The Mankato free press. [volume] (Mankato, Blue Earth County, Minn.) 1879-1924, 1901-12-13

woman was lying on the floor. Ii
stepped in and raised her by the arm
but seeing that death had already en-
sued, he released his hold. Later h
saw a crowd standing around a ma
whom he supposed was Pickett, an
asked:
SIS your name PickettP'
eyes" Picket had replied.
Chow did the fire start?'
ST don't know" was Pickett {
answer. "My wife had been up wit
the boy several times. heard nois
and ran to the bathroom, where l say
my wife burning.
Osborne continued:
81 said, why in the hi didn' yo
save herr
''He said he couldn't.
81 said: "You re hi of a maj
to let your wife burn to death. ,"
Lieutenant Murphy then spoke a.
and said: well you don't seem to b
very sorry about it,.
"I'd like to cry but 1 can't, D
Pickett said.
George Flare, who occupied por
ton of the fiat on the same floor as thu
Picketts, but on the other side of the
hall, corroborated the evidence of his
wife to the effect that Pickett told
several different stories. When ht
came to their fiat to see if his children
were safe, he said that he had tried to
save his wife. He had taken her by
the leg and tried to pull her out, but
the flesh had come off in his hand
He had been awakened by Cry Of
"Reuben, helpp' He ran to the bath
room and found his wife IN flames. He
drew water from the bath tub and
threw it on her. She said family,
Reuben, helpl" gasped and died.
Later that morning he said that he
had turned on the water in the bath
tub and splashed water on the body,
but the fierce heat had driven him out
of the room.
A lamp was introduced as one of the
exhibits for the state. 1t was identi-
fed by Marie Howard, a miss of 13,
as the lamp given to her sister and a
relic of the fire. The witness testified
that three days after the fire Pickett
identified the lamp as "the lamp my
wife carried.
After the noon recess, little Marie
Howard took the stand to tell some
thing she had neglected to relate in
the morning. The matter was not par
ticularly important, Cress- examined
by 81. B. Chamberlain, Pickett's at
torney, the little girl said that she had
been reminded by her mother during
the recess that she had forgotten Sec
ond conversation with Mr.. Pickett.
Mrs. Mary Michaud, a neighbor at
whose home Mr.. Pickett and Mr.. and
Mrs. Flare had taken refuge, said
that she asked Pickett why he had not
tried to save his wife. He said that
he had turned the water into the
bathtub and had splashed water on the
body, but the heat had finally driven
him from the bathroom.
Ernest Mahlke of Mankato, a
brother Flaw of the late Mrs. Pickett,
told widely different story of Mr..
Pickett's account of the fire. 1t Tailed
with the one related by Mr.. and Mrs.
Flare when Pickett came to their
apartments to see about the children.
Pickett told Mahlke that he was
awakened by noise and ran to the
bathroom. There was fire in the room.
He opened the. door and..sa his wife s
body. Then he grasped his wife's foot
and tried to pull her out, but the flesh
came of. in his hand He exhibited a
slight spot on his hand, which might
have been blister, to. show that he
had been burned.
A. J. Switxer, deputy clerk, was in
troduced to prove the issuance of a
marriage license to Pickett on May 80,
1901. Defendant admitted that the
license was procured and that Pickett
and Nellie Slater were married on the
same day.
% Charles r. Francis, then city editor
of the Times, testified that he reached
the building between $3.50 and
o clock and remained for some time.
He had asked Pickett how the fire
started, but Pickett did not know.
Defendants Case Opened.
The state rested and B. 81. Cham
berlain opened the defendants case.
He said that the defendant would
prove that he had gone to bed early on
the night of the fire, that his wife had
gone out for the. evening and he did
not know when she returned; that
M RS. Pickett's health had not been
good for some time, but that she was
troubled with her head and was nerv-
GUS and had dizzy spells; that Pickett
was awakened during the night by
hearing what he thought was his wife
calling to the little boy, who was also
sick. A moment, later he heard hel
call for help and rushed to the bath
room, where he found his wife dead
on the floor and the room on fire.
Pickett, he said, made an attempt
to pull his wife out, but he could not,
because of the flames and smoke in The
room, and because the legs and body
would not permit the door being open
ed wide, He stopped down and
reached to turn on the water, but haC