The Mankato free press. [volume] (Mankato, Blue Earth County, Minn.) 1879-1924, 1922-12-29
YOUNG, MAN ON TRIAL
JAG CHARGED; FREED
Judge Hiram Goff Held That Len
Thro Wa. Not Under The In
fluence of Liquor


.-.aH
! Len Thro Of this city, who was ar
, rested by Officer o. F. Langhoff at
1850 o'clock Tuesday morning at the
Eckman garage on Main street on
the charge of drunkenness, disorderly
conduct and resisting an officer.
when arraigned' before Judge Hiram
! S. Golf in the municipal court yes
terday afternoon, through his AT
torney C. j. Laurisch, entered a plea
OF not guilty. At the close of the
trial, in which a number, of witnesses
flor the defense testified that the de-
PENDANT was perfectly sober and or
cerly, the court found Mr.. Thro not
guilty. .. ...
| At the conclusion of that case, the
same charge which had been pre-
ferred against Carl Eckman, was dis
missed on the suggestion of Chief of
Police Phil Landmark.
Officer Langhoff was. the first wit
ness sworn for the prosecution. He
said that his attention was called to
loud and obscene lanEua r. in the Eek
man garage about 1850 o'clock Tues
day morning. He said that a man
and woman walking on the opposite
side of the street were also attract
ed by the boisterous talk. He cross,
ed the street and walked into the
garage and placed Len Thro under
arrest. The young man, he alleged
resisted somewhat, and others in the
room inteTfered with him in making
the arrest. After quite tussle, &C
cording to the statement of the. of :
fcer, the defendant was brought to
the police station with the aid of
Officer A. l.. Volk, Officer Lang
hoff testified that the young men in
the garage were indulging in very
disparaging remarks about Mayor
w. A. Beach and Chief of Police
landmark y
Sergeant Len Burrill testified as
to the bringing in of the defendant.
He said that Mr.. Thro was "abso-
lutely under the influence of liquor
Attorney c. j.. Laurisch asked the
witness for a definition of drunken
ress. -
well, there are two kinds of
Burrill, ''the gentlemanly drunk and
the mean one" and then the witness
itimated that the defendant might
belong to the latter class. =
Carl Eckman said that he mat
Len Thro about ono o'clock in the
morning. They intended to go to one
of the local restaurants for a lunch
but went over - the Eckman garage
Mr.. Eckman said ahat Mr.. Thro did
not show that he, was drunk, but did
appear as-though he might have
drank a glass of wine or two. Soon
after reaching the garage Officer
Langhoff rushed in like a wild man
and placed Len Thro under arrest.
I'm your opinion" said Chief of
Police Landmark, did you think he
had been drinking"
He was pretty decent, but he
may have had something to drink, /"
said the witness.
Walter Eckman reiterated the
statements Of his brother, in that
Mr.. Thro was not drunk, and had
IA this point il the proceedings,
City Attorney Charles E. Gilmore
took up the examination of the WITT
'nesses for the defense.
NJ E. Welsh and Ferdinand Hoerr
were eating a midnight luncheon in
the Empress Cafe ad testified that
Mr.. Thro wished both of them a
Merry Christmas" in a very polite
and sober manner. They had seen no
signs of liquor on him.
w. G. Hauer stated that he had
been with Len Thro all evening. They
had gone to party at the home of
Mr.. and Mrs. Henry Spicer, who had
a. invited in a number of their son
Harold c. Spic@'s gentlemen friends.
The evening was very pleasantly
spent and during the time, up to
about midnglhtN two glasses Of wild
| grape wine each had been passed
around. Then Mr.. and Mrs. HAROLD
c. Spicer had taken the members OF
Il E party to luncheon at the EN-
press cafe. From there they drove to
the Thro drug store, where Mrs.
Spicer got some cough medicine for
her five year old child. After this Mr..
and Mrs. Spicer were driven home
and the young men assembled at
the Egkman1 garage, where the usual
rollicking talk that will occur among
a crowd of young men took place.
All this time Mr. Thro had not shown
any signs of liquor, and behaved
himself in a gentlemanly manner.
Harold &C. Spicer verified the
statments of Mr.. Hauer. He created
considerable nIerriment in the court
room when he stated that he had
passed around the wine himself, but
it. Contained less than one half of
one percent alcohol,
Lloyd Smiths testimony was prac
ticS Ey the same as that OF the other
Witnesses for the defense. =
The defendant, Len Thro, was the
last witness sworn. He testified
that he had not INDUCED in any Ii
quor with the exception of the two
glasses of wine mentioned. He was
not drunk, and did not use any
abusive language until he was lock-
ed UP in a cell at the police station.
Then he admitted that he cussed the
police in general.
The case was submitted to the
court without argument by either
the attorney for the prosecution or
the defense. The court found the
defendant not guilty, and the case
against Carl Eckmar~ was dismissed
The announcement of Judge Golf
that the defendant was not guilty
was greeted with marked applause
by the young men present.
TzYon1anr. "a nrmAr cSmNr nv