The united opinion. [volume] (Bradford, Vt.) 1881-1970, 1902-12-05
SEVEN ACQUITTED
Alleged Marion Whitecaps
Found Not Guilty
TAR AND FEATHERS CASE
"A General Admission That Something
OF the Kind Occurred, but the Jury
round, After Long Deliberation,
mat tho Men Established Alibis

plymouth Mass, Dee. 2.-Aftel
listening to a great mass Of contra
dlctory testimony, the jury in the
plymouth superior court, at / O'Clock
TINS morning, decided that the sever
men OF Marion accused of tarring and
featherlng James Mcdonald were moi
concerned in that now famous case
ana returled a verdict of not guilty
Inc men thus cleared of the charge are
Messrs' Andrews, Bates, Bumpus, Gift.
ford, Mcleod, Potter and Silva, all Of
Marion.
Inc Jury was out eight hours, but the
court waited for them, and when short
" before o'clock the foreman mott
ned one of the court officers that a de
clsloh had been reached the little court
mousse was soon ablaZe with lights
Judge Harris, who had gone to bed at
the clubhouse, was summoned, as was
DlstrlctAttorney French, but Mr.. Gun.
mlllgs' counsel for the seven men, bad
gone back to Fall River, confident. as
he SAID of the outcome.
Inc jury and the seven men were in
their seats when the court arrived and
IN response to thu usual question by
the CLERK the foreman replied that the
jury had found the men not guilty in
every case.
Inc district attorney was perhaps the
most surprised man in the court room,
but lie took the verdict good humoredly.
Judge Harris at once ordered all seven
men discharged, and after thanking the
jury adjourned the court. The entire
proceedings occupied scarcely five
minutes and at 1:10 a. m. the court
house lights were out and the Marion
tar and feather case was over, at least
as far as the seven men were con-
cerned.
1t was a joyful little crowd that filed
out of the court bouse and sought tile
hotel, for there was no chance of re
turning home until long after daybrealz.
There were very few outside of those
concerned and few news.
paper men in the court room, MS the
verdict was not expected until the usual
time of opening the court this morning
The length Of time occupied in the
of the case was in q measure
for according to the judges
charge the case against each man had
to be taken up separately. 1t was be
cause Of this separate considerat ton tina
nearly all the court officials, as we'll al
all the spectators who have frequentet
the court room every day during tn,
tris went home and to bed.
Not ohe of the jury would talk of tn,
case or discuss the evidence. Each one
the trial was over and hurried off 81
soon as the court adjourned.
The charge from which the seven mel
were exonerated by the jury was that Of
rioting and rioutously assaultinp
James Mcdonald and Mrs. Clara Pot.
ter Of Marion, on Aug. 6 last. The
men we're further charged with going
to the house of Mrs. Potter and forcibly
carrying of Mcdonald to a gravel pit
where, it is said he was tarred and
feathered In the meantime. according
to Mrs. Potter's story, she was also
taken out of the house and stripped
nearly naked Mcdonald, it is alleged,
was given a ride on a rail and after
wards hustled out of town in wagon.
1t seemed to be generally admitted that
something of this kind occurred in Mar
ion, but the seven men accused success
fully established an abb in every case,
and have been cleared of being con.
cerned in the affair by the jury's verdict
What Cuban Independence Costs
Washington, Dec. 2.-"It is costing
Cuba 100000 a year to be indie
pendent of the United States" said F.
r. Guzman of Havana, who is in Wash
ington. "One hundred pounds of sugar
are now worth 1886 in Porto Rico and
S1.S7 In Cuba. The tariff imposed by
fhia fhat 1ff