Five Mile Beach weekly journal., 1921-09-23

that the FreeholderS pai"
money on this road. Attorney McCar-
ter. for the defense, denied this, II
snent more than an hour addressing
the Jury. The charge of Judge Ell
dredge to the jury was absolutely I'M
partial and contained no hint to guide
the Jury to arrive at a conclusion Inc
Sea Isle road case went to the jury
about two o'clock Wednesday after
noon. 1t was out nearly nine
hours and returned a verdict OF not
guilty at eleven o'clock Wednesday
night.
Mechanic Street Paving Contract
Taken Up Wednesday Afternoon
After the Sea Isle City paving case
went to the jury the one selected for
trial next was No. 6S, charging Hope
w. Candy, Joseph Camp, otto Koeneke,
Freeholders, and Engineer L. M. Rice,
with m~alfeasance in Office in connec-
ton with the paving OF Mechanic
street in Cape May Court House. This
case was taken up Wednesday after
noon shortly after two o'clock, after
Judge Black announced that he would
be Obliged to be absent on Thursday
and Friday. Common Pleas Judge FL
dredge continued to try this case with
Supreme Court Judge Black by his
side. Attorney Bacon made his usual
motion to quash the indictments and
Judge Eldredge refused to do so, n
the trial went on. After many chal-
lenges of jurors the jury was made up
as follows: William Wilhelm, clerk,
Geesley's Point; Larry Peterson.
Waterman, South Dennis; Somers
Sack, farmer, Petersburg; Harry Nc
Pherson, agent, Burleigh; Enoch Ma
dara, farmer, Palermo; Allen E.
Grace, merchant, North Wildwood;
Sherman s.. Sharp, contractor, Cape
May City; Carlos Corson, merchant,
Seaville; Rev. 1. H. Fisher, preacher,
Wildwood; Chas. A. Douglass, candy
merchant and hotelkeeper, Wildwood;
Mark B. Reeves, contractor, Wild
wood; Olive McAllister, South Sea-
vile. Attorney Newcorn, for the state,
presented the case and said he would
endeavor to show that the County of
Cape May was ~defrauded out of $4,000
by the acts of the defendants in allow
ing work to progress IN this street
when same did not comply with the
specifications. Clerk Fitch was called
to the stand and testified that the
Board of Freeholders entered into a
contract with E. Riley Mixner to lay
a concrete road on Mechanic street
at the county seat for the sum of $780,
285 on June 20, 1920. One of the most
in all the trials to date was called on
this case. He was Robert B. War
wick, who keeps a clothing store at
Court House. Mr.. Warwick said that
where the contractor should have laid
seven inches of concrete On the road
way, only five and a half inches wa
laid. He testified that he watched the
men laying the concrete in front of his
store and produced wooden forms used
by the workmen to lay the concrete
and these forms were but six inches
deep when they should have been more
than seven. He said that Freeholders
Camp and Young oversaw the work.
Mr.. Warwick testified that he asked
Camp why the road was not being
paved with the thickness of concrete
as required by the specifications, and
in reply Warwick said Camp replied:
well, Rice pulled it over on us; we
instructed Rice to draw the contract
for the road and he pulled it over on
u.s." Warwick also told of overhear-
ing a conversation between Hiram W.
Godfrey, an inspector on the work,
and Contractor Mixner, in which God
frey told Mixner he was not doing the
work according to the specifications.
Inspector Godfrey, it is said, then quit
the job. At the close of Mr.. Warwick's
testimony court was adjourned until
Thursday morning.
Thursday Morning
A sort of sensation was sprung
Thursday morning when court con-
vened to continue the trial of case
No. 68. The jury took their places
in the box in due time and the usual
overflow audience was on hand. The
Judge and lawyers did not appear in
their accustomed places but were con-
ferring with Judge Eldredge and with
each other in the retiring rooms, and
it was evident that something had gone
wrong. 1t developed that the prosecu-
ton and the defense both were charged
with tampering with the jury over
night. 1t was disclosed that Enoch
Madara, a juror, had rode home We'd
nesday night with one of the defend
ants in the case upon which he was
sitting. The prosecution made the
charge and on this basis Judge Ed
redge declared a mistrial. Mr.. Ma
dara said he did not discuss the trial,
but he was dismissed from further Jury
service. The lawyers for the defense
then charged Prosecutor E. C. Cole