves tell the others that they