The Topeka state journal. [volume] (Topeka, Kansas) 1892-1980, 1906-06-19
BIG SUIT IS FILED.
Mrs. Martha Smith Asks for
$4,000 Damages.
Husband Killed Nan While
Drunk She Charges.
AFTER TIE BREWERS.
Levies on Bars and Supplies in
Kansas.
AFTER TIE BREWERS.
Also Sues Topeka People She
duplicates in Liquor r Sale.

Three suits were filed in the district
court this morning aggregating s55 600
by Waters & Waters, the plaintiffs be-
ing Mrs. Martha Smith, wife Of Oliver
Smith, who was sentenced to hang at
the April term of the district court for
the murder of Thomas Bair in a North
Topeka joint, and her two minor chill
dren. Those named as defendants are
Vincent Kaczynski, r. F. Hodgins,
Alonzo Townsend, Green Watson, John
W. Gennette, Robert Kneisley. the To-
peka Ice and Fuel company, the Schlitz
Brewing company and the Val Blatz
Brewing company.
The suit is the Outgrowth of drunk
en- quarrel in which Smith killed Bair
IN North Topeka joint by stabbing
! him to death on the second day Of last
/ March. He was tried for the murder
/ on the 2Sth of April and on the 14th of
/ May Judge Dana of the district court,
pronounced the sentence which will de-
prive him of his liberty for the remain
/ der OF his life, as convicted murderers
! are never hanged in Kansas.
The petition states that the husband
of the plaintiff in the case to whom
she was married IN 1880 had always
been sober and Industrious man and
earned about $500 per year but that
! owing to the existence of joints opera
/ ted and supplied with liquors contrary
/ quently drunk. It is alleged that the
/ crime was committed while Smith was
drunk on liquor purchased from the
( defendants or their agents and that
they are responsible for the damage
done by Smith.
Mrs. Smith sues for $4,000 for the
loss of the earnings her husband
who by reason of the law is confined
I for life in the state penitentiary and
| $4,000 exemplary damages, and a suit
OF like nature has been fled BIZ her
/ two minor sons. Albert and Harold,
who ask for $4,000 damages each as
they have been deprived of the earnings
of their father and will be dissraced
for the remainder of their lives for the
reason that their father Is a felon.
It is further claimed IN the petition
of the minor children that they are
deprived of the benefits to be derived
from attending school as It is now nee
assist their mother in earning a ltvelI-
hood for the family.
An attachment has been levied
against all of the property owned in
| Wyandotte. Leavenworth, ,Sedgwick and
Shawnee counties by the Val Blatz and
the Joseph Helm Brewing companies
including bars. glasses and fixtures in
numerous joints which they are said
to own.
First Suit of the Kind.
The case is one of more than ordin-
ary interest as it is the first one of the
kind ever brought in this county. The
brought about the suit is as follows.
Bair and Smith had been friends and
as such engaged in game of cards in
q North Topeka Joint. A disagreement
over one dollar arose and they sepa-
rated, Bair going to a nearby joint
where he was about to drink a glass of
beer. Smith went to the Buechner
. butcher shop, where he was employed,
and securing a knife with long blade.
followed Bair into the joint and with
out hardly word of warning plunged
the weapon into his abdomen, produc-
ing wound from which he died q few
days later Both men had been drink
ing before the quarrel and there IS but
little doubt that this was one of the
causes of the tragedy
Smith was tried within a few weeks
after the murder and though he at
tempted to show that Bair had ruined
his daughter was convicted and SEN
fenced to hang which amounts in this
state to life imprisonment. The men
had been friends and Smith was
known as a quiet peaceable man ex-
cepting when he was drinking.
A case almost identical with this one
was tried in the district court Of Atch-
ison county last year and a Judgment
rendered against the defendants. The
case was appealed to the supreme
court and the judgment of the lower
court was affirmed.
Referring to the case which he is
conducting Captain Waters said:
There is no doubt concerning the law
in the case. Every man who sells
drop of liquor in the state is responsf-
bic for the acts which are committed
by the purchaser while under its in
huenee, and there is no doubt in nv
mind as to the law governing the case.
It has been passed upon by the su-
preme court and the law holds that the
saloonkeeper is liable for the damages
done by the sale of his liquors. We
have attached all of the property in
the state that we could get our hands
on which belongs to the two breweries
for they are not residents Of the state
and are conducting a business within
the borders of Kansas which is con-
trary to the laws of the state"
If this case should be decided
against the defendants a similar suit
will probably be brought by Mrs
Thomas Bair. wife Of the man who
was murdered, as the law which covers
one case covers the other, and then
will come the cases Of her minor chill
dren.