The Portland daily press., 1896-08-04

mans hand seems to be against me.n
The court said SIS and costs and Mears's
tears fell.
Then came two youthful offenders
mere kids, in the dock 18th all the older
and more hardened criminals. They
were accused of throwing stones, on Fore
street. A frail woman was in court with
her little boy and told how the boys were
pelting stones at woman's house. The
smallest one, Thomas A. Sears threw
stone that hit her little boy on the leg
and hurt him. The youthful desperate
then told her if she didn't .'get into the
house or home they'd kill her." She
complained to an officer hence the arrest
of Tom and his brother Maurice Il.
Sears. Tom said guilty" but his big
brother said mot guilty" The witness
and her son could only swear that they
saw Tom throw any rocks SO Maurice got
away.
"Tolnmy is nobody's fool. He knows
how old boys must be to avoid long
sentence to the Reform school.
"How old are you Thomas?" said the
court.
-"Seyenteen, "quickly answered Tommy.
4 Chow do you know?" said the court.
"Cause I know when my birthday is I"
youohsafed Thomas.
"When is it?"
SIN Novemb er."
"What year were you born?''
Cant rem ember now.'
"Then how do you know you are
seventeenth
" Cause the Sisters wanted to know
one time and Father MoDonough wrote
to my folks and found out"
You couldn't loose Tommy for a
minute and he escaped the Reform
school. but gets fine of So and costs.
If the boy can't pay 1T, 1t means a
Jail sentence for this youngster. probably
not half through the grammar school,
Patrick Malta, Albert Purrin, James
E. Mark and George Hodge, all got
drunk Sunday and said guilty. One of
them said he had been unfortunate and
it was an entirely new experience for
him.
"Yes-yesterday seems to have been a
rather unfortunate day all round" re-
marked the Recorder.
Romito Vincenzo was charged with an
assault on one Preston and was in court
with interpreter Frank Cussasa. He
established his innocence to the satisfac-
ton of the Recorder and was discharged.
Sunday night a crowd of perhaps q
thousand people were congregatod around
the corner of Congress and Mountfort
street listening to the cries of punny
little fourteen-year- girl who was be.
ing numerically beaten by her stel
mother.
The child ran shrieking out of th.
house near the corner and fed to MIR.
| Murphy's drug store, where call was
sent in for the patrol wagon.
In the meantime three boys ran into
the station and told Operator Newcomb
that little girl was being killed on
Monument street. Judge Robinson was
behind the railing at the time.
The patrol with Officer Emery In
charge went to the drug store and the
little girl begged to be taken along by
the officer. Emery thought he would in
vestigate and arrested Gage Russell and
Ellen Russell, the step mother OF these
children, for besides Jennie, who was
terribly beaten, there were two others,
one aged nine and the other eleven.
When the little girl, Jennie, waf
brought to the station she showed
Deputy Sterling her arms. They were
literally black and blue. She said hel
legs were the same where her inhuman
mother hal beaten her with cane.
Deputy Sterling sent the little one
home and ordered the step-mother looked
up. The woman was arraigned before
Recorder Turner and the little one told
her story and showed her arms to the re-
corder. The husband said that his wife
had repeatedly beaten the girl.
The step-mother denied the charge. but
Recorder Turner found her guilty and
suspended sentence during good behavior.
Bail was accepted in a liquor appea
case and after three hours session the
performance was at an end.