NEGROES DID NOT RAPE GIRL

Examination by Doctor Discredits Girl’s Story

Alleged victim’s body shows no marks, bruises,
cuts, tears, swelling or sensitiveness.

Stories of Young Couple Do not Ring True—Young Sullivan’s Moral Character Questions—Late Lynching Marked by Sickening Barbarity and Savagery—Priests Jeered and Judges Ignored—Grand Jury Investigation Terrible Affair—Expected that Governor Will Remove Murnian—Will Take Years to Live Down Disgrace.

After investigation and a careful analysis of allegations, The Rip-saw is forced to the conclusion that six Negroes did not rape Miss Irene Tusken at West Duluth on the night of Monday June 14.
Not only did that young woman's physical condition, as diagnosed by a highly reputable and experienced physician, fail to corroborate the sensational story told by Irene Tusken and William Sullivan, but their tales do not ring true. They do not square with, nature, human experience and common sense
All this being the case, there was not the slightest excuse, to say nothing of reason, for brutally and unlawfully hanging three Negroes, thereby putting a lasting stain on the fair name of the city of Duluth, to say nothing of murdering the Negroes and damning the souls of the disciples of lynch law and mob rule.
The whole miserable affair, at this time and in the light of developments is a travesty on humanity, law, order and justice.
The lynching of those unfortunate colored boys was the crowning tragedy of a generation. The plot was conceived in a lawless resort, carried out by hoodlums and permitted by a weak and incompetent police department.
Human life is unsafe in Duluth. Might and license make right. Mexico offers nothing more savage and barbarous than the recent lynching. That tragic event was the culmination of five years of sympathy with "treating 'em rough," lax law enforcement locally, cheapness of human life in the winds of St. Louis county juries and neglect of the authorities to suppress tough gangs and their dirty pool room resorts.
The time seems not far off when reputable citizens will be compelled to carry weapons of defense to protect themselves against thugs, thieves and murderous marauders.
It was only a few months ago that a West Duluth man was killed by a blow over the head with a piece of scantling in the hands of three mere boys who coveted a tow paltry dollars the victim was supposed to bade to his pocket.
It was only a few weeks ago that a prominent taxicab driver was lured into the suburbs, throttled, thrown into the wayside bushes to rot, while the murderers drove away with his car and his money.
It was not so very many months ago that three sons of wealthy men took turns at violating a young girl in a woodland cabin. Influence headed off publicity and punishment for the dastardly crime.
A local preacher even wrote anonymous letters threatening to visit the editor of the Rip-saw with mob violence.

