Waterbury evening Democrat., 1904-04-28
THE T'HEATERS
TWISTED LICENSE CASE.
Man Who Tried to Change Result of
 Vote Now on Trial.

L1tchheld, April 2S.-ShertM O.. o. Middlebroks a witness i'll the trial of Otis E. Gillette, who is charged with destroying no license ballot at the cleo tion last October while acting as a .counter, and thereby changing the re- suit of the vote, says that the envel- Opes from which the ballot were taken were thrown on the floor when dis carded. Rev B. F. Kidder, who saw the count, said that he saw MT Gillette tear off the ends of envelopes, look into each at an angle and then drop them on the floor, adding that he saw some dropped from which, apparently, no ballot had been taken.
 Frederick s. Hughes, who said he was a detective. playwright and a newspaper man, testified that he had been employed on the case by Samuel F. Thrasher and that he met Mir Gil lette in New York on February 10. Hughes represented himself as an agent of the Springfield Brewing Go, and told Gillette that the company was gratified at the result in Winsted and asked him how he managed it. Gill lette replied, according to the witness, that it was easy enough, but he did not care to disclose the method. On March 4 the witness met Gillette in
 
 a prior agreement. the witness said, Gillette told how he operated at the election. In conversation the witness said that MT Gillette said that when he took an envelope containing a li- cense vote off the table he would tear off the end and look in. If he saw >44at the ballot was a mo license" one he would drop it on the floor and put his foot on it. A little later he would stoop over and pick up this envelope and an empty envelope and, under pre- tense of examining both envelopes, he would abstract the ballot, reach into his pocket for a piece of tobacco and leave the ballot i'll the pocket. These ballots he afterwards burned.
 The witness said that another way of getting rid of the no license ballots, according to Mir Gillette's, conversation, was to produce an envelope with two no license ballots in it. He would show these two ballots and the en- velope to the moderator, who would throw both ballots out. If there was an envelope with two Eyes'' ballots he would not say anything, but would add the ballots to the pile.
 Witness further said that the de- fendant described another means of increasing the license vote. A particu- lar friend would obtain license ballot and smuggle 1t out to him and Gillette would hand 1t to a voter in an en- velope. This voter would get an empty envelope inside the rail which he would bring out and return to MT Gillette. He had voted the envelope containing the license ballot which MT Gillette had previously given him. According to the witness, MT Gillette had sa-A this was done over and over again and he got all the stragglers he wanted to vote this way at $1 and $1.50 apiece.
 The witness further testified that during the conversation MT Gillette said that he wanted $500 to carry the fall election and he must have $25O at once to make plans for the borough election in May. He explained in re- gard to the borough election that it was necessary to get he right o cers then in order to control the fall cleo tion.
 Although sharply questioned by the lawyers for the defense, MT Hughes's direct testimony was not changed by the cross-examination, and when 1t was concluded Ryce l.. Clark of New Ha- ven, who was formerly collector there. was put on the stand. He said that he went to Hartford with the for mer witness on the day of the appoint ment with Gillette in the New Dom hotel and that he heard the conversa- ton between Hughes and Gillette from an adjoining room. He related in de- tail the conversation that passed be, tween the men which was similar to that given by Hughes. The cross-ex- animation of Clark occupied an hour and half, but nothing of importance was wTung from him.