The Worcester spy. [volume] (Worcester, Mass.) 1898-1904, 1899-10-31
The Stolen Ring Case
Occupies Most of
the Day.
MANY WITNESSES TESTIFY.
Hollingsworth and Kope-
gian Pleaded Not
Guilty.


terday, the case of w. A. England &C.
cupied nearly all the day. He was
charged with receiving a diamond ring
from Fred c. Ball, who stole the ring
from Fannie e. Maynard of Worces-
ter. Assistant District Attorney Taft
appeared for the government, and w.
A. Gile for the defendant.
Fannie Maynard was the first witness
for the government. She testified as
to the loss of a certain diamond ring
which she had given to her in 1863
The ring was stolen from a drawer at
her house, and she reported the loss to
the police Young Ball was rooming
with her at the time. She went to see
England about the recovery of the
ring, after Ball had confessed to steal
ing it and selling 1t to England. Two
weeks ago England had given her $75,
to compensate her for the loss of the
ring.
Fred c. Ball was the next witness.
He told the circumstances of the case,
about his taking the ring and dispos-
ing of the same for SIS to England.
w. H. Quimby testified THAT Eng
land and Ball offered to sell him the
setting of a ring but he refused to
buy the same
A number of other witnesses testified
for the government, as to the size of
the ring and various facts in the case.
Inspector w. ]. r. Stone gave a full
account Of his work on the case.
William A. England, the defendant,
was put on the stand on his own be-
half. He said he had been many years
in busienss in this city, and had a Ii
cense to buy old gold and silver On
July q he purchased a diamond ring
of A. c. Ball and gave a receipt for
the money. He said he had no idea
that the ring was stolen, or any means
of supposing it was stolen. He sold
the fling in the evening, having pre-
viously entered the purchase in his
book. The ring was washed up and
as the clerk brought it to him, all
cleaned, he offered it for sale to DR.
Warren Rice.
The ring weighed from a carat to a
carat and three-eighths. The value Of
the ring was about $40 at the market
price. The stone was off color, which
deprecated its value. In the evening
he sold it for $35. England was very
emphatic on the point that he had not
the least idea that the ring had been
stolen by Ball. He gave the story of
the transaction, between himself and
Ball. He gave Ball a check for SIS,
for the ring, and took Balls name. age
and address. After the sale had been
made, the next morning, Ball came in
and asked If the ring had been sold.
The boy gave some story about the
ring having been stolen, but he did not
take any stock in the story until In
the matter, and then the ring was adj
VertiSed for in the papers.
England denied that he had cut up
the stone, or had tried to dispose of
the setting. He said that he had never
seen the party who purchased the ring
since then although making every eff
fort TO find him.
Assistant District Attorney Taft
examined England very closely,
and asked the defendant if he thought
Ball was a man 20 years old, and that
his address was in Boston; also why
he did not inform the police when Ball
told him, that there was reason to be-
lieve the ring had been stolen. who
was the man who bought the ring?"
asked Assistant District Attorney Taft
Il would give anything if I knew"
declared England.
The next witness for the defense was
John A. Davis, who has worked for
England for nine years.
He testified as to his judgment of the
value of the ring in question, and as
to a conversation with Mrs. Maynard,
in which she said she wanted to get
the ring back. England told her he
would do all he could to get it back,
but he did not know the purchaser.
Victor Sullivan, a matchmaker in the
store of England, testified as to seeing
the ring and estimating its value He
was there in the evening, when the ring
was sold
Ellen B. Worden, a bookkeeper forI
England, testified as to the transaction
between Ball and England and the
conversation at the time the ring was
bought.
The case went to the jury about 81
O'clock.
Elmer r. Allen was arraigned on al
charge of cruelty to animals, and plead
ed guilty
Hal Alexis Hollingsworth and Karop
Kopegian were arraigned yesterday af
ternoon, and both pleaded not guilty
to the indictments charging them with
murder.
At 23O o'clock District Attorney Hoar
informed BE court that he desired the
arraignment of the two persons charged
with murder He said that Herbert
Parker and John P. Abbott of Boston
would appear as counsel for Hollings-
worth. The indictment was then read,
charging Hollingsworth with the MUIR
der of Myrtice Leonard. The boy, nat
urally felt the gravity of the situation,
and as he stood up to plead his mouth
worked convulsively and his voice
trembled as he said in low voice, mot
guilty"
District Attorney Hoar stated that
James II. McMaher and Daniel B. Pha-
len would be counsel for Kapegian. 1t
was found necessary to swear in an
interpreter as the defendant under
stands very little English. DR.. A. K.
Yoosup acted as interpreter, and Kope-
gian pleaded not guilty to the indict-
ment charging him with killing another
Armenian living in F'itchburg.
Manocy Shooshanian was tried for
forging an order on the Peoples Saw
ings bank for $255. He was not repre-
scented by counsel
Among the government witnesses
were officials of the bank, several Ar
menians and Inspector Stone, who went
to St. Paul. Mimi, with eXtradition
papers for the defendant
Shoosnanian went on the witness
stand in his own behalf and told ram
bling story, in part English, part Ar
menian. The jury on the case was ex-
cused until this morning.
Frank Peganus, for receiving stolan
property, was sentenced to pay 500 us
fine.
Sculptor Scannell has been known for
years as the Worcester champion user
of the biggest words in simple CONVEX