[Translator's note: See Illinois Staats-Zeitung, April 25, 1879. It describes the beginning of the court trial.]

The case of Harmonia vs. Hickey was continued yesterday morning in Judge McAllister's court in order to shed more light on the alleged transgressions of the police during the Turnhalle raid on July 26, 1877.

Gym Instructor Gloy

Gym Instructor Gloy was the first witness at yesterday's session. He spoke in German as he is not well versed in English. He is physical culture instructor of the Turnverein Vorwaerts. The gist of his testimony follows. He was at the Turnhalle at ten o'clock in the morning on July 26, 1877. A meeting of cabinet makers [Translator's note: This is the first instance in which 2the word "cabinet makers" appears in the article. Before they have been classified as "carpenters"] was being held, and the witness stayed there for about ten minutes. The proceedings did not interest him, so he went to the barroom below, and then to the street. There he saw a police wagon going westward. Shortly afterward it returned, and stopped before the Turnhalle. The police jumped from the wagon, rushed past him, and ran into the hall upstairs. About three or four seconds later he heard several shots and a frightful noise in the hall. A moment later the members of the assemblage were fleeing pell-mell down stairs. Upon reaching the bottom of the stairway they were clubbed by the police. In the middle of the street, opposite the entrance of the building, stood a policeman who fired repeatedly at the fleeing people.

Shortly afterward he, the witness, went into the hall. He noticed a large pool of blood near the door toward the east, and found all the furnishings of the hall in complete disorder.

About half an hour after the raid he [the same witness, Gloy] saw a baker's 3wagon, bearing an unknown dying man, on Twelfth Street, near Newberry Street, in the vicinity of his [Gloy's] home. The wagon went westward. It appeared to have come from the Turnhalle. He also corroborated the statements of other witnesses regarding the peaceful conduct of the assemblage, which consisted of from about two hundred to three hundred men. In detailed account he showed that no missiles could have been thrown at the police from the windows of the Turnhalle.

William Remien

William Remien, a cabinet maker by trade, was the next witness. He was at the meeting which the police broke up, he said. When the police rushed into the hall, everybody ran toward the stage and there the police, without giving warning or orders to leave the hall, shot at and clubbed the assemblage. When the hall was fairly empty, he further testified, he saw a man dressed in a dark suit lying in the center of the hall, and a policeman, standing about twenty feet away, shooting at his body. He, himself, was so fearfully beaten, the 4witness said, that he almost fainted from the loss of blood. Cross examination did not change his testimony.

James Geschke

James Geschke said the police began firing as soon as they entered the hall. He was on the stage and served as a target for a policeman standing near. The aforementioned officer, however, did not injure him because his pistol jammed. The witness said to the officer, he declared: "If you want to kill me, shoot through the heart!" He, the witness, saw a man lying on the floor. The police gave no one an opportunity to leave the hall. As they rushed in they began shooting and clubbing.

Frank Shippeck and Theodor Zander made similar statements.

Henry Strasler

Henry Strasler said that he stood "next" to Carl Tessmann three or four minutes 5before the police attack. The police rushed into the meeting, shouting: "Get out, you sons of bitches" [verbatim], while swinging clubs with one hand and discharging pistols with the other.

Jacob Schnoepfel

Jacob Schnoepfel testified that he was severely hurt; that at least six policemen trounced him, and six or eight shots were fired at him, which resulted in three broken ribs and injury to his lungs. He protected himself, he said, by holding a chair in front of himself. A bullet actually struck the chair.

Mr. Ruhlen

Ruhlen testified that he observed disturbances on the street.

Wilhelm Miehlan

Wilhelm Miehlan saw Tessman lying on the floor of the hall, and another man 6near by felled by the police. The witness was beaten by policeman Householder.

Jacob Beiersdorff

Jacob Beiersdorff saw the police rushing into the hall and heard shots.

Hermann Stroelle

Herman Stroelle saw the police clubbing mercilessly everybody on the street who happened to be near them. People trying to save themselves by climbing over fences were beaten as they swung themselves across, he said.

