New Britain herald. [microfilm reel], April 14, 1914, Image 1

About New Britain herald. [microfilm reel] (New Britain, Conn.) 1890-1976

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ffilTAIN
HERALD BEST OF ALL
LOCAL NEWSPAPERS
HERALD "ADS" MEAN
BETTER 'B U S I N E S S
v
PRICE THREE CENTS:
NEW BRITAIN, CONNECTICUT, TUESDAY, APRIL 14, 1914 TWELVE PAGES.
ESTABLISHED 1876.
E1EM
'J
IS
SOLD TO L F. & C.
Hg llamMw Cm Tikis
tms.ii H Old lalna.
ONE OF CITY'S FAMOUS BUILDINGS
Social Events and Athletics Flour
. lshed There Since 1880 Frame Is
Part of - Old North Church Sale
Price Is Guarded Closely.
Hanna's armory, the famous struc
ture on East Main street that has
been the hub of north end social and
athletic activities since 1880, stands
in the shadow of the -wrecker and
will probably give way to the march
of industrial progress in a short time.
The property has been sold to Lan
ders, Frary & Clark, which now own3
practically all of the square, bounded
by Commercial, Center, East Main
and Elm streets!. The price is not
. given, although It is believed; to be
one of the biggest real estate deals
? rrom a financialy standpoint consum
mated In New Britain inyyekrs. It
is rumored that it was, in the" vicinity
of $40,000. , y v,:':n
The papers were passed this morn
ing. i . Landers, Frary & Clark was
. represented . by . President Charles F.
Smith.
The Hanna estate was rep-
r resented by William W, Hanna, who
acted for himself and his sister, Mrs.
Elizabeth J. Anderson of Mt. Vernon,
New York. - Negotiations have been
in progress for the past two weeks
f but no inkling of the proposed deal
Cwas allowed to become public. , '
Athletic and Social Center.
t Probably no building . in New Brlt
ain has been the scene of so much
social activity as Hanna's armory. It
has also ( been prominent in other
lines and has been , the chosen land
for t indoor athletics. Although Mr.
Hanna holds a lease on the property
; dating for two years from today it
, is expected that it, will be razed by
Landers, Frary & . Clark at the end
of .'that time and - used as a site for
a new manufacturing building. ; This
- will mean the passing of one of New
, Britain's most famous landmarks j and
; the whir of. industry ' will be heard
where for years rang the shouts of
athletic tans orvwher the'belles and
. beaux' of the city danced' toi, heart
:; ' ; .pulsating musje. Th e V Anger of com
'Snercialism has ? long L beep pointed - at
the structure , and its purchase will
create little surprise among those who
have watched the' growth of Landers
Frary & Clark.
The property consists of the large
"armory with two stores and a building
. in the rear. It; has. a' frontage on
East Main street of eighty feet and a
depth of 200 feet. The buildings are
S numbered from 165 to 177 East Main
S street. . - -;Part
of Old North Church.
The frame of the building is' the
original frame ' of the old North
church which, years ago, occupied the
. site on which the Burritt school now
stands. rJohn Hanna purchased the
church building in 1870 and movedit
B cross Main street to the present site
of Keeney's theater. It was used as a
drill shed by Companies D and E and
-f was at that time the only" amusement
.,' place in town, Union hall having been
v destroyed by fire. Gaiety ands enter
tainment flourished there - and many
men and women, who are parents . of
grown families today, -.-did their court
v ing there while attending dances or
theatrical performances. v
Fire practically destroyed the struc
ture on January 1, 1879, although the
walls were not consumed. ' For six
months the ruins stood as the funeral
pyre of New Britain's social : whirl.
The frame was then removed by John
. Henna to his stone yard on East Main
Street, where itis standing today,
V Famous Athletes Seen There. ',
The state- government leased ! the
building for ten years as an armory
. and it continued to be used for that
purpose until . the state armory was
erected on Arch street. The building
was the scene of numerous : athletic
events in which famous sportsmen
took part. Three six-day - walking
fnatches with world's champions com
peting were staged within its walla.
4 Fred Jean's world-beating polo team
HAIA'S
ARMORY
trailed it home. Basketball and roller
." i skating have also been liberally pa
tronized there- by the red-blooded
people of the city. Large fairs, which
f ran from week to week, have always
been part of the life of the armory.
