The Princeton union., 1901-10-03
STORY OF A PENNY.
1t is Listened to by Judge Baxter and
Jury Last Friday For
Short Time.
Cases Against Ray and McGinnis Dis
~ missed-=No Evidence to Estab=
~. lish a Case.

OF court was the ';soul of wit: if brevity
is such, and we are told that it is, par
tlcularly in some cases. When the
State against Geo. McGinnis was called
last, Friday morning, it looked as if it
would be hard fight to convict the
'Haandsome Harry Rays partner Of
theScharge, which stood against him
grand larceny in the second degree,
the. particular offense charged being
theS breaking open of the Princeton
roller mill safe on the night of Nov.
II, 1900, and the theft OF little sack
containing so pennies, which luckily
was all that was left in the safe for
the|night by Treasurer Zimmerman.
Young Ray was tried last April for the
same otfense, but, notwithstanding
that the State fastened the guilt with
out3a question of doubt upon Ray, the
jury failed to convict him. The tes-
timony at the time all hinged on a bent
penny, which as was testified to at the
time was given along with 10 others to
a Mrs. Nyenhouse by Ray and McGin-
mis- on Monday morning, Nov. 10Th for
lunch. When Ray was tried Mr..
Zimmerman testified that the defaced
coin was without a doubt the one he
had placed in the safe with the other
pennies. and claimed to have recog-
nized it at that time. Other evidence
introduced at the time showed where
the firm of r. & McM. had rendered
ten pennies for lunch at the farm of
Frank Kroen the Sunday evening after
the.safe cracking, and an extra penny
was rolled on the floor for luck. The
circumstantial evidence was strong,
butzthe spring jury evidently had some
grave doubts about Ray even dealing
in bad pennies.
Itrequired quite little time Friday
to secure twelve jurymen, and Attor-
neys Thompson for the defense ex.
haas red his. peremptories. and the
panei, also. before the jury was. filled,
land Sheriff Claggett was obliged to
invite few good and true citizens into
the jury box. The attorney for Nc
Ginnis was particular when examining
jurors to inquire if they had read the
Princeton UNION Of last April which
criticised the jury for not convicting
Ray. Jos. Robertson OF Greenbush,
was asked if he had formed an opinion
of the case, and he said he had, and he
very bluntly informed the court, attor-
neys and all that he was of the opinion
that the prisoner was guilty. OF course
the gentleman from Greenbush was
challenged for actual bias and excused.
The case was opened by the county
attorney informing the jury of the ma
ture of the case, and Mr.. Zimmerman
was called, but was not present at the
time. Mrs. Nyenhouse was called and
testified to the boys getting a lunch at
her place Monday morning Nov. 10Th,
and of the payment of the twenty pen
MES containing the bent one. The box
of pennies was produced by the clerk
OF court, sealed as they were given to
him at last term of court and the box
was opened, and the bent penny shown
the witness. She recognized it. Judge
Baxter examined it under his magnify
ing glass, and carefully noted its, ,ap-
pearance. The glass was passed around
and all, including the prisoner exam
ined the small denomination of coin
with as much interest as though new
species of microbe had been discovered.
The coin was admitted in evidence.
Treasurer Zimmerman of the Milling
company was next put on the stand,
and shown the penny, but astonished
the county attorney by stating that he
could not at this late day absolutely
swear that the penny was the one
stolen from the mill. This BIT of evil
dence naturally weakened the States
case, and though Zimmerman was re-
called it did not help matters any.
l. ~ SiOA n VI COuIG w DIS W OIu dIu ECoU1-
fed to the box OF pennies having been
in his possession, etc., but this fur
nished no foundation sufficient to con-
meet McGinnis with the theft of the
penny. The whole case fell fiat in
stanter, and the judge said that what
ever our wishes in the matter may be,
l must have something for the jury to
investigated" There had been no evil
dence introduced tending to. prove the
guilt of McGinnis and the case was dis
missed, and the prisoner discharged
from custody. -. ~. =. 1zxssy>..
On motion of the county attorney the
other case against Ray and zMcGinnis
was dismissed, and the prisoner and
his wife who had been with him in
court, Immediately left the court room.
Marshal Newton was sent to the