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The Clinton New Era, 1896-04-10, Page 5THE CLINTON NEW ERA 1 doors, the violent seizure of the old man, and the subsequent events were all belated in detail. The fact that the orowd were the worse of liquor wee sworn to, and the witness expressed the conviction that it there had been no whiekey there would have been no harm done. The whip used was, he said, a poor weapon, and could have done no bodily harm. He admitted, in oross-examination, that he remembered Phippen saying something to Manner to the effect that he would not allow any bodily harm to be done to Fields. There was no intention whatever, the witness said, on the part of the mob, to hart the old man. The threats of Harrison, when he enoonnt. ered Tom in the house were simply bluffs made to scare him: Harrison had said, previous to going to the house that he did not intend to hurt any one. - THOMAs FIELDS' revreearOE. Thomas Fields, the eon of the victim of mob violence, was then planed in the box, and told hie pathetic story. All attempts to shake his examination -in -chief were made by Mr Vanetoue in vain. The formf- ble entry, the threats of violence to himself, the inexoneable intrusion on the privaoy of the girls, the capture and abduotion from the house of his father, hie own detention by force. and all the subsequent events were related. He also put in evidence the letter whioh had been sent by the mob on Monday night to lure his father from the house. The letter, badly written, and the spelling more primitive than any phonetic system could produce, was ae follows: — "Mr Fields, I would like if you would come up to my house immediately, as I have something very important to tell you to -night. Yoare truly, Mrs Lloyd." The reason why Fields himself had not responded to this letter was because his daughter Lily said it was not genuine. Mrs Lloyd, she said, ought to be able to spell her own name, and it was wrongly spelled in this interesting epistle. Daisy Field's evidenbesubstaatiated that of the preceding witnesses in regard to hav- ing seen Mangier and Phippen in Roeie's room. She testified to the frozen condition of her father's feet, whioh she had bathed on the night of the disturbance, and anoint- ed next day with ointment. On the morn- ing after the trouble her father's feet were very bad. In cross examination she said that other- wise his health was good. Chief VanNorman and John Clegg re- peated in the witness box the statements al- ready made, which have appeared in the Globe. J. H. Dulmage, proprietor of the Bruns: wick• hotel, stated that on the night of the outrage Harrison came into hie place of business and asked for whiskey, saying that he and his companions were going to.give Fields a turning over. The witness asked Harrison if he were a married man, and, receiving an answer in the affirmative, ad- vised him to go home and attend to his family. He refused to give him liquor. Harrison then exhibited three flasks and a whip, and went away. TRIED TO INTERFERE. APRIL 10, 1898 SUPPLEMENT THE WINGHAM OUTRAGE. FOUR OF THE PRISONERS COMMITTED FOR TRIAL —BAIL REFUSED —DR WAUGH SAYS DEATH WAS DUE TO EXPOSURE—STORY OF THE OUTRAGE TOLD BY MOP'uI$ON, WHO TURNED QUEEN'S EVIDENCE—THE VICTIM'S SON AND DAUGHTER AND OTHER WIT- NESSES. Chas. Manser, Geo. Phippen,Thos. Mont- gomery, and Robt. Harrison were commit- ted by Magistrate Seeger to stand their trial on the llth of May, before Chief Jus- tice Meredith, on the charge of manslaugh- ter. This is the result of the preliminary inquiry into the mob outrage on J. G. Fields, at Wingham, on the 10th of March last, whioh resulted, according to the Crown's contention, in the man's death. The fifth man, Jerry Flannigan, seems not to have been connected with the attack, as was at first suspected, although he wae pre • - vent during the greater part of the affair. His name was atrnokout of the information after the morning sitting, and Detective Rogers deftly turned him into a witness for the Crown. This termination of the first hearing of the case, no matter what may be the finding of the higher court, is in itself a warning that mob violence will not be tole- rated in this Province, and that there will be no palliation of such offences by the au- thorities. It was made clear to the comprehension of all wbo listened to the testimony that the orowd which was guilty of abasing the man Fields, intended no bodily harm to him, that, while ostensibly the purpose of the attaok was to frighten him into a more proper mode of living, the real object of the mob was to have some horseplay at his ex- pense. Despite their harmless intentions, the treatment to which they subjected him is said to have tamed the We whioh result- ed in his death. The crowd was chiefly composed of men between the ages of 22 and 36 years. They were a rough element, and they fllledthemselvee with bad whiskey as a measure ofpreparation for their enjoy- ment. They were the last beings in the world who would have been constituted what, by their action they professed to he, namely, the guardiane and correctors of public morals. On a winter night; with the snow several feet deep upon the ground; and the thermcmeter standing at four degrees below zero, these men, in playful mood, took an old man from hrs bed, forced him into the open air with nothing on bat a shirt, and kept him barefooted in the snow for nearly half an hour. He was then allowed to go, and hie children, who had been ter- rified almost into hysterics by their violence and their acts, were compelled to promise silence as to the whole affair. These men now all profess sorrow, and doubtless all are extremely