Daily inter mountain. [volume] (Butte, Mont.) 1881-1901, 1900-11-22
THEY ARE NOW
GOOD INDIANS
CHARLES vERONA'S ORIGINAL
METHOD OF sLAUGHTERINa
THE RED MAN.
WOOD ALCOHOL MORE
EFFECTIVE THAN BULLETS,
Broken Nose, a Cree Brave, Speaks of
the Unquenchable Thirst Of
His Father.

Rapid progress is being made in the
trial of Charles Verona, charged with
having wiped out three of a tribe of
Cree Indians by means of wood alcohol.
The case was called in department No.
2 of the district court about 3 o'clock
yesterday afternoon, and before the time
for adjournment arrived a jury had
The witness was DIR. P. j. Sheerin, who
merely described the action of wood
alcohol on the human system and the
condition of the internal organs of the
Indians that had died from the effects
of the liquid. DR.. O'Leary gave testi-
mony similar to that of DIR. Sheerin.
The attorneys, Messrs. Gilchrist and
Wedekin. for the defense. and Connolly
and Kelley. for the prosecution. kept up
a continuous seesaw with the witness.
and Judge Clancy promptly called a
halt. 1t was, doctor, do you know
this?' on one side. and doctor. do you
know that?" on the other, over and over.
Finally the judge told them to stop and
requested the witness to cave the stand.
An Indian known as Broken Nose was
the first real witness today. He gave
his testimony through Charles Denaries,
an interpreter, and occasionally glanced
at an empty half-gallon demijohn on the
table at his right. Broke Nose began
his story by explaining to the court the
nature Of an oath; he said it was the
truth before God. HI next detailed his
meeting with the defendant in the lat
ter's tailor shop in Wyoming street on
the 18th Of last February on which date
the liquid is alleged to have been bought
by Verona and consumed by the In
dams. He said he had asked Verona
to buy the alcohol, n put up the
money to pay for it. Verona had
bought it and turned it over to him..
The liquor had then been taken to the
camp, near the Timber Butte, hi said,
and a quantity of it swallowed by the
Indians, who said it did not taste very
good; but they had continued to drink
it until II o'clock at night, when a
squaw known as kanaste began to feel
sick and a day afterwards died. While
sick she had foamed at the mouth and
her hands appeared to be cramped. The
witness said Verona had bought alco-
hol for him five different times, and
while it all looked alike, h last pur-
chase did not taste like the other. He
had known Verona about five years-he
sometimes visited the camp. All Verona
had said to him when he bought the
alcohol was to keep it hid and not let
anyone see it. He had never paid Ver-
ona anything for making the purchases
or never promised him anything.
On cross-examination the witness said
the Indians never gathered articles of
food from the city dump. but they some-
times picked up clothing there. Asked
to point out Verona. he gave his left
hand a swing in the direction Of the
defendant and Attorney Gilchrist, and
the prosecution facetiously remarked
that his designation was uncertain.
Broker Nose said he had bought the
beverage at the request of his father,
who possessed an unquenchable thirst.
The old man fairly reveled in it, and
never left a drop as a bracer'' for the
following day.
The witness was asked If he remem-
bered Verona appearing at the camp
with a Spanish dog on the 3rd Of last
February, n asking that the animal
be killed and it's hide dressed and turn
ed over to him He said he did not, but
it might have been done.