The Brattleboro daily reformer. (Brattleboro, Vt.) 1913-1955, 1918-02-26
CHILDREN BEFORE
JUDGE CUDWORTH
Three Groups Brought Be-
fore Him by States
Attorney
SCHOOL ACCIDENT
is INVESTIGATED
Two Boys Who Say They Do Not Care
to Be Good Sent to Industrial School
Group of Five Tells of Various In
stances Of Deviltry.


Group of Five Tells of Various In
stances Of Deviltry.
Judge A. Z. Cudworth 5 municipal
court took on the appearance of a school
room this forenoon when the school
superintendent, teacher and some IS
boys, besides one or two girls, arranged
themselves around the room. The chill
dren were not all from one school, how
ever, and were not all concerned in the
same affair.
Inc hrst business was an inquiry into
the accident in the sixth grade in the
academy building at West Brattleboro
on Thursday of last week, when Donald
LeRay, son of Mr.. and Mrs. Frank c
LeRay, sustained injuries by the ex
pioslon of cap to a dynamite cartridge
which necessitated the amputation of
several fingers and part of his thumbs.
State s Attorney W. R. Daley and
Judge Cudworth conducted the examina
| ton, which revealed the fact that the
accident was due to a lack of knowledge
as to the dangerous character of the
+ caps. 1t also brought to light the fact
that after the accident some of the
Schoo! children threw away cartridge
/ caps lest further injury should, result
ana they were instructed forthwith to
make dlhgent search for them and 10
! Fetufn them TO the teacher. Miss Fmmn.
| hne Webster, if found.
ears on the part of those present
that further injury might result were
allayed somewhat when David t. Per.
| ry stated that the caps were of a type
winch gathered moisture and that after
| iylng IN the snow ii was doubtful if
they could be made to explode.
Ralph Perry, !. WAS e-At4t--vurrrrv-
sfer examined. lie said that on the dav
before the accident Paul Wilder came
/ TO has home and was given four of the
caps in Ralph 5 plavroom. He said thev
We're some that his father, Harold Perry.
! left III box in the shed and were given
TO nm by his mother. He said he and
ms sister used them for whistles and
that hls mother had put several Of them
in the stove.
Paul Wilder said that he took the
tour caps to school and gave them all
away to other boys whose ages ranged
| AOAAi - " 10 >. lie ana not Know
that they we're dangerous.
| Wesley Doyle said he had two of thc
caps and that after the accident he
threw them away near the school and
had since been unable to find them.
Arthur Doyle told of having one Of
the caps in school on his desk and said
that after the accident J. l.. Stockwell
came there and took possession of il.
Leslie Ames said the Wilder bow gave
him two, but that he gave one back and
gave the other to Arthur DOYLE.
Ansel Streeter said that Paul Wilder
gave him one of the caps and that he
threw It away between the school and
the church.
Miss Webster, the teacher said that
all the boys who had been examined
except Ralph were in her grade and were
Sood boys After the accident she asked
them for any information they might
have and they did not try to conceal
lanything from her
Miss Lottie LaPlant told of the Perry
BOY giving cap to her brother, Perlev
l1aPlant, now employed on the street
railroad, year ago and of his being
injured by an explosion of the cap. At
that time the Perry boy s father came
to the house and talked with Mr.. La
Plant.
The Perry boy s mother, Mrs. Harold
Perry, told the court that the caps were
some that her husband, who is away,
used IN blasting, but that she did not
know that until after the accident. She
thought they must be parts of an auto
mobile and after looking them over and
becoming convinced that no harm could
come from them she gave them to the
children, who used them as whistles
Several of them had since been
placed in the fire with no result except
small puff. She said she had gathered
up all she could find and placed them
out of reach of the children and would
like to get rid of them. She said she
never heard of the LaPlant affair un-
til today.
ID. T. Perry explained that the caps
were not of the kind used in the past
few years and said they gathered mois-
ture, which accounted for the fact that
no damage was done when they were
put in the stove.
DR.. George B. Hunter showed that the
cap which exploded at LaPlant S was
OF the type that exploded by electricity
and had small wires attached
Mr.. Daley said he had heard some
talk about a plan to put some of the
+ caps on the car track, and the boys
agreed that If they knew of any such
T attempt they would report it.
2 This case being out of the way four
other boys who have been mixed up in
various kinds of deviltry about the
2 vlllage-at March's bakery, the Re-
former office, the railroad station, the
IPrlnceSS theatre, in Crosby block in the