Evening star., 1896-04-01
TRYING "DiVISION" CASES
Lottie Tilford Did Net Appear in Court
Today.
The Acqufttnl of Grace Ferguson q
Surprise to the Policc-NO Pro-
cecdinGs Today.

The case against Grace Ferguson. charged
| with keeping disreputable house In the
| Division. which was tried in the Police
Court yesterday afternoon, terminated with
| a verdict of not guilty.
! This was The second case arising out OF
| the raids made by tho police Of the first
precinct on the night Of March 1G. when
! three houses were cleaned out. The first
/ case. that against willie" Gilmore, ended
| In a conviction, and the defendant was given
| a Jail sentence. rs well fined. The evil
/ dence against her was evidently stronger
! than that against the Ferguson woman, for
! the jury yesterday, after being out about
| half an hour, gave a verdict in her favor.
| Judgs Miller's charge to the jury was very
brief, but II put favorable aspect on her
case, for he told the jury that they must
rot regard hearsay evidence or the general
reputation of the houses N that section of
the city, but must rely entirely on the evil
derce which had been presented. Direct
evidence against a place of that sort is not
SO easy to get as one might suppose. The
female Inmates of the house did all they
cDEl9 to shield the woman, and, while their
bearing on the stand was rather against
them, the district attorney could not get
much out of them TO support his case. The
evidence of the police was not much better,
for. after all, theirs was practically hear
mousse In question was ii5reputable house,
| but 1t was not personal Knowledge. About
all they could say was that the house was
a d1sorderly one, because it was in the
DlVlsio1 ard because it was occupied by wo-
men CT evil life. They knew the women
were women of evil life, because they lived
In that section of the city, and in that par
tlcular house. That sort of evidence might
satlsfv the general public. bu: il was ha rdly
enc uSh 10 secure a conviction from a jury
Sergeant Shilling. VINO conducted the raid
saio, alter the trial, that the result of the
trial was fairly satisfactory for even
though il ended in an acGuirtal. the woman
nad expressed the intention of quitting the
business for good, and leaving that section
OF the city. \ Jail sentence would not have
accomplished any more.
The trial of these women and the healthy
rear that all that class entertain of under
gong term OF Imprisonment in jail has
nao the erect Of closing at Ieast a dozen Of
tne houses in the Division and things have
been quietcr south of the avenue during the
past. " '
Ihe Ferguson trial was not completed un-
tii nearly o'clock yesterday afternoon. and
the case against Lottie TiIford. whose nlacs
was on 1lth street below c. went over urtil
this morning. The police claimed to have
even stronger evidence against her than
was a,l,lced In the Gilmore case, and ex-
pressed themselves as confident that they
could secure a conviction
Lottie Tilford's Case Postponed.
When the Lottie Tilford case was called
In the Police Court this morning the dis
trict attorney read letter from Attorney
Forrest. who represents the defense, to the
effect that he had very important on
gaSement in one Of the upper courts to-
da|, and desired postponement. Judge
Miller was reluctant to grant it, as the
jury Md been summoned for this particu-
lsr purpose, and he sent out messengers to
find Mr.. Forrest but they We're unable to
locate him Inquiry developed the fact that
tne defendant herself was not present, as
she mad been given to understand that the
case against her would not be called today
There was nothing to do but to order the
trial to go over. The judge stated, how
ever, that the case would be peremptoriIy
set for tomorrow morning, and he would
brook no further delay
III the ferguson case yesterday, although
the defendant was acquitted. she had
very close call When the jury retired to
their room and the first ballot was taken
II was found that they stood to ) for ac-
quittal On the second ballot only one man
hung out for conviction and after some
further consideration of the evidence he
decided to go over to the majority On the
third ballot they were a unit for her ac-
Quittal.
Leaving the Division"
More than a score Of women who have
kept hous es in the Division" have either
c.csed their houses or have concluded to
do so In the near future. They have taken
warning from the fate of willie Gil
more. Some Of them have sold their house
hold effects and gone to other cities, while
others have moved to other parts of the
city. Several of them have gone to Balti-
more and New York, while others have
3D. will remain IN the Division and take
their chances OF going to jail, for the sake
OF getting a few more dollars, and now that
so many of the houses are closed. the few
VINO remain expect to reap harvest unless
the police raid them or give them notice to
quit
FURNISHED Rooms signs are in the win
dows of many of the houses. while other
houses are for rent Grace Ferguson, whose
case was heard yesterday, and Della Fer
guson have both moved out of their houses.
They have not yet decided, so far as the
police know. what they will do.
Sadie Streets house, a well-known resort
on u street. 1s. the police are informed,
about to be vacated. She owns two pieces
of property in the Division. and she also
has house in Frederick, Md, and the
police have Information that she will take
the inmates of her house to the Maryland
city.
The six who will open houses in Balti-
more. so the police say, are Lou Roberts.
Hilda Stewart. BERTHE May, Blanche Snow.
Lou 6ayne and woman named Howard
Alice Linden. who was sent to Jail two
MiohlHS dso DecdpSe IL was alleged that
Knockout" drops had. been used in her
hcuss, was not permitted to open again.
Dolly Taylor and the females in her
house will live in Denver frankie Nor
ton has gone to New York, and Camille
Livingston will go to PHILADELPHIA.
Several houses on 18th street, which had
been occupied only short time, have been
vacated. and the police hope to get orders
to keep the houses on this street free from
this class of people. A move was made
some time ago to have this street made a
respectable thoroughfare. and the police
say they can do this easier now than they
could at any previous time.
1t Is known that several women who
have resided in the Division" have made
applications to secure houses in other sec
tions of the city. where they want to rent
furnished rooms, and should they succeed,
the police will be careful to notice the
character of the people who rent the rooms
and frequent the houses.
1t was stated today that the police have
no intention of making wholesale raids or
breaking up the Division" but will make
liquor raids. and may. perhaps, in order to
justify arrests, in some instances, prefer
the more serious charge.
SNOW TEN FEET DEEP.
The Worst Storm in Years Has Been