The case of "Harmonia vs. Hickey et al." was on the docket in Judge McAllister's court yesterday afternoon and brings to our mind the regrettable occurrences at the riot two years ago. It is to be hoped that the outcome of the trial will establish definitely where Karl Tessmann died.

It will be remembered that at the time of the riot near the Halsted Street viaduct the police rushed into the nearby Vorwaerts Turnhalle and broke up a meeting of the Carpenters' Union. The officers claimed stones were thrown from the Turnhalle. Others stated that some of the rioters fled to the hall and were pursued there by the police. At this juncture the officers of the law met with resistance, whereupon the people in the hall were attacked by the police.

The storming of the Turnhalle was considered justified at the time due to the 2great excitement prevailing in the neighborhood, and it was generally regretted that the carpenters were holding their meeting on such an unfortunate forenoon.

It will also be remembered, that, despite positive statements made at the time that Tessmann fell at the corner of Halsted and 16th Streets, his relatives persistently declared that the man was shot by the police while attending the meeting at the Vorwaerts Turnhalle.

The unfortunate incident happened while the Carpenters' Aid Society, incorporated under the name "Harmonia," which had rented the hall, was in session. All damages occurring to the building, due to this police raid, were, therefore, added to the petition of the Harmonia. And, therefore, the name of the Harmonia appears as plaintiff in the damage suit against former Police Commissioner Hickey, a number of policemen, and the mayor.

Harry Rubens, assisted by two other attorneys, represented the plaintiff; 3Corporation Counsel Tuthill was in charge of the defense.

The case was called yesterday afternoon at two o'clock. Both parties were satisfied to let the Judge render the verdict by waiving jury trial. Therefore the proceedings started immediately.

The plaintiff's attorney, in a brief introductory speech, offered to produce evidence showing that the defendants in person, or their subordinates, had entered the Turnhalle illegally and disbanded a meeting of peaceable citizens on July 26, 1877, thereby causing certain damages.

Wilhelm Starkwehr was the first witness for the plaintiff. He stated that he had been and still was the financial secretary of the Harmonia, and that he was acting in that capacity at a meeting of carpenters, called by the Harmonia, at the Turnhalle on July 26, 1877. The object of the meeting, he testified, was to consider reports and prospects of shorter working hours or increased wages in the carpenter shops of the city. The meeting was a 4continuation of a session held in the same hall on the forenoon of the previous day.

The meeting began shortly after ten o'clock, he said, and had been in progress for about half an hour, when the police rushed into the hall, where about three hundred people were assembeld, and yelled, "Get the H... out of here!" and clubbed everyone within reach.

The witness further stated that he was sitting at a table attending to membership applications, and that the table was upset and books and cards trampled on; also, that he saw about ten policemen shooting into the crowd and belaboring it with clubs, and that the assembly fled in all directions.

According to the witness, none of the Union members were armed. Nothing had been done to provoke the police into making such an attack. The windows of the hall had not been opened and the doors leading to the hall were ajar; admission had been denied to no one. The witness stated positively that no 5order had been given to keep out the police, and that the meeting was not a secret one.

The next witness was Meyer Wassermann, lessee of the Vorwaerts Turnhalle at the time of the occurrence. He said that he stood at the entrance of the building while the meeting was in progress and that the assembly was exceptionally quiet; that he saw no one carrying arms; that the street was crowded and he watched the people passing by. According to his testimony, suddenly a squad of police, led by Sergeant Brennan, rushed to the hall. He told them that they had no business in the hall, and was given a trouncing and was struck in the face with revolvers. The next moment the police rushed upstairs. What happened there he did not see, but in less than two seconds men were being driven downstairs and clubbed by the police. He also heard shots. He saw Sergeant Brennan on the street shooting wildly; but did not notice anyone being struck. In the opinion of the witness, Brennan was leader of the police.

When cross-examined, the witness testified that prior to the arrival of the 6police there was no disturbance in the hall. The barroom was closed. No one had told him to exclude the police, he said. He merely tried to prevent the raid, to avoid trouble. He admitted that considerable excitement prevailed in the neighborhood on that day due to clashes of the police with alleged rioters, but said that he knew of it only from hearsay. He asserted that he did not ask Hickey for the names of the policemen who made the raid; that it was unnecessary to do so because he [the witness] knew some of the officers personally.

The police, he said, had never before this time been refused admittance to the Turnhalle, nor had they ever before acted in such a manner in obtaining entrance.

The witness declared that he saw no one defending himself against the police, who were clubbing and shooting at everyone in their path; also, that after the police had left, he went into the hall and found it devastated; that on the east side, near the door, there was a large pool of blood.

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In so far as he knew, the witness concluded, there was no reason why the police should have made such an attack. No one in the hall had molested the police, nor had anyone fled from the police to seek shelter there. None of the policemen said what they wanted, no warrant for a person or search warrant was shown, and the Riot Act was not read. The police merely ordered, "Get out," and did not wait for anyone to obey, but cursed and used their cudgels.

Alderman Stauber

Alderman Stauber was sworn in and told what he saw.

He stood, he said, near Wassermann at the entrance to the Turnhalle. He saw a couple of teen-age boys in an alley west of the Turnhalle. These fellows threw chunks of coal at some policemen walking on the opposite side of the street. While one of the officers ran after the youngsters, a police wagon darted around the corner on Halsted Street, and both divisions stormed the 8hall. He heard Wassermann tell the officers, "This is my hall, and I don't want to have a row here," and he saw Wassermann being clubbed. During the melee he, the witness, fled and hid behind a door. He, too, was given several welts on his back as he left the building. He also saw men fleeing from the hall while being cudgeled. He heard several shots.

George Heidenberger

George Heidenberger, who was at the carpenters' meeting, corroborated Starkwehr's testimony regarding the unprovoked raid, and the unarmed assembly. He was struck on the head and back as he fled from the hall, he stated.

Henry Stahl

According to his testimony, Henry Stahl gave a speech at the beginning of the meeting and then walked downstairs to get a drink at the bar, when he noticed the police at the foot of the stairs. Before he knew what it was all about, 9he was struck with a night stick and dropped, unconscious, to the floor. The assembly was peaceable and had nothing to do with the alleged riot.

Moritz Wassermann

Moritz Wassermann, colessee of the hall, said that at the time of the raid he was in the barroom; that, noticing the passing crowd and the rush of the police toward the building, he locked the door leading from the stairway into the barroom; that he heard the fight on the floor above and saw the police on the stairway beating the people as they came down; that he noticed a policeman standing on the wagon and shooting wildly; that Sergeant Brennan, at a corner on Twelfth Street, was amusing himself similarly. He stated that he saw no one injured by the shooting.

Joseph Danziger

Joseph Danziger, chairman of the routed assembly, spoke of the peaceable 10character of the meeting and described the police raid in about the same manner as the other witnesses. He said he fled to the stage loft and heard shots, one of which passed near his head. He knew Karl Tessmann, he acknowledged, but could not say whether he was at the meeting.

The case was then postponed until this morning at ten o'clock, when further testimony will be taken.