THRILLING SCENES IN COURT.
"Do you see the man?" asked Mr. Mills, in an emphatic tone.
"Yes sir," replied the witness.
"Where is he?"
Mrs. Carlson leveled the index finger of her gloved hand at Burke. The latter chewed viciously at his tobacco and his eyes rolled wildly. The other prisoners did not dare to look at their companion. The witness went on to tell why it was certain that she had made no mistake in her identification. She knew Burke by his restless eyes, by his mouth, by the general contour of his face. Burke turned pale as the terrible ordeal proceeded. Dramatic in the extreme was the identification of Burke by old man Carlson. When asked to pick out Frank Williams from the hundred of faces that were turned toward him, he glanced about earnestly, but did not utter a word. The request was repeated, and again the old man scanned the audience without discovering the face. Burke, his countenance rigid with determination, sat with his frightened eyes riveted upon the witness. Carlson was asked to leave his chair and walk among the people below him. Taking his soft hat in his hand, he walked slowly past the jurors and the lawyers. His eyes were fastened upon the prisoners. He began with Beggs. Then his gaze passed from Coughlin to O'Sullivan and thence to Burke. The two men were but a few feet apart. With a grunt of satisfaction Carlson shook his old hat at the pale-faced prisoner.
"Is he the Frank Williams you saw?" asked Mr. Mills.
"Yes, sir," was the emphatic reply, and the painful silence which had prevailed in the court-room was broken by a prolonged buzz.
It was Coughlin's turn to turn pale when John C. Garrity was placed upon the stand. This witness told how on one occasion Coughlin had asked him if Sampson could be got to do a piece of work. When asked what it was, he replied that he wanted to have a certain fellow "slugged." Garrity asked what he wanted done to him, and Coughlin replied that he wanted a man to get a club and break his nose and knock his teeth out or disfigure him for life. Mortensen, the expressman, forged another link in the evidence by positively identifying Burke as the man who had hired him to cart the furniture to the cottage. When the witness pointed directly at Burke, the latter showed more anger than at any time during the trial. His face was flushed, his jaws set, and he glared savagely at the Swede. Edward Spelman, of Peoria, Illinois, the district officer of the Clan-na-gael, was another witness, but his memory was exceedingly treacherous. In fact, he could not remember any of the circumstances to which he had testified before the Grand Jury, and it turned out that, in the interval, he had visited the office of, and conferred with, Alexander Sullivan. The only fact of importance to which he testified was that he had seen Coughlin and Kunze together in Peoria, and that they appeared to be very intimate. The witness admitted that the following correspondence had passed between himself and Beggs:
"Chicago, Feb. 16, 1889.
"My Dear Sir and Brother: I am directed to call your attention to the following subjects: First, it is charged that the S. G. of the Columbus Club (Dr. Cronin's camp) at a recent meeting read to the assembled members the proceedings of the Trial Committee. Second, I am directed to enter the protest of Camp No. 20 against the D.'s in Chicago electing or initiating men until their names are presented to D. No. 20 and the other D.'s for their consideration. The old rule by communication has become a dead letter since the formation of the Central Council, and I am informed that said council has not held a legal meeting since its formation. Good discipline calls for an investigation of the foregoing, which I feel you will attend to. Fraternally yours,
"Don't forget our reunion February, 22."
"J. F. Beggs, S. G., D. 20."
"Peoria, Ill., Feb. 17, 1889.
"Friend Beggs: Yours of yesterday to hand and contents carefully noted. Will you kindly refer me to that section of our law where I am empowered to inflict a penalty on an S. G. for disclosing the proceedings of a Trial Committee? Under the constitution I called the S. G. and J. G. together [meaning Senior Guardian and Junior Guardian] for the purpose of forming a council. If they fail to perform their duty I would like to know how I can remedy the evil you complain of. While I admit that no person should be admitted in Chicago unless his proposition should come before the council or the D.'s in your city, on accepting the position of the D. O. [District Officer], I felt that I should be able in my own way to effect a reconciliation of our people in Chicago. But I must confess to you that I am greatly disappointed. My position is this: That if any person who is a member should violate the law, he should be tried as provided by our constitution. What is the fact? Members who know a wrong go around the street and go from one D. to another and talk about such an offense. Then they report, and the D. O. is a figure head. I will take no notice of any complaint unless made to me, and if I have authority under our laws, you may depend I will be on hand. I thank you for your kindness, and discipline is our only safeguard. If you see where I can act, I am at your command. My term of office will expire at this month, and God knows I am glad. I am disgusted with the conduct of men who think they should lead the Irish people. But I think it is dangerous for decent men to associate with such scamps. Thank God, proxies no longer prevail.
"Fraternally yours, D. O. 16."
"Chicago, Feb. 18, 1889.
"Dear Sir and Brother: Yours of the 17th received. I have not the constitution before me, and therefore can not point out the section that would cover the matter complained of; nor am I prepared to say that the act mentioned was a violation of any written law; but that it was very unwise, and such conduct as is prejudicial to the good of the order, no man in his right senses will deny. It is just such acts that keep us continually in hot water. Why, in God's name, if men are sincere, will they insist upon opening old sores? The majority of our men believe the parties charged to be innocent of any criminal wrong, and to have the charges made continually that they are guilty, creates a bitterness and ill feeling, and the man or men who continue to bring the charges are not the friends of Irish unity. What earthly good is done in continuing the old fight. What is the reason for it? I confess I can give no answer. If we are true men, as we profess, we will rather conciliate than keep up a war which can only lead to further disunion. The rank and file are sincere. They want peace, and the time is not far distant when they will have it, even if it has to come to war. I am anxious for a better understanding among our people, and will do anything in my power to obtain unity. The matter I wrote of, I would let pass if I could, but I was ordered to notice it. Personally I think it better not to notice such things, but I am only one. The men who are the power will in time realize the motives of those who are continually breeding disorder in their ranks, and a day of punishment will come. I am very much discouraged at the present outlook, but hope no trouble will result. Fraternally yours, J. F. Beggs."
Of testimony against O'Sullivan, there was an abundance. Justice Mahoney told of being present when the contract for professional services was made between the iceman and the physician, and Mrs. Addie J. Farrar testified that the iceman had said to her, after the disappearance, that Dr. Cronin was a British spy, and that if he had given away any of the secrets of the secret organization he ought to have been killed. Editor R. T. Stanton, of the Lake View Record, showed that the particular card of O'Sullivan's that had been used to entice Dr. Cronin from his home had been printed for and delivered to the iceman two days before the murder. The first evidence connecting Kunze with the murderers, or their different places of rendezvous, was given by Willie James, a sixteen-year old stenographer, who swore that he had seen Kunze wash his feet at the window of the Clark street flat in the month of March, while Mertes, the milkman, positively identified the little German as the man who had driven a big broad-shouldered man to the Carlson cottage on the night of the murder, and likewise identified Coughlin as the man he had seen run up the steps of the slaughter-house and disappear behind the front door. Kunze rocked to and fro with fury during this testimony, and glared wickedly at the witness. Coughlin's gaze never left his accuser, but his face flushed and his deep set eyes blazed.