The Savannah morning news. (Savannah, Ga.) 1900-current, 1901-06-19
WOULDN'T STAND 1T
JURIEs DID NOT CONVICT SUNDAY
SELLERS OF SODA AND BANANAS.
LIQUOR DEALER GUILTY.
But NOT GUILTY vERDICTs IN 9TH
Err LAW AND ORDER CASES.

Getting These on the DOcket-Re-
suits of the Trials Showed There
lis No Sentiment in Savannah
Against Minor Violations of SUN
day Law-Evidence Was Clear and
Judge Fallignnt Charged Juries
Strictly, but They Would Not Re-
turn Verdicts of Guilty, Save
Where Sunday Liquor Selling Was
the Offense-SOme Funny Incidents.
The time of the Superior Court yester-
day was token up by the trial of cases
made by the old, and now defunct, Law
and Order League. and those instituted
against dealers in cigarettes, through
complaints made by Superintendent of
Schools Ashmore. that they had sold
cigarettes to the pupils.
Out of all the cases tried there was but
a single conviction, that of George Chris
TOPPER, whom a jury found guilty of keep
ing open a tipping house on Sunday.
The other cases were for selling soda wa
ter and fruits and articles of the like
character on Sunday, and in these the
juries refused to return Verdicts of guilty.
The evidence in every case was sufficient
iy clear that there had been a technical
violation of law. and Judge Falligant
charged the juries that 1T was their duty
to base their verdicts upon the law as
it is, and not upon the law as they or
any small or considerable number of the
people thought it should be; but not
withstanding the evidence and the charge
of the court, the juries took the bit in
their teeth and turned the defendants
loose. They could not be brought to see
that it was a crime worthy of very Sc
we're punishment for man to sell a glass
of soda water or package of peanuts
ON Sunday. If,the law differed with them
on this score, why they seemed to pro-
claim, so much the worse for the law.
Christopher was found guilty of keep
ing open his bar on Sunday, Jan. 20. The
principal witness against him was J. ".
McGills and Mr.. r. L. Colding, who rep
resented the defendant, spent a good por-
ton of the time he consumed in making
his argument in ridiculing this witness.
1T is a pretty hard thing to contem-
plate" said Mr.. Colding, things have
come to a pretty pass in Savannah, when
a secondhand hand-me-down, instalment
furniture dealer undertakes to carry on
a crusade for the reformati ton of the NOR
ais of Savannah"
Notwithstanding MIR. Coldings plea, the
jury found his client guilty, and Judge
Falligant sentenced MIN 10 pay a fine of
$3.50 and the costs of the prosecution or
serve a term Of s!1 months in the coun-
ty Jail. A motion for a new trial is prob
able.
In three other cases, in which Mr.
Colding appeared for the defendants, he
had better luck. One of the defendants
was Paul Conida, the Bull street confec-
toner, whom Ely Otto and H. L. Floyd
said had sold them candy on Sunday.
March II. Mr. Colding asked Floyd, who
had already said ne was not detective
or any other officer of the law, why it
was that he had been engaged in the eff
fort to secure evidence against Mr.. Conf
da. The witness parted the thrust but
counsel thrust again, and Floyd az last
and, to the great amusement of the court
spectators reluctantly explained that ''he
had been pulled out of the stream and
that he would never do it again"
In this case only few minutes were
required for the jury to find and return
a verdict of not guilty. In the cases of
George Carellas and George Pappadea,
Greek fruit dealers who had sold fruit
and candy on Sunday, only very little ad-
ditional time was required by the juries
in which to reach the same conclusion
and return the same verdict
]. H. Helmken was one of those whom
the grand jury had indicted for selling
cigarettes to minor pupils of the public
schools. Mr.. Helmken was placed on
trial yestrdeay, and his defense to the
accusation was two-fold. First, that he
had sold no cigarettes at all, and, second,
that he had not sold them in the manu-
featured form, as the indictment alleged,
but in the shape of tobacco and paper.
What evidence there was, was to the eff
feet that tobacco and paper had been sold,
and as this constituted a variance be-
tween the indictment and the proof, there
was nothing for the jury to do but re-
turn verdict of not guilty. This it
did. The defendant was represented by
Mr. U. II. McLaws and Mr.. A d. Har-
den.
Two other of the cigarette cases, those
against Jack Wilson and A. Gasperinich,
were mol pressed on motion of the solicit
tor general, the evidence in neither OF
them being sufficient to warrant a hope Of
convicting the defendant. The bonds of
Tosher Hangicos and VI. Albreino, two of
the fruit dealers indicted for keeping
open on Sunday, were estreated, the de-
PENDANTS making no appearance when the
cases against them were called. Unless
they appear at the December term of the
court the forfeiture of their bonds will
be made absolute, and their sureties will
have to come across with $3.50 in each
case.
Sale of N Fine Library.