The Brattleboro daily reformer. (Brattleboro, Vt.) 1913-1955, 1916-08-28
Maj. F. w. Childs Was
Charged with Violating
Village Ordinance
MUNICIPAL COURT
HEARING TO-DAY
Respondent Said His Car Was Not on
Main Street Hill, as State Claimed,
on Date Alleged = Jury Reported at
$50 This Afternoon.

A hearing in which much interest
centered was held today before Judge
Frank +. Barber and jury in the mu-
nicipal court, 1t being the case of the
state against Mai. Frederick w. Childs.
charged with operating his 1912 Cadil-
lac automobile, Vermont license number
rs, with the muffler cutout open ON the
Main street hill August I, in violation
OF village ordinance. Acting Village
Attorney ". K. Daley appeared for the
prosecution and Attorney A. T. Schwenk
Tor the respondent. The arguments and
charge were begun at l.30 clock this
afternoon and the case went to the inrv
.at 2.33, Judge Barber appointing Wal
ter Nj. Robbins foreman.
At $50 o clock the jury returned
verdict OF not guilty, and the respond
ent was discharged.
The case opened about 1890 O'Clock
II the municipal court room, and the
climax was IN the testimony of the
last witness, who was Major Childs.
whose testimony tended to establish an
alIbl i'll that he said that his ear on
the day on which the otfense was al
| le2ed to have been committed was not
driven up the Main street Hill at all
and was not south of the junction of
lilgh and Main streets at any time that
day. None Of the witnesses for the
village claimed to have seen Mr
Chllds drive up the hill, but said they
took the number Of the car, which
/ proved to be his
| For the first witness Attorney Daley
called Traffic Officer Charles H. Wood,
VINO testified that between ) and 6
o clock on the afternoon of August I
he saw car coming up the Main street
NIL with the muller cutout open and
| took the number. Cross-axamined IN
Attorney Schwenk, lie said he did lot
I know how to operate an automobile
and could not describe the difference
/ IN sound made by car on second speed
and by car with the cutout open. al
/ though he knew the difference himself.
| He said he saw and heard the car n
j question and that another person also
called his attention to it, lie did not
know then whose car it was or who
was in it.
Lester W. Waterman of West Brat
tleboro was called next. Questioned
] by Attorne$ Daley he said he had been
repairing and driving all kinds of au-
/ tomobiles the past II wears. Including
the Cadillac cars Of 1912 and 1919. and
was public chauffeur Officer Wood
WAS talking with him between and 6
0 clock =. III. August I, when he saw a
car coming mp the Hill with the cutout
] open and spoke to the officer about it
and the officer took the number Wit
ness also noted the number. but didn t
know whose car it was or who was
| driving it. o. cross examination he
said there was no similarity between
the noise made by 1912 Cadillac with
the cutout open and the noise made by
the same car on the second speed with
| the cutout closed
After Mr.. Waterman had testified
Attorney Daley announced that the
village rested.
For the defense Attorney Schwenk
called X f. Mosher, who handles Cad
lilac cars and sold Mr.. Childs the car
which the latter still owns. He said
the Cadillac 1912 car was very noisy
on second speed and If person was
not used to it he might think the cut
out was open. He went into some de-
tail as to the method Of operating a
Cadillac 1912 car, saying that a per-
son could not keep his heel on the but
ton that opens the cutout and at the
same tima operate the foot throttle
lie said. however, that the button
might be locked so as to keep the cut