sorry for what they did, and hope for pardon on the plea of drunkenness and want of thought. THE INQUIRY. Mr Chas. Seager, Polite Magistrate, Goderioh, sat on the case, at the re - Chris. Jobb, who had been at Cameron's Corner on the night in question, and had seen Fields brought up, testified to the in- terferenoe on behalf of the abused man, of Cha I. Stewart. Charles Stewart was then called, and testified that on the 10th of March he was near to Cameron's Corner, which is about 100 quest of the Attorney -General's Depart-' revolver hot and,shot,He after two or three min- mem, it mens, as the Wingham Justices of the utee, a yell '•They have him." The noise Peace were disinclined to not. Mr E. N. was at Fields' house. Almost immediately Lewis, of Goderioh, acted as Crown prose- the crowd appeared, Doming toward the oator, and•Mr R. Vanstone, of WIngham, oo.ner, and as the mob came up he moved defended the prisoners. Both counsel con- away When he stopped about 150 yarde ducted their cases well, Mr Vanstone mak- ing everything possible out of his brief for the accused. The court opened at 9 o'clock and though every effort was made to keep the anditore down to a reasonable number, the room throughout the day wee crowded to excess. The wives of the accused were present at all the proceedings, and when the oonolusion was reaohed at night, there were many pitiful manifestations of grief. The prisoners were brought in and arraign- ed. They were in charge of County Con- I utes between bringing the old man up to stable Thomas Gundry, who made all the the corner and taking him bank again. arrests, and whose exceedingly good work has greatly facilitated the progress of the THE WHIP case. George A. Newton, the harness maker, at George Morrison, Who was the first wit- whose plane the whip was got, mad that nese, told the story of the attack as he did during the afternoon of March 10, the pris- in the statement previously made by him. oner Harrison came to hie shop and asked After relating the ineffectual attempt on if witness would lend him a whip, for they Monday night, he gave the narrative of the intended giving Fields a whipping as he mob's doing's on Tuesday night. He des- was going home. Witness said he would, oribed the meeting at Wilson.'e stables, and and he said if they did not oom'i for it be - mentioned the persons who were there, tore he closed up he would put :t in his what was said by them, and the materials baok shop. Ha put it there and it was ta- for work which they had with them; the ken. He knew nothing further of the mat - trip to Fields' loose, the breaking of the ter until he heard of the affair next day. It wae a straight buggy whip, and would not do grievoue bodily harm. D. Showers testified to having given a whit to Harrison. Washington Tamlyn testified that accord- ing to bis thermometer the temperature, on Tuesday night, March 10th,at 10 o'olook, wae four degrees below zero. - MEDICAL TESTIMONY. Dr Wm. Waugh, of London, who made the post-mortem examination on the body of Fields, was the first witness at the ev- ening session. He testified that the de- ceased had been a healthy, well-nourished man. There were several small scars on the body whioh had been caused a few days before and were nearly healed. The skin had been broken. Both feet had been frozen some days before, and the frozen part was beginning to suppgrate. There had been effects of frost up as far as the knees. It woald have taken five or six days to elapse after the freezing of the feet for the suppuration to begin. Death was due to cold and exposure. It would have taken at least a week for death to result from the exposure to which he had been subjected. The exposure he had suffered about a week before was the cause of the Iran's death. To Mr Vanstone—The witness said that frozen feet alone would not have caused death, bat that was the primary cause. There was inflammation of the internal organs from a severe cold, which was the result of exposure. No traces of excessive drinking were apparent. COMMITTED FOR TRIAL. away he heard the ory "He is naked." The witness and some companions then went forward to interfere and urge that the man be taken back to his house, as, if nak- ed, he would be apt to freeze to death on such a cold night. He spoke to Phippen, who said he was the ring -leader of the crowd, and Phippen said he would take Fields back at once The orowd theta pro- ceeded toward Fields' house again. He thought it would be from ten to fifteen min - This con luded the evidence offered by the Crown. The prisoners were asked if they had anything to say on their own be- half, and they said no. Magistrate Seager committed the prieon- ers for trial. He made some strong re- marks about the absolute necessity of stamping out any attempt at mob violence. Bail was applied for and refused. GUILTY OF MURDER. The coroner's inquest was renamed at London on Monday, the evidence, much the same as above, being gone over. After the evidence had all been taken, the coroner ad- dressed the jury. He said the torture which had ben applied to deceased equal- led the days of the thumb -screw. It was not tbo business of a mob what was any person's morality. Then they undertook to banish this man frcm his home, and by their work they inflicted upon him the se- verest penalty of the law—death! The law of the case was explained to the jury, and the coroner said if they were governed by the evidenoe their verdict coal l not be eth- er than murder. "I hope you will show your disapprobation in a very strong man- na: of mob law," the coroner concluded. After deliberating for fifteen minutes, the jury returned the following unanimous