Daily Kennebec journal. [microfilm reel] (Augusta, Me.) 1870-1975, 1917-04-12

| A considerable portion Of the rus,.
day session of the municipal com.
was devoted to the disposal of an a.
sault and battery case which was Al
legged to have occurred last Satursa,
night and in which the parties con.
cerned were residents Of Chelsea. /,
that part of the town which lies ON
| the east bank of the Kennebec rirs,
and opposite the city of Halloween
The complainant in the case was
Walter s. Whitehouse, and in HI,
statement to the court he alleged tba,
Llewellyn Burbank. who operates =
ferry between Hallowell and Chelss.
assaulted him on the night in cues
ton, struck him and knocked him ovar
and struck him Is or 20 times af,sr
that Burbank was represented at tho
/ hearing by Judge Sanford l.. Fogg and
pleaded not guilty. The complainant
was represented by Judge Benedict
Maher.
! According to the testimony IN tba
case the trouble occurred as the ferry
reached the Chelsea shore. The com.
plainant claimed that as he was lesv.
ing the boat he held out a nickel IA
Burbank in payment Of fare for the
trip across the river. whereupon the
latter struck him and knocked him
over on the logs, after which he struck
him a number of times, bruising his
nose, cutting his lip and hurting his
leg; that he called out to the respond.
ent and asked if he were going to kin
him.
Previous to the encounter as the fer.
ry landed there was trouble while the
boat was crossing the river. Accord.
ing to the testimony the boat. which
is skiff. 20 feet over all. four feet
wide and with fiat bottom, contained
about IL people. some of them young
girls, and beside the seat occupied BY
the rowers. Willard Sleeves and Hor.
ace Littlefield, there was one other
seat in the boat, not counting the Gov.
cred over portions of the bow and
stern. On the trip over the complain.
ant, Whitehouse, had to sit on one
rail Of the boat, while George Garland
sat on the opposite rail, to trim" the
boat.
Some Of the testimony introduced
for the complainant was that when
the boat had reached the middle o,
the river and was approaching a buoy
| it looked as if the boat was Going 10
run. into it, and the boat being low in
the water. especially near the stern
the current being swift and ice run.
ming in the river, there came a swash
and as the stern of the boat was no.
moro than three inches above the
water Whitehouse arose to his feet
whereupon Burbank said to him
Damn you, sit down."
According to the testimony two at
tempts were made to land, the first time
of which the boat ran SO close to the
island that the bushes brushed against
the faces of the passengers. Another al
tempt was made and the boat was run
up on the shore. whereupon the complain.
ant again arose to his feet and Burbank
spoke to him as before. 1t was at that
time that the assault was alleged to have
taken place. Some Of the girls who lad
been in the boat said that as they went
up over the hill from the boat they hearl
something that sounded like blows and
voice that sounded like Burbanks Ther
also testified that they were much fright.
ened.
For the defence Burbank claimed tina;
Whitehouse kept jumping up in the boat
which was dangerous under the cond'
lions. He admitted that he swore at the
complainant and that he swore at him
twice and told him to sit down He also
described the ferry landing and the diff
Guilty of getting in by the new pier. Con
tinuing he said that the complainant said
that Burbank should not swear at him
and that he then took hold of the COM
plainant and threw him on the logs
At the conclusion of the hearing the
court found the respondent guilty and
ordered him to pay the costs or be coE-
mitted to jail for 10 days. from when an
appeal was taken and the personal rec
osnizance Of the respondent was taken
for his appearance at the September term
of the superior court.
Burbank was also arraigned on Inc
charge of having been intoxicated on
April s. which charge was preferred
against him by Walter Whitehouse. the
complainant in the other case. BurhanH
pleaded not guilty. Several witnesses
who testified could not say that the re-
spondent was intoxicated. Sufficient eFF
dence was introduced by other witnesses
to convince the court that the respoNdehE
was guilty and he was ordered to pay
costs or lie committed to jail for u days
Mrs Margaret D. Todd passed away
Wednesday evening in this city aged -
years. One son survives. Funeral ar