Five Mile Beach weekly journal., 1921-10-07
l. CASES
STILL ON AT COURT
HOUSE
Jury Disagreed in the Turtle Gut Wildwood Crest Road
Case, After Being Out All Night
MECHANIC STREET ROAD CASE AGAIN ON
TRIAL

nounced to County Clerk Hildreth thai
they were unable to agree on a ver-
dict. The jury was then discharged
Wednesday, October 9Th
The Freebooter trials were resumed
Wednesday morning before Judge Ed
redge, when the Mechanic street con-
crete paving case in Cape May Court
House was again taken UP. This is
the case that resulted in a mistrial on
Thursday, September I'D, because it
was learned that one Of the jurymen
rode home with one Of the defendants.
The four defendants were placed on
trial for a second time charged with
skimping on the construction of this
road and with "wilfully conspiring to
cheat and defraud the county" The
four defendants were Freebooter
Hope Candy, of Tuckahoe; Freebooter
Otto Koeneke, of Wildwood; Free
holder Joseph Camp, of Middle Town
ship; County Engineer L. M. Rice, of
North Wildwood. This is the job that
Robert Warwick, the Mechanic street
clothing store merchant, testified two
weeks ago was skimped. He said the
concrete gutter should have been Is
inches wide, according to the specifi-
cations, a copy of which he had pro-
cured while the work was in progress,
when only a gutter of IL inches was
laid. He also contended that the full
oauap inoboc Of ooporoto bod not hoop
laid as called for by the specifications.
Counsel for the defendants insisted that
the gutter was IS inches wide, and
when prodded by Attorney McCarter,
Warwick on the stand admitted that
he had made a mistake in measuring
the gutter. Isaac Powell, a Court
House resident, was called as a wit
ness and testified that the Mechanic
street job was we'll done.
James Callahan, residing on a small
employed IL days on the job from Au-
gust I'd to August 26, 1920, as an in
spector. Had some experience in con-
crete work in Bradford County, Pa.
did you see any evidence of sighting
the Mechanic street job?" asked At
torney McCarter. Question objected
to by Attorney Newcorn Of the prose-
and objection sustained by
Judge Eldredge. THAT matter is for
the jury to decide" said Judge Ed
redge. He said he vas on the job the
time the concrete was being laid
and said he saw no "skimping' in the
contract and that all of the material
used was of an excellent grade. His
testimony so surprised the states at
torneys that they subjected the wit
ness to a close cross-examination. Mr..
Warwick, one of the states principal
witnesses, claims to have been threat
ened since he has been on the witness
stand for the state. He said he was
told he had better net testify any more.
He further declares that his store
business has suffered. Hiram W. Cod
frey, a Court House contractor, an
other witness on the states list, is
very ill, and has not been able to tes-
tify. Mr.. Godfrey was the man who
quit the job because he said the speci-
ications were being violated.
Court adjourned somewhat earlier
than usual in the afternoon, because of
the absence of expert engineers from
Newark as witnesses, until ten o'clock
Thursday morning. The jury in the
Mechanic street cas- is as follows:
Oscar Huebner, musician, wildwood,
foreman.
Samuel Oliver, electrician, West
Cape May.
Edgar J.. Welsch, contractor, Mar
mora.
William Stuart Thompson, farmer,
Goshen.
Sherman S. Sharp, contractor, Cape
May.
Mark B. Reeves, builder, Wildwood.
Fred cambridge, retired, Beesley's
Point.
Leonard H. Davis. contractor, Cape
May.
William S. Search, carpenter. Cold
Spring.
Allen E. Grace, merchant, North
Wildwood.
Alonzo Brosius, farmer, South Dem
mis-.
Harry Mcpherson, agent Burleigh.
Thursday Morning, October 9Th
The Public Ledger of today contains
the following account of the court
proceedings Of yesterday:
Sections of Mechanic street and
Goshen road were tori up by members
of the jury in the trial of the four
Freeholders charged with malfeasance
in Office in allowing the contractor to
"skimp" on the amount of material
used in construction of the road. The
jurymen tore up the road to measure
the depth of the bed of cement and to
learn If the work came up to specifi-
cations.
The specifications called for seven
inches of concrete in the roadbed, and
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