The Brattleboro daily reformer. (Brattleboro, Vt.) 1913-1955, 1916-04-26

Sheriff Mann at the time Mr. Hughes
sent word to the Hinsdale authorities
and they promised to have an officer
start at once to head them off.
! On his way into Brattleboro to go
! to Hinsdale Sheriff Mann encountered
the other car driven by Abbott Rich
mond and carrying Officer Worden. He
! told them to follow him After he had
driven to a point beyond where he had
seen the men several. stops were made
and side trips made to the railroad
track to get view. Finally the men
were seen far ahead walking rapidly. /
Richmond and Worden were sent
ahead of them and the sheriff and
Barbetti started down the track. The
two men, who proved to be Spingla
and Geugonis, seeing they were trapped,
offered no resistance. They We're |
promptly bundled into the sheriff S au-
tomobile and brought to Brattleboro,
reaching the Office of the state s at |
torney at 5.45 clock. The presence |
of the machine there was the signal |
for a crowd to collect, and the two !
men were taken to the village lookup, !
, where Spingla was ready and willing |
to tell their version of the assault. |
Geugonis, who has been III this coun-
try only two years and in Brattleboro
about three months, speaks little or no
: English.
Spingla said that Vernott had hec-
tored his friend at different times and
, that a few days ago they clinched in
! scuffie and Vernott got Gougonis
down on the floor i'll the shop and
2 choked him. There were challenges to
2 fight it out outside, but the men failed
+, to meet Saturday evening and again
= Monday evening.
He said that as he and Geugonis were
} going to work yesterday morning they
| looked back as they stepped from the
cemetery into the path leading down
l the embankment and saw Nernott com
9 ing. They waited, Spingla said, about
/ two minutes.
> Threw Knife Into River.
In his excitement Spingla told sew
f eral versions of what happened after
y Nernott came along. Someone in the
K party demanded to know if the other
n wanted to fight and there was a ready
p acquiescence and things started. Geu-
e gonis had an open knife in his hand.
4 Spingla claimed at one time that Geu-
:, gonis made no motion with the knife,
but that Nernott ran against it. At
another time Spingla said that with the
knife in his hand Geugonis was punch
e ing at Vernott and accidentally cut
j., him. To this Geugonis, through Bar
le agreed that what cutting was done Geu-
e, gonis was responsible for. They said
J. the knife was thrown into the Connec-
If ticut river from the highway bridge
w when they crossed it about an hour
in after the assault.
They told with considerable amuse-
lg ment of having remained on the side
lg of Wantastiquet mountain within g
- stone s throw of the highway all day
tp Of off rps
ay make trips over there in the morning ii
as an effort to get track of them.
Spingla claimed that he did not en-
ad ter the fight until Michael Lilis, an
all other employe of the chair company
he came along. Spingla said Lillis showed
Id a disposition to interfere by using hi
dinner pail as a weapon and when Geu
IL gonis turned on Lilhs, who promptl,,
lie ran, Spingla took up the battle witt
he Vernott. He displayed a badly dis
30, colored left eye, mute testimony to tn
he effects of blow which he claime
ort Vernott landed on him. When aske
le how many blows were struck he reptile
rat that for every one he received h
in guessed he gave at least two. He sal
adj, that when another man named MarenC
who worked in the factory, appeare
18th on the scene, they left Vernott an
49, walked away along the bank.
Amplifying his original story an
speaking for Geugonis, Spingla sal
that Vernott had been picking on h
- friend for two months and that til
=; insults and threats had reached a poir
vii where they could not be stood longt
ass bv any man. He declared that Vernot
eet IA o1,,Tor-s hnen +ba aograeeor an
struck the first blows in the fracas
which he was stabbed yesterday NOR
ing.
After being interviewed in the poll,
;. station the men were taken to Newfal
the the jail; il; ,,,,,, .-...,.,,,,
M, court at O'Clock this afternoo
! ~ ~ State S Attorney Hughes said tn
10 noon that he would file informatio
against them sometime today. &c
gonis will be charged with assal
- with a dangerous weapon and sol
4 similar charge will be filed again
Spingla.
II Last evening Vernott was intervie
ed in the Melrose hospital. He talk
freely of the trouble and admit
/, that there had been words between &C
p gonis and himself on several occasion
He claimed that he and Geugonis h
just started to fight when he W
stabbed and that after the wound h
been inflicted he had his fist bat
with Spingla in which he said mum
Gus blows were struck while Geugol
was chasing Lillis Mareno, who ca
along helped him to get to point ne
, II the factory where he became so we
y from loss of blood that he could
Ill no farther.