The Mankato free press. [volume] (Mankato, Blue Earth County, Minn.) 1879-1924, 1913-02-14
HOW LOVE IN THE DARK
COST Aldo ALL OF TEN
Judge COmstOck Found Him Guilty
of Talking Saucy.
TRIAL IN MUNICIPAL COURT
Some Amusing Features Connected
With Hearing; Attorney C. 0.
Daily in Unique Plea.
TRIAL IN MUNICIPAL COURT
Crom SATURDAYS Daily,

ne case VI inc SldIe dSdluSI
Charles Aldo which was called at
three o'clock yesterday afternoon, de-
veloped several amusing situations
before it closed. The state called
Frank Craven as the first witness
and he said that he had come home
about 1890 and was told by his
mother-in-law that disturbance had
been going Oh in the hallway and
that when she had demonstrated with
the disturbers they had insulted her.
She had told him also that they
We're just outside the door in the
hall adjacent to Mr.. Graven's rooms.
1t seems that Mr.. Craven lives with
his wife and mother-in-law in a fiat
at 81 South Front street and that
the hall which runs past his door
connects with another which leads to
another suite of rooms. He said that
he Immediately became very angry
and went out in the hall with the
intention of removing or having re-
moved the alleged malefactors. He
lighted a match and saw two young
men and two young ladies in the
hall which connects with the rooms
occupied by one of the girls.
Asked Them to Leave.
Il asked them to get out" he said,
land they began calling me names.
| then went in and got a short
whip and intending to use it to pro-
tect myself if necessary. The boys
started down the stairs and about
half way down the defendant stop
ped and again abused me. / followed
and at the foot of the stairs he
took the whip away from me and
struck me with it,
Mrs. Mary Carroll, the mother-in-
law of Mr.. Craven, was then called
and she testified that the young peo-
pie had been making an unseemly
racket in the hallway and that when
she had told them to-.inoye they had
insulted her When her son-n-law
came home she told him all about it
and he went out with blood in his
eye to get the people out She tes-
titled that she had heard Aldo call
Mr.. Craven names but did not see
what went on when they went down
stairs She said that the young peo-
pie were in their own hall when her
son-in-law came home. Mrs. Frank
Craven testified the same as her hus-
band and her mother, except that
she could only hear what was going
on, being in bed at the time.
Defendant On Stand.
The defendant, Charles Aldo,
when called, denied that he had
called Craven names and said that
he had not spoken to him until he
was down stairs. Then he said GRAY
en- had struck him with the whip
three times before he could take it
away from him. He said that Craven
had called him a "dago" with ad-
jective prefixes before coming down
stairs. Harold Nelson, the boy who
was with Aldo, told story similar
to that of his chum. Neither of the
young men seemed to know for GER
tain what were the names of the
young ladies they had been with
Harold Nelson knew their first names
and the last name of one, but Aldo
only knew their first names.
The defense called Miss Helen Gro
dizski and she told a story which
conceded with the boys stories i'll
the main. She said that she had
known Nelson for some time, as he
had lived in Ivanhoe, her home town.
Aldo she did not know very we'll
She did not live in the fiat where
they were, but was with friend
who did She said that she had
hcpn in hal ,titb
young man before.
Daley in Facetious Mood.
Attorney C. o. Daley opened the
argument for the defense and he be-
gan his address to the court by
making a farce of the whole af-
fair. He ridiculed Mr.. Craven for
taking the matter into court, when
he claimed the man had come out
in the hall armed with a whip and
looking for trouble, and kicked be-
cause he found it. He said that he
could see no harm in the boys be-
ing with the girls even If they did
not know their names, for he claim
ed he knew several young ladies well
and spoke to them on the street,
yet he could not tell their names.
lie added that il he were not mar
ried, he would not be at all bashful
about asking the young ladies which
way they were going if he should
meet them on the street. He went
on to explain that it was not a seri-
GUS offense for the young people
to be romping in the hallway and
said that fiat renters should take
the matter of mutual Inconvenience
in the way Of noise into considera.
ton when they rented the fiat. He
turned to Judge Comstock and said
that If this was an offense which
could be punished by a ninety day
term at hard labor, he had not the
shadow of doubt but that in their
younger days both he and the Judge
would have had to serve several
terms of this kind. The Judge inter-
rupted and said that it would be use.
less for Mr.. Daley to continue that
line of argument for If such a thing
Continued on Page -Four.