Omaha daily bee., 1909-03-11
CONNOR SPOKE WITH ENERGY
But the Bishop Denies He Used Of
fensive Language.
GENEROUS ONLY WITH HIS WORDS
scanneII Makes Good witness for the
P~roponents I'm the viii Case
Before County Judge
Leslie.

Rt. Rev. Richard s~cannell, D. D.. bishop
OF the Catholic diocese OF omaha, swore
IN county court Wednesday morning that
Joseph A. Conner never used an offensive
word to him in his life; that in his opinion
"Connor's generosity consisted largely OF
words and that so far from wondering
whether or hoping that he might benefit
by Connor's will. the matter never troubled
him.
Bishop scanneli. who was on the stand
for exactly an hour, proved a good witness
for the proponents. lie was called princi-
pally to testify as to the date of his con-
versation at Thirteenth and Farnam
streets with Conner, when the latter asked
him why he did not attend Connor's wife's
funeral. and which the respondents have
testified occurred in the latter part off
May. after the will was drawn. The bishop
swore IL was May /. He could remember
nothing OF the conversation except that
Conner asked me why 1 did not attend
his wife's funeral and 1 answered that 1
had not been asked.
''When Conner left and after he had
gone a few feet. turned and said something
which | do not remember. though he dis
played much energy. l remember his man
ner, but not his Words
on cross-examination on this point Judge
Sullivan pressed the witness hard, endeav-
oring to show that Conner was angry or
hostile. Bishop scannell would not say
more, however. than that Cononr's manner
was energetic.
He was unusually energetic p asked the
attorney.
mot unusual for him, but what would
have been energetic for another man.
Much of the testimony conferred around
the terms OF the will with regard to the
nature OF the religion of the board of trus-
tees for the parochial schools.
You know asked Judge Sullivan. that
in the event of death or resignation OF one
or more trustees a majority of the board
might become infidels or Protestants?"
Yes"
you are willing to accept the bequest
on such terms ?"
Yes. because 1 could put a stop 20 1t IL
the board were to run counter to what was
right"
over this questions and answers were
numerous and Judge Sullivan several
times made use of the term achieving by
indirecton," a phrase which the witness
did not relish. This was the only part of
the experience which apparently the bishop
did not enjoy. and during the questions
about the time he called on Connor in his
office and asked him for a subscription,
Bishop Scannell shared the general amuse-
ment.
You left abruptly when Conner re-
fusedY'
II went away"
There was a feeling Of hostility between
your"
NO. but was not as cordial as I might
have been IL he had given me $40, OO0."
The bishop laughed at his own answer.
An earlier part of his testimony devel-
oped the fact that the Joseph A. Common
Seminary which Connor proposed to en-
low. Conner intended as a sort Of mon
seetarian theological seminary, admitting
students" said the bishop, of any religion
or no religion. / told him it was impossi-
ble.'
Another question he was asked was as
follows:
Do you know any precedent whereby
Catholic parochial schools are controlled
by non-Catholics or infidels?"
Yes, in Europe"
In Frunce?'
Yes"
Owing to a Misunderstanding as to the
date of resumption of the trial the relatives
were not present. but probably Will be
Thursday, when argument will begin.