Daily inter mountain. [volume] (Butte, Mont.) 1881-1901, 1901-03-23
C0NN0Rs GOT
THE LIMIT
WAS SENTENCED BY JUDGE
CLANCY TO TEN YEARS AT
DEER LODGE.
HAS BEEN IN THE
PENiTENTiARY BEFORE
He Said He Wanted to Work and the
Judge Gave Him Ten Years at
Haru Labor.

Frank Connors alias Z. j. Wade was
paced on tr.a. in Judge C.ancy's court
toSay en- a charge of a sau.t in the sec
ond degree on Char es Darnstadt at the
c.rnsr OF Maia and Granite streets be
fore daylight on the morning of Decem-
Der %. There was also another charge
against lin, that of having served SIX
years il the peritentiary for burglary
committed in Missouri county in 1896. To
the latter. howey>r. he pleaded guilty
lief yre any te~ timony was taken and ex
p aimed on the witness stand how he
came to assume the name of E. j. Wade.
the name under which he was convicted
in Missoua. He said that shortly be-
fore his arrest on the burglary charge
ale and three other men were on a drunk
and were breaking a chunk out of the
peace of the community. They had all
taken off their coats an got them mixed
in read jlstment when the police raidel
them. In one pocket of the garment he
Lai gotten hold of was a Miners union
card bearing the name of E. j. Wade
This name he had allowed to stand as
his own on the police records of Mis-
sou!a. When arrested for burglary along
with one James wilson the old name
of E. j. Wade was resucrected and p.ac-
ed against him. and under this name he
had been convicted and sent to the pen
iteatiary for six years. being realeased
en- the 2S,h of last November.
He denied having assaulted Darnstadt
for The purpose Of robbery as alleged. and
endeavored to explain the mixup by say
ing he and Darnstadt had come together
by accident and he had thrown Darn
punches The thought Of robbery was
as far from his mind as it possibly could
have been.
The testimony given by Darnstadt ana
Officer Jack Gray was somewhat differ
ent. The former stated that Connors
had followed him from the Ca ifornia
brewery up Main street and attacked him
near the Hennessy store corner. throw
ing him to the ground and attempting to
get away with his watch. Policeman
Gray testified that he had arrested both
men because he believed them to be en-
gagged in a fight. When Connors was
searched knife with one blade open
had been found in one of his hip pock-
cts.
The state was represented by the
county attorney in person and the de-
PENDANT by r. Nj. Place, who did his
Wurk as tnOuSH ne iietu pech 6CllAho
e25, 600 instead of $25.
At 1920 o'clock. less than an hour and
quarter after the trial was COM
menced. the testimony had all been
submitted and the case ready for in
'structions and argument.
in presenting the case to the jury
County Attorney Breen said he had
prejudice against that class OF GRIM
ma S who. on arriving in Silver Bow
county changed their names to meet
ma, ionality conditions. He said Con-
nors had been sent up from Missoula
for six years under the name of F. j.
Wade, and now he had come before
jury in this county with the name Of
Connors. He referred to the case he
had yesterday, that of the state against
a man calling himself Frank O'COnnell
for business purposes. OConnelrs
name, he said. was Jake Weber. Then
he referred to the case in which the
leader of a gang of desperate highway
men in this city, few years ago. had
assumed the name of Clancy for bust.
mess purposes, and how it had failed to
work with the Judge. who sentenced
him to thirty years in the Deer Lodge
penitentiary.
Mr.. Place made a strong plea for his
client. talking about fifteen minutes,
and then the jury took the whole mat
ter and retired to the celebrating room
1t was just 1880 O'Clock when it went
out and 2 o'clock when it returned into
court with a verdict of guilty, and left
the punishment to be fixed by the
court The attorney for the defense
asked that the jury be poiled and it
was done. with the result that each
member answered that the verdict was
in accordance with his ideas. r,
The judge then announced that SEN
tence would be passed upon the defend
Gnt at 10 o'clock next Tuesday. but the
prisoner waived the time and asked to
be sentenced at once. adding that he
would like to be let down as light as
possible. as he had not had much of a
chance. having been out of prison only
three weeks.
The judge told him in reply he could
see no mitigating circumstances in his
case. He had not tried to lead proper
life after being released from prison,
and he would therefore sentence him to
ten years at hard labor in the peniten-
tiary. five years for the assault and
five years on the prior conviction.
May I say another word or two?"
asked the prisoner.
"Oh. no; it is not necessary" said
the court, you have had your say"
Il want to say something about that
hard labor to which you sentenced me-
want to work. 1 was over there be-
fore and had no work.
well. you see Mr.. Conley about that. -
said the judge.
AS Connors passed through the door
way enroute to his quarters in the Jail
he remarked to the bailiff: ut was
nothing more than I expected from the
- there are around here"
Ten years was the limit