The Mankato free press. [volume] (Mankato, Blue Earth County, Minn.) 1879-1924, 1914-05-08
Allyn Is Fined;
Takes An Appeal
From Fridays Daily.

From Fridays Daily -.
A fine of 800 or imprisonment for
forty days at hard labor In the county
jail was the sentence imposed by
Judge w. l.. Comstock OF the munich
pal court this morning on II. Glenn
Allyn for driving an automobile on a
public street at an excessive speed.
Mr.. Allyn was convicted of this Of
Tense on April 2 last, but sentence
was postponed, with the understand
Ing that Mr. Allyn's conduct In the
meantime would have much to do
with the severity OF the penalty i'm
posed.
, Judge Comstock In imposing the
sentence. however, made II plain that
MIR. Allyn was not being sentenced
for anything else than the offense
OF which he had been convicted. He
was still liable to prosecution for any
acts that may have been subsequently
committed. This, of course, had ref
erence to the accident that took
place on the st. Peter road last Sat.
urday evening, when Mr.. Allyn was
driving the automobile that collided
with a buggy, injuring five and one
very seriously.
Ordinance to BE Attached.
At the request OF Attorney 8. B.
Wilson, who appeared for Mr.. Allyn,
stay OF sentence was granted to
May 12. Mr.. Wilson will move for a
new trial. contesting the validity OF
the city ordinance under which Mr.
Allyn was convicted. He will urge
that the ordinance Is illegal In that
II attempts to regulate a matter that
is already regulated by state law.
II the motion Is denied, as Is expect.
ed. an appeal will be taken to the
supreme court of the state.
Mr.. Allyn was still quite lame from
the automobile smash.up, when he
appeared in court this morning. Both
knees were badly bruised, and the
left knee was stiff. He limped very
noticeably.
City Attorney Schaub, on being
asked by the court whether he had
any comment to make before sentence
was imposed, said that the very
thing that had long been feared from
Mr.. Allyn's reckless driving had &C.
tually occurred. A serious accident
had happened and a human life had
been almost lost. Such consequences
were bound to result, when q man
absolutely refused to obey the law.
Claims unIustIy Blamed.
Mr.. Allyn remarked that he had
been unjustly blamed for the accident
Of Saturday night. The man who
steered In front OF the automobile
with his carriage was really the one
to be blamed. To avoid hitting that
outfit, he had turned the automobile
to the left, and then steered to the
right to clear the other buggy, and
would have cleared II II the horse
had not bolted and backed the car.
riage In front OF the automobile. He
did all I'm his power, he said, TO
avoid the accident. He had tried very
hard to drive within the limit of the
traffic law.
Judge Comstock observed that on
the second day OF April Mr.. Allyn
had been convicted OF driving an
automobile ut an excessive rate OF
speed. and In view OF the fact that
he had been arrested several times
before and had paid fines, the court
thought that as much or more might
be accomplished by placing the de-.
PENDANT on his honor, than by i'm.
posing punishment at once. Since
that time a serious accident had oc-
CURED, while the defendant was driv.
ing. The stories in regard TO the de.
tails OF the accident were conflicting.
On viewing the ground. however. the
court could not but be impressed with
the opinion that by careful driving
that accident might have been
avoided.
People Demand Punishment.
The court went on to observe that
the people were evidently demanding
severe punishment in this case and
the court apprehended that sentence
that comprised the very maximum of
Imprisonment without the option OF
fine would be approved by the great
majority of the people. The people,
however, sometimes drew unfair con-
illusions because they did not know
all the facts. The court must speak
without prejudice, even though the
people are prejudiced. Personally.
the Judge said, he was not inclined
to believe that Mr.. Allyn was as
serious violator OF the law as he
was thought to be. However, the
court was obliged to take notice Of
the fact that Mr.. Allyn had been re-
peatedly convicted of such offenses.
Should Make Man Cautious.
The judge observed that he did not
know why those offenses continually
occurred. One might naturally ex.
pect, that such repeated charges would
make a man extra cautious. In
view of the repeated offense.
perhaps the court would be
justified In imposing prison
sentence without the option Of a
fine. The court had reason to be-
lieve. however, that the imposition Of