Arizona republican., 1908-12-01
THE COLEMAN CHILDREN
 IN JUVENILE COURT
ONE WILL PROBABLY GO TO THE
 INDUSTRIAL SCHOOL
A General Turning Out of the East End To Testify Regarding the Carnival of Crime Last August.

! The juvenile court was open yester- ! day for the consideration of an accum- ulation of crimes by the Coleman chil-
 dren. beginning the latter part of Au- gust when the house of J. w Cover
 dale, on North Marble street, north of Eastlake park was pIundered of the
 most of its contents. The crime was quickly traced to Gladys and Ethel Coleman, aged fourteen and twelve, the daughters of Wiley Coleman who lives
 in that neighborhood. The goods con- sisting, as My. CoyerGale said yester-
 day, of pretty much everything that
 would be found in a well ordered house
 hold were located in the possession of
 the Colemans. The little girl told a
 remarkable story Of another little girl
 by the name of De Busk, daughter of
 w. A. De Busk, living in the same
 neighbOrhood, having given them the
 plunder. TheS said that the little De
 Busk girl said that the property be-
 longed to her sister who recently died
 and that they did not like to see it
 about the house and were going to
 burn it. She told them they said that
 they would find it on the porch of the
 Coverdale residence. They found it
 there and carted it off in the course of
 two or three days. They denied that
 they had entered the house at all,
 though the house had been violently
 broken open. Trunks were knocked
 open, drawers were pulled out and their contents scattered about the flocb. Conditions were such that when Depl- ly Sheriff Adams took the stand yes terday said: T never in all my life saw a house tore up like that house was"
 The Coverdales were away from home at the time. but the matter had been pretty well sifted out before their return and the goods were returned to the house by the sheriff. The thing would perhaps have been allowed to rest there but for the story that had been told about the little De Busk girl. Her father set out to refute that He procured affidaVits from most of the people living in that community who had seen the little girls carrying the goods away and in the course of the two or three days they were at it near ly everybody had seen them. As to the little De Busk girl she denied the whole matter and pointed to the fact that clit r4lO utdu SlSltE MlAOSt lIlllRS were to be given away.
 In one os the rified drawers there had been eight silver dollars. They were gone and R. P. Trolley. whose father runs the Eastside store said that the little Coleman girls who had been daily five and ten cent patrons of the store suddenly branched out into fifty and sixty cents patrons
 About the same time a purse was taken from the house of J. W. Ford who lives in the same neighborhood. The last person known to be at the house before the purse was missed was Gladys Coleman. This was on August 2S. Mir. Ford spoke to Mir. Coleman about it and he took the mat ter up at home and learned that one of his little girls on August 22 had found a purse containing S20. There was 215O in the Rord purse. It was also brought out that on August 23. another of the Coleman children had found a purse containing $9.50. The two purses thus contained exactly the amount lost by the Fords and the Gov erdales
 The first named purse was taken to the sheriffs office where 1t has been held awaiting proof of ownership. The Colemans admitted that it was not theirs but as finders they claimed right to it over the FOrds whose money was not lost for six days after this was found.
 After some weeks MT. De Busk had succeeded in vindicating his little girl, though no one in the neighborhood had for an instant the extraordi- nary story of the Coleman children. He would have let the matter drop and perhaps it would never have been heard of again but for an incident that took place on November 3. On that day on her way to school, Gladys Coleman passed through a tent belonging to Mrs. Mcconnell who resides nearby and aft er she had gone it was found that for ty-five cents had gone. Mrs. M'Con- nell at once referred her loss to Mrs. Coleman, who later in the day, on the return of her little girl from school. took her to Mrs. MConnell and restor sd the stolen money. She also got on her knees and begged Mrs. M'ConnelPs i pardon
 sThis thing stirred up the neighbor- hood and reawakened interest in the | August carnival of crime and finally Messrs. De Busk, Coverdale and Ford | got together and signed round rob l m against the little Coleman girls. 1 Thus the matter was brought before | he juvenile court.
 The whole East end turned out The | district court room was filled as if at | murder trial The testimony all | vent one way. MT. Coleman was the | ,nly witness in behalf of his little | girls and he said at the outset that he | lid not know anything beyond what he | lad been told. He was asked by the | ,ourt if it did not sound unreasonable ! o him when he heard from the little | girls that they had been given all those | ,lothes and iewelry which they had | home. He conceded that on | second thought it was not a story that | would appeal to a reasonable man.
 No other witnesses were examined | hough there were plenty more ready to | wear or affirm, for two of those who | lid not testify declined on religious |