The Anaconda standard. [volume] (Anaconda, Mont.) 1889-1970, 1898-04-26
Charles Perry Fares Better Than
His Cutthroat Partners.
ONE OF THE CLANCY GANG
He Was Tried on tho Charge of Receiv-
ing Stolen Property and for Q Prior
Conviction-He Was Pleased
With the Verdict.

many of his former cutthroat partners
did. He was tried on the charge of re-
ceiving stolen property and for a prior
conviction. The young crook all but
pleaded guilty, but the jury let him on
with one year i'm the p~enitentiary.
Perry ana a companion robbed a freight
car of a lot of lard belonging to Walsh
& Craft, but the robbery was not wit
messed, and the county attorney pre-
ferred to prosecute him on the charge
of receiving stolen property, as the stuff
was found in his possession. When
s sse,sr jary's verdict era YEA. fixing e his his
penitentiary was read, Berry al
most fell of his chair with JOY. A
smile spread all over his face. n when
Judge Clancy that he would
formally pass sentence next Saturday.
Perry told his lawyer that he preferred
to be sentenced at once. n he was.
He will be taken to the penitentiary to-
day.
The case was prosecuted by c. p.
Connolly, chief deputy county attorney.
and the defendant was represented by
b. S. Thresher. The jury IN the case
was composed of w. II. Axtell, Will
liam Hodge, Patrick O'Leary, +. X.
Giard. Timothy Dalton. George q.
Beckwith, r. j.. Thomas, Joseph Sway
re, J. w. Beck. Herbert Davis n w.
j. Barnett.
Mr.. Connolly, in his opening state
ment to the jury, said the proofs would
show that Perry for a short time
worked for Walsh & Craft and was ia
miliar with their business. The firm
received a car of lard. and while on
the track the seal was broken and a
quantity of the lard stolen. Walsh &
Craft did not know it. however, until
after the defendant and his brother, a
man named Shea, had sold 1t. They
first called IN James Ledford, who runs
a store in the lower part of the town,
and offered the lard for sale. They
said it was all right and he asked
them what they wanted for it, and they
said 20 cents a can. Ledford declined
to buy, because he thought there must
be something wrong with it. as the lard
at wholesale cost more than twice that
sum. The men then went to a Chin
csc restaurant and sold the stuff there
and Ledford notified the police and the
men were arrested. On the way to the
county Jail the two men escaped from
the officers. The defendant was re-
captured but his partner vas never
caught. Mr.. Connolly also said the
proofs would show that the defendant,
in July, 1894, under the name of John
Shea, was convicted in Flathead coun-
ty for Jail breaking, and was sent to
penitentiary. James Ledford vas
the first witness m told o the
defendant and another man attempt
ing to sell him so pounds of lard. When
he told them there must be something
wrong because they offered the stuff
so cheaply, they said they had a stock
of it and wanted to go out of business.
When Ledford refused to buy. the men
went across the street to q Chinese
restaurant n Ledford telephoned to
the police and the men were arrested.
John Walsh. of the firm of Walsh &
Craft, testified that Perry lac occa-
sionally worked for their warehouse
man in unloading cars. Walsh vas
notified that one of their cars had
been robbed, and the shipment was
checked up and found to be AZ cans
short. The cam weighed 10 pounds
each. The police recovered Al of the
cans. On cross-examination Thresher
tried to show that the witness did not
know whether the shippers had put as
much lard pm the car as they claimed
or whether the car was short, but the
witness said that the fact that the re-
covered lard completed the assignment
with the exception of n IA convinced
him that there had been no mistake in
the shipment.
Quong Sing. q Chinaman, testified
through an interpreter that he bought
SNtih' Aote hoA - ~ Aot tAS W.
PENDANT. and did not notice the defend
ant there. but there was a second man
there. The Chinaman admitted that
he testified at the preliminary exami-
nation that he bought the stuff from
Perry and that Perry had told him he
was a grocer and wanted to go out
of business. The witness claimed, how
ever, that he could not now identify the
defendant. 1t was evident that some
thing had happened to the Chinaman
since he had testified at the preliminary
examination, for he positively refused
to identify Perry or to remember what
he had testified to before. although he
had identified the defendant at the 9TH
err trial. Mr.. Connolly asked him il
anyone had talked to him or threatened
him, but the Chinaman said there had
not. When asked why he testified diff
ferently at the preliminary examina-
ton the Chinaman said he did not
understand the interpreter rightly.
Where is that interpreter now?"
asked Mr.. Connolly.
He has gone back to the old coun-
try"
Mr.. Connolly kept at the Chinaman
and subjected him to a cross-examina-
ton. and the witness finally admitted
again that ne knew Perry and that the
latter used to eat at his restaurant,
and that n day he came into his place
of business and told him he had a
friend in the grocery business who
wanted to dispose of his stock and that
the witness could buy a load of lard
cheap. The Chinaman said he would
buy. and Perry went out and the other
man brought the lard in and the wit
ness took six cans for $3.50.
City Detective Murphy testified that
he arrested the defendant and a fellow
named Shea. Mr.. Murphy said the
two men looked like brothers hut they
denied that they were related. The
witness said he recovered six cans of
lard from the Chinaman and found IS
cans at the home of Shea, where he
had been directed by Perry. About 10
hours after he escaped from the on
GERS the detective caught the defendant
at Silver Bow junction.
Reuben Sparley testified that he
roomed with Perry but he didn't know
anything about the case.