The evening world., 1894-02-07
NEWLLE's QUEER DEFENSE.
His Witnesses Strengthen the
Case Of the Prosecution.
More About the Election Frauds in
tho Fourth District.

The trial OF Peter j. Neville, charged
with the felony known to the law as
neglect Of duty as an inspector of
election, was continued before Justice
Barrett and a jury in the Court of
oyer and Terminer to-day. The case
was with the defense.
Mr.. ~Schampain, counsel for Neville. be.
gan the defense with Neville himself as
a witness. That worthy, who has been
an inspector OF election five years, threw
himself on the mercy of the jury on the
plea or lack Of Intelligence. He didn't
Know the. law. had never been before
confronted with "A like situation, and
hough he was doing the right thing. lie
hadn't the faintest idea how those q
extra ballots got into the box while he
was taking lunch. and didn't know that
he ought to have folded the ballots again
80 that they could be mingled In the
box before the drawing by lot"
Policeman George Tucker testified to
me same story AS told by all the other
He couldn't tell whether the ballots were
put back In the box folded. during the
lunch. as testified by Neville, or were
spread out and filed by parties, as told
other Witnesses for the prosecution.
From this on ~Schampain bullied n
badgered his own witness like a cross
exaininer; and Policeman Tucker. didn't
help Neville's case very much. He said
IL took the Intelligent and experienced
election board of the Twenty-eighth OF
the Fourth TIL past | o'clock to count
the vote of III citizens. IA matter of nine
hours or more. although there were only
two or three pastors In the lot. and every
other. election district I'm the city had
sent In its returns three or four hours
earlier. and THE Evening World" had
been enabled to tell its readers In an ex-
ira how the State had voted. how the
i.eSislatnre would stand, politically. and
nouncement of the result I'm "A dozen
other States and cities.
MIR. .Weliman made Tucker a first
rate witness for the prosecution in cross
examination. refreshing his memory by
reference to statements made by the
witness in the District-Attorney's Office
shortly after election, when the matter
was fresh in his mind.
Tucker remembered that two or three
men In the polling place called out to
Neville. Whats the matter. with put
ting your hands in and mixing up the
ba llots 30 as to mingle them according
70 law" but some one else suggested that
Eat would be unlawful, and Neville con-
tt.nted himself with shaking the box a
litt,e, which could not possibly disar-
range the ballots at all.
Frank A: Swanton, who was one of the
ballot clerks, was the next witness.
~Swanton's testimony was more dam
aging to Neville than anything brought
out by the witnesses for the prosecution.
He Is a bright young man. and told his
story In IA straightforward way, but
Inder the questioning of Col. Fellows.
he revealed that for the five hours dur
ing which the inspectors were can
,assing, the ballots, the seven open
voted OF the 300 ballots provided by
the Bureau OF Elections for the district,
We're on a shelf. within easy reach Of
the crowd in the polling place. including
Of all he political parties. a score or
more.
He said he was sure that neither In
spector Neville, Harding nor Kiley
touched these unvoted ballots. and did
not believe any one else had.
1t would have been easy, though. for
any n In the room to take t%wenty-one
bered stubs, fold them as IL for voting. u n
fold them, place them on a file like
those Used by the canvasers. and then
when the ~canYassers were at work.
The three inspectors are not sharged
with fraud. They are charged with neg
lect Of duty. n Col. Fellows's eyes
lessness OF the inspectors permitted some
other person to commit this fraud. a
fraud of IL per cent. in the vote, who
was to be punished?
Swanton declared that Neville gath
cred the ballots up in both hands, cast
them into the box carelessly, and then
turned the DON over ana over, enuWay
and otherwise, before the drawing OF
the excessive ballots-contradicting all
previous witnesses on that, and also by
the statement that the inspector ate the
lunch at the table where the counting
was going on.
NJ. F. DAILY, a Tammany watcher. n
John W. Byrnes, a clerk in the Regis
ter's Office and the Tammany captain In
the district, testified in agreement with
Neville on the main points.
After recess Frank Kerster, Of q
Market street; Herman Wendt, a grocer
at SO Monroe street, and James O. Poll
lon, the s~hipbuilder. testified to Neville's
god character. and that concluded the
testimony on both sides.
Mr.. Schampain pleaded with the jury
In behalf of Neville. He seemed to think
that he must defend Neville from any
suspicion that he had surreptitiously in
troduced twenty-one bogus ballots
among the l76 that had already been
counted. He suggested that some
wicked man had stolen that number In
some other district. brought them to us
Madison street and wickedly folded them
inside other bailots cast by the voters
there.
The lawyer seemed to think that the
only other charge was that Neville had
not obeyed the law, and thoroughly
mingled the 1888 ballots as a preliminary
to drawing out by lot the twenty-one
Col. Fellows probably succeeded In dis
bursting the jury on that point. although
Schampain may be still in doubt
Schampain talked more than al hour.
Col. Fellows followed.