Seduction, morally as bad a crime as rape, is a vocation and a pastime with many boys of this city who associate with many members of the repent mob, if not actually taking part in the outburst of savagery, barbarity and lawlessness.
The Ten Commandments seem obsolete in Duluth, to say nothing of Minnesota's laws.
When devoted priests tried to reason with the recent mob and to persuade the leaders to give no their plans, what was the reply?
"To h—l with the church! To h—l with the law!"
"Did you never have a wife and daughter?" one priest was asked
"What office are you running for?" one flippant lyncher asked another priest.
Judges of the district court were utterly ignored by members of the mob as well as appeals by prominent citizens.
For barbarity and savagery the young fiend who climbed the pole and kicked the dying Negro in the face is entitled to the highest badge of infamy.
The tough Jack Robinson shows veto in Duluth on Monday, June 14. Tuesday evening, the readers of the Herald were astounded to read that a young woman of West Duluth had been raped by six Negroes, one after another, while her escort was forced to stand by and witness the bestial act.
James Sullivan and Irene Tusken were the two who sponsored that startling tale. They stated chat, at about 10 p.m., while watching the circus hands load out the animals, a band of Negroes grabbed the girl and dragged her to a clump of bushes near the D. M. & N. tracks. One Negro was alleged to have put a revolver to young Sullivan's head and then to have held him tightly. Sullivan claimed that six Negroes, in turn, forcibly raped the young woman and that he was required to witness the horrible acts.
After finishing with the girl, she and her escort maintained the Negroes compelled them to leave the vicinity by a circuitous route and forbade them to go across the circus grounds.
The two made the street car and the girl was taken to her home, where she retired without notifying her parents of the alleged outrage.
Young Sullivan went to the Missabe ore docks, where lie works as a boat spotter. His father, Patrick B. Sullivan, is night superintendent of the ore docks. The Sullivans live at 2874 Wicklow street.
The Tusken girl lives with her family at 4836 West Sixth street. The father, William E. Tusken, is a mail carrier and a man of repute.
Young William Sullivan is alleged to have worked a couple of hours at the docks, when he told his father that the Tusken girl had been raped by six Negroes and that he had been compelled to witness the Outrage. That is supposed to have been about 2 a. m. Tuesday morning, June 15.
Superintendent Sullivan is alleged to have at once called up Mr. Tusken and reported the boy's allegations. The police are credited with having received complaint between 2 and 3 a. m. The News Tribune office knew of it before 4 a. m., too late to get into their last edition.
It is alleged that the circus was overhauled out near the Canadian Northern yards. It further is alleged that both the girl and the boy were, taken out there, but that both failed to identify a single Negro.
A dozen of the Negro hands were taken to police headquarters and given a hard "sweating." It is claimed that three of them admitted guilt and were locked up. At that time, at least six of them were locked up. The tough Jack Robinson shows went on to Virginia and, that afternoon, chief Murphy went up to the Queen City and nabbed still another bunch for witnesses it is claimed.

Now got down to a bit of analysis, dear old reader, and you will find many things that do not ring true or properly square up. Of course there are so many rumors mad allegations that even the grand jury, now in session, finds it difficult to sift the true from the false.
In the first place, back of a circus is a peculiar place for a decent boy and a respectable girl, he admitting to 17 years and she not exceeding 18 years, at 10 o'clock at night.
There is no evidence that the boy fought or tried defend his companion although a boy [illegible] of said would have fought desperately under such circumstances. There is no claim that he yelled. That stuff about a revolver being held to his head sounds too much like a Nick Carter novel to be given much credence.
There is no claim that the girl screamed or struggled. Her clothing was not torn when she got home, although it is stated that the mother has said that, one garment was torn some.
The alleged victim of the alleged rapists is credited with saying that she became unconscious when the Negroes grabbed her and started to take her to the bushes. She next says that she regained consciousness just as they were leaving her. The girl tells about the Negroes leaving her, yet the boy claims that they stood by and directed the departure from the scene of the outrage.
After being forcibly raped by six well developed Negroes, Irene Tusken would have the people of this city believe that she walked to the street car, went home and to bed, without saying anything about her horrible experiences to her parents. Then, a few hours later, she was able is go many blocks to attempt to identify her assailants.
Any man or any woman who knows anything about human anatomy and, especially, the anatomy of a young girl and husky young Negro boys firmly will believe that such a girl, undergoing [illegible] by [illegible] young fellows, would have to be taken to a hospital, if not a morgue, instead of walking to a street car, going to bed without attention and then getting up a few hours later, apparently in normal physical condition.
Sullivan, the gallant young defender of female virtue, states that he and the girl were watching the circus pull up stakes and load out. That being the case it was a most strenuous time for hands. A harsh, driving foreman customarily stands over his men and pushed them to the limit. It may not be out of place to ask where was that foreman and how did he permit a considerable number of his gang to go to the bushes long enough for each and every one to commit rape, something not accomplished in an instant, especially with such huge Instruments of rape as most of those Negro boys carried.
To one who knows anything about circuses, foreman at time of pulling up stakes would be right on the heels of all of his men. Anyway, the story of that foreman might be interesting and profitable to hear.
About 9 a. m. the grieving father of the girl called at the office of a highly reputable and experienced physician in West Duluth. He has lived in Duluth for many years and has served the Tusken family professionally at different times.
When the physician arrived at the Tusken home, he found the girl in bed. He began his professional services. There were no marks or bruises on her face or neck. The girl's body was not examined. When it came to was examination of the organs that were supposed to have suffered so cruelly there was not a bruise, scratch, or [illegible] slightest evidence of swelling, inflammation or sensitiveness. That physician believes, as does the Rip-saw, that Irene Tusken never was raped by one Negro, to say nothing of six Negroes.
Some who know young James Sullivan believe that he would be fully as dangerous to a young girl as a Negro circus hand. Although young in years, Sullivan is credited with having quite an intimate acquaintance with Old John Barleycorn, the mysteries of sex and various forms of low moral endeavor.
Frank Blodgett, the shoe man, and

