Burlington weekly free press. [volume] (Burlington, Vt.) 1866-1928, 1913-04-24
LOOKS LIKE A MURDER
Unknown Negro Said to Have
Been Thrown into the Winooski.
Wnr Accused by Men Connected with
n Railrond Section Gang of stenI-
Ing Dinner Pnils-severnI Ar
rests Made.

Murder Is supposed to have been COM
mitted in Bolton Saturday afternoon.
when an unknown negro is said to have
been thrown into the river by two men
employed with a section gang. and drown
ed before he could be rescued. James
Sweeney was brought to the county jail
here after midnight Sunday night by
Sheriff James H.. Allen, charged with be-
ing one of the men who threw the negro
into the river. Henry Goodrich, the
second man, escaped before word of the
murder Leaked out. Three other men,
Henry McCabe, boss of the section gang,
Thomas Collam, an umbrella member, and
Henry Remission were also brought to
jail here as witnesses in the case. Nc
Cabe was released Monday on 500 bail
n Remission was also released on his
W recognizance. Collam will probably
be released.
Goodrich was found Monday by Con-
stable L. NJ. Ravlin and Deputy Sheriff
Henry Todd, at q house on First street,
occupied by a brother of Goodrich. The
man was hiding behind a bed but surren-
dered himself to the officers without re-
sistance.
Exact details of the murder were hard
to get as the affair was kept quiet by
those who witnessed it until some time
Sunday. According to the information
gathered by Sheriff Allen, the two men
who are accused of throwing the negro
into the river had left their dinner pals
in a certain spot and returned to find them
missing. The negro was said to be a tramp
who had been employed in the section but
whowas making his ~waytoward the south.
The two men accused him Of stealing the
dinner pals and threatened to throw him
into the river. He protested that he had
not taken the pals and, according to two
of the witnesses who are now held, the
boss of the section gang ordered the men
to get away from the camp with the
negro.
The two men took the negro between
them, it is claimed. and marched him
some distance from the camp to the edge
of the river. where, It IS claimed, he was
suddenly twitched into the water and dis
appeared from sight. Sweeney, It is claim
ed. made an effort to reach out and pull
the negro to shore but was so paralyzed
with fear that he suffered an attack of
heart failure and almost fell into the river
himself. Goodrich succeeded in getting
away before the sheriff reached Bolton.
The drowning took place near Bolton
station, between Bolton and Jonesville.
States Attorney T. f. Hopkins held an
inquest over the murder Monday after
noon before Assistant Judge Merrihew
and examined several witnesses. 1t is
understood that, if the evidence warrants,
a special grand jury may be called. The
inquest was held at the States attorneys
office.
1t was only after considerable work that
Sheriff Allen was able to hit on the par
tial identity of the victim of the drown
ing. He learned that a negro wearing a
brass tag had suddenly quit work in
Essex and the witnesses in Bolton said
that the negro they saw wore a brass
tag.
IT was learned that the negro went to
Essex last week as a laborer to work on
the new dam. He wore a brass tag on
which was n number, designed to distin-
guish him from the other laborers. 1t is
generally supposed that he quit work Fri
day with the intention of getting back to
Boston. He fell in with the section gang
at Bolton.