New Britain herald., 1916-02-09
CHAPMAN ST.P
 DISCHARGED TODAY
State Fails to Prove They Did Not
 Shovel Walks

1 residents of Chapman street repre- | sented the TeutOnic forces by ances-
 try, and put to route the opposing | forces when they were discharged by
 Judge J. H. Kirkham on charge of
 having failed to have their sidewalks cleaned. The two cases, which
 might have easily been finished in i twenty minutes, took almost an hour
 and a half to try. SUpernumerary 1 Officer Albert Sharpe who investigated l the walks proved a poor witness Tor the state and could not even accurate ly tell on what night it was he visited Chapman street He then contra dicted himself and in Mrs. Bomba's case he contradicted statements he had made in MT. Schick's case. In dis
 charging the accused Judge Kirkham
 remarked that the officer is some what hay as to when he went to in- veStigate the walks, so it is possible that he may also be hay as to what he saw there" Lawyer William F. Mangan represented both of the ac- cused and Assistant Prosecutor Joseph G. Woods conducted the states case
 Andrew SchicI< Discharged.
 MT. Schick, who has been a resi- dent here for twenty mine years, was charged on February with not hav- Ing the snow cleaned from his walks at 104 Chapman street. Officer Sharpe was unable to tell definitely just when he did go to investigate this walk. At first he thought it was on February ? and then he thought 1t might have been on February 4. As Schick was charged specifically on the fifth Lawyer Mangan moved for discharge on the ground that there was no evidence of the date. It was denied and Officer Mercure was called to the state to corroborate Off, cer Sharpe. He said he visited the scene with a subpoena on February 7. He declared the walk was in a "very dangerous" condition on account of ice. Did you see any ashes on ?" he was asked. He replied in the negative. Did you look for any sand Or ashes?' he was again asked. Mo-" the officer replied and was ex- cused from further testimony
 MT. Schck himself declared that his wife and children shovelled the snow from the walk in front of his house and that the ice, which was caused by water running over the walk and freezing, was covered with ashes every morning. In taking up the line of cross examination Prose cutor Woods asked him if he had not first consulted Judge Galfney on the case and had not Judge Gaffney advised him that he had better pay the $2 fine and settle the case at once.
 Before he could answer Judge Man. gan was on his feet strenuously ob- jecting. Such line of questioning is an outrage" he declared. Judge Kirkham immediately ruled out the question Mrs. Schick corroborated her husbands testimony and Miss Rose Schick did the same Mrs. Bomba also declared the path was shovelled properly.
 You and the Schclls are friendly. are you not?' queried the prosecu- tor.
 "Certainly we are, we are neighbors and ought to be-" she replied. Judge kirkham laughingly asked Prosecutor Woods if he was trying to show that the Schicl1s and Bombas had formed a sort of "witness trust" to further their own cases.
 Officer Malone was called to the stand by the state and he said he had notified Officer Sharpe to report for duty on the nights of February
 and ,.
 Judge Kirkham discharged SchicL because of the Vaguesness of the states assertions and the positiveness
 of the statements made by the de- | fense.
 Mrs. Bomba Also Discharged Mrs. Bomba has owned property at 'l chapman street for eighteen years and has lived here for thirty 1>, was ever called into court for failing to have her walks cleaned. she said. She denied the charge and said that her daughter shovelled the walk her self. Officers ShraDe again proved a 1 poor witness for the state He said he went to Mrs Bomba's house on saturday night. The walk was not shoVelled at all. he said. and he added that 1t had been tramped down by l people walking over it.
 Miss Lena BOmba, daughter of the | accused, denied what the officer said
 and declared that she herself had | ShOVelled the entire 175 feet of walk 1 Mrs. Schick said she had seen the girl | do the work and Miss Rose Schiclx
 said the walk was wide enough to
 accommodate two people walking 1 abreast as she had seen them do It.
 In discharging the accused, Judge | Kirkham advised the state to get more l than one witness in such cases In the l future.
 | Other Walk Cases Settled.
 All of the other sidewalk cases have
 been settled. c. D. Caldwell paid his | $2 fine as did l. M. Barnes and Flu gene, Virgil, Daniel, Willard and ! Grover Steele. heirs of the Steele estate, also paid up.
 Father Appears Agan,st Son.
 Judge Kirkham was given a pecu-
 tn in Do