This closed the testimony in so far as the plaintiff [Harmonia] was concerned, for the time being at least.

In rebuttal, the Corporation Counsel presented a member of the police force.

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Policeman Householder

Policeman Householder said he was a member of the division which, under command of Sergeant Brendan, left the Central Station and went to the Twelfth Street Station on July 26. The division was driven to the location in two wagons. Arriving at the Twelfth Street station, the men were sent to the Turnhalle, which they had just passed. The witness could not remember if there was any disturbance in front of the hall, but stated his belief that people on the sidewalk threw stones at the police. [Translator's note: It is not explained whether he meant the police riding in the wagon, or the police walking on the sidewalk opposite the Turnhalle, who were supposedly pelted with chunks of coal by a few youngsters, according to the issue of the Illinois Staats-Zeitung, April 25.] The witness did not know how he came to be sent to the hall. He heard no shots, nor did he see anyone being struck with clubs. He may have swung his club, but he struck no one. He carried a revolver [elsewhere the weapon is called a pistol], but did not use it. When he came into the hall the place was nearly empty.

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On the stage were several people, among them Danziger, who apparently had intended to make a speech. The witness knew nothing further concerning the affair, and denied having seen any transgressions on the part of the police. He asserted he was not involved in any fight.

During cross examination the witness [Householder] said that he was very excited when he reached the hall; that he believed, after all, he heard a shot in the hall, but that he could not say who did the shooting. He struck no one with his club--there was no occasion to warrant its use. The witness said he was not ordered to break up the meeting. No one gave him orders except Sergeant Brennan, and he did not know whether or not Sergeant Brennan issued orders to raid the hall. He saw a few people being struck by the police, but saw nothing of a serious nature.

The next witness in rebuttal was Ex-Sergeant Brennan, who also showed poor memory.

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During direct examination the witness said that he and thirty men were sent from the Central Station to the Twelfth Street Station to take orders from the captain or lieutenant in charge. His [Brennan's] division rode in two wagons and passed the Turnhalle where several policemen and a special police force appeared to be suppressing a disturbance. The witness was ordered by Captain Seavey or Lieutenant Callaghan to go to the Turnhalle because of "trouble" at that place, so he and his men proceeded to it. He was given no particular orders. He gave no orders to anyone to raid the hall. The witness claimed that he did not use his revolver or remove it from his pocket [holster?] that he used his cudgel only to threaten; that he struck no one. He said that Wassermann told him on the evening before [Verbatim. Translator's note: The original is not clear on this point; it does not define, "yesterday evening"; but it may mean just that]: "If you are not the policeman who was shooting while on the corner of Union Street, then somebody resembles you very much." After that Wasserman did not insist, he said, that he [Brennan] was shooting.

Brennan insisted that he did not know whether Seavey or Callaghan ordered him 10to the Turnhalle; that he received no order, except to go to the hall with his men because there was trouble there; that his superiors probably had enough confidence In him to think that he would know what to do.

Upon reaching the hall he admonished his men, Brendan stated, to act in a quiet manner, and ordered them to clear the sidewalks. He gave no special orders, because all the men knew their duty. He did not enter the hall and gave no order to raid it. He knew by hearsay only that some of his men were in the hall. He saw none of the officers using clubs and heard no shots near the hall.

A man threw a brick and struck him in the stomach, he said; whereupon he pursued him, but could not catch him. He saw no small boy trying hard to lift up a heavy stone. He saw no large crowd coming from the hall, nor did he see anyone fleeing from the premises. He noticed no one who was injured. He was in front of the hall before the clash of the police and rioters started. He made no report concerning his activities before the hall, he said; and did 11not know whether a written report of the occurrence was in existence or not.

The case was then postponed until Monday, when further evidence will be taken. [Translator's note: See "Where Was Tessman Shot?" "Judge McAllister Will Give a Decision According to the Evidence Presented by Witnesses"; Illinois Staats-Zeitung, Apr. 29, 1879].