The news & observer. [volume] (Raleigh, N.C.) 1894-current, 1899-12-28
THOSE WHO CELEBRATED.
Pay the Penalty For Their Holiday
Sins and Folly.

Sins and Folly.
For two days now Mayor Powell has
been disposing Of Christmas eases. lie
| las been veritable Santa Claus of pun
shments, and to those who have fallen
! victims to remorseless statutes and or
| finances he has dealt out Justice about
is lavishly us the genuine Old Kris
| Kringle bestows gifts from his treasure
pack
On Tuesday there were a dozen or
more eases disposed of, and yesterday
| half as many more. All had sinned on
the day we celebrate" AN began by
| oolling ON the corn, or words to that eff
ect and ended up by adding some frills
to the performance.
Many of them we're REGULARS" but
| there were also some new faces in the
| dock. Some plead first offence" some
! said 'the other fellow did it," while
still others candidly acknowledged that
| they were so full of booze that they
didn't remember"
| The first culprt to answer the roll
| call Yesterday morning was James Bry-
II. a white man, who badly beat Mamie
| Dawkins, Il negro woman of bad char
1 UCtSI III IL NiiljStlldS lay row liz Nt"N
| med SG25.
Next were two young negroes, Luns-
| ford Davis and Charles Gear. They
| heat each other with sticks. Davis be-
| ing the aggreSSor was fined S525. and
| Gear was fined ST. Neither could
pay the fine, 50 they We're put on the
| strcets-Davis for 30 days and Gear
| for 20 days.
Now came the star case of the day.
| 1t was between two white women
| Eastsiders. Mrs. ella Smith was the
defendant and Miss Mollie Crabtree
was the prosecutriX. Both had employ
cd attorneys. Mrs. Smith had secured
the services of Maj. Moses Bledsoe and
Miss Crabtree was represented by Mr..
Moses Amis.
1t was case of two jealous women
and a house divided against itself to wit,
the house of Ella Smith. Elias mother
''swore" for her, but her sister ''swore'
for Molle Crabtree. After an hour of
swearing" by these and other witnesses,
and much cross-queStioning by the law
yers. both surnamed Moses. the court
found against the Smith woman and
fined her S4.2J.
From this Major Moses Bledsoe APP
pealed. Mr.. Moses Amis asked then
that the defendant be required to give
bond of $50
Major Moses Bledsoc said she could
DO it.
Mr.. Moses Anlis said it must be JUST
fled bond
Major Moses Bledsoe said sit is an
outrage.
Mr. Moses Amist seeking to catch
the old man, asked; Are You address
ing the court
Major Moses Bledsoe net wishing to
give up any revenge he may have
wreaked ON either counsel or court by
the remark, said: You are the one
that suggested it.
And much more to the same effect, and
TO the great amusement of the specta
tors.
1t developed, however. THAT Mrs.
Smith could not give any sort of bond
and so she raised the money and paid
her fine.
Tom Price, negro, appeared before
the mayor in convict suit. Toms
term OF sentence on the county roads
expired Christmas Day. When his time
was out he was with the county road
force in the country, and was directed to
90 to the workhouse near here and ex-
change, his stripes for his former clothes
and get his release. But he came
through Raleigh, fell in with some
former companions, got on a spree and
wound up in the station house.- Mayor
Powell gave him another fifteen days on
the roads.
w. Fl. Wilson, white man who form
erly resided here, but has recently been
living in Raleigh, bought a beautiful jag
Tuesday afternoon and then attempted
to spread himself all over the street
The police interferred early in the per-
fCrmance, put him in a carriage and took
him to the station house. During the
night he sobered up and when the chief
of police came down yesterday morning
he instructed the turnkey to pay Will
sons carriage fare out of the $S.25 taken
eff his person when arrested, give him
the balance and release him.
TO this Wilson objected, declaring he
had been robbed by the police. There
upon the chief returned to- Wilson his
quarter, and told him he could now
plead his case before the mayor.
BY this time Wilson's booze was dy
ing away in him and his fighting blood
was up. He sent for lawyer, and paid
him So to defend him. The mayor heard
the evidence and argument. took Will
sons remaining $3.25 and told him to go
and sin no more
He may not have been a wiser man
when he went out of the court, but he
was certainly poorer by So for his fool
ishness. But what else could he have eX-
pected! The law must be vindcated;
the wages of sin is death, and several
other things too numerous to mention.
No~+b rorn1;no nxo n pooy,,