Many well known societies ' including
i' W lhe Elks, Eagles, Y. M. T. A.' & B.
s - society and others have taken; in
thousands of dollars while holding
, fairs under Its roof.
W. W. Hanna returned last night
. from Mt Vernon, whither he , went
; with the deed for his sister to sign.
He was asked today what price the
property went for but he declined to
State.
SUES FOR $100.
Through his lawyer, Morris D.
Baxe, Angelo Stratus has brought law
f'luit proceedings against John Tjlmou
tiis, claiming $100 due him from the
' Bale of ;a pool room near the Main
; street crossing. The writ is made re
turnable before Justice F, B. Hun
Serf ord on April 8. Constable Fred
Winkle served the papers.
RECORD BREAKING VOTE
ADVANCES ON THE POLLS
Early Indications Point to
All Marks .Being
Eclipsed.
SUFFRAGIST'S TROUBLE
Mrs. Bassette Has Her Way
and Votes in Tluid
Ward.
Political wiseacres are predicting
that 'when the vote in the municipal
election is counted at 5 o'clock it
will be found that the largest number
of ballots ever . cast in a local elec
tion will be registered on the ma
chines. ' - '
All wards are far ahead of their
schedule and it is expected that near
ly all votes will have been cast when
the polls close. There will be many
voters who did not take advantage
of their suffrage but it Is expected
that the largest percentage in the
city's history of those entitled to the
ballot will have registered their
choice. . ,-.
; Nearly 50 Per Cent. This Morning.
An idea o how heavy the voting
is may be gained from the following
table which shows in the first column
the number cast in each ward up to
10:30 o'clock this'morning'-a'nd in the
second column; the number . of votes
each ward is entitled to: .
First ward . ... . . . 533 .; 1257
Second ward ...... 480 1151
Third ward ....... 605 1426
Fourth ward . . 488 , 1293
Fifth ward ....... 372 1022
Sixth ward ....... 600 . 1473
Total ........ . .3078 7621
The figures , show tKat nearly , half
the voting strength of New Britain
had rallied aground the various
standards at that hour. The fifth
ward with only 372 out of a possible
1,022 was behind' schedule' but the
extra heavy vote in the other wards
brought the total up.. to record fig
ures. The first, second, third and
fourth wards, republican districts,
furnished, 2,106 votes: and the fifth
and sixth: wards, ( democratic dis
tricts, cast 972 votes. Lv':,?,, ,
Every, effort was strained by the.
party : workers ; to brlng the electors
to the polls. It is said that never be
fore in 'the history - of the city had
there , been- so many automobiles in
use.1 i No one was too Old, no one too
feeble to vote, while there were auto
mobiles.tO; take .them tov the polling
places. . .
! Suffragist In ; Trouble.
Mrs. Buell B. Bassette of 2 7 Em
mons place gave a demonstration of
womanly determination . when she
walked into the third ward polling
place in the city building and found
ner name omitted rrom tne wara list.
She insisted that . she was going to
vote on the selection ' of the school
board as was her ngnt. Those in
charged politely informed her that her
name was not! on the list and she
could not vote. V
Mrs Bassette was adamant. She
knew her rights and she was going to
vote or know the reason why. , Finally
Republican Registrar of Voters Wil
liam H. Scheuy was called into a
conference and the mere men capitu
lated. Mrs. Basserte's name was
placed on the list and she marched
triumphantly behind the curtains. )
i But her troubles were not at an
end by any means. She had been
CANDIDATES ARE
BOTH CONFIDENT
Former Willing to Await Figures
.''". i -' v
From Polls. Republicans See
1,000 Majority.
Late this afternoon Mayor Halloran
expressed ' . confidence that he would
be the next mayor of New Britain.
"I have never seen such , a strong
democratic vote cast in a mayoralty
contest in this city," said the mayor,
"and I look upon this as the best in
dication that the democrats will win.
This remarkably heavy vote is due to
the efforts of the workers. Every
member of the party feels that a
crisis is at hand, and is doing his
best to swing the tide of battle in
our direction.
"If these efforts can count for ev
erything, when the pollsw close there
is every reason to believe, that there
will be a sweeping democratic vic
tory." ,
. The mayor, would not commit him
self . to definite statemnets, however,
being content to . await the answer
from the polls. '
Mr. Halloran will receive the re
turns at his home on Grove Hill.