verdict:— "We, the jury impanelled to investigate the pause of the death of the late J. G. Fields, do find that his death was the re- sult of the exposure to the told by the treatment be received at the hands of Geo. Phippen, Robt. Harrison, James Netter - field, Albert Martin, Thomas Montgomery, and others, rend -we consider them guilty of murder." Two others, Neterfleld and Martin, have since been arrested. ONTARIO LEGISLATURE then read a third time. GOVERNMENT HOUSE The report of the select committee. re Government House, was presented on Wed- nesday. It makes several suggestions for economy in connection with the cond'iet of the egtablisbment, and concluded with a recommendation that the matter stand over for another year for final settlement. Mr. Haycock said that as a member of the special committee he did not concur in the report. COUNTY COUNCILS. Mr Hardy moved the third reading of his bill to reduce the number of county councillors. Mr. Whitney moved thesis months' hoist whioh was lost by a vote of 64 to 28. Mr. Meacham moved that the bill be so amended as to do away with the provision for cumulative voting which it contains. The amendment was lost. Mr. Reid (Durham) moved in amend- ment that reeves of municipalities be the sole representatives in the oounty council boards. The motion was declared lost. Mr. Herne moved in amendment that the ins&rtion of a clause providing that the bill should not come into force in any council until the munioipalities therein should have voted in favor of it. This was defeat- ed by a vote of 53 to 35, and the bill was GOVRRItwENT FORMAI: A.nnez8. Mr. Currie, the Patron member for Weft Simooe, moved the seooud reading of hie bill providing that, "No person ellali be eligible to be appointed to any offioe, uom- mission or e,rployment, permanent or tem- porary, in the service of the Government of Ontario, while he is a member of the Legislative Assembly, or during the term for whioh he was eleoted, or until at least one year has elapsed since the dissolution of the Legielatare of which he was a mem- der. Mr Currie said that the bill struck at a grave abuse—the eyetem of appointing members of the House to offices within the gift of the Government. Mr. Whitney said he was not in favor of the bill as it stood. Hon. Mr. Roes said the bill would be justifiable, no doubt, if it were shown that the exercise of patronage by the Govern- ment, or the appointment of members of the House to office had led to any abuses or to the instalment in important positions of incompetent men. There was no evil to remedy. A divisio't was taken on the reading with the result that the Government had the closest tall of the session. The Con- servative and patron members voted almost as a snit in favor of the measure, and three supporters of the Government, namely, Steam. McNeish MoPhereon and (*arrow also voted for the resolution. ELECTION OF COUNTY OFFICIALS. Mr Oaven, the Patron member, moved. That in opinion of this House all county -. officials paid by the county, except County Judges, should be elected by a direct vote of the municipal electors, the existing system of auverument inspection being con- tinued, and office held during effioienoy and good behavior. Amid ories of "lost", Mr Cavan said he was willing that the motion should be declared "lost on division" but Mr Whitney objeoted and the resolution was voted down by a vote of 70 to 16. The Pat- rons stood almost alone. POLICE MAGISTRATES. Premier Mo'vat has passed a bill through the House whioh will equalize the salaries of polite magistrates of justice on a much more satisfactory footing. Hereafter pol- ice magistrates will be paid aelary of $100, and an additional $100 for every thousand of the population or fraction of a thousand over 500. The fees will of course be turned into the municipal treasaries. ADJOURNMENT. The second session of therelghth Legis- lative Assembly of Ontario closed on Thee - day. After a very brief ceremony the Prov- incial Secretary pronounced for his Hon- or the Lieutenant -Governor the fateful words that "It is bis Honor's will and pleasure that the Legislative Assembly be prorogued; and this Legislative Asaemb- - ly is accordingly prorogued. NEWS NOTES. Patriok Connors was killed on the Grand Trunk Railway at Hamilton. Mr and Mrs Andrew Thomson of Lcndon. have celebrated the 64th anniversary of their marriage. Gen. Benj Harrison, ex -President of the United States, and Mrs Mary Scott Lord Dimnick were married at New York. Mr McMillan, agent of the Manitoba Government, brought a party of 300 set- tlers from England ou the Parisian. A Coroner's jury at Ottawa has found that the death of Mrs Hudson is doe to her I buaband kicking and otherwise ill-treatitg ' her. Itis reported from Philadelphia that H. H. Holmes hes made a confession in whioh be acknowledges twenty murders, inoluding those of the Pietzel family. John Straohan, the well known mrrohant tailor of Toronto threw himself frcm Glen Road bridge, 80 feet, into the ravine on Tuesday, with suicidal intent, but was able with slight assistance to walk after his tearful leap. The engine and five oars of the Toronto express were ditched on Saturday morning near Perth and eight passengers injured. Train -wreckers were responsible, as inves- tigation showed that bolts and fish -plates had been removed and one of the rails broken at one end. Rena Bell, the little daughter of 14;r James McDonald, London, met with a terrible death on Wednesday. The child, wbo was only three yearn and sfx months old, was left in the kitchen with a sister while Mrs McDonald was engaged in the rear of the house, and managed to get some matches, setting its clothes ou fire.