Worcester morning daily spy., 1898-03-09
REED SEN TENCED.
Cannot Bunco Farmers for -Four
Years At Least.
THE PRISONER JAUNTY.
Showed No Nervousness Until
Jury Retired.
HE PRISONER JAUNTY
II Took But Few Hours to Try and
Convict the Famous Bunco Man
Of Jersey.

Boston, March S.-Jofn Reed of Plain
field, N. j.. an individual who has been
considered a slick "gold brick'' worker,
who was able to furnish heavy bail
few months ago, only to be defaulted
and recaptured in Philadelphia, was to-
day sentenced to not more than five nor
less than four years in the state prison.
Sentence was passed by Judge Bishop
in the Middlesex superior court, at
East Cambridge, upon the conviction of
Reed, under an Indictment charging him
with the larceny Of $1,000 from Selma D.
Hardy, a Framingham farmer
There are five cases of alleged bunco
against Reed, one other in Middlesex
county, one in Plymouth, two in Wor-
cester and one in Franklin.
The trial of Reed was begun and fin
ished today. He appeared in court neat
lys dressed in a blue suit, and most care
fully groomed. He listened to the ev-
tdence during the day without any show
of feeling, but grew nervous while the
Jury was out. After deliberation of
about 40 minutes, the jurors returned
verdict of guilty Reed received the
sentence calmly, and stood with his
hands in his trousers pockets, while
his immediate future was being marked
out for him. He then walked over to
the house of correction with a jaunty
air, no handouts being placed on his
wrists, his attitude being the persona
hcation of a thoroughbred.
When the case was called, Col. Gile of
Worcester asked the court to order a
continuance until the June term, as he
claimed that the newspaper stories of
the alleged transactions of his client
had prejudiced the public mind against
the defendant The colonel believed
that it would be impossible for fair
trial to be given Reed
District Attorney Weir objected to
the continuance as he did not consider
that the statement of counsel was any
reason for postponing trial
Judge Bishop declined to continue the
case, but instructed the jurors not to
be influenced by the newspaper reports
that have been published about Reed 8
actions. The jury was then impaneled
aud the trial opened.
The jury which was impaneled With
the greatest care, was composed as fol-
lows: Hiram P. Bean Of Hudson, Ed
ward j. Ryan Of Marlboro, Nelson W.
Jenny of Lexington, Henry B. Badger
of Reading, Edwin A. Bennett of Bur
lington Edwin A. Brown of Belmont,
Edward e, Chapman of Medford, Hen
ry c. Goodwin of Maiden, George I.
Freeman of Arlington, George f. Heel
and of Dracut, Harry G. Whittemore Of
Cambridge, and Charles A. Sherburn OF
Tyngsboro
Reed did not appear on the witness
stand in his own behalf, and, in fact,
had no witnesses for the defence.
The witnesses for the prosecution were
as follows: Salma ID. Hardy, the victim /;
E. C. Hardy, his son; Louise Hardy, a
rlg,ISg Z o1 mr.
ident Valentine of the F'ramingham Ma
tional Bank. Mr.. Hardy told the story
of the alleged larceny, by which it ap-
peared that he had been relieved of the
sum Of $1,000 by means of a game of the
'three-card monte" order. Reed he
said, first gained his confidence by rep
resenting that he was gathering stat1S-
tics for an agricultural paper. In this
way, also. he succeeded in ascertaining
how much money Mr.. Hardy owned,
and in what bank it was deposited The
son, E. c. Hardy, merely testified to
Reed having come to the house at one
time and inquiring for his father. The
evidence of the other witnesses was
mainly bearing upon the question of
identity.
The argument for the defence was
made by Mr.. Cooney, who dwelt at
some length on the question of identity.
He claimed that the evidence of the witt
nesses upon this point was not conclu-
sive, inasmuch as Mr. Hardy himself is
somewhat advanced in years, and adj
mitted that his eyesight was failing, and
the other witnesses were not old enough
to be sufficiently sure of their testimony.
The time which had elapsed between
May /, 1896, and the present was also
emphasized in connection with this
point. Mr. Weir, in his reply, claimed
that Reeds identity was sufficiently es-
tablished and that Mr.. Hardy had been
made the unsuspecting victim Of an eX-
perienced crook
Officer Joseph Whitney Of the state po-
. lice, who was chiefly instrumental in se-
curing Reeds Indictment, was present
during the trial.