Rensselaer Semi-Weekly Republican, Volume 35, Number 120, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 25 September 1903 — The Last of the Tanner Cattle Cases [ARTICLE]

The Last of the Tanner Cattle Cases

The last of the almost innumerable oases in court growing out of the celebrated Tanner-Halligan-Harris trouble, of Nov. 1900, was ended Tuesday afternoon. In this particular oase G. W. Tanner was tried on the charge of selling other people’s cattle to Henry 0. Harris. A short time before various droves of the oattle in Tanner’s oare were rounded up and sbij ped to-Chi-cago, Mr. Harris went out and ..secured 65 head and drove them away. A suit was subsequently brought against Mr. Harris by commission men who claimed to own the oattle, and the settlement of this suit cost Mr. Harris $4,000 or $5,000. In this present trial Mr. Harris swore that he bought the cattle of Tanner, or "Dollared them off,” as he expressed it, while Tanner swore that he was then bard pressed by credit jrs, and allowed Harris to take the oattle, to satisfy his claim, but telling him the oattle were not his. The jury brought in a verdict of not guilty.

In the final ronnd-up of this cattle matter Mr. Harris is thought to have lost about $5,000, and the Halligans about $7,000 or SB,OOO, and possibly more.'' There have also been thousands of dollars spent in unavailing litigation over it. The only people who seem to have profited any, was the rascally stock-yards commission firm of Sansom & Co. The statute of limitations will now bai any further proeeoutione on this matter. Mrs. Sarah N. Burnsid, formerly Brown and keeper of the Foster House, on Main street, south of the depot, now said to be oonduoting a boarding house or hotel in Kankakee, 111., was tried on the

charge of keeping a house of ill fame. There was but little evidence against her farther than the testimony of a few persons that the reputation of her plaoe was bad, and which they were unable to support by any faots they had personal knowledge of, and the jury promptly acquitted her, Wednesday forenoon. A girl who went by the name of Trixie, but who gave her name to the oourt as Rosa Gray, was arrested at Mrs. Brown’s plaoe, at the same time she was, and was oharged with being an “inmate.” She was brought into oourt immediatly after Mrs. Burnsid was acquitted, and the oharge against her was dismissed. John G. Moritz, of Kersey, was tried Wednesday afternoon on one of the numerous indiotments against him for selling liquor to minors. state’s witnesses have taken to the bushes and could not be found, and this case was tried on an agreed statement of faots. It was admitted by the defense that Moritz sold beer to Cecil Cooper, at the time and plaoe mentioned, and that he was a minor. For the defense it was put in evidence that Moritz asked the boy if he was of age, and the boy said he was and two witnesses testified that they beard this question and answer. The jury

failed to agree, standing six to six and the other oases against him were continued. Ceoil Cooper, Jay Spencer and Hugh Sigler, all minors, were at Moritz’s place in a bunch, fnd they are the parties who can sot now be found.