Bridgeton pioneer. (Bridgeton, N.J.) 1884-1919, 1896-10-22
SERIOUS CHARGES.
The Court Listens to Miserable
Cases.
THREE CONVICTED ALREADY.
Cases That Cannot Well be Published are
Occupying the Attention of the
Court
) CONVICTED ALREADY.
Thursday Morning.

The Jury in the case of Hickman
against Earl, returned verdict for the
plaintiff in the sum of 1858, the amount
of the note claimed to be due.
Then the Court took up the Hitchner-
Hepner case.
1t is case we'll known to the people,
and has been in Court before. 1t was
suit for damages. Hitchner rented Hep
ner's farm, and claimed that he was un-
lawfully deposed and thrown out to his
great damage. Hepner claimed the prop
erty as his and refused to make con-
tract with Hitchner and therefore had a
perfect right to move Hitchner off. All
the evidence was put in yesterday after
noon and last night, and this morning the
session was taken up with the argument
of counsel and the Judges charge.
The jury came in at noon with verdict
for Hitchner for $l,1s4.9O.
Tuesday Morning.
Criminal business has began. This
morning, over at the Court House there
was alarge crowd present when Judge
Hoagland appeared upon the Bench, and
Crier Clevenstine spoke his piece.
Prosecutor Logue appeared at the usual
end of the big table,iand in his green bag
were the indictments of a. score or more
people who will be defendants during the
term.
The first case that Prosecutor Logue
which Joseph Foster, young man, of
Newpoat, is charged with stealing bicy-
Gle from Joseph Shropshire, of Haley
vile. The evidence showed that Foster
appropriated Shropshire's wheel at a
camp meeting down in Commercial town
ship. He took it to Vineland and at
tempted to sell it to Gus Washburn. He
told Gus that it belonged in Camden.
Then he went on to Newfield and sold it
to Harry Counsellor for $3.50.
The State had a dead open and shut
case against Foster, the wheel being pre-
sented in Court, and thoroughly identi-
fed.
Lawyer Hampton Fithian brought one
witness on the stand for the defense. 1t
was Albert Newcomb. lThe following
pleasantly occurred:
care you acquainted with the defend
ant" asked Mr.. Fithian.
II am"
10th of August?"
IT do not"
"That's ALL"
Mr.. Logue asked "Who is the defend
anti"
IT object" snapped out Mr.. Fithian.
"This is not cross-examination. I've
not tried to prove anything by this wit
ness"
"Then you ought not to have called
him." said Judge Hoagland.
There was no further defense, and in a
couple of minutes the jury went down
stairs, returning shortly with verdict of
guilty.
Tuesday Afternoon.
The attention of the Court this after
noon was directed to an issue most re-
pulsive and horrible, and if the state of
facts produced by Prosecutor Logue are
true, it discloses dark chapter in the
life of anything but a happy home in
Millville.
The charge was one made against Fred
Near, Millville carpenter, probably
forty-five years of age. A big, heavy,
rough looking fellow, and the crime was
felonious assault upon Near's own
daughter, little girl of twelve.
Little Goldie Near was present in
Court. She is bright child, but sadly
illiterate, and her explanation was that
she never attended school day in her
life.
The crime, if it was committed, occur
red on the 10th of September last, in her
home, and she amotherless child from the
time she was baby. The father, brute,
was aided by one Harry Golf, a friend of
her father. and with the consent of her
father, Goff, too, outraged the child.
The story cannot, should not be told in
the newspapers. 1t is all too horrible,
and all the while little Goldie was on the
stand, the sympathy of the entire audi
ence went out to her, as she told the story
OF her shame, her brutal treatment, her
unhappy life.
And yet Lawyer Wheaton Berault was
merciless in his cross examination of the
little more than baby. The Counsel is
shrewd, he was forced in the case with
out notice by the Court, when the case
was called, and yet he gave the defend
ant every advantage that an able lawyer
could give him. In his cross eXamina-
ton OF Goldie, Berault was at first as mild
as May morning. He was almost ten
der as he led the little one along from the
story she had given in her examination
in chief. Finally he had the little one
trapped into several assertions that were
false. Goldie did not mean to tell an un-
truth, but the willy lawyer was too shrewd
for the little uneducated one, and she
would be willing to say yes to anything
he asked her.