The Telegraph-courier. [volume] (Kenosha, Wis.) 1888-1946, 1913-11-06
new INQUEST RULE IN FORCE
Justices of the Peace Must Give De
tails of Deaths to the District Attor-
ney Before They Begin Holding of
Inquests in Towns in the County.

A Polish workman known only by his
given name ssJoe' was fatally injured
in a fall from a scaffold at the new
ice house of the LaWler company in
course of erection at Twin Lakes on
Friday afternoon just before three
clock. 1t is said that the death of
the man vas wholly the result of an
accident but Justice Ell. t. Hofner of
New Munster will hold an inquest over
the body at Twin Lakes late this after
noon.
The man came to this county from
Chicago some three years ago and since
that time he had been employed as a
helper about the houses of the Lawler
Ice company. The company having the
contract for the rebuilding of the ice
house destroyed by fire during the
summer was rushing the work and the
Polish workman had been put to work
He was working on a scaffold about
seventeen feet above the ground and
in some manner he slipped and fell
suffering a conclusion of the brain from
which he died short time after he had
been picked up by his fellow work
men.
The man was hard working man
and was well known to the men EN-
ployed by the ice companies at Twin
Lakes. He was about thirty years of
age and is thought to have been un-
married.
District Attorney A. L. Drury is
making more stringent regulations fol-
the handling of inquests following &C
cidents in Kenosha county and some
time ago he notified all of the justices
of the peace in the county that they
should not hold inquests without first
submitting some preliminary facts in
the case to him or the coroner Of the
county. The district attorney was no
titled late Friday afternoon of the
death Of the man at Twin Lakes and
he instructed Justice Homer to 90 to
Twin Lakes and make an investigation
and send him a report of the case be-
fore the formal inquest was held. The
report was such that Hofner was direct
ed to go ahead and hold the inquest.
It is thought that the new plan
adopted by the district attorney will
do much to prevent crime going I'M
punished. Inquests held about the ice
houses in past years have been more
or less open to criticism and in several
cases the officials have had trouble in
prosecuting cases on account of the
fact that they were not able to secure
evidence at the time Of the commission
of crime. The opening of the ice
houses for the winter and the ice har-
vest always brings more OF less of a
crowd of men from low stations in
life and nearly every season there is
some crime in these districts for the
investigation of the district attorney
The new rule in regard to inquests
will give the district attorney an oppor-
tunity to get in on the ground floor
and get all the evidence possible in
regard to the death Of men in these dis
tricts. Under the new Wisconsin law
the jury for an inquest must be drawn
by the clerk of the circuit court and
this throws a further safeguard about
the investigation of these cases.
District Attorney Drury has adopted
the plan Of personally conducting in
quests, under the approval of the cor
oner, in all eases where there is any
reason to suspect that court prosecu-
ton will follow.