Putnam patriot. [volume] (Putnam, Conn.) 1872-1962, 1913-12-12
ESPIONAGE ON
POLITICIANS
Suspicion That Suifragists Have
Detective After Officials
TO Sc USED IN CAMPAIGN
Evidence Would Be Against csndi-
dates for offioe-Mrs. Bennett,
President, Approves Plan as
Good and VIII Adopt II.

Especial Hartford Correspondence
Hartford.-Have the sunragists en-
gagged a woman detective whose duty
win be to pry into the private lives Of
Hartford politicians with a view OF
using the evidence against candidates
in the coming municipal election?
1t is reported that such woman
was put to work few days ago.
whether by individual suffragists or
by the association as whole is not
known.
At sgffragist headquarters it was
said that Mrs. Thomas ~ Hepburn,
president of the State association.
Miss Emily Pierson. State organizer.
and other officers were attending the
suffragist gathering in Washington,
d. C.
Have the suffragists hired de
tective in order to spy on the private
lives of our politicians" was asked
of the woman in charge
Il know of no such movement. and
have not heard of any such per
son." was the reply.
Mrs NJ. Tosean Bennett, president
of the local association, said that she
had no knowledge of a detective in
Hartford at the present time.
Il think the idea is an excellent
one, and | shall certainly advocate its
adoption at the next meeting of the
executive committee" said Mrs. Ben
nett
do you think that the lives OF our
politicians should be delved into?"
asked the reporter.
81 am not in favor of uncovering
any more unnecessary horrors than
we have already, but l am in favor
of letting the public know Just what
sort of a man a candidate is
Would it not be possible for some
individual suffragist to pay the ex-
pense of securing detective without
the association in general being aware
of the project?"
81 am not sure that Il would. but
I think that | would know it if any
such project had been undertaken.
81 am not altogether sure that 1t
would be a difficult task to get some
thing ON some men in Hartford
was Mrs. Benefits closing statement.
Mrs Bennett said that she was un
able to speak for the absent men,
bers of the association, including
Mrs. Hepburn, Miss Pierson and the
others, but that she was sure that
the idea would meet with their ap-
proval, and that the only difficulty
would be to secure funds to pay for
the hire of woman sleuth
Arraigncd Under New Statute.
William H Meloney, who adyertises
himself as an auctioneer and a real
estate dealer at No. 26 State street
and who has side lines, was before
Judge Walter II. Clark in the police
court charged with false pretenses
and with having inserted fraudu-
lent advertisement in an afternoon
paper He Is the first person to be
arraigned under the fraudulent adver-
tisement statute of the Public Acts
of 1913 1t was charged against Me-
loney that on November 20 he OBJ
tanned $40 from John J. Anderson for
certain ring which II is alleged he
represented to have cost sos and to be
a secondhand ring and for that rea-
son was sold at a great sacrifice. The
second count charges the insertion or
the fraudulent advertisement as to
the value of the ring. By agreement
with the prosecutor the case was con-
tinued and Meloney was released UNI
der a bond of $500. The claim of the
State is that the day before Meloney
sold the ring 10 Anderson. he bought
ii from a local dealer for $3.50. Aside
from the count charging false pre-
lenses, the statute against false adj
vertising provides for a minimum fine
of $40 and a maximum fine of $500.
Widow Causes Damage Suit.
II Samuel L. Shulman had not run
a store at No. 282 Park street and II
he had not filed a window looking
over a hatchway with goods to at
tract the feminine eye, ne would not
be defendant in a suit for damages
brought against him by James Kel-
ieber. AS 1t was, however Shui-
man did run the store, his window
was attractive, and Mrs. Catherine
Kelleher, wife of the plaintiff, when
passing by was attracted and stepped
upon the hatehway. to see the display
to better advantage. The writ alleges
that the hatchway gave way, through
being improperly fastened, and that
Mrs. Kelleher fell on the steps, re-
ceiving various injuries and tearing
her clothes, for all of which Mr.. KEEL
ieher asks damages Of $500.
Drops Case Of Dynamite.
Fire in the Morgan street freight
station of the New York New Haven
and Hartford railroad did consider
able damage, although the fremen
had ii under control in the face OF
strong wind, in a few minutes. The
blaze started near the furnace in the
cellar Four boxes OF dynamite were
on the station platform for shipment
to a town in Massachusetts,. A la
borer started to carry one away from
the danger zone and dropped II on the
platform Why IT did not explode and
blow the neighborhood to smithereens
Is a mystery.