Candidate Quigley was confident
that the whole republican ticket
would be elected. He preferred to
make no statement but prophesied
that the ticket would win by a plu
rality of between 700 and 1,000.
J. M. BRADY SUED.
The Bi-Motor Equipment, company,
a Massachusetts corporation, has
brought suit for $900 against ex
Senator John M. Brady of this . city.
Deputy Sheriff A. P. Stark attached
property at Ledgecrest on Stanley
street today.
incorrectly instructed in the use .of
the voting machines and attempted
to vote a Straight ticket. Whether
it was the democratic, republican, so
cialist or prohibition is not known,
but the ward officials discovered that
she was about to pull a straight party
lever unintentionally and the ma
chine was blocked. She was then in
formed how to vote for the school
committee and after doing so left
the place. She later refused to be in
terviewed by a reporter concerning
her adventure.
Mr. Bassette is a well known ppo
hibltionist. He was candidate for gov
ernor on the prohibition ticket at the
last state election and has been nom
inated for mayor by the prohibition
ists in this city. Mrs. Bassette . be
lieves in woman suffrage and was
last night elected president of the
New Britain Equal' Franchise league,
a suffrage organization.
Wrong Exhibition Sheet.
Nemesis seemed to pursue the third
ward officials, as about 10 o'clock it
was discovered that the exhibition
sheet informing the voters as to
where they would find the names of
the various candidates was one from
the second ward instead of the third.
The sheet was tacked up on the wall
outside the entrance and the error
was discovered by one of the of
ficials. Big Noontime Rush.
There was a big influx of voters
during the noon hour, which brought
the total vote cast at 1 o'clock up to
5,271, or within 2,350 of the total
number of registered voters.
In the four lowes wards there was
a jump of ,1,432, and in the fifth and
sixth there was a jump of 761.
The total fin the first, second, third
and fourth up to that hour was 3,538,
and the total in the fifth and sixth
Was 1,733.
'The 1 o'clock vote by wards fol
lows: ,
First ward 891
Second ward 818
Third ward 949
Fourth ward 88Q
Fifth ward 708
Sixth ward 1,025
Total .. ............ 5,271
This total is more than the entire
I number of votes cast at the election
j two years ago.
j Fighting to Last Ditch.
! As the hour hand on the clock crept
towards the 5, the party leaders and
their ' lieutenants strained every ef
fort to get " out the voters who had
failed to register their desires. As
a result the ' total was sent climbing
past all,,muhiclpal records'. j The third
ward passed into the .1,000 class. It
was evident from the figures' that the
greatest gains were being made in
the four lower wards.
. The 2 , o'clock vote . was as fol
lows:", ' ".
First ward .......... .". .... .. 9 G 0
.Secpnd ward ............... . .906
Third ward . . . . . . . 1,070
Fourth ward , 966
Fifth ward ... .... . ... 785
Sixth ward ................. 1.100
Total
5,787
6.198 Votes at 3 o'Cloek.
The total vote topped 6,000 at 3
o'clock. The first and fourth wards
entered the 1,000 - class andr the
second was only fifty away.
The 3 o'clock figures:
First ward ............... ... 1,014
Second ward . . ........ ' 953
Third ward ........ . . . . . . . . 1,134
Fourth ward 1,037
Firth ward 855
Sixth ward ..v.. 1,205
Total...... 6,198
TYPISTS FOR QUIGLEY.
So They Decide at Dinner in Factory
Offi ce. .
The young lady typists and book-
, keepers employed at the Hart and
! Hutchinson office pledged their loy-
alty to the G. O. P. at a dinner held
at the plant this noon. While the
' male members of the force, repub
licans as well as democrats, were not
permitted to participate the girls
urged them to "pull the second fever"
and , elect Quigley and his associates
on the ticket.
Pussy willows formed the principal
part of the table decorations and also
adorned the slogan of the diners, "Be
With Us Today Boys," which was
printed under the sign "Republican
Headquarters." Miss Fannie , Gris
wold of Berlin was the chief spell
binder and she called on the other
young ladies to speak for the cause.
SCHEYD GETS OFFE R.
Locp.1 Musician May Join McEnnel
ley's Singing Orchestra.
August J. Scheyd, a well known
local musician and a member of
Judd's orchestra, has received a flat
tering offer from McEnnelley's Sing
ing orchestra. to play an indiefinite en
gagement with them. As yet Mr!
