The Vermont watchman. [volume] (Montpelier, Vt.) 1883-1911, 1909-04-29
ARRESTED ON CHARGE
OF CAR BREAKING

Larceny From Railroad Company.
One Turns States Evidence. Ale
Alleged to Have Been Stolen.
Special Detective Thompson of
the Central Vermont r. r. brought
thre elocal gentlemen into court
Wednesday on the charge of car
breaking, the offence being alleged
to have been committed Tuesday
night at o'clock in the Central
Vermont yards. 1t is charged that
the three men, Ernest Powers.
Odell Mason and Fred Muzzy broke
into Pere Marquette car No. 30141
and took three bottles of Medallion
ale making a charge of burglary
against them at the time. States
Attorney Gates appeared for the
state and the case was continued
until ] so Wednesday pm. Dwight
Mason furnishing $500 bail for his.
son Odell for his appearance in
court.
At the hearing Wednesday, the
state put Mr.. Mason on the witness
stand to testify against Muzzy,
whose case was brought up first.
w. A. Lord appeared for Muzzy and
Powers, but Mason was without
counsel. Mason testified that one
night about two weeks ago, when
engine No $50 was derailed at the
C. P. Gill stone shed, he was sent
out to call a section crew, and on
his return met Muzzy and Powers,
who wanted to get some liquor from
a car which was placed at the
freight house platform. Muzzy,
Powers and himself, he said, work
ed in the freight house and had seen
a barrel of ale in the car, when
they had unloaded some freight
from it in the afternoon. He stated
that the three of them had opened
the barrel in the afternoon and TAX
en- several bottles of the ale out ,af-
terward sealing the door of the car
again. He said that Powers and
Muzzy asked him if he did not want
some more of the ale and as he was
willing, he broke the seal of the car
and took several more bottles, plac-
ing hte empty bottles under the
platform of the freight house where
they were found by the employees
of the railroad later.
The witness stated that the next
morning. Messrs. Thompson and
Keefe of the railroad called him
aside and told him that he had bet
ter tell all he knew about the rob
berry of the car as it would be bet
ter for him. He thereupon told the
story of the whole proceedings to
them.
Fred St. Rock, an employee on
the Barre freight train which pulls
cars from the Junction and this city
to Barre, and Edward Muldoon, the
conductor of the same train, testified
that the car was unsealed on the
night in question, and on eXamina-
tion they found that the ale had
been taken from the barrel, which
was broken. The car was therefore
left at the local platform, to be ex-
amined in the mornin
Muzzy and Powers were then put
on the stand by the defence, and
both testified that they knew moth
ing about the crime alleged and that
they heard nothing about it until
the next morning as they both went
home early and remained there.
The court then stated that the
case against Muzzy had resolved it.
self into an allegation by Mason,
who had confessed to committing
the crime and the denials of both
respondents and in the absence of
any other corroborating evidence on
the part of the state, Muzzy would
be discharged The case against
Powers was then mol pressed, as
the same evidence would have been
presented in his case, Mason, how
ever, was bound over to county
court, and the $500 bail was fur
nished by his father after which he
was allowed to go from the custody
of the officers