The Helena independent. [volume] (Helena, Mont.) 1875-1943, 1893-10-13
MONTANA CENTRAL CASES
Three of the Accused Are Held for
the Action of the District
Court.
Engineer Fellows Discharged ana
Fireman Weaver Held for
Petit Larceny.
The Woman In the Case Proves to DO the
The Woman In the Case Proves to BE the
Leading Witness for the Froseou-
tion-Another Arrest.

Leading Witness for tho Froseou-
t~ion-Auother Arrest.
Judge Crutohsr's court Yesterday pre-
scented the appearance OF a general store 81
Q cros1 roads town. There were srunks'
y~alises, hand satcheis, comfortables blank
cts, ladies' and gentlemen's wearing APP
parel, dress goods. handkerchief. and
other materials. scattered all about Shs
Judges desk. The crowd outside The rail-
inc. tnken in connection with NE goods,
would lead one unacquaiuted with the stu
alton TO suppose there was going to DO an
auction sale. The goods were the property
of merchants who had shipped them over
she Great. Northern railway. and the crowd
was there TO see If il would b proved that
smployss Of the railroad had stolen them
from the ears while in transit. Tn usA
who are accused Of the crime are Ed Corbin.
Chas. w. Follows. E.E. Weaver. G. u. Stauf-
fer, Jas. Keyes, Jesse Hefflin. Frank Mar
lstts, @. +. smith. and j. N. Douglass. or
these Smith and Douglass are missing but
the others we're in custody. The pHslimi-
nary examination Of a majority Of these
men was set for yesterday. and Corbin. Fol.
lows, Weaver and Stauffer. were Arst put
on trial. the charges being grand larceny.
and receiving goods they know were stolen.
Walsh & Newman appeared for the defend
ants, while County Attorney Nolan prose-
Gated. s. N. Mcintyre. attorney for tho
Great Northern railway was also pres
snt. The hrst witness was NJ. Brom-
field, . Butte merchant who idsnsi-
fed that lot of comfortable.
found in a pawnshop In Helena, were similar
70 a shipment he had received at Butte.
Bronfeld said when bis goods arrived ne
found the confortables were seven short,
and no had reported the loss to the railroad
and to tho shipper. Detective kilQors. tho
next witness. told OF she arrest OF Cosoin
at East Helena and the recovery OF he
goods. The nrst witness to create q senss-
tion was w. Fl. Smith. He IL . young msn.
. brakeman, who has been in the employ OF
railroads in the state for several years.
Smiths story was to the effect that while
on the run one day between Helena and
Butte @. f.. Smith had told him about rob
berry Of freight cars, saying they had some
underoloshinR and asking him II he did
not want a suit. According to the witness
story G. T. Smith implicated Weaver
and Staufer In the c:ims. On cross-sxami-
nation the witness said he had been ar
rested twice, once in connection WIN the
stealing of Z watch. Ths eross-sxsmina-
tion, however, did not shake his testimony
in regard to tho conversation no had with A.
+. Smith in regard to the robberisA. Smiths
examination concluded the morning ses-
sion.
When the court met In the alto noon
thee was eveR q greater crowd in the court
room than in the morning. The four de-
PENDANTS, the family OF one of them, the
attorneys. General Agent Langley, Deteo-
tive Kiigo Q and city officials occupied
nearly all tho space within the railing.
Sitting in an ineonspicuous place near
the big safe was = young woman. wish
big brown eyes. her jet black hair
s but. Hppsren.ly she was as' onl, '', an
ordinary spectator. She was neatly though
not extravaRantly dressed, and while not
strikingly handsome she would attract at
tention anywhere. Had she been elsewhere
than in the police court yesterday some of
the men who are now in Jail awaiting trial
would be free men. A in almost all Grim
inal cases. where q number Of people ats
concerned, a woman furnished the evidence
that the prosecution needed 10 make 4 case. |
ELSIE Clements!' called County Attorney
Nolan, and the little woman who had been
sitting back in the corner went forward and
took the witness chair.
After telling the various places where sho
had resided in Helena. including the Grand
Central, Bristol, Alden block, and Austin
house. Miss Clements WAS asked ii she
she knew tho four defendants. She said
had been ct her room in company with @.
F. Smith. Asked to tell all she knew about
the quilts and clothing lying aheut. |
she said that Sept. IA. before noon. G. F.
and StauRer brought seven quilts
and tht ee suits of underclothing to her room.
they had taken them out OF q Montana Cen
tral freight car and wanted her to keep tbs
goods for them. This she refused TO do.
Afterwards Stauffer. Smith and herself
to dinner, Smith saying Weaver would
call for them. The saae day Frank Mar
told her that he and Stauffer had taken the
goods, consisting of Reven quilts and
twenty-four pieces OF underclothinR Sept. |
I: that between that date and the 14th, |
they kept them on the engine. Shs suid
that Weaver got three suits, Stsuffer some,
Smith some and a man named Murphy
some.
On the cross-examiRation tho witness
proved to be a match for the attorneys for
the defense. She stuck to the story told In |
the direct examination, and while qnes-
lions looking to i'm peaching her character
her self control. Attorney Newman at
tempted TO show that the relations between
Miss Clement and G. F. Smith had been
more than platonic. but the attsnp t
failed, 80 far as any admissions ON the puYt
of the witness we're concerned. She said
she was % years Of age; that she eame to
Helena last December from North Dakota;
that she had Travelled through tho country
as an actress, and that she had run various
lodging houses in this city. she said that
Smith had not lived with her, but had oc-
cupied a room In the same house in which
SIZE lived.
Marshal McCann. the next witnsas. testi-
fed to finding certain goods in Weavef's
room. in tho Steamboat block. JACOB
Holcbera, the last witness for the state,
testified that the unde:ciothinR found in
Weaver's possession was worth SO . suit.
County Attorney Nolan then add: essed
the court, saying the state had no desire to |
take any case to the district court in which
1t did not think the evidence was efficient
TO convict. For that reason he would move
Fellows be discharged. AZ there was no evil
dence connecting him with any Of the rob-
berries; that COrbin be discharged on this
charge, but he would be held on another
charge; that Weaver be dismissed as to this
charge. bus that he would file an informa-
tlon charging him with petit larceny, and
that Staufer be held for the district court.
In conformity with the request Fellows was
discharged. Weaver was held on the petit
larceny charge, his trial being set for next
Tuesday. He furnished $500 bail and was
released.
StauHer took tha stani In bia - =,