St. Johnsbury Caledonian. [volume] (St. Johnsbury, Vt.) 1867-1919, 1894-07-26
A LAWYER GAINED.
The Railroad Boys Reception to Hon.
Charles A. Prouty.

CharIeS a. HrOuTy.
A supplementary banquet was
rendered Lawyer Prouty of Newport
at the Newport House Saturday
night by the employees of the Boston
& Maine railroad. The reception
was given in recognition of his SER
vices in defending Conductor Harry
Drew, whose trial for manslaughter,
and subsequent acquittal, are ia
miliar to all the readers of the CAL
EDONIAN.
The railroad boys along the line of
the Passumpsic division and Lake
roads raised substantial purse to
pay Mr. Prouty for his services, but
he declined to take any pay, saying
that Mr.. Drew ought to have the
money. The boys sent the money to
Mr.. Drew, who is now employed on
the Central Vermont road, and de-
cided to give a banquet to Mr..
PrOuty.
Over 100 plates were laid at the
Newport House and Landlord Val
ley served an excellent banquet Af-
ter the supper Conductor Charles
Bean, as toastmaster, called the as
sembly to order and for about an
hour there were short speeches from
invited guests.
The ball was set rolling bv Arthur
F. Stone of St. Johnsbury, who con-
graduated MIR. Proutv on his vic
tory, and brought the greetings
from St. JOhnsbury for his contin-
ued success and prosperity.
Capt. Edward F. Grlswold was
next introduced. He told the bows
that he believed he was born to be
an engineer, as he had such an affec-
tion for locomotives. He spoke of
the great pleasure it afforded him to
find a Baldwin locomotive in Nor
way and how he went up to it and
greeted the engineer as an old friend,
though he could not speak a word
of his language.
O. H. Henderson of St. Johnsbury
spoke very feelinglv of the spirit of
fraternity that exists among the rail-
road boys, and how sympathetic all
were when they learned of the fatal
accident at St. Johnsbury Centre.
Editor Grout of the Newport Ex-
press spoke in the highest terms of
Lawyer Prouty, congratulating him
upon the fact that he was a New
port boy. He said the town and
state were proud of him, and he was
very glad to be present at such an
occasion as this to tell Mr.. Prouty
what the people thought of him.
Lawyer Young of Newport spoke
very highly of the railroad boys, and
of the fact that they realized the
great responsibility that rested upon
them. eve have on this division a
set of men in whose care and Gus
tody our lives are safer than on al
most any other railroad division in
the country, The letter of the stat
ute was against Mr.. Drew The
court was obliged to instruct the
jury as it did, but the sympathy of
the jury was with Mr.. Drew. While
the courts charge was against Mr..
Drew, learned from the court itself
that the result of the case was quite
satisfactory to the judge"
Rev. J. c. Bodwell was then hap
PLY introduced by the POSTMASTER,
and made the most finished and elo-
quent address of the evening. At
the conclusion OF his speech he pre-
sented Mr.. Prouty with gold head
ed cane, ''as a token of gratitude
from the railroad boys"
Mr.. Frouty arose to respond
amidst the greatest enthusiasm. He
began by stating that they had
made great thing out of small
thing, and that whatever praise was
due to him for the verdict, was due
in n equal measu to his associates
in the case, Harry Blodgett and
Wendell P. Stafford of St. Johnsbury.
He took a hand in the case because
he believed from the start that the
man was innocent and that the fail
ure to remember one clause in COM
plicated train order should not send
him to state prison. He outlined
briefly the circumstances that led up
to the accident and spoke somewhat
of the trial. He then thanked the
boys most heartily for their gift and
said he should prize it more than
any fee he had ever received.
This closed the festivities of the
evening and the boys came back
| home on the midnight train.
The occasion was one that will
long be remembered by all who par
| ticipated in it.