The Mankato free press. [volume] (Mankato, Blue Earth County, Minn.) 1879-1924, 1904-05-06
DRINK CAUSED TRAGEDY
White, Slayer of Jerome MenaIge, Re.
grets His Terrible Deed.
His Story of the Killing Of Bartender
in Duluth Saloon.
Man CI.ims That He Was Forced
to Defend Himself.
Charge of Murder in First Degree Is
to Be Preferred.
From Saturdays Daily.

From Saturdays Daily.
Murder in the first degree is the
charge which Fred White must now face,
his victim, Jerome E. Menaige, the st.
Clair boy, shot three times during an
alteration in the Northland saloon, COL
West Michigan street, Duluth, Tuesday
night, having expired at three o'clock
yesterday afternoon.
When Duluth News-Tribune reporter
visited White at the county jail few
moments thereafter and first informed
him of the fact, White hung his head
dejectedly and said:
"Too bad! too bad! I'm sorry he's
dead.
Then he rested his arms on the bars
of his cell and without apparent emo
, ton at the course events had taken he
gave his own explanation of how the
+, shooting occurred:
ct was done through drink more
than anything else" he said. 81 was
drunk when did it."
Asked for a statement as to what
, occurred in the saloon, he said: "Well,
| l and three friends, who | met casually,
had been drinking all day in the sa-
| LOOM In our crowd was crippled boy,
| who was more or less intoxicated.
proposed to the bartender that we give
, the boy one more drink and send him
stay around there longer.
| "The bartender kicked. | told him
! the boy was a friend of mine.
GA slap in the mouth is what you
need he said, to mel walked out of
. the place, and came back about an hour
afterward. Menaige was then off duty
and standing, by the stove. AS soon as
! | entered the door, he said, There's the
- and I'm going to punch
| his nose With that he came after me,
| told him to STOP but he refused. Then
I pulled gun. l thought he would
have sense enough not to come on after
l told him not to and especially when
had the gun in my hand. / didn't think
he had any right TO. Then 1 shot him.
! ct was. all In the excitement.
didn't intend to kill him. He was a
desperate man and kept following me
up. But he had no right to hold a grudge
against me. You can see that-he had
I been thinking about the quarrel while l
was out of the saloon. It's not true
that | went out of the saloon to get the
gun. 1 had it with me all the time
! White stated later in the conversation
| that Menaige was at close range when
he pulled the trigger. "He was right on
me, you might say" said he in answer
| to questions.
81 had not known the man before"
White said his home was in Red jack
ct, Mich, where his father and two
. brothers reside. The family came from
[ Montreal He gave his age at thirty four
years, and said he was unmarried.
Since being committed to Jail White
has been allowed to have two cell
mates. In view of the fatal termina-
ton of his victims wounds, however,
he will be subjected to solitary confine-
| ment hereafter.
A postmortem eXamina ton was held
by DR.. Magic, who found that the bull
let had penetrated the kidneys into the
pancreas and lodged in the back. Dr.
Magic says that the wound in the pan
creas was the mortal one. The other
two bullet wounds were of lesser conse-
quence.
County Attorney McClintock was in
consultation with Chief of Police Troyer
yesterday afternoon after Menaige's
death was known. The crippled boy who
has figured conspicuously in the case,
rehearsed the story of his knowledge of
the shooting.