Additional evidence was submitted to prove that neither Coughlin nor Beggs had entertained any kindly feeling toward the physician in his lifetime, but that on the contrary, they hated him with all the intensity of their strong natures. It was shown, for instance, that in saloons on the North Side of the city, not only Beggs and Coughlin, but also O'Sullivan, had repeatedly denounced Dr. Cronin in the most vituperative language, and that Coughlin in particular had remarked little more than a month before the murder that, "a prominent North Side Catholic would be done up if he could not keep his mouth shut." The attempt was made on cross-examination to show that the man to whom this language had reference, was John F. Finerty, the noted Irish orator and editor, but on this question the witnesses disagreed. As a matter of fact Mr. Finerty lived on the south side of the city. From this point the purchase of the furniture and trunk for the Clark Street flat, and which was afterward removed to the Carlson cottage, was taken up. Hatfield, the salesman, repeated the testimony which he had given before the coroner's jury. The trunk itself, with the stains of Dr. Cronin's blood plainly visible on the outside was offered in evidence. So was the batting saturated with the life blood of the physician, and which was found in its interior when it was first discovered in the Lake View ditch. Cross-examination of the salesman failed to shake his opinion that the goods found in the cottage were those he had sold to the much-wanted "Simonds." Branching off, the prosecution took up the threats that had been made against the physician at different times prior to his murder, and "Major" Sampson, an individual not unknown in the criminal history of Chicago, told how he had been approached by Coughlin, who had asked him to meet Dr. Cronin some night and give him an "infernal good licking." Coughlin had also suggested that he might take another man with him in order that the job might be the more complete. Instead of complying with the request however, Sampson had gone to Dr. Cronin and acquainted him with the fact that he was in peril. The renting of the cottage was gone into detail. Mrs. Carlson told her story, and when she had finished, Mr. Mills turning his face toward the line of prisoners, asked the witness if she could recognize in the great audience before her, the face of Frank Williams. The silence was oppressive as the woman's eyes rested upon the prisoners.
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.