Vermont phÅ“nix. [volume] (Brattleboro, Vt.) 1834-1955, 1907-10-18
ON TRIAL FOR HIS LIFE j
There is Difficulty in Securing a Jury In
Fairbanks Murder case--GalIaaher,
Firebug, Given Long Sentence.

Firebug, Given Long Sentence.
Newfane, VT, Oct. II, 1907.
At the coming in of court Monday
Henry Gallagher, the Jacksonville fire.
bug pleaded guilty to five informations
filed against him by States Attorney
Bacon. After long consultation with
Charles S. Chase counsel assigned him
by the court, he was sentenced upon all
of these charges to be confined in the
states prison at Windsor for not less than
20 nor more than "a years, and thus was
ended one of the strangest series of
crimes ever committed in Windham
county. Gallagher is about IS years old:
his exact age he does not know, as he
has never seen his father or mother.
He is a mulatto, and was born some
where in or around Boston, and was
taken by a colored family in Fall River,
Mass, when he was about six months
old and kept by them and kindly treated
and cared for until he was about eight
years old, when because he persisted in
running away from school, he was taken
by them to the city hall and turned over
to the state authorities having charge
of charities and juvenile criminals, and
by them was placed in various families
with all kinds of treatment as he claims,
until about three months before he was
placed in the care of Dana M. Canedy
at Jacksonville. At that time he ran
away from the place where the authori-
ties had put him and went back to the
colored family in Fall River who first
took him and stayed there a short time,
when the authorities discovered and ar
rested him and placed him at Mr..
Canedy's in Jacksonville, as above
stated.
Gallagher seems to have a genuine af-
fection for the colored woman in FAN
River and says she is the only person
who was ever really kind to him, and
vrvlna lit,
real remorse for what he has done. 1t
was only by bringing to his mind wildly
the sorrow that his acts would cause
this woman that he was lead to confess
his crimes. So long as the officers
threatened him with punishment he was
hard as flint and denied all knowledge
o4 the burnings, but at last when ". A.
Brown took him alone and depicted to
him how his acts would effect this fos-
ter mother he broke down and confessed.
This poor, erring waif, with his sad
past and his terrible future is an illustra-
tion of one of the weak points in our
civilization whereby our charities often
but breed crime.
S. L. Smith pleaded guilty to forgery
and was sentenced to not less than two
and not more than two and one half
years IN states prison. He attempted to
use check for $500 bearing the name of
A. NJ. Covey of Grafton, by whom he
Walter Porter pleaded guilty to grand
larceny and was sentenced to not less
than two months and 20 days and not
more than three months in the house
of correction at Rutland. His home is in
Leyden, Mass, and he stole from Mr.. Full
lam in Westminster.
Ed. Miller pleaded not guilty to steal
ing horse and carriage of DR.. Camp
bell of Bellows Falls last July. and was
tried by the jury, found guilty and SEN
fenced to not less than four years or
more than four and one half years in
states prison.
The case Of state vs.. William Fair
banks for the murder of Mary Grout was
begun this morning, and great difficulty
Is being met with in securing a jury. 1t
Is understood a special venire will be
sent out for about 80 more jurors for this
case.
1t is expected the case will last about
two weeks.