Bismarck daily tribune. [volume] (Bismarck, Dakota [N.D.]) 1881-1916, 1902-02-14
MAY HEARING RESUMED
Preliminary Hearing of the May Case
Resumed Before Justice Tibbils
This Morning.
Mrs. Hibbs the Principal Witness on
the Stand at Today's Exam
nation.

a.E.+EI
The preliminary examination of the
May case was resumed this morning
before Justice Tbbils at the court
house. The interest in the case is
great and the demand for admittance
to the hearing is so large that the
place Of hearing was removed from
the Justices residence to the court
house. Mrs. Maytie Hibbs, widow Of
the deceased Harry Hibbs was upon
the stand all morning. Much of the
time was taken UP with the argument
OF objections made by: Attorney Reg
lister for the defense to the line Of in
quiry pursued by the state.
The cap that was worn by Harry
Hibbs on the morning he met his
death and that was found afterward
near the well was first presented to
the witness and she was asked to ex-
anime it and state if that was the cap
worn by her husband on the morning
he met his death. She said the cap
was like the n offered her, but she
could not say positively that that was
the same cap. The state offered the
cap in evidence and Attorney Register
objected to the receiving of it as it
had not been properly identified. The
state withdrew the offer at this time.
The next line of examination taken
up by the state was with relation to
the visits of Jeff May at the Hibbs
ranch previous to the time that Hibbs
came to his death. The witness said
May had been coming there every Sun
day since the first snow came, off and
on. She said he was in the custom
of coming there to visit her and her
husband. She denied that he was in
the habit of coming there to visit her
while her husband was away but ad-
mitted he had come there once and
stayed a couple of days while her hus-
band was off hunting horses. His
little girl was with him. She was
asked if May did not come there and
remain there while Hibbs was away at
Chicago with cattle. This she denied,
after Attorney Register had entered an
objection ito all this line of testimony
as incompetent and immaterial. He
said it had no proper place in the ex-
animation. The state contended that
the line Of testimony was proper as
showing motive, in the relations of
the defendant with the witness. Jus
tice Tibbils admitted the testimony.
The witness denied that the defend
ant May was in the habit of riding
with her and meeting her at lonely
places on the. prairie. The defense
again entered its objection to this line
of testimony but the objections were
overruled. She was asked if May had
gone to the Mandan fair with her last
year while Hibbs stayed at home, but
this she denied. She said she had
ridden part of the way to Bismarck
with May, but she had gone to the
fair with her sister and that May,
while he had been there, had not been
around with her. She asked if she
remembered having stood near the
grand stand arm in arm with May
watching the races, but said she had
not done SO.
The next line of questioning was
with regard to the incidents on the
morning of Hibbs' death. She told
the facts as they have already been
related at the coroner's inquest. The
witness made a diagram of the well
and curling indicating where the
bucket was, the blood, the cap and
the pulley and ropes. This was Of
fered in evidence by the state. The
witness was asked if she saw anything
near the well that her husband might
have fallen upon and fractured his
skull, and said there was ice about and
Jumps of manure, but otherwise the
ice was comparatively smooth. When
Mr.. Scovil had arrived that morning
she had gone to the barn before him
and turned the cows out to make room
for his horses. She had not noticed
whether milk had been spilled or not.
Neither had she noticed whether the
barn had been cleaned. She thought
it was about an hour from the time
May first came in to breakfast until
the time she had turned the cows out
to make room for Scovil's horses.
The testimony then took a new tack,