The Mankato free press. [volume] (Mankato, Blue Earth County, Minn.) 1879-1924, 1902-07-11

tOXlcaCeu. he went to the closet,
heard a noise, looked back, and saw
the lower part of his body sticking out
of the door. Saw Kelly trying to lift
him up. Kelly failed, and Grayson
and another man went there and be.
tween the three of them they got him
toward the door. He stood on his feel
as we'll as a man in his condition
could. They did not handle him
roughly. They passed out of my sight
after going four or five feet. by going
into the entrance to the Main street
door. Grayson and Manning were not
under the influence of liquor, and [
was not to speak Of. ~
Emil Moe of Lake Crystal, who
works at the Corner Cafe, as porter
and lunch counter boy, said on the
morning of July Sd he was scrubbing
rocks outside of the building on Main
street, fifteen feet from the entrance.
Had a water hose that came out the
Main street door. Heard Kelly say.
"Come on, old man, you'll have to
get out. I turned around and saw a
man on the walk. This was Jones.
and he was four feet from the door.
on his feet. alone. He staggered to-
ward the show wagon, held out his
hand as though to reach for the
wagon. and fell over toward the tent.
and his head fell on the whif1e tree
and the chains ratified. Knew it was
his head because it sounded like his
head. Could not see what struck, as
it was dark. Jones fell into the gut
ter. There was nobody out there 70
knock him into the gutter. He did not
say a word. He fell sideways, facing
east, on his left side. The front end
of the wagon tongue projected a foot
from the wagon and also had chairs
attached. No one was standing on
the doorsill then, Jones hand slipped
off the corner of the wagon. His
head was near the tent. He walked
toward Front street before falling. I
did not think any more about it and
went on about my work. In a minute
or two a man came out. I did not
notify anybody. I was so astonished 1
did not know what to think. Three
or four minutes afterwards somebody
came out of the tent. The first man
out was Grant, who asked where Jones
was. I told him he was in the gutter.
A policeman came along and Man
ming pulled the man out of the gutter.
Do not remember that anyone went
into the saloon to notify those there
that there was a man hurt.
DR.. A. o. Bjelland testified that he
saw Frank Jones about 8 a. m. July
Sd at the city hall. Examined him
and found him suffering from a frac-
ture through the base of the skull. and
unconscious. He lived until 10 80 p
m. July 4th. When I first saw him
his hair was wet and he was bleeding
from the nose and mouth, and was in
a comotose condition. His breath
smeIled strongly of liquor. Minor
bruises around the mouth and under
the left eye were found, and also "a
thickening of the scalp at the left of
the back of the head. There were no
marked external abrasions. The left
eye was bloodshot. Jones was removed
to his home between 7 and 8 a. m.
He gradually grew worse until he
died. A post mortem examination
was held July 9Th, conducted by DR..
Steel and myself. A fracture of the
skull was found, and the brain tissue
was lacersted and infltrated with
blood. There was a large blood cIot.
There were a number of breaks radia-
ting from the main fracture, The
fracture made nearly a complete
circle. The vital organs we're s.sll
normal. Death was caused by com
preston and laceration of the brain
from rupture of the blood vessel, caus-
| ed by fracture through the base of the
skull. Don't think the conclusion
decorations could have come from a
blow in the face from a mans fist.
They might have come from falling
and striking the head on the sidewalk
or gutter. Striking the whif1etrees
might have caused the injury. The
left and back portion of the head came
in contact with whatever ii struck.
| There was no indication of a blow in
the face. The injury might have been
received by falling backward. The
%bloodshot eye was due to settling of
| blood from the inside. Don't think
he was struck a blow in the face, yet
a blow could be struck without leav-
ing much Of a mark. Two glasses Of
pop with whisky would not have more
than al celebrating effect. These
with former drinks would have An
| effect that would depend on the man.
Salt and water prevents fermentation
and would have some effect. There
was no symptom or sign of poisoning.
IT does not take much liquor to make
a mans breath smell.
DIR. Bjelland gave a lengthy tech
nical description of the injury and
produced a skull to illustrate it.
adjournment was taken until 8 a.
m. today.
This morning DR.. E. D. Steel was
called. He testified as to the post
norton examination of the deceased.
| There was a diseolored spot on the