Evening Republican, Volume 16, Number 141, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 12 June 1912 — RHOADES WAS CLEARED; MARSHAL TURNED DOWN. [ARTICLE]

RHOADES WAS CLEARED; MARSHAL TURNED DOWN.

Jury Acquitted Assistant Fire Chief On Charge of Assault Oh City Marshal George Mustard. -- What will probably and what should properly be the closing act of the trouble between City Marshal Mustard and Assistant Fire Chief Rhoades came Tuesday afternoon when the latter was prosecuted in Squire Irwin’s court on a charge of assault and battery on the person of the marshal who was the prosecuting witness Rhoades was cleared by a jury verdict Attompy w» A TlmnnilnYN ronm. ZIILUIUCJ Villi ZX. JLr tl 11 i<*JJ ttzjrlV sented the defendant The trial was before a jury and it required some time to secure a jury of men who had not discussed the affair- on the street an<£rexpressed an opinion one way or the other. It was very plain from the outset that the great majority of those at the.-trial and apparently of those on the street were against the action of the marshal in using the club on Mr. Rhoades and this fact made the selection of a jury a rather. difficult matter. The jury finally selected was composed of D. E. Grow, Lewis Welsh, Alf Donnelly, Frank Kresler, S. S. Shedd, William Nowels, George Johnson, Harvey Davisson, John Poole, I. N. Hemphill, G. H. McLain and Will Barkley. The trial did not last very long, there being only four witnesses to testify. Marshal Mustard was the first to take the stand. He said that h e and. Sheriff Hoover were standing at Earl Duvall’s corner when Rhoades came up and said: “I reckon you are satisfied now, you have killed "my .dog.” Mustard said that he did not know it was Rhoades’ dog he had killed, but that he considered that he was doing his duty and had treated all persons alike. Rhoades called him a “damned cheap skate.” Mustard said he told him he could not talk that way to him and started to arrest him. He said he laid his hand on Rhoades’ shoulder and Rhoades struck him in the eye' He said he did not use the “billy” until he was hit The “billy” was exhibited in court and passed among the jurymen. It is'a loaded leather club, about 8 inches in length. The upper end of the club is braided leather and a thong it attached to fasten about the wrist. He said that Sheriff Hoover stepped in between them and Rhoades kept trying to hit Mustard. He said that the sheriff would not let him arrest Rhoades but told him to go on down the street On cross examination the marshal said he had seen Rhoades’ dog loose several times but he was not sure it was the dog he had killed. It was a fox terrier. The marshal said he carried a revolver. Charles Halleck, 12 years of age, son of Senator A Halleck, was in front of Duvall’s store when the fight started. He saw Rhoades standing by the marshal’s side and heard him say, “I hope you are satisfied, you have killed my dog.” He heard Rhoades swear at the marshal and said the marshal laid his hand on Rhoades’ shoulder and there was a mix-up and that Mustard reached in his pocked for his billy. Both of the men wanted to fight and the sheriff separated them. He said he was standing in such a position that he could not see Rhoades hit the marshal.

Sheriff Hoover related the story up to the /time the mix-up occurred. He said that h.e did not know that he could tell it exactly. He said that Rhoades called the marshal a cheap skate and a damned cheap skate and that the marshal told him not to “sass” him. He said Rhoades said he did not care for the marshal’s tin star. He said the marshal grabbed Rhoades by the shoulder tolerably hard and partially turned him around but that he did not see Rhoades hit Mustard. He saw Mustard reach in his pocket and he did not know whether he was after his club or his gun and he stepped-in between the combatants. Mustard hit Rhoades two or thrje short jabs with the club and then lit him one good blow. Rhoades start 1 1 to fall but. recovered himself. The marshal was swinging wildly wjth the club, witness said. He separated them and told the marshal to ge away, that he would take care of Rhoades. The marshal upbraided him for interfering with him and witness told him that he might later be glad of it, as he might have seriously injured the defendant. He said Rhoades was angry. He was asked to show the position the three men occupied and Rhoades, Attorney Leopold and the sheriff stood up and gave a pantomime of the fight. He again said he did not know Rhoades hit him. He said that he knew from Rhoades’ actions that the marshal could not take Mm without knockrrg him down. ‘-t Defendant Rhoades then took the stand. His testimony did not differ

much from the others; except-that he declared that he did not strike at the marshal until the latter had sruck him with the billy. He said that the marshal did not tell him he was under arrest until after the fight had been stopped by the sheriff. He said he knew about the order requiring dogs to be muzzled dnd that he had with very few exceptions had his dog muzzled or in the house. He also said that he thought the .killing order applied to worthless dogs and that he regarded his dog as a valuable one in killing rats about his poultry pens. He thought the marshal killed his dog for spite and he went to tell him so. He said he was much out of humor. There was considerable evidence of bitterness during the trial and in the argument qf Attorney Leopold, who accused the marshal of being possessed of. a dig-killing mania anl of not being fitted for the marshalship. He charged the officer with neglect of some duties of greater importance in order to kill dogs. The Jury was out about 50 minutes and on the first three or four ballots stood 8 for acquittal and 4 for conviction. After a few ballots the acquittal verdict was reached. The action of the jury can in no manner be construed as a defense of lawlessness. It was rather a criticism of the marshal’s method of law enforcement. Mr. Mustard lacks tact. He does a number of acts in his line of duty in a manner to aggravate every one concerned and It seemed to be generally conceded that in view of the fact that Rhoades and he were on unfriendly terms that he could have avoided the killing of the dog, which was a harmless terrier. It is an unfortunate thing for the marshal to ce defeated in a case of this kind and yet he has no one but himself to blame for it. He is criticised on two other scores. One for losing him temper and the other for using his club. The sheriff was right at hand to aid in making the arrest of Rhoades, who is a much smaller man than the marshal and the use of a club Should be indulged in only on rare occasions. Mr. Rhoades is an excellent citizen. He was born and raised in Rensselaer and has i ever been implicated In an? act' of rowdyism. His excellent citizenship and the marshal’s unpopularity would alone have cleared him, even if the testimony had not shown that the marshal was over-ardent in the use of his club and used very poor judgment in his manner of appeasing Rhoades’ anger. The Republican suggested a year ago that there are numerous duties for a marshal to perform and that standing oa the street corner with his pockets filled with loaded billies and revolvers constitutes a small part of the service required in Rensselaer. If Mr. Mustard is to remain as marshal, •he should eheer up, exhibit a spirit of greater fairness, resolve to carry no spitefulness and pledge himself to guard his somewhat flrey temper. The mace, the pistol and shotgun should play a secondary place to the shovel, sythe and oyeralls.

Mr. and Mrs. S. M. LaßOe went to Bloomington today to visit for a few days with their son, Emmet, who will graduate this spring from the Indian i University law department Miss Ruth Makeever returned today from Godfrey, 111., where she. has been attending Monticello Seminary for the past year. She will resume her studies there next fall. Her mother, Mrs. D. S. Ma,keever, who went there last Monday to attend the commencement exercises, accompanied her home. - Mrs. E. C, Maxwell is this afternoon entertaining the Royal Neighbors and a number of friends. ' <