Daily Kennebec journal., 1894-09-28
OF Iramps Charged With Train
Wrecking at Detroit.
Those Suspicious Tracks Were Made
by Them, They Admit,
But Claim They Only Went to Spring 10
Wash.

trial of the celebrated case of ATTEMPTED
train wrecking at Detroit. When the case
was called at 9 A. M, large number of
spectators were present in the court room.
The respondents, Joseph Dunham and
In, mas Gregg, accused of an attempt 10
"reck The train of the Maine Central Rail
road the night of July 10, are intelligent
and for tramps, quite respectable looking
They were arraigned by Clerk Brainerd,
and pleaded not guilty in a conf lent m M
ner. But little difficulty was experienced
IN securing a jury, two mrn only be ing
challenged, one BY the State and one by
he respondents. Isaac Holway was ap-
point"d foreman by the court. The prose
"ution is conducted by Frank W Hovey
Esq. of Plttsheld, county attorney, who has
Oten very successful in criminal ptosecu.
ions.
The respondents will be ably defended by
Forrest Goodn in, E.q Of Skowhegan, who
one of the most brilliant young men at
the Somerset bar.
The opening speech of the county attor-
ney occupied ABOUT three quarters of an
hour, and he described the finding of the
ifferent Instructions and outlined the con-
nection which the respondents had with the
crime, as I'll" State would attempt to prove.
The evidence was developed as follows:
Michael +. Healey was conductor on the
train that left Bangor, July ~ last, at
light. woman was on the train who had
but 10 cents in money. He allowed her to
ride free to the next station. The baggage
master put some tramp5 off the train at
Hermon Centre.
Sewall f. Peterson was baggage master
on the same train aud discovered some
tramps at Hermon Centre, who attempted
to get on the train. He hit one of them
with piece of rubber hose.
Cross examined by Mr.. Goodwin, stated
the tramps did not attempt to get on the
train after they were struck, and did not
manifest anger towards him.
VIM. F. Jones was conductor on the
train that left Bangor, July l3, at night.
Found obstruction, sleeper, under the
train at Detroit; did not see any other
Instructions.
Wallace J. Boothby, engineer on same
rain, testified to passing several obstruc-
tions on track, fence rail, sleepers, etc.
Mrs. Clara Augusta Roewelt, who has
been detained in Jail as witness for the
State, was brought into the courtroom at
his point and was put on the stand. Mrs.
Roewelt is not an educated woman by any
means, but talks in fairly Ineligible
manner.
Mrs. Roewelt's story was substantially
the same as at the preliminary examination, D,
ex :ept that she admitted having slept in the
box car at Newport with the respondent.
She testified that she went to sleep about 10
o'clock and did not wake up until daylight !;
that the older man told her in the morning
that lie must get rid of the kid, as he kne"
TOO much that they had been up the track
The night before, and he was afraid the boy
would get them into trouble.
Wellington Sprague, conductor on the
Train at Detroit, June IA, put off two men,
the respondents. Cross-examined, said the
men ushed as he passed them.
Chas. II. Anderson, passenger brakeman,
co roborated the testimony of Sprague.
Frank p. Lord, section hsnd at Detroit
detailed fully the position of the different
,b.tructions found on the railrosd track on
the morning following the alleged attempt
10 wreck The train. The first obstruction
was about two miles out of Detroit station,
and the last one mile and half west of
that station. The jigger was put upon the
track just east of Detroit. One heavy
hack" sleeper was carried by the train
,fter being struck, about one
half mile. Mr.. Lord explained the
use of the jgger, and explained how
it was plsced upon the track.
w d. Farnham had been shoemaker
for As Years He compared the shoes shown
N court with the footprints found near the
track. Four distinct impressions were
round; two upon each side of the place
where sleeper had been removed from
pile and dragged upon the track. The
,uoes fitted exactly in the shoeprints.
Horace A. Toward, roadmaster, exam
,oed the track the morning after the acci-
d Mt and discovered the shoeprints. IL. 5
Nicksrson, deputy sheriff, identified the
shoes shown as the ones taken from the
| fe,t of the respondents at the time of their
arrest Prosecution rests.
MIR. Goodwin ia opening for the defense
stated the respondents were not tramps in
tn, ordinary sense. They were born and
reared in this State and until recently were
at work, but owing to the hard times were
Obliged to look for work in other places.
| Ne said the defence would show that the
time at which the respondents went into
III. box car and the distance at which the
AT obstruction was placed on the track,
made it impossible for the crime to have
en- committed by the respondents.
Thomas Gregg, the older of the two
re spondents, was the first witness in de-
tense, his testimony coincided with that of
Cisra Augusta. in some respects. He
thought 1t was 10 o'clock when they got into
the freight car. and they did rot go to sleep
for a time. He heard the IL 43 train go
mast. and also the early morning train. lie
was not out of the car during the night and
had nothing to do with the attempted wreck
ipp. Tne testimony of the other respond
mt Joseph Durham, was quite an interest
ing history of wandering through Maine.
Roth respondents claimed that on the morn
iny following the attempted ~reckirg, while
nsssing down the track, went outside to
wash their hands in a pool of water. which
would account for the footprints found al
that point. The defense established The
fact that respondents did not leave East
-. II.