Norwich bulletin., 1920-09-17
TESTIFY TO WH|SKEY DRINKING IN CAR

Survivors of the fatal automobile acci- dent on Thames street, Groton, on July 2o last made important witnesses who testified here Thursday in the criminal superior court on the second day of the trial of the chauffeur, Gustave J. Evans, of Groton. Two men and woman were killed when the automobile driven by Evans struck a tree.
 All of the survivors who were put on the stand Thursday were questioned as to liquor drinking in the car, and all agreed that there had been whiskey passed around on the trip and that most of those in the car had taken one or more drinks The general description of the trip upon which the testimony of the survivors agreed was that it was a party of em- ployes from the Griswold who started from there about 9.30 in the evening to go to a dance at Willow Point casino. Nine persons were in the car, including the driver. They stayed at the dance until it closed about 11.30 and then drove back to the GrisWold, where two of the members of the party, a man and wom- an, got out. The others drove to Groton and went to New London, where they stopped at a restaurant. On the way | back to the Griswold again they drove over the highway bridge across the | Thames river and it was while coming down Thames street in Groton to return to the Griswold that the fatal accident happened.
 Herbert L. Crandall, an employe of the trolley company, was the first witness called to the stand by the state Thursday | morning. He testified to the moving of | the wrecked automobile on the morning | Of the accident so as to allow the trolley
 car to get by. He said the automobile
 was moved only few inches Edwin R. | Spalding, another employe, corroborated | this.
 Dr. M l.. Douglass testified to being called and told of treating the injured.
 Miss Elsie Collins, employed at the Gris-
 woid hotel told of being out with the
 party at dance early in the evening and of leaving the automobile at the Griswold, not going to New London and therefore not being in the accident Miss Collins testified that the party was not
 boisterous, and that she did not see any
 drinking.
 Carl c. Reiss, who was with the party
 at the dance early in the evening of the
 accident, said that he left the car at
 the Griswold hotel after the dance and
 when he next saw any of his companions,
 it was after he had been called to identify
 the bodies of those killed, shortly after the accident. He said he sat upon the
 front seat when riding from the dance to
 the hotel, and that he saw some drinking done, but did not know whether it was
 whiskey or something else. He described the position of the bodies and descri bed the injuries as he saw them.
 John P. Moves, who was the dealer whc
 sold the Hudson touring car to Evans testified he thought the scar on the tree to the north of the Dr. Wood house had been made by the running board of the
 machine. He did not see how it could have been made by the hub of the real wheel of the machine which was found with its rim torn off after the accident
 Dorothy Wood, 19, of Lawrence. Mass.
 who was employed as a waitress at tn,
 Griswold hotel and was 1T. the party il
 the Evans car to go to a dance at th
 Willow Point casino. testified that the, came back from the casino to a restau l rant in New London and then startet
 back for the Griswold. There was drink ! ! ing in the car. She had some. It wa l whislley which one of the men gave her = Sine couldn't tell who drank but remem I bered sine saw Evans take a drink on tn Il way back from Willow Point. She wa - sitting in the middle of the back seat o Il the way back to the Griswold and remem