Sclieyd has not decided whether to
accept or not.
He has been employed in the in
voice department of the P. & F.
Ccrbin division for several years.
BAD GRASS FIRE.
Engine company No. 4 extinguished
a bad grass fire on the Cohen prop
erty on Curtis street at 12:50 o'clock
this afternoon. ' The flames had
caught on a fence and were creeping
towards two barns. An adjoining lot
was also on fire.'
ELECTION EXTRA.
The "Herald" will publish an
extra edition at about 6 o'clock
this evening, covering the full
details of the votes in the six
wards.
APPLICATION DISMISSED.
Hartford, April 14. In a decision
filed today Judge William L. Bennett
of the superior court dismisses th
application of Mrs. Rosalie Hookei
Welling, daughter of former Senator
Edward W. Hooker . of this city, f oi
a divorce from William C. Welling,
an instructor at Trinity college. The
suit was heard last week, Mrs. Well
ing charging intolerable cruelty.
C. H. MITCHELL TO WED
MISS E. KATRINA WESSEL
Ceremony Will Take Place
Tomorrow Evening at 7:30
o'Clock.
Tomorrow evening at 7:30 o'clock
one of the prettiest home weddings ot
the year will beV solemnized when
Charles H. Mitchell, son of the late
Hon. Charles E- Mitchell, and Miss E.
Katrina Wessel; daughter of Mr. and
Mrs. Frederick Wessel of No. 39
Maple street, will be married at the
bride's home by the Rev. Dr. Georga
W. C. Hill, pastor of the South Con
gregational church. The ceremony
will be performed in the parlor be
neath an elaborate bower 1 or ever-
i greens- Green and white decorations,
; of attractive design, will predominate
throughout the house.
The bride will be gowned in white
brocaded silk, trimmed with princess
lace and will wear a" veil. Her sister,
Miss Jennie E. Wessel, will , attend
her as maid of honor.. She will wea i
a gown of pink brocaded silk with
beaded lace. The bridal bouquet will
be of white roses and lillies of the
valley. A brother of the groom, Rob
ert Mitchell", is to be the best man and
the ushers will be Howard H. Wessel,
George H. Mitchell and Frederick S.
Chamberlain.
Beeman & Hatch's orchestra, from
Hartford, will play the wedding march
from Lohengrin as , the bridal party
enters the room. A reception will
follow the wedding, after which the
bride and groom will leave for a wed
ding trip- On their return they will
reside on Russell street. v
Many beautiful gifts have been re
ceived from the large number of
friends of . Mr. , Mitchell and,,Ms .Wesi
seT. Mr. Mitchell's gift to his bride
is an elegant Sheraton bedroom set.
To the ushers Mr. Mitchell has given
stick pins and Miss Wessel has given
the maid of honor aValuable crescent
pin, set with pearls. , .
Both Mr. Mitchell and Miss Wessel
are among New Britain's most popular
people. Mr. Mitchell is a former city
prosecuting attorney and a prominent
lawyer and Miss Wessel is prominent
in society as well as being a well
known member of the South church-
BERGERON APPEAL CASE
TO BE ARGUED FRIDAY
Decision Expected This
Week in Wakefield Pro
ceedings. Bridgeport, April 14. The su
preme court of errors began its April
sitting here today. Decisions in the
appeal cases of Mrs. Bessie J. Wake
field and Joe Buonomo, both convict
ed of murder and their execution
stayed by the appeals to get new
trials, are expected during the week.
The court session drew an unusual
ly large attendance of lawyers. The
Rev. Walter L. Bennett, of ' the
West End Congregational church, of
fered prayer.' Chief Justice Prentice
called the list of cases and found not
many ready 1 to be argued. During
his second calling of the list he re
marked: "Can't we get some business
out of the twenty-four cases? It's dis
couraging for the court to come
down here and get so little to do."
The appeal of Joseph F. Bergeron,
alias Berger, alias Leussey, from the
decision in the New Haven superior
court convicting him of murder of
Mrs. Dowsett, was set for argument
on Friday. The briefs are in the
printers' hands. State Attorney Ail
ing explained that he Is .in the midst
of a criminal term this week and did
not want to interrupt his work, and
next Tuesday he will begin - a rail
road case. Chief Justice Prentice
said the explanation was a good
one, and Mr. Tuttle for the defendant
agreeing, the case was set for Friday.
