New Britain herald., 1917-07-06
CONSTABLE CATCHES CROOKS RED HANDED
Freight Handlers Were Helping
 Themselves to Cigarettes TWO ARE SENT TO JAIL

Constable Hides Behind Boxes to
 Wait for Thcm-Ncgro Murderer Taken to JaiI--knifc Still Missing.
 Caught in the act of stealing from shipment of cigarettes at the transfer station Malcolm McCleary and Charles Edwards, freight truckers, were ar- rested yesterday afternoon by Con- stable Cornelius Downing and ar ralgned in court last evening, were each fined $7 and costs and sentenced to jail for thirty days. They were taken to Hartford this morning to work out the penalty imposed
 Although they were caught red handed, the men persistently denied
 their guilt and even after evidence
 was introduced to show that some of the missing smokes were found in their room they refused to'admit their guilt. They protested against their sentence and with an air of injured innocense they claimed they were the victims of the mistakes of the au- thorities.
 Yesterday morning Constable Down. ing, who is acting as watchman at the freight yard. discovered that case
 containing shipment of cigarettes
 which was in one of the cars awaiting
 transfer had been broken open and
 part of the contents taken. Expecting
 that the thieves. providing they were
 transfer help, would not be satisfied
 with the first haul, he hid behind
 freight in the car to await their re-
 turn. He had been on watch for con-
 siderable time and had practically
 given up hope of success, when Mo-
 Cleary and Edwards showed up. The
 latter entered the car while McCleary stood watch "How many will I take?' the officer heard McCleary
 ask. His companion suggested that they carry off the remaining cartons. l As McCleary approached the broken 1 case. the officer stepped into the open and at the point of his revolver took i the men in custody.
 Both McCleary and Edwards are in telllgent appearing young men and l are not of the type usually found l working as stevedores. They had never been suspected of theft and the 1 officer was almost as much surprised l to see them enter the car as they were 1 themselves when confronted by the pistol.
 [ In court they mainta ined that the 1 cigarettes found in their possession as we'll us tilOSe ulSCO\cTeu III Ine1r rooms they had purchased. Asked why they
 entered the car from which the cigar
 cites had been stolen in view of the 1 fact that they should have been work
 ing in another part of the yard the
 men claimed they were looking for | Officer Downing for the purpose of l borrowing some money. The court | regarded the evidence against them as 1 conclusive and imposed sentence de- spite their protests.
 Photographs for Evidence. Photographs of the scene of the
 murder of Frank Tanner, who was l stabbed to death Wednesday by Her. | mann Harris in the quarters occupied 1 by the negro laborers on Whiting street have been secured. by Grand 1 Juror Norton and will be used as evil 1 dence against the accused when he comes before the superior court The 1 pictures clearly show the blood spat- ! ters in the kitchen where the state all 1 leges the knife thrusts were dealt. l There is also an exterior view to show l the location of the pump where Tan 1 ner fell as he was about to draw water l with which to wash his wounds The
 photogra pher in addition made a pie l ture of the murdered man to show the { his death. 1 While the search for the knife with 1 which 1t is believed the crime was l committed has not been given up, the l police admit that they have been un- l able to get trace of it and they are of l the opinion that it was hidden by other negroes Harris cl1ngs to the 1 story that the stabbing took place in 1 the yard and that the weapon was 1 owned by Tanner. The latter, he told l the police, attacked him and he was l compelled to take the knife from him | making a subsequent lunge in self de- l fense. In his confession he declares 1 he left the knife in his victims throat 1 as he lay on the ground bleeding. Harris was taken to the Hartford l jail yesterday by State Policeman 1 Wheeler and Constable Marine. Six ! other negroes believed to have in 1 formation concerning the killing are
 held on breach of peace charges. l They will be used as material wit nesses
 1 While Harris was bound over to
 the September term of the superior l court it is thought likely that he will 1 be brought to trial after the Gilligan 1 murder case, now being heard, is completed.
 Tanners body, which was turned i over to Undertaken w. A. Bailey aft
 CT Medical Examiner Moody had l viewed it, was shipped last night to | Blackstone, Virginia, where the mur- l dered mans wife and two children are l living. His brother, who has also
 been employed here. accompanied the
 remains to the south
 Local Candidates Rejected. 1 That the army officers are making