Rensselaer Semi-Weekly Republican, Volume 38, Number 37, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 23 January 1906 — A MIRACULOUS BOX OF BOOZE. [ARTICLE]

A MIRACULOUS BOX OF BOOZE.

-—The trial of George Keister, the restaurant man, charged with selling intoxicating liquor without a license, was he l d Friday afternoon, before Squire J. H. Thornton amd a jury. Miss Ruth Burris, a former waiter in the restaurant; testified that on Jan, 11th, 1906 Frank B. Meyers the Rensselaer postmaster, came into Mr. Keisters’s place, , called for and received a pint bottle of beer, paid 15 cents, and proceeded to drink the beer, not forgetting, with characteristic gallantry and Chesterfieldian grace, to offer some to Miss Burris, who declined, then. Miss Burris was very positive in

her testimony, and it was not “haken by the cross-examination. The state also sought to prove by this witness and Miss Minnie Keene, another waiter, that other parties were sold beer by Mr. Keister, but the defense objected to the testimony and it was ruled out by the court.

Miss Burris also testified that on another occasion Frank came in and got a bottle and offered to pay for it then and there, but had not the exact change, and Mr. Keister told him to let* it go till next probably realizing that “next time” would not be long in coming. The defense made no attempt to controvert this particular piece of evidence.

For the defense, Mr. Meyers testified that the beer in question was some that belonged to him. That some three weeks before he had handed Mr. Keister 50 cents with instructions to inrest it in bottle of beer for him and to keep it in his ice box until he, Mr. Meyers, called for it The 50 eenfas would buy about 4 bottles. The F. M. admitted he had been dropping into Keisters about once or twice a day ever since, taking out each time a bottle of the beer, yet that little old 4 bottles of beer still held out, and there does not seem to have been any evidence that the bottles had even decreased in number. Like the old woman’s cruse of oil mentioned in the bible, as fast as one bottle Was taken out another bottle seems to have been miraculously supplied in its place. The 15 cents which Mr. Meyer paid Mr. Keister at the time Miss Burris testified to was, he said, a debt he owed for three cups of coffee. Whether the 15 cent debt was as miraculously enexhaustible as was the 4 bottles of beer and though forever being paid, was still for' ever being owed, was not explained.

Mr. Keister also took the stand and denied having sold any beer. An attempt was made to get him to admit that he took out a government license, [some time ago, bnt the defense objected to the question and the oourt ruled it out The jury was out |only about five painutes and then brought in a -'erdict of guilty, with a fine of $lO and costs. The defense gave notice of intention of appealing to thecircuit oourt The following were the jurors who tried the case: G. J. Dean, E. D. Rhoades, [George Ketchum, J. W. Williams, R. H. Grow, Ed. Randle, •A. D. Washburn, John Greenfield, Korah Parker, Ancil Woodworth, D. H. Yeoman, and A. J. Brenner. The jury stood 10 to 2 on the first ballot, 11 to 1 the second, and get solid for oonviction on the third. To reach the amount they would soak the defendant, each juror privately wrote down what he thought was the proper figure. These were all added up, and divided by 12. This gave a little ever f 14, but they threw off all above flO to mace it even money.