The Saint Paul globe. (St. Paul, Minn.) 1896-1905, 1901-11-20
RIVERS IS ON TRIAL
THE ALLEGED SLAYER OF TOM
SEAGHAN MUST ANSWER
TO THE LAW
IS MAKING A HARD FIGHT
Charged That He Killed a Fellow
LabOrer in n Duluth Saloon
on the Morning of
Oct. I3.
Special to The Globe.

SDcCl0l TO me
DULUTH, Mimi, Nov 19.-The trial
of Patrick Rivers. indicted for murder
in the first degree as the alleged slayer
of Tom Geaghan, a longshoreman, IN
A W. Anderson's saloon in this city
Sunday morning, Oct Is, opened in the
district court this morning before Judge
Ensign.
The day was taken up with getting a.
jury and when the court adjourned at
night only seven had been obtained out
of thirty-siX examined. The trial will
probably take up most of the week.
The case is an interesting and I'M
usual one. The prisoner is. defended by
Frank Larrabee, of Minneapolis, and /.
j. Neff, a local attorney, and intends
making a hard fight for his liberty, If
not his life.
On the morning that Geaghan was
killed Pat Rivers and several friends.
all longshoremen, were in the Ander-
son saloon, doing considerable drinking,
and the evidence adduced at the inquest
indicated that all We're more or less
drunk About o'clock Geaghan came
in the saloon. He was perfectly So
Der, and it has been clearly shown that
he had not touched liquor for several
months prior to the tragedy.
All the men in the saloon, together
with Geaghan and several others, be-
longed to an organization of longshore-
men in addition to the union and were
known as the ton" gang. They Sc
lected a leader, who made contracts for
work for all, and looked after an emer-
gency fund to which each member of
the gang subscribed for sickness or 9TH
er purposes. Geaghan was the leader of
this gang, and naturally mingled with
the others upon arriving in the saloon
1t appears, however, that he and Riv-
ers had had some misunderstanding and
shortly after his entrance Rivers sought
quarrel. He called Geaghan a vile
name, but the latter, instead of taking
1T up, Immediately went to a rear room.
Rivers followed him and a moment la
ter, according to the story of Albert
Johnson, the bartender, both men ap-
peared at the doorway struggling. john
son separated them, he claims, and
Geaghan fell to the floor with a knife
wound in his heart, dying almost in
Stantly
Rivers left the saloon, jumped into his
buggy, and driving to the Omaha dock
got out and telephoned to Geaghan's
boarding house inquiring for him, thus
indicating that he mad already deter
mined upon a plan of action. About fif-
teen minutes later he returned in the
direction of the scene of the tragedy
and was arrested en- route by the police.
who had been looking for him. His
hands and clothing were stained with
blood, but Notwithstanding this he de-
MED all knowledge of the stabbing, and
he has maintained his innocence ever
since.
At the coroner's inqeust two of Riv-
ers' companions swore that he was not
in the saloon at the time Geaghan
was killed, but had left there half an
hour before. The others were too drunk
to know what happened. Johnson, the
bartender, however, was sober, and
swore positively that the affair oc-
Cured as related, and upon his testi-
mony and other circumstantial Evidence
the coroner's jury found Rivers response
BILE, and after investigating the case
the grand jury reached a similar con-
clusion
Both men were well known in union