The Saloon Fight That Ended With a Knife and a $2,000 Bail

The examination of John Nolan, charged with having stabbed Frank Hardy at the saloon of Margaret Sullivan on Mill Street on the evening of August 6th, took place before Justice Cann yesterday afternoon. Prosecuting Attorney Bradshaw represented the Territory, and the defendant was also represented by counsel.

Mrs. Sullivan was the first witness. She testified that both men came into her place on the evening of August 6th. One of them called for drinks, but, as they were both more or less drunk, she refused to sell them liquor. She then left the room. On returning, she found the men on the floor fighting. When she approached and begged them to stop they did so, and shortly afterwards both left the house. She afterwards saw three little pools of blood on the floor, but did not know who shed it.

Dr. L. Smith was next placed on the stand. He visited Frank Hardy, the wounded man, at the hospital a few minutes after nine o'clock on the evening of the 6th. He found him stretched on a table, suffering from several knife wounds, the most serious of which was on the right side of the body, just below the last rib. It was about one and a half inches long, and the Doctor probed it to a depth of three inches. Such wounds are generally fatal. He also had a deep gash on the inside, and a smaller one on the outside of his left wrist. The man was under the influence of liquor when I called on him. I saw him again today, and as yet inflammation has not set in. He may possibly recover, but the chances are strongly against him.

Officer McCowan testified: I saw John Nolan in jail, and asked him why he cut Hardy. He replied, 'I had to cut him to keep him from beating me to death.'

Officer Lind testified: I found John Nolan after the cutting was done, in the old United States Hotel lodging house, in bed, pretending to be asleep. He still had a large pocket knife, all covered with blood, in his possession. I took him to the city jail and locked him up.

Nolan's attorney stated that they did not desire to introduce any testimony for the defense, and argued that his client had simply acted in self-defense and should be set at liberty.

The Prosecuting Attorney showed that not a single element of self-defense had been shown, and asked that Nolan be bound over.

After a few moments' reflection, the Judge bound Nolan over to appear before the next Grand Jury, and fixed his bail at $2,000. Mrs. Sullivan was also bound over in the sum of $250 to appear as a witness in the case.

Before leaving the courtroom Nolan made the following statement to a Post-Intelligencer reporter: 'I have lived in Seattle for a long time, and never but once before have I had any trouble, and that was the time I went after George McDonald because he would not give me work. For that I got forty days. This whole trouble, for which I am now being tried, came about in this way: Hardy was tending bar at the Buckeye Saloon for Boerner, who committed suicide. I owed a little whiskey bill there. On the evening of the 6th this barkeeper dunned me for the bill. I told him I owed him nothing. What I owed the house belonged to the deceased, and not to him. With that I left, and went up to Mrs. Sullivan's, and while there, leaning on the counter, Hardy came in through the kitchen, and without a word, knocked me down. You know the rest.'

Judge Cann took a statement from the wounded man, which differs very materially from this, and makes Nolan out the aggressor. Mrs. Sullivan's testimony also conflicts with Nolan's statement in many important particulars. The truth of the matter is, both men are hard cases. The wounded man served a term in the United States penitentiary for selling liquor to Indians, and Nolan has served several sentences in jail for offenses against the law.