The Saint Paul globe. (St. Paul, Minn.) 1896-1905, 1900-05-31
SUSPECTS UNDER FIRE
JAMES HARDY AND ELMER MIL
LER FURNISH SATISFACTORY
EXPLANATIONS
HAD VISITED THE WISE HOME
A Strong Suspicion Points to Wis
cOnsin Man, Who Claims to he
Able to Prove an
AIibi.

ANOKA, May 3O.-Sheriff Merrill placed
James Hardy in custody today, and with
the assistance of two detectives put him
! through the sweat box Hardy is one
| of the young men who visited the Wise
house the Sunday night before the MUIR
| der and were expected to repeat the visit
the night the crime was committed. He
| is a country boy, about nineteen years
| of age, and resides in the Wise neghbor-
! hood
Hardy was discharged after the exam
nation. Elmer Miller, his companion,
did his turn with the officials and was
subjected to a rigid examination. Hardys
story seems to have cleared him of any
completely and Miller also told plaus-
! ible story.
| A clue which the authorities have given
the closest attention to has to do with
Harry Balloon. Sheriff Merrill spent yes
! terday at Grantsburg, Wis, where he
| looked into the doings of Balloon on the
| day of the murder On returning to
Anoka last night he declared that Bal
com had been able to prove an alibi. The
| people in Anoka and it's vicinity are, al
most unanimous in connecting Balloon
with the crime. Mrs Wise, before her
death, stated to the>authorities that she
thought Balloon must have been the man
who fired the deadly shots. Other mem
bers of the family-the two girls who are
uninjured, the father, who now lies at
the point of DEATH and the little SON
all make the same declaration. Joseph
Wise, the brother of William Wise, states
that if the authorities are diligent they
can come to no other conclusion.
The third clue upon which the authori-
ties are working Is the fact that three
suspicious characters were seen in the
neighborhood on the night of the muir
der, two of whom are said to have lived
in this community. About 1920 Sunday
night they approached a section hand on
the Great Northern spur track, about
three-quarters of a mile from the Wise
house and while two of them asked to
go in and get drink of water, the other
man remained in the dark and tried to
hide something beneath his coat. The
man to whom they talked was M. Man
ley. He believes the man was hiding a
shotgun or rife. The authorities today
are looking up these men and will in
vestigate their actions on last Sunday
While all kinds of rumors and stories
are in circulation, they all point towards
Balcom The other clues which have
turned up seemed to be wholly without
a basis upon which to rest murder the
DRY. Adequate motive is lacking, while
the case against Balloon rests upon
motive which seems to be sufficient in
the eyes of the authorities and those
who know him to implicate him in the
crime. The farm upon which Wise lived
was owned by Balcom He got in trouble
some years ago here for selling mort
gagged cattle. He had to leave the county
in haste, as the sheriff was after him.
One night he disappeared and no trace
of him could be found. The next ntHAt
he returned in disguise and skiltully
drove away from his farm about forty
cattle which had also been mortgaged.
The authorities attempted to trace him.
but their efforts were futile The grand
Jury took the matter up and two ind-ct-
ments were returned against him.
About the same time he borrowed from
William Wise $500, and after his d1sap-
pearance from the farm here ne sent LOT
Wise and asked him to live on the farm
as a, security for the loan, he to pay the
taxes. Wise then moved his family 10
the farm and has been living there since
Balloon failed to pay the taxes and re-
GENTLY the farm was sold at a farm tax
sale. Wise made several visits, 1t is sald'
to Wisconsin to see Balloon, and Balcom
and he are known to have quarreled over
the affair After his return WISE con-
fided to a friend that Balloon had threat
ened to get even with him and declared
that Wise would never leave the farm
alive.
Balloon has been in trouble in this coun-
nv on other occasions. He viciously as
saulted an old farmer named Curry, VINO
lived on an adjoining farm. lie also Is
said to have assaulted several other men
here. and everyone gives him the reputa-
ton of being a very rough and tough
character. 1t is further said that since
his residence at Grantsburg, Wis, he has
been Jailed there for assaultlng ana
drawing a revolver upon man over
money transaction. At that time he sent
for Wise to get him out of trouble WISE
refused to have anything to do with
him.
There are many stories to the effect
that Balloon was seen in this vicinity on
Sunday Efforts to trace these stories to
their source have proved unavailing thus
far. while Sheriff Merrill's statement is
to the effect that Balloon was seen about
ninety miles from Anoka last Sunday
morning, consequently could not have
made the trip to Anoka in time to COM
nit the deed. AS stated before, this is
Balcom's alibi, and the authorities have
been making use of it for purposes known
to themselves.
The story which appeared in the Min
neapolis morning papers to the effect
that blanket and coat had been found
on the highway about a mile beyond the
Wise farm Is without foundation No
such blanket or coat has been brought
to the authorities and they declare that
none such were found. 1t is believed,
however, that if Balloon was near Anoka
last Sunday he came here on horseback,
as only in this way could he have cover
ed the distance between his home and
the scene of the murder in the time
required. He was an expert horseman
and always, when going on any journey,
went on horseback.
The bullet and shot holes in the screen
window of the kitchen, and in the wall,
seem to show that one man did all the
shooting, and from measurements and
the direction of the balls, 1t seems evil
dent that the person handling the gun
was Of short stature. The holes in the
T screen are all within the space of about
10X12 inches toward the top and about
the middle of the lower sash. At the
top of this space can be seen where the
charges from the shot gun entered The
holes. torn out by the charges are rag