Sewickley Herald

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Fear no man, and do justice to all men."
Vol. I.
SEWICKLEY, PA.; SATURDAY, FEBRUARY 27, 1904.
No.   24
The Mock Ti ial.
Representative Audience Present.
The Various Features of
the Entertainment,
SOME  ERRORS  OF THE COURT.
The mock trial, given under the
auspices of the Ladies' Auxiliary of
the Y. M. C. A., took place on Friday night of last week. As the
Herald had gone to press before
that time, the affair had to be
passed by. However, it gave us
more time to treat the details of the
entertainment in a calm and deliberate manner.
There was a large- crowd present,
in fact, the house (like the jury)
was packed. And it was a representative gathering. Every one
was waiting in anticipation of being
amused, and their desire was gratified.
The small boy was there in all
his enthusiasm, and right behind
him loomed up the dignified form
of Judge Over, and across the aisle
was seen the benign countenance
of Mr. Edward Agnew. A little to
the leeward sat W. G. Sprague in
his usual calm demeanor. But we
must not digress, or we will forget
what we started out to say.
The show opened, as is usually
the case, with the raising of the
curtain. This brought to view a
court-room scene, with Judge G. A.
Woods on the bench. The other
officers, jurors and witnesses were
in their respective places. The
court was opened in regular form,
and the docket was read by the clerk
Mr. J. A. Knox. Mr. Knox read
his lines with the same suave manner and clear and distinct enunciation in which he would read a
resolution from the Board of Health
or a street car franchise ordinance.
The first case called was a charge
• of over-exertion made against Frank
Fitzsimmons. The culprit was accused of having done a day's work,
and pleaded guilty; but his counsel
asked, the mercy of the court, as
Mr. Fitzsimmons stated under oath
that he had never before done a
day's work, and promised, never to
do so again,   He was released.
The next case was the star attraction of the evening. The title
of the indictment was "A Fowl
Gonspiracy; or, Who Stole the
Rooster?" The accused was S.
N. Richardson, a formerly respected citizen of this place, but of
whose character, since last Friday
night, we have our suspicions. The
history of the crime, in brief, was
as follows: "OnlastGhristmaseve
a little party of friends gathered at
the residence of Samuel Wilson, on
Peebles street, to enjoy the evening. One of their number (we
cannot give his name but his initials are James G. Ghaplin,) became
obstreperous, and was cast into
outer darkness. Afterthe guests
had departed, Mr. and Mrs. Wilson
retired, and while in the midst of
a dream, that he had just put the
finishing touches to a coal trust he
was forming, Mr. Wilson was
aroused by a nudge in his ribs and
gently informed that someone was
in the hennery. Hastily donning%|
his hat and slippers, he slid down
the lightning rod and reached the
hennery just in time to see a form
disappearing over the back fence
with a bag over his shoulder. He
fired a boot-jack and a slipper at
the retreating form and the latter
named article struck the bag so
hard that a muffled schreech came
from the interior of it. The thief
escaped.
Mr. Wilson was then called to
the stand and verified the above
and a great deal more, which we
have not space to print.
Several witnesses for the prosecution were then called to strengthen the statement of Mr. Wilson.
They were:   W. S. Grassie, who
(Continued on page 2.)
Instantly Killed. ^,
A shocking accident occurred at
Glen Osborne on last Saturday afternoon, resulting in the death of
Mrs. Ella Brown, a colored woman
of this place. The accident happened at 2.12 o'clock. Mrs. Brown-j
was on her way to McKeesport
and was crossing the tracks to take
the accommodation train which was
standing at the station, and she
failed to notice the approach of
No. 11—the fast mail—which was
two hours behind time and was
going at a terrific rate of speed.
She was struck with such force
that every bone in her body was
crushed. The remains were sent
to the city.
Republican Primaries.
The. Republican primaries will be
held in this place on Saturday,
March 19, to elect delegates to the
state and national conventions, and
also to elect members of the Republican county executive committee. Besides these a candidate
for judge of the orphans' court,
coroner and director of the poor,
and two candidates for the legislature in the Seventh district will be
chosen.
Smallpox.
We learn that Mr. Ford, who has
been quarantined for the past
three weeks on account of smallpox, is improving. The disease
has been confined to this one case.
There were rumors regarding one
or two other cases, but these have
been proven to be without foundation. The Board of Health is to
be commended for the vigilance it
has shown regarding contagious
diseases.
E
Chief Dispatcher of the Fort
Wayne Railroad Passes
Away.     —     '
Special Notice.
Mr. John Rosensteel desires to
inform those who expect to take
part in "The Haymakers" that the
rehearsals are being held each
Tuesday evening in the M. E.
churchy and that they are requested
to attend every rehearsal.
John George Lang, chief dispatcher, died at his home on Nevin
avenue, this place, at 10:40 o'clock
Wednesday evening. Mr. Lang
had been in poor health for some
time, suffering from lumbago and
congestion of the liver. About a
week ago he was seized with a
virulent attack of the grippe,
that developed into acu;e meningitis which so weakened his system that he was unable to stand
the strain, and quickly succumbed.
Mr. Lang was born September,
25, 1861, in Pittsburg, and began
his railroad career in the early
seventies, accepting the position
of telegraph operator for the Fort
wayne at Homewood. Later he
was transferred to Pittsburg in a
similar capacity and in 1875 became train dispatcher in Allegheny. For twelve years he served
in that capacity and was then promoted to the position of chief train
dispatcher, which office he held
until his death, The news of his
demise came as a shock to the
railroad men, as his illness was not
considered serious.
He was known to nearly all the
employees on the Pittsburg division. His long service with the
company and his affable nature
won him a host of friends who are
deeply grieved to learn of his
death.
Mr. Lang leaves a wife and three
children, Stella Regina, aged 12;
Mary V., aged 8; and John G.,
aged 4. The family have resided
in this place since last May.
The funeral will take place at
10 o'clock this morning at St.
James* church, Rev. F. F. O'Shea
officiating. The interment will be
later in the Sewickley cemetery.
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