Bridgeton pioneer., 1893-10-19
CUMBERLAND COURTS.
A LONG LIST OF PETTY GRIM
lNAL CASES.

Dis0rderIy Houses, Forgery, AS
saults and Crue ISy so Children
occupy the Attention of the
court.
WEDNESDAY AFTERNOON.
1t was an unpleasant case that occu-
pied the attention of the Court at the
close of the morning session. 1t was
disagreeable case from Vineiand,
Jane Bills and Alfred Morgan being
the defendants and the charge a dis
orderly house.
Jane Bills Is an unprepossessing fe.
male, with hard lines in his face and
poorly dressed. Alfred Morgan is a
cripple, one leg being much shorter
than the other. His clothing were
filthy and he looked as If he was very
much in the habit of escaping bath.
The charge of disorderly house was
made under the old common law, 1t
being alleged that there was noise and
cursing which made the place a nuis-
ance to the neighborhood.
Harry Gottam started off by saying
that the house was frequented by
white and colored people, principally
men. and there were scenes of disorder
there, cursing and lewd actions pre-
dominating. The five little children
of the Bills woman were constantly
cursing and the house bore such a
character. and the surroundings were
such that decent people could not pass
with safety.
William J. Ward and Mrs. Ward
gave considerable such testimony, al
though Mrs. Ward did not know very
much.
Mrs. II. T. Kate'gave damaging tes-
timony against the people. Morgan
had been living at the house in ques-
tion, for about five years. Previous
to last spring when the Bills woman
moved there, disorder did not prevail.
Since then disorder has prevailed.
The most disreputable characters fire.
quented the place, making the night
hideous with their orgies, and arous
! ing the neighborhood. The cursing
Mrs. Kate heard evidently came from
adults. She had also heard the chill
dren cursing. In summing up her
evidence. Mrs. Kate said that s.the
house was just such one not wanted
there"
Mrs. Rosa Bosse, d nearby neighbor.
gave similar testimony, and declared
that the place was one greatly amsz-
ing her.
And thus the evidence was detailed
by witness after witness, and the de.
PENDANTS then proceeded to show how
innocent they were.
The afterno s session began with
the case of Charles Thomas and Ed
ward Stevenson, which had begun be-
lore the close of the morning session,
still on. This was a case of assault
and battery on Martie Edwards.
Martie Edwards was the first wit
ness called, and detailed the circum-
stances of the assault which occurred
In Wes. Roselle's saloon, in Vineland.
John Beckert was in the saloon and
saw the scrap, and was the next wit
ness to be sworn because he twas
there and saw it with his own eyes. :"
GEORGE Nickerson was next sworn.
he said he was In Roselle's saloon
getting shaved and he heard Martie
and Stevenson wrangling over money
matters, and when he more particular
ly noticed him Stevenson was taking
OF his coat, and getting one arm out
OF his sleeve, he hit Martie and then
Martie hit him.
This seems to be the way the fight
begun and soon Thomas was mixed up
In 1t and he too hit Martie and Martie
knocked him over on the pool table.
Wesley Roselle, the well-known bar
Der, formerly of this city, was the next
witness called. His testimony went to
show that 1t was drunken brawl be-
tween the two colored men and Martie
A~V~AASf VhO CNI0ChoO SOluS 10 SLOW
that Ed Stevenson was the aggressor,
and Thomas in a drunken way, at.
tempted to separate Edwards and
Stevenson.
With this evidence the State rested.
In defense of Charles Thomas, this
defendant was put on the stand. He
denied striking Edwards and did not
remember taking hold of him. He de.
clared that Edwards had a grudge
against him. Did not know what
Stevenson had done to Edwards.
Edwards struck him and knocked
out one of his teeth.
Ed Stevenson was next sworn and
gave his version of the affair In a
straight forward manner. He said
Martie Edwards came into the barber
shop drunk and began to quarrel with
him ending In hitting him and he was
kn{& t%ux&