The Savannah morning news., 1901-07-16
WOULDN'T CONVICT
JURIEs DIDN'T LIKE GOOD Gov
ERNMENT LEAGUES WITNESSES.
OFF DAY FOR THE STATE.
FOUR TRIALS IN THE SUPERIOR
COURT AND -FOUR ACQUITTALS.


Open Tipping House on Sum
day-EIements of PathOs in the
Trial of the Case Against Nc
Creary-An Old Man, Almost Blind
and Scarcely Able to HObbIe From
His Chair to the Witness Stand, TO
Tell His story to the Jury.
1t was an off day for the Good
Government League in the Superior
Court yesterday. Four cases, in which
the defendants were charged with
either gambling or Sunday liquor sell
ing, the indictments in which had been
returned through the efforts of the
league, and its agents, were tried, and
in every one there was a verdict of
not guilty.
Three of the cases were against al
legged proprietors of gambling houses,
Samuel Jacobs, w. H. McCreary and
Charles Wilbur; the fourth was against
j. K. Pedrick, proprietor of a restau-
rant, boarding house and bar at Thun-
derbolt. 1t was evident that the juries
did not particularly care for the evil
dence that the state relied upon to Sc
cure convictions and they returned
verdicts of not guilty in short order.
There was a decided element of
pathos in the case against McCreary.
He is an old man, looking to be 60 or
20 years old, and scarcely able either
to walk or see. The witness who APP
peared against him was r. F. Harper,
who seems to have been the most ac-
tive of the Good Government Leagues
agents in securing evidence against
these violators of the law. Harper said
that he had played poker in the room
over NerukiS saloon and had bought
chips from McCreary. 1t was a TWEEN
ty-five cent limit game in which he en-
gagged, he said, but after Mr.. II. l..
Colding, who appeared for McCreary,
had subjected the witness to a some
what searching cross examination, it
became evident to both jurymen and
spectators that Harper was not an OK
pert at poker and that he knew
mighty little about it.
McCreary could hardly hobble to the
stand to make his statement, and when
there could hardly be made to under
stand what he would have to tell in
order to make his position clear to the
jury.
why" he said. in a weak, uncer-
tain, bewildered fashion, 81 don't run
| room is my domicile and it's hardly big
enough for four people to get in. It's
| got my bed in it and the stove where
l do my cooking. This young man,
| who has testified here-why, L don't
remember ever to have seen him be-
| fore in all my life
1t came out in evidence that Nc
I Creary had been in jail for ten days,
| having been unable to give bond when
| he was indicted and arrested on a
| bench warrant. The jury thought that
he had been sufficiently punished, even
| admitting that he had ever commit
ted the crime with which he was
charged. and the verdict of not guilty
followed rapidly the jurors retirement
| from the. court room.
| Jacobs pleaded a former conviction
| in the City Court in bar of the charge
against him. He had been arraigned
| in the City Court on May 6, on the
| charge of keeping and maintaining a
| gaming house, had entered then a plea
| of guilty, been fined and paid his fine.
| He said on the stand that though he
| had sat in a few social games since
| that time, he had not kept a gaming
house, and the state could not prove to
| the satisfaction of the jury that he
| had. He was given also a verdict of
not guilty.
Charles Wilbur was the third party
indicted for keeping a gaming house.
He was identified by Harper as the
man from whom the witness had
| bought chips and who was in charge
of the gaming room in the Mcbride
place, at the corner of Bay and Hous-
| ton streets, on a night when Harper
had been among the players.
Wilbur said he was only a player
himself and that the place was really
run by man named Frank r. Body
He disclaimed all ownership of it and
| connection with it, other than as one
of the many who wooed fortune within
its four walls. He had a couple of wit
nesses on hand to substantiate what
| he said and him too, the jury found
not guilty. In the argument of the
case the witness, Harper, got rather
the worst of it, for Mr.. Coldng al
luded to him constantly as a spy and
worse than spy. In none of the cases
tried yesterday did the solicitor gen.
eral, or Mr. H. E. Wilson, who APP
| peared with him as counsel for the
| Good Government League, make any
| extended argument.
The Sunday liquor selling case
against Pedrick fell through evidently
| because the jury did not believe a man
who runs a retaurant at Thunderbolt
| and sells drink or two of whisky or
| beer on Sunday should be made to suf-
| fer. The evidence that he had sold on
| Sunday was clear enough; certainly, he
made no attempt to deny that it was
| his practice. There were some tech
nical points involved in the case. but
these were all disposed of by the clear
letter of the law. The verdict of the
| jury cannot be otherwise accounted
! for than on the theory. ingeniously ar
gued to the jury by Mr.. J. f. Cam
counsel for the defendant, that Pedrick
had committed no offense for which he
| deserved punishment.
| Altogether IL was a hard day for the
state. Mr. Wilson, in the first place,
was bit discouraged by the fact that
the principal offenders in Savannah
| against the laws which special ef-
/ forts are now being made effectually
to enforce had got out of the way and
that the energies OF the League had
to be wasted or frittered away on mi
/ nor offenders. The prosecutions SEEM
/ ed to lack enthusiasm and the juries
any warm interest in the proceedings.
! Under the circumstances the verdicts
/ of not guilty followed the trials almost
/ as matters of course.
what ward Allen Says.
Savannah. Ga, July .. 1901.
MIR. A. b. Grardeau.
/ tr. nr all, ~