The times., 1898-10-27
PRICE TRIAL SURPRISES
Mr.. Babendrier Cannot Iden.
tify the Money Satchcl.
SILENCE OF THE DEFENSE
Identification of the Man Who Or
dercd Six Sandwiches at the Va
toidi-ConnictinE Testimony-wfI-
liam Mckinley, Jr., the Twelfth
Juror-What the Cashier Saw.

tant testimony was introduced yesterday
In the trial in Criminal Court No. !, of
John Price, of New York, who is charged
with having robbed Arthur o. Babendrier.
in the Vatoldi Cafe, of S1,6S2 in March.
1887. The counsel both for the prisoner
and the Government were very much
surprised by the testimony Of several of
the witnesses on very material points.
Mr.. Babendrier. who was robbed when
put upon the stand to testify, stated posi-
lively that the satchel which was intro
duced as an exhibit in evidence was not
the one in which he carried the money
from the Washington Loan and Trust
Company to the Vatoldi lunch room, from
where II was stolen.
William j. Wilson, the treasurer OF the
Metropolitan Railway Company. who
gave Babendrier the check to cash, and
who was also in the habit of giving him
the satchel to take to the bank, identi-
fled the one produced in court as the one
used for that purpose for several years,
and in proof of this statement he pro-
duced key from a bunch he carried
which fitted and unlocked the satchel.
that the satchel in evidence was not the
one used by him on the morning of
March 81 1897, when he went TO the bank
to draw the money, and which he after
ward deposited behind the cashiers
desk in the Vatoldi lunch room. He is
convinced of this, he says, because of the
particular make of the handle of the
satchel he carried on that occasion, and
also because his satchel had only one
pocket, while the one introduced in court
had two.
The defense also was surprised at the
positiveness with which several of the
witnesses for the Government identified
the accused, John Price, as being the
man whom they saw In the Vatoldi Cafe
about the time the robbery is said to have
been committed One of them stated in
a most emphatic manner that he saw
Price walking out of the lunch room
with the satchel in his hand.
The case is attracting more attention
that any which has so far been called for
trial during the present term of court.
The jury was completed soon after the
court convened by the selection Of VIII
liam Mckinley, jr., as the twelfth mem
ber. 1t is now composed of
Elmer E. Dwyer, John L. Schaffert.
Harry o. Dalton, Thomas Foley, Benja-
min F. Harper. Charles r. Murray. Doug
lass Thompson. John Curran, Charles
Merkle, Theodore F. McCauley. Philip A.
Delano and William Mckinley, ir.
As soon as the jurors were sworn Mr..
Laskey presented the Governments case,
relating the circumstances of the rob-
berry The first witness called for the Gov
eminent was Arthur o. Babendrier. the
superintendent of the Ninth Street branch
of the Metropolitan Railway Company.
When sworn he said that on the day in
question March 81, 1897, he went to the
Washington Loan and Trust Company
and cashed a check for sl,6s2, put the
money in a satchel and proceeded to the
vatoldi Cafe for lunch. He then told of
his leaving the satchel containing the
money at the cashiers desk in the lunch
room. When he had taken his lunch
Babendrier said he returned TO the CASH
Ter and learned that the satchei had dis
appeared. a
Robert F. Miller. paying teller of the
Washington Loan and Trust Company.
who testified next said he remembered
the occurrence of the loss of money by
Babendrier; he cashed the check pre-
sented by Babendrier, having previously
prepared the amount in the denomina-
way Company. He learned of the loss of
the money from Babendrier about /
O'Clock or a little after.
William ]. Wilson, treasurer of the Met
ropolitan Railway Company, was the first
witness called after recess. He testified
to having drawn and given the check to
Babendrier to cash.
Miss Eta Searles, cashier at the Vatoldi
Cafe, was the next witness called. She
stated that she had been employed there
in that capacity for five years, part of
which time Babendrier took board there.
The witness minutely described the posi-
tion of her desk. with reference to the
doors, windows and cigarstand in the near
vicinity of it. She related the circum-
stance of a man coming to the Natoidi on
March 81 and asking for six chicken
sandwiches and then leaving before the
order was filled by the waiter.
Price was made to stand up, and Miss
Searles said that he looked like the man
in stature. but that the man who or
dered the sandwiches was clean shaven
and wore eyeglasses. Price now wears a
full beard and no eyeglasses.
Miss Searles refused to identify the
satchel in evidence as the one brought to
the Vatoldi on March 81 1887, by Mr.. Ba
bendrier. whom she remembered having
seen on that day. She said the man who
ordered sandwiches had nothing in his
hands when he went out.
Alfred Hoffman testified that he was
at lunch in the Vatoldi on March 81 1897
He saw some one come in and stop at the
cashiers desk and give an order; when
he turned again and looked the man was
gone.
Richard Boston, a waiter at the Vatol-
d. identified Price as the man who order
ed the six sandwiches. He said he saw
Price go out with a satchel in his hand.
S. T. Minor. another waiter, also iden-
titled Price as the man who came to the
Vatoldi on March 81. 1897, and ordered the
sandwiches, leaving soon afterward with
a satchel in his hand.
The Government will probably conclude
it's side of the case before the recess hour
today. Whether or not the defense in
tends to introduce testimony is not
known, as up to the hour of adjournment
yesterday no intimation was made that
1t would do so.