The cases set for hearing today
were: Charles W. Brock vs. the
Travelers' Insurance company; the
George S. Chatfield company vs. the
city of Waterbury, both New Haven
county cases; and Samuel A. Purdy,
administrator, vs. Stamley Watts, a
Fairfield county case.
WEATHER.
Hartford, Conn., April 14v -Increasing
cloudiness tonight
followed by rain, warmer;
Wednesday, rain.
IS
GRANTED TO THAW
Judge Attn UphoMs Petition of
Stanford White's Slayer.
CASE GOES TO SUPREME COURT
Prisoner Will Not Be Admitted to
Bail Until Highest Court in the
Country Renders Its Decision
Various Phases of Case Discussed.
Concord, N. H., April 14. Harry
Kendall Thaw's petition for a writ
of habeas corpus was granted by
Judge Edgar Aldrich of the United
States district court today. The court
said, however, that no order would
be issued for the prisoner's discharge
from custody and arrangements had
been completed to take the case to
the United States supreme court on
appeal.
Thaw's petition for admission to
bal the court left undetermined, tak
ing the ground that it would be more
appropriate for this to be passed
upon by the supreme court.
Result of Decision,
i The result of the decision is that
Thaw's guardianship and condition
will be unchanged for the present,
but that his petition for a writ of
habeas corpus will go to the highest
court in the land with a decision of
the lower court in his favor.
The decision filed with the clerk
of the court here makes more than
ten thousand words and discusses ex
haustively the various phases of the
case presented in the United States
court, concluding:
"My conclusion is that the consti
tutional right of extradition for crime
does,, not reasonably apply to such a
situation as this, where the right of
-control by the demanding statute re
sides in a degree of custody based
on insanity, and where its papers
upon their face negative the idea of
personal7 criminal responsibility. It is
further 'thought that It Would involve
forced Or fictional reasoning to make
a flight of the character of the one
in question the kind of a flight con
templated by the constitution as a
basis for extradition.
Order Will Be Made
"It results that an order will be
made sustaining the writ! and that tho
hp-titloner he discharged from the ex
tradition process under which he was
held at the time his petition for ha
beas . corpus was brought upon con
stitutional grounds.
"It has been understood from the
beginning that, whichever way this
case was decided by me, it would be
taken to the supreme court. There
fore, no , formal, order will be made
either sustaining the writ or discharg
ing the petitioner until the aggrieved
party has had an opportunity to
perfept Its appeal."
Petition Was Filed. 1
When the slayer of Stanford White
entered this state last September af
ter his deportation from Canada, he
was arrested by the state authorities.
To prevent his extradition to New
York his attorneys petitioned for a
writ of habeas corpus, this . proceed
ing automatically placing the case in
federal jurisdiction and acting as a
stay to the extradition which was
later granted by Governor Felker.
Later the fugitive applied for ad
mission to bail on the ground that
conspiracy to escape from the insane
asylum at Matteawan was bailable.
Counsel for New York state opposed
motion for ball, alleging that Thaw's
mental condition was such as to
make his freedom a menace to the
public.
Mental Condition Discussed.
Reciting the facts as to Thaw's
petition for bail, and the appoint
ment and report of the commission
upon his mental condition, the court
says: . '
"I have no doubt of the right of
the court to grant ball under the cir
cumstances of this case; but as the
question is an interlocutory one, of
which the petitioner has the right zo
avail himself at any time and at any
stage of the proceedings, and as the
case is about to go out of the control
of this court and into the supreme
court, and as upon the question, I am
disposed to leave the motion for bail
undetermined without jurisdiction."
Danger Is Remote.
The court says that the report of
the commission, supplemented by his
own observation at the several hear
ings, satisfied him that any supposed
danger to the community through
Thaw's liberty was so remote as not
to warrant his being deprived of bail
upon that ground-
"I am not at all certain that I am
not denying a plain right, and doing
the petitioner injustice, by leaving this
question undecided," he says.
Thaw's case the court finds to be
that of a person sought to be extra
dited under the constitution because
he had fled from guardianship cus
tody based upon the verdict of a
jury that he was insane.
Utmost Caution Required.
"The case is a novel one," com
ments the court, "and requires the
utmost caution, as the power of ex
tradition is exceptional and extremely
arbitrary, and because , it imposes it
self upon personal liberty, and be
cause heretofore, neither in this
countrv nor in England has extradi-
(Continued on Second Tage.)