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EXAMINATION BY DOCTO DISCREDITS GIRL’S STORY

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Johnson and Jermstad, formerly West Duluth grocers, own cabins a couple of miles north of Lakewood,
Once upon a time, a small company of young people went out to Blodgett's cabin, where they found young Sullivan with a girl, both of them drunk. The members of the little party were so startled and somewhat scared that they quickly faded away without driving out the young roisterers and trespassers.
About 18 months ago, a company of high school boys secured Blodgett's cabin for a little party. Some time later, Blodgett discovered that his cabin had been turned upside down and that it had been befouled in a way that no one but low hoodlums would do. Johnson & Jermstad's cabin also was broken open, the furnishings turned upside down and the place left in a nasty condition. Signs of drunken revelry were evident, such as whisky bottles, together with hair pins and other articles of feminine wear.
Mr. Blodgett informed the boys that it was up to them to discover the ones who committed the nuisance, otherwise they would have to pay Johnson and Jermstad for the damage done. The boys got busy and developed the fact that young Sullivan and a party of roistering boys and girls had broken in, staid there all night, engaged in sinful stunts and then committed the acts of nasty vandalism.
What an innocent young girl was doing out there in the dark, behind a circus tent, with a tough young kid, may be a subject for thought.
Time, space and personal knowledge do not permit a detailed narration of the collapse of Duluth's police department and the terrible scenes incident to a lynching of three Negro boys, pleading for mercy and even denying guilt to the last.
That allegation of confessions will await analysis and discussion at a later day. False confessions often have been made under duress and as a result of great fright. Anyone who knows the primitive Negro character will not show much surprise at the confession, especially if the third degree caused the boys to believe that a wall was all that separated them from an angry mob. Without that confession the extreme pacifists on the police force have might shaky ground under their feet.
For barbarity, cruelty and primitive savagery, the recent lynching topped anything in the history of the country for many years. Burning at the stake in the South usually is the result of positive identification by the victim. In the Duluth case, there was an utter absence of identification. One Negro, too, might accuse another with an idea of saving his own skin. White men have done such things, why not a simple Negro boy.
A wave of horror shame, anger and burning resentment swept through the city when detail of the lynching was known. Both the sheriff and the police department became very zealous after everything was over. Gov. Burnquist quickly complied with sheriff Magie’s call for troops. An investigation under way by Gen. Rhinow is believed to be for the purpose of laying a foundation for commissioner Murnian’s removal by Governor Burnquist.
There also is a general feeling that Chief Murphy was not equal to the emergency and, if Murnian goes, Murphy surely will accompany him.
One peculiar thing was the large number of persons in the mob who seemed bent on finding chief of detectives Shulte. Many a demand was made as to where he was. It's a dollar to a doughnut that he would have boon lynched, had be been in the station when the mob was in complete control.
The shooting of Vukadinivich was rankling in the breasts of many. It is feared the final chapter in that tragedy has not yet been written.
As stated, district judges Cant and Fesler were witnesses of the lynching. Their souls must have been filled with horror. As quickly as time and pen would permit, the bench joined in a call for a special grand jury. That jury now is investigating and, in time, undoubtedly will arrive at conclusions and make a report.
It is stated that members of the mob are filtering out of Duluth and that, already, officers have failed to find the men for whom they had subpoenas.