Windham County reformer. (Brattleboro, Vt.) 1901-1906, 1905-05-12
ALL ON ACCOUNT OF MRS. JENks.
Frank Whitman and Will Smith Come
to Blows-Appear in Court Later.

Fondness for the same woman le'
to a serious alteration between Franl
Whitman. who gives his residence a.
SwanZey y. H., and VIII Smith a fire
man on the Central Vermont railroad
Wednesday evening, and as resul
both men appeared In the local police
court yesterday In answer To th'
charge of assault. Whitman. who APP
parently got decidedly the worst Of
the argument, pleaded guilty and wa.
fined SIS and costs by Justice w. :
Newton yesterday morning. the fin,
being paid by his father, NJ ID. Whit
man OF Putney. Smith. however. en-
tered a plea of not guilty and called
for a jury trial which took place be-
fore Justice F. d. +. Stowe yesterday
afternoon. After celebrating for about
two hours the six men who We're
drawn 10 decide the question reported
that they could not come TO an agree
ment and were discharged. They We're
j II. :. Goodenough, w. r. Geddis. w.
T.. Banks. H. +. Bond, f. f. Mellen
and l.. A. Elmer.
/ From the evidence that came out
at the hearing Ii appears that both
Whitman and Smith had soft places
| in their hearts for woman by the
name OF Mrs. jerks. who lives at los
Elliot street Mrs. jerks formerly
acted as housekeeper for Whitman but
since the latter left town she had been
attended by Smith. Professedly to Wis
1t Mrs. Jenks's young son, who had been
iil, Whitman came to Brattleboro We'd
nesday afternoon and called at the
house. While he was talking with
Mrs. jerks in the hall Smith made his
appearance and was invited in by the
woman in the case Whitman object
ed to this and made a pass at his ri
val who clenched with his opponent
and started lively scrimmage which
was finally stopped by the interference
of several boarders.
Later in the evening Mr.. Smith and
Mrs. jerks were walking out Elliot
street when. near the Brattleboro Gus
tom laundry. they came upon Whit
man. who was talking with Louis
Dompier and his son. Just as the
couple passed whitman reached out
and either struck Smith or hit him
with stone, the evidence on this
point being contradictory At any
rate as soon as Whitman had done this
he started on run for Main street
and Smith at once gave chase. Near
Emerson's new block the pursued fell
and the pursuer fell upon him and
beat him strenuously Qf the marks
on Whitman's face can be taken as
prima facie evidenced. While the two
were lying In the road DR.. G. f. Barber
came out of Springs barber shop.
Without showing the slightest signs of
fear the doctor ordered the COM
batants to disperse and when they re-
fused he helped effect a separation by
grasping the collars of the fighters and
lifting them TO their feet. Later in the
evening both were arrested by Night
Officer Worden, Whitman spending the
night In the lookup and Smith at his
rooms in charge of Officer Perham.
At Smiths hearing yesterday af-
ternoon a number of witnesses We're
examined. among them Mrs. jerks, |
Louis Dompier, Fred Dompier. DR.. |
Barber, Officer Worden, Whitman and |
Smith himself as well as several 9TH
ers who We're present when the first |
alteration took place Anthony F.
Schwenk represented the state and H. |
G. Barber the defendant. The hearing |
attracted considerable attention and |
the evidence was listened to with no |
little interest.
The case was to have been tried |
again this morning. but the defendant |
entered a plea of guilty and was fined |
$3.50 and costs.