Burlington weekly free press. [volume] (Burlington, Vt.) 1866-1928, 1910-09-29
OTTO STONE ARRAIGNED
Alleged Sneak Thief in County
Court To-day.


Otto Stone. the alleged sneak thief who
was captured in this city August q. last,
with about ton of everything i'm his
poss esslon. was arraigned in county court
yesterday on charge of larceny. having
been bound over from city court on
August q in $500 bail States Attorney
II. y. Shaw appeared for the prosecution
and +. II. Campbell for the respondent
The case presented features In the
first place stone is one Of tho most
voluhe men in the history of the world
He poured forth stream of broken
English. interspersed here and there with
Il German word, that phased Judge. Jury
and attorneys, ard drove the stenographcr
nearly crazy.
Stone was taken by officer Collius
August %, In n house at the corner Of
King and Champlain streets, where the
former had room. In his possession and
in the room We're found two gold watches
one silver watch. watch chains, charms
RI zors. mileage books and odds and ends
of almost every description
The case was taken up shortly after two
o'clock yesterday afternoon. Stone was
arraipned on the charge Of stealing a gold
watch belonging to Mrs. Thomas r. Clay
from her residence at SO Maple street on
August o. last He pleaded not guilty
The jury was called and the State opened
its case
Mrs. Clay was the first witness called
for the State. She identified the watch
as her property and said that she last
saw 1t on August %. She left it on
chiffonier and went out. The only other
occupant of the house her sister, spent
most of the afternoon at work in the
cellar. When she went upstairs to find
out the time. the watch was gone. The
front door was unlocked.
! Officer Ryan was next called and
testified that he assisted in the search
of stone and that in his opinion the latter
was slightly Intoxicated. officer Collins
described his arrest of the prisoner and
his part in the search. He said Stone
professed to have bought the watches and
disclaimed all knowledge OF the mileage
books. which were also found on him.
chief Of Police Russell was the next
witness for the state. He identified the
watch offered ms an exhibit ns the one
taken from Stone and coroborrated tn
testimony of the officers Thomas CLAY
Wa also called and identified the watch
as belonging to his wife.
Paul Aust was called. Tie testified that
h. vas 81 resident Of this city and had
been for the past four years He is
German. He said that he had known
Stone in Providence r. T., some fifteen
years ago. and had known him for a period
Of ten years before that At that time,
Aust said. Stones name was Robert
Bloom and he was known by his
associates.
Mrs Mary Guyettc, the woman of whom
Stone or Bloom rented his room. testified,
rs well as Mrs. Clay's sister. The watch
had been valued in the writ at $50 but
! after consultation with a dealer in
watches the States attorney offered to
amend the amount and make il sl5. This
was done. Here the State rested.
| Then the defense opened ana the case
began TO present little human interes,
stuff that made the newspapermen sit up
and take notice. Stone WIS called As
! soon as he was asked the first question
he began to talk and he didn't stop.
except when strenuouslN Interrupted, for
/ about an hour.
| The man gave his age in CITY court n
g years. There was no attempt in county
!
questions. for he didn't give anybody
q chance. He has great difficulty with
! English. It's hard work for him to
understand or make himself understood.
for he can't find the right words. but he
has "a lot of them.
Stone told his own story in his own
way and nterpolatcd here, and there
protostations Of his innocence When the
/ ,,,-n
stenographcr had patched his story ~
it was something like this He came here
from Rutland looking for work He had
been in this country % vears He had
something like $50 or 500 in money As he
WAS slightly i'll he got room in this city
and did not at once 20 to Winooski
where he expected to find work.
one day as Stone was passing a saloon
| a couple of men greeted him. Hello,
! landsmann." they cried. They also were
Germans and they told him their names
were Albert Schneider and otto Wolf.
! They had no money but could get work
If they could get to Louisville Ky. They
offered Stone three watches for ten
dollars He bought the watches for eight
! dollars after some dickcring Tie next
day he was arrested in his ROOM He
! knew nothing about the mileage books.
1t was evident that Stone could not do
himself justice because of his fautv
| English. Every effort was made. how
ever. to help him. At the conclusion of
stones story i, was five o'clock. The
! States attorney did not cross-oxanline
and the jury was excused until this morn
| ing at nine o'clock. 1t is probable that
the arguments will be made this morning
| nd ha hc