The Savannah morning news. (Savannah, Ga.) 1900-current, 1904-12-30
A. c. |. ENGINEER
WAS CONVICTED
COAST LINE LARCENY CASE
RESULTED IN CONVICTION OF ONE
OF CREW MAKING "FIND."

Case Was Hard Fought and occu-
pied an All Day Session of City
COurt-Jury Recommended j. NJ
Reid to the Extreme Mercy-Sen-
fenced to Pay Fine of $3.50 or
Serve MOnths-TestimOny OF
Fireman Most Damaging.
Conviction resulted in the first of the
larceny cases instituted by the At
lantic Coast Line Railway against GER
tain of its employees j. NJ. Reid, an
engineer. was the first convicted, and
Judge Norwood sentenced him to pay
fine of $50 or serve six months in
the county jail.
The case was hard fought, and it was
after o'clock in the Afternoon when
it was given TO the jury After a
comparatively short elaboration a YER
dict of guilty was returned, but the
jury recommended the prisoner to the
extreme mercy of the court. Judge
Norwood then imposed the sentence
given above. Assistant Solicitor Dan
j. Charlton conducted the prosecution
and for the defendant appeared At
torneys Wilson & Rogers, Twiggs &
Oliver and Walter P. LaRoche.
The circumstances of the case are
familiar to readers of the Morning
News. An Atlantic Coast Line train,
of which Reid was the engineer, was
stopped suddenly on it's journey, it was
alleged, and the entire crew, with the
exception of the fireman. went back
a few yards to investigate the con-
tents of a box that had been found.
The box was filled with shoes of the
best quality, and the members of the
crew divided them among themselves,
it was charged. A few trips after
wards a similar occurrence was re-
ported, only this time the box was fill
ed with Stetson hats. The railway
company suspecting that some thing
was wrong. then began proceedings
against the different members of the
crew and Reid was the first to be
tried
Some Damaging Testimony.
Perhaps the most damaging testi-
mony against the defendant was that
of his fireman, man named Clements
and the only one who is not charged
with having been a party to the lar
ceny. Clements told simple, straight
forward story of the entire occurrence.
According to the witness the train
was suddenly stopped, though he did
not know for what cause. Immediate
ly afterwards the engineer told him
to take care of the engine while he
went back to see what was the mat
ter and what had been found. Glenn
ents stayed in the engine-cab
few minutes later the engineer re-
turned with two pairs of the shoes.
One pair he handed to the fireman
and told him that the conductor of
the train had sent them forward as a
gift. The fireman, suspecting nothing
save that the occurrence was some
what unusual. took the shoes. He
stated that the shoes were w. L.
Douglas patent leather.
The 'Finds" Continued.
On the next trip, according to the
fireman, the same proceedings were
gone through. The train was sudden
ly stopped, the engineer left and went
back to see what the trouble was, and
the fireman remained with the en-
CINE, doing odd work during the rest.
few minutes later the engineer re-
turned to the cab and this time he
stated that another box had been
found and opened by the crew. This
box contained hats and again the fire.
man was remembered and presented
with one of the hats. He took ii as
he had taken the shoes. believing that
it was presented by one who had the
right to give it.
other witnesses were called for the
state and, though the story of none
of them was as DANA ging for the de-
Tense as was that of the fireman, they
served to fill in little details. Circum-
stantial evidence was also used to aid
in making out the case for the state.
Defendants Statement.
The defendant was the principal
witness for his side of the case and
the story he told was a good one. The
man. has ar impeachment in his speech
and it required nearly half an hour
to tell his simple story. In the prin-
cipal facts his story correspondent with
that of the fireman.
He admitted opening, or assisting In
opening, the box of shoes and the box
OF hats. He maintained, however, that
he did not think he was stealing them.
but that the box was a legitimate
find and not fixed one. He stated he
believed the contents belonged to the
crew that found them and so had no
scruples against helping himself
He closed by making a plea to the
Jury to believe his story and not to
send him to the chain-gang or peniten-
tiary. He asked to be allowed to con-
tinue his work. which he had faith
fully performed for long term of
years and asked that the jury not send
him where he could not support his
wife and children.
This plea probably had its effect on
the Jurors, as shown by the recon-
mendation to the extreme mercy of the
court.