Willmar tribune. [volume] (Willmar, Minn.) 1895-1931, 1901-07-17

ef many delays OF the law and much
technical skirmishing on the part of
the attorneys for the accused, the pro-
prietor was convicted and sentenced.
The conviction frightened al the other
gamblers in Raynor and closed every
den in the city, for time at least
The owner Of the building was also
guilty under the ordinance, but an At
tempt to convict him failed owing tn
his social influence and the use of his
means, and nothing ever came of the
attempt. And vet it is said that the
poor man as well AZ the rich man has
equal justice shown him In our courts.
Does any one in America today dare
deny that wealth and social position
nave 1t In their power to defeat justice
IN our courts? II they do not have
mat power. how does it happen that
SO often wealthy offenders escape the
penalty Of the law they have violated :?
The entire affair caused a great stir
IN Raynor. There was good deal Of
criticism Of President Royce's course.
Good citizens who were very indignant
always when mention was made Of
lawlessness in the city and wanted to
know over their coffee and morning
paper why something was not done by
somebody to prevent such lawlessness
said that President Royce had done a
thing unbecoming a president Of a col
lege. So undigni6ed and-and-well-
so lacking-tn the-the-best judgment.
But the ordinance expressly provided
for testimony to convict. The law Of
the state plainly said that it was the
duty Of every good citizen to inform
the authorities Of breach Of the law
The president was citizen, like other
men, and he had simply done his duty.
What was there wrong about that?
Well-it was a very undignifed thing
to act as a spy-to enter such an in
famous place-to contaminate himself
with touching the thing, so these
good citizens said, and yet they were
the very men who never did anything
themselves except to find fault with
the people for electing bad men to
Office or for not enforcing the law in
some way. The good citizen of this
country, of this type, will take his
rightful place some time alongside the
lawbreakers and be labeled with his
true name, which is bad" citizen,
with a capital letter "B'' for Bad"
But Edwards experience in the af-
fair did not end with his part in the
trial as one of the witnesses There
was another chapter, that might have
proved even more exciting for him
than it was if his training on the foot
bail field had not stood Aim in good
stead.
It was during the week Of the trial.
and while the case was still dragging
along with delays on technicalities, and
the outcome of it was not certain, that
Edward was surprised one evening in
one Of the Railways Of down town
Office building by an attack made on
him by some unknown person.
He had gone up to the top of the
building to deliver a paper at one Of
the places that he knew was a low
gambling den. Since the arrest Of the
gambler up town the proprietor Of this
place had kept very strict watch and
Edward was not permitted to enter, as
he sometimes had done. He threw the
paper down at the bottom of the door,
as he had been doing for several
nights, when some one rushed out of a
side hallway and struck at him with
some heavy article that partly missed
him in the dark, smashing his hat of
his head and for a second stunning
him slightly.
He instantly turned and grappled
with man when a1other figure came
out on the opposite side Of the hall and
flung himself on him.
But Edward was used to having sew
eral men fling themselves on him in
football games, and, although he was
very much taken by surprise now,
his logged, stubborn, slow nature
was equal to the unexpected event, and
he forced one of his assailants back
into the hallway from which he had
come, and heard him strike the floor in
heap. Then he turned his attention
to the other, and instantly felt that he
had his hands full. for his antagonist
was q grown man, taller and heavier
than himself, and he had struck Ed
ward heavy blow that panied him
exceedingly. The two tugged and
painted together, the stranger swearing
and Edward silent, as usual, each try
ing to throw the other down. They
swayed through the hall in the dark,
and before either of them realized their
nearness to the narrow stairway, they
reeled down the first step, lost their
balance and fell, still clinging to each
other, and rolling over and over to
the bottom.
Edward found himself even In the
strange situation Of that descent Won
dering who would be on top when the
bottom was reached. Evidently his as
sailant was having the same idea. For
when they struck the hall below and
rolled over again he let go Of Edward,
and although Edward was on his feet
with an agility that was remarkable
considering his weight, the man rush.
ed past up the stairs again and van
ished in the darkness above.
"Discretion was the better part of
valor" on this occasion, and so Edward
did not wait FOR the man to come back,
possibly REINFORCED by his companion,
but beat an orderly retreat down the
other two flights Of stairs and so out
on the street minus his hat and plus
several bruises.
He happened to be near a clothing
store and went In and bought a hat
and continued his route. When he
reached his room on College hill, he