The Topeka state journal. [volume] (Topeka, Kansas) 1892-1980, 1911-04-08
ENDS LIBEL SUIT.
Supreme Court Sustains Dis
missaI of COney Case.
w. A. Morgan and Others Won't
Be Tried Again.
NORDMARK TO PRISON.
Conviction of Republic County
Hermit Affirmed.
Motor Car Driver Is Held Liable
for Damages.
NORDMARK TO PRISON.

=" ~.
arrested in Shawnee county on ac-
count of alleged libel of P. H. Coney,
in connection with the candidacy OF
Conev for commander of the National
G, A. r. will never be tried for libel.
The district court dismissed the case
a year ago and the supreme court suS-
tained this dismissal today.
Three or four years ago there was
a hard fight in the G. A. R. camps OF
Kansas relative to which clique should
be in control. Coney was commander
for two terms and finally the other fel-
lows beat him and w. A. Morgan was
elected commander. Then Coney was
a candidate for national commander
of the G. A r. and in the contest
someone ciculated a handbil which
set out that Coney had not served more
than few months as a soldier in the
Civil war.
Coney brought a suit for libel, and
on the first trial the jury failed to
agree. The case then was held IN
the court for months and no trial was
ever reached. In March, 1910 the case
was dismissed and the state appealed
on the ground that the court had no
right to dismiss the case as the state
was always ready for trial but the de-
PENDANTS did not appear. The supreme
court held that the dismissal was
proper.
Judge Dana was reversed in one
case decided by the supreme court to-
day. This was the suit of c. Dyson
against 3. F. Lux, S. J. Stadel and
Andy Bauerlein regarding the party
walls on the lot at 225 Kansas avenue.
Dyson charged that the defendants had
conspired to defraud him of the value
Of the party walls Judge Dana sus-
tanned a demurrer filed by the attor-
neys for LUX, Stadel and Bauerlein
and the supreme court reversed this
action.
In Kansas If a motor car is going
too fast it is not necessary to hold
stop watch on the car in order to
prosecute the driver for exceeding the
speed limit. That is the decision of
the Kansas supreme court today in
decision in the case of Carl w. Miller
against w. R. Johnson, appealed from
Dickinson county. Also the court de-
cided that if one were placed in a
dangerous position that it would not
be negligence to jump the wrong way
and get hurt. Carl Miller was driving
along the public road near Abilene at
motor car were coming in an opposite
direction and at high rate of speed.
Miller thought the motor was not go
ing to turn out. so he turned to the
right, instead of to the left of the
road. The motor car struck the buggy
and damaged it and injured the occu-
pants. The court held that while the
driver of the buggy made a mistake
In turning to the left it was not negli-
gence as he acted in a time of dan
ger and did what he thought was best
Witnesses testified as to the speed of
the car and an effort was made to rule
out this testimony because the wit
nesses had no specific knowledge of
speeds. The court held that the esti-
mate of speed by intelligent persons
was good and sufficient evidence and
the damages allowed Miller were sus-
tained.
The decision of the district court
of Republic county in convicting
Charles Nordmark of the murder of
Alexander Lindahl March 26, 1910,
was affirmed. Nordmark and LindahI
had had trouble for a long time. Nord-
mark accused Lindahl of stealing
property and claimed that he could
not get legal redress for the wrongs
Lindahl had done him. One day some
boys found a motor boat in the Re-
publican river with the bodies of Lin
dahPs two children. The next day the
body of Lindahl was found in the
river. All had been killed by buck
shot. Nordmark was convicted of
murder on purely circumstantial evil
dence and the appeal was taken on the
ground that the evidence was not suf-
fcient. The court sustained the lower
courts decision and in doing so set out
that the testimony of persons expert
enced in the use of firearms was suf-
dctent to determine the course of bull
lets in determining the position of the
murderer. Several witnesses testified
as to the course of the shot, tracing
them by twigs cut from trees and in
this way the authorities were able to
locate where Nordmark stood when he
shot the father and two children.
The Kansas supreme court ruled to-
day that in a county where there are
two or more divisions of the district
court there is really only one court
and each division of the court has equal
jurisdiction. This is the decision of
the court in a suit of the Wyandotte
State bank against D. J. Murray and
others appealed from Wyandotte coun-
ty and is especially interesting on ac-
count OF three counties, Wyandotte
Shawnee and Sedgwick each having
more than one division of the district
court. A foreclosure on some property
was granted in division No. l and mo-
tions to confirm and set aside the sale
were filed in the second division The
Judge of the first division was absent
from the state and the Judge of the
second division granted the motion to
confirm and denied the motions to set
aside Thereafter application was made
to division No. 1, upon the judges re-
turn to set these orders aside, which
he did, before the expiration of the
court term during which the orders
were made. At the succeeding term the
fudge of division No. l set the sale
aside. All the parties were present in
divfsion No. when the orders We're
there made and these orders were set
aside in division No. l upon the same
evidence.
The supreme court held that as to
the sole question of jurisdiction, the
Judge of each division had authority
TO rule as he did, but went on to saw.
s.It is essential for the harmonious
ana orderly administration of iustica