Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1895-06-27
FOR SAFE TAPPING
The Trial of Aufort and Desmond
Begun Today.
TESTIMONY CT THE VARIOUS WITNESSES
A Vigorous Objection to Billy VIII
liams as a Witness.
AT JACK ON CITY

| The trial of Charles Auffort and Edward
Desmond, charged with robbing the Office
| of the Washington Steamboat Company in
| April last, was proceeded with before Judge
| Cole in Criminal Court No. this morning.
The court room was crowded to its fullest
! extent, and many persons were denied adj
| mission. Among those in the court loom
was the mother wife and sister of Auffort,
| and many from Jackson City, which noto-
| rious locality, it is said, was the rendez-
| vous of the alleged gang of criminals to
which 1t is claimed the defendants be-
| longed.
When the case was called today Mr.. An
| drew A. Lipscomb of counsel for the de-
| PENDANTS stated that he wished to plead
| to the jurisdiction of the court. The de-
| PENDANTS, he claimed, had been returned
her from Virginia on a charge of house
proposed. said Mr.. Lipscomb. to try the de-
| PENDANTS on an indictment alleging house
breaking and larceny, and that, he argued,
could not be done it being a different of
| Tense from that on which the defendants
| were returned from Virginia to be tried.
A Jury Chosen.
| Judge Cole thought that the charges
| were practically the same, but granted
counsel leave to file the plea later on. if
| desired. The defendants then formally
| entered plea Of not guilty, and the work
| of selecting jury was commenced. That
| required considerable time. the defense ex-
] ercising nine of their ten challenges and
| the government two of their three The
| following were finally sworn as the jury:
Hiram c. Corliss, George T. Randall, w. f.
| Guide Claude F.. Jarboe, Aloysius Nc
| Closky. Harrison Clements, Augustus Rup-
pert, Samuel Duvall George A. Neumeyer,
| Gideon A. Thomas. Walter Hyson and
COllOwav heir
| colored men.
In explaining the case to the jury, Dis
trict Attorney Birney briefly stated that the
| government would endeavor to show that
| on the night Of March 81, or the early
morning of the LIST of last April the watch
man in charge of the office of the steam
| boat company, at the foot of NJ and 7th
| streets southwest, was aroused by a noise
at the gate. Making his way there, he was
| suddenlyssei by the defendants thrown
down and bound and gagged. He was car
anu so held while the defendants blew cpen
and robbed the safe and cash drawer The
robbery completed, said Mr.. Birney the
de1endants, with their companions. jumped
into boat and rowed across the river
where they divided the spois
The Wntchman's story,
The defense reserved their opening, and
then Mr.. Birney called as his first witness
James Fornshell. the Waterman in charge
OF the steamboat office on the night of the
robbery. Fornshell young man of about
t~enty-three Jears of age. stated that
shortly after 1 o'clock on The morning of
April l he heard the gate leading to the
wharf ratified. He left the office to see
what was wanted, and lust as he opened
the office door he was seized by two men
wearing White cloths over their faces.
They bound him with cords. gagged him,
and throwing him down on the office floor
| the men threw sheet over him. First
II ey demanded to know where the money
and valuables We're kept, threatening t.
kill him if he did not tell them. He told
them that he did not know where the
money or vaiuables were kept, and they
left him and proceeded to blow open one
safe and open the other. The men then
left and after a time, Fornshell said, he
managed to get the gag away from his
mouth so that he could call for assistance
Men on a steamer responded to his cries
and they cut the cords which bound him.
On cross-eXamination, Fornshell said that
! ne was we'll acquainted with Auffort, but
could not say that he was one of the mer
| who robbed the Office. He saw Desmond in
| the Alexandria Jail. but while he closely
| resembled one of the men-the one who
| held a revolver to his head-he failed to
definitely identify him.
Secretary Crowley Tcstiics.
The next witness was Jonathan p. Crow
| ley, secretary of the steamboat company
| He stated that about 1915 in currency and
| coin were stolen from the safes, Saturday
and Sundays receipts. Two iron cash box
| eS taken from the safes were handed tc
| Mr.. Crowley, and he positively identified
them as being those stolen. Mr.. Crowley
also identified a pocket book of his, which
was in one of the boxes. These boxes, il
| is said, were found in the river, where they
| had been thrown by the safe robbers, and
were recovered it is said. through informa'
| ton given by Billy Williams.
| George p. Johansen, the cashier of the
steamboat company, the next witness,
| identified the cash boxes. and also some OF
| the account books found in them. In the
| safe used by him We're a number of gold
| pieces. five, ten and twenty-dollar pieces
| That money belonged to friend of his
| said Mr. Johansen, and the safe from
| which it was taken had an old-fashioned
| combination lock, easily opened. The other
| safe, the one used by Mr.. Crowley, was
| blown open. From his safe, said Mr.. Jo-
| hansen, about SOD were taken. He knew
| Auffort, and the latter had frequently Wis
| fed the office.
What the Policeman Saw.
| Policeman George w. Neale testified to
! visiting the robbed office about o'clock on
the morning of the robbery. He found the
safe blown open to be badly damaged, and
the floor was strewn with books and pa
| pers On the floor he found several dynam-
| lite cartridges and a pair of blacksmith s
| tongs.
To Mr.. Lpscomb the officer stated that
/
| lived within a square or two of the steam
| boat Office. About l o'clock am, said the
! officer, he turned the box opposite the Of
| fee and about 2:2O he heard a noise like
! an explosion. He failed to locate the di-
| rection from which it came, however He
| and his partner We're then standing near
| 9Th and streets
Policeman NJ. r. Mullen Officer Neale's
| partner gave similar testimony, and then,
! at 12:15 O'Clock, recess was taken until l
o'clock
The Arrest of Desmond.
| After rec ess Lieut.. James Smith of the
Alexandria police force was called as a
witness. He said that on April he ar
rested Desmond in Gamblers place at jack
| son City. Several other officers were with
him at The time. When Desmond was
searched he had sl3O on his person and six
| 3S-caiiber pistol cartridges. Desmond was
| unwilling to talk when arrested.
| On cross-examnation-Th witness used
| to know Auffort in Alexandria when he
was huckstering. When he arrested Des-
| mond the,e were three Alexandria police
men with him and upward of a dozen
| Washington policemen, including Inspector
y