HABEAS
CORPUS
P. & F. CLUB PLANS
BIG SOCIAL EVENT
Entertainment and Dance to Be Given
in Club House and on Factory
Floor on April 17.
P. & F. Corbin Foremen's club is
arranging for a Ladies' night to be
given Friday evening, April 17, which,
like all of the events given by that
wide-awake organization, is to be an
elaborate affair. The company has
given them the use of the sixth floor
of the new factory building on Pearl
street, and that, with the club house,
which has been renovated recently,
will give them ample room to provide
for all that attend.
'They have arranged for a series of
entertainment numbers consisting of
selections by the club quartette,
Messrs. Sessions, Spence, Davis and
Had den, character songs an d dances
in costume by the Misses May andl
Evelyn Barrett, a comedy sketch by
members of the Worthy Temple,
Pythian Sisters, violin and piano se
lections by Mr. and Miss Hannon and
songs by Mrs. Benjamin Hallett,
Judd's orchestra has been secured!
for the dancing and during the in
termission a box lunch will be served
by the committee. The committee
headed by A. W. Stipek and assisted
by Messrs. William S. Trask, Fred T.
Perks, William Kuper, M. H. Norton
and George L. Loomis ' have been
working hard to make this affair a
success.
ANTI-TRUST LEGISLATION
REPORT IS SUBMITTED
Interstate Trade Commission
Recommended By U. S.
Chamber of Commerce.
Washington April 14. The Cham
ber of Commerce of the United States
today submitted to its 543 constituent
bodies for referendum the report of
the special committee appointed at
its last annual meeting here to con
sider proposed anti-trust legislation.
The report deals primarily with the
bill now pending in congress to create
an interstate trade commission. Seven
definite recommendations are offered
for the approval or disapproval of
the organizations affiliated with th J
chamber of commerce and they are
given forty-five days in which to re
cord their votes. , ,. .
The report recommends the crea
tion of an interstate trade commis
sion of at least five members to be
appointed by the president; that the
jurisdiction of the commission in
conducting Jnvestlgatlons extend to
all corporations! engaged in interstate
or foreign commerce, except such as
are amenable to the interstate com
merce commission; that the commis
sion should not now be given author
ity to advise applicants the legality
of proposed contracts, combinations,
etc., under the Sherman law; that in
the annual reports made to the com
mission, corporations ought not to be
required to disclose trade processes,
shop costs, profits, names of cus
tomers," or other like private informa
tion; that the publication of facts
obtained by the commission be con
fined to such as are to the public
Interest; and that congress should di
rect the commission to investigate and
report at the earliest practicable date
on the advisability of amending the
Sherman act. The report also recom
mends that the annual reports of cor
porations, if required, be confined at
the outset to those of the larger cor
porations having capital resources of
$5,000,000 or more, or to those hav
ing an annual income of $2,500,000.
All these recommendations are em
bodied in the referendum submitted
today, and when the votes have been
recorded with be made public, rep
resenting the view of the chamber of
commerce relative to the proposed in
terstate trade commission.
COAL CART OVERTURNS.
Wheel Snaps Off From One of Shur
berg's Delivery Wagons.
One of. Shurberg's delivery
wagons, loaded with a couple of tons
of fine coal, came to grief shortly be
fore 10 o'clock this morning Just
north of the Main street crossing.
The driver was reining In near the
right hand curb when without warn
ing the axel of the right rear wheel
snapped, throwing the wagon and its
contents onto the sidewalk. The
driver was thrown out, but landed on
his feet and held the horse.
No one was injured, although sev
eral women were greatly frightened..
PROHIBITIONISTS ACTIVE.
Deliver Anti-Saloon Literature on
Ere of . Election.
The prohibition party have taken
an eleventh-hour shot at the saloons
by distributing literature lately urging
the electors to cast their ballots for
F. G. Piatt, candidate for mayor, and
others on the ticket.
"Don't be 'April fooled,'" the lit
erature says. "The saloon must go,
Your vote Is 'needed. Long enough
has the Christian church been tend
ing the back door picking up drunk
ards. It is now the time when she
should send her members to the ballot
box and by their votes bar up the
front door April 14th."
The literature also bears the calen
dar of the month of April- The "14"
is missing but in its place are the
words. "The saloon must go."
MELLEN CASE NOLLED
BY JUDGE TUTTLE
Former Head of liew Haven Road
Exonerated of Manslaughter Charge.
ACTION RECOMMENDED BY COUNSEL
Claimed That the Evidence Is , Xotf
Sufficient to Bring the Accused to
Trial for Allx-fi r-i
- via wivuvi
3, J912.
Bridgeport, Conn., Aprti 14. (
Chaxle S. Mellen, former president of
th IN OW York. New Havn anA Mat-
ford Railroad company, who in Ma J
or last year was arrested , on a benclJ
wu.iiu.ui cnarging nim -with man-l
slaughter because of the death of on
jane uoe" in the wreck of th
Springfield Express in Westport o
October 3, 1912, was ordered dis
charged from custody today, followin
a nolle prosse of the charge by Judge
Joseph P. Tuttle. I
Action by the court was taken after!
it had received from the special, At-I
torney General. John H. Light and,
State Attorney Alcorn nf Ha rtf itr
county, recommendation, as to what)
course should be taken.
j.ne information before the court!
charges the accused with manslauzhJ
ter, and the state is bound to nmvJ
beyond a reasonable doubt that death)
resulted from the neglect of a plain
duty imposed by law or contract unon
the accused. personally, and that the
omission of that duty was due to
gross or culpable .negligence.
I . Essential Allegations.
Te essential allegations contained In'
the Information are as follows:
The accused, as president of th
railroad company, having exclusive
control and management of ita trackal
and appurtenances through the town
of Westport, and of the equipment
and operation of the engines and
trains running upon the same, it wait
his duty to keep said tracks in proper
condition and repair for safe travel.
and to furnish and provide a suffi
cient number, of brakemen and im
plements, and to employ competent
and careful ' engineers to run', and
operate said engines for the protection
of the lives of passengers riding upon
said trains, and to provide and. main
tain crossovers of sufficient length to
permit said engines and trains to Psk
to and from the tracks of said rail-'
road in safety, and to provide a prop
er and adequate system of automatic
train control, whereby In passing a
signal without heeding the eame, . a
train would be brought to a stop; and
well knowing the premises - and . his
said duty, the accused feloniously,
wilfully, and with culpable negligence,
did omit and neglect to perform the
same, and from which neglect the
death of Jane Doe resulted.
Not Sufficient Evidence.
We have been over the evidanco
with State . Attorney Judson, and
those who have aided1 him in the
preparation of the case for trial. We
have talked with the coroner, and
carefully read all of the evidence tak
en by him in a very thorough and ex
haustive examination of the accident
in question, and its causes, and his of
ficial report. We , have read the ex
pert report of the Investigation of the
accident made to the public utilities
commission by C. C. Elwell, its chief
engineer and inspector, and also tho
report made by the interstate com
merce commission. We have exam
ined the records of the board of dt4
rectors and the executive committee
of the railroad company; and, after
a thorough and exhaustive examina
tion of the law and the facts in the
case we are forced to the conclusion
that there is not sufficient evidence to
Justify a trial.
The evidence clearly shows that the
roadbed, tracks, signals, cars, engine
and other train equipment were in
good condition and did not contribute
to the accident. The signals were
correctly set for the crossover move
ment of the train, and the required
number of brakemen Were provided
in compliance with an order of the
railroad commissioners The engin
eer was competent, if not one of the
best. We are assured by experts that
there is no successful - automatic de
vice for stopping trains in use on th?
surface railroads of the country, an'
have not been" able to procure ' any
evidence of the contrary. V
No Specific Duty.
State Attorney Judson, and those
who have assisted him in the prepar
ation of the case for trial, agree with
us that the only allegation in the in
formation upon which a conviction
may be looked for, if at all, is that
the accused was exclusively charged
with the duty to provide and main
tain at the place of the accident a
crossover of sufficient length to per
mit the engine and train to pass
from track one tq track three at high
speed in safety, and that he neglected
this duty and death of Jane Doe was
caused thereby. Hence, we have ex
amined this allegation and the evi
dence wMch we have been able to
obtain to suport it, with much care,
and we are satisfied ;
CD That the accused was not
charged with any such specific duty
as to crossovers; (2) that the accl
dent Was nui i-aunru ., uir l?FB 'j
crossover In use. j
The crossover in use at the time of
the accident is a number 1V so caJle
and the company has a rule which
(Continued on Eleventh Paga.) 1