Evening Republican, Volume 20, Number 192, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 11 August 1916 — PRANK GETS THEM INTO JASPER COURT [ARTICLE]

PRANK GETS THEM INTO JASPER COURT

Young Fellows Take Horse Belonging To George Lambert and Has to Explain In Court.

As a result of a prank four young men wer£ arrested Thursday afternoon by Sheriff McColly and forced to explain their conduct in Mayor Spitler’s court. The affidavit was filed against “John Doe,” James Bums, and two other fellows by the names of Hilton and McKeon. The fellow who took and rode the horse belonging to Lambert, and who entered his name as John Doe, was Tony Mersch, of New York. The men had been working on the Springer ranch, and had just received their pay checks and were starting for their homes.. Mersch lives in New York, Hilton and McKeon in Boston, and Bums in Chicago. There was no evidence to show that the young men had any intention of stealing the horse and they were turned loose. The circumstances were as follows: George Lambert, owner of the horse, and John Akers were working in a ditch in a pasture at the Michal Jungles farm, north of Rensselaer. They had left a horse tied to the fence near the road, and were working in another part of the field. Mersch, who is but 17 years old, came by with his companions and spying the horse, decided that he would take a ride. He untied the horse and rode it around in the pasture, making no attempt to drive it through the gate, which was close by, which he would have done if making an attempt to steal it, and his failure to do so probably kept him out of trouble of a serious nature. Lambert and Akers saw him and ran after him. When caught the young fellow deniei everything. Lambert, knowing that the young fellow was not telling the truth, phoned to Prosecutor Sands and asked him to send the sheriff out. Upon arriving there, Sheriff McColly filed an affidavit against the four for horse stealing, and they were brought to Rensselaer, where they explained that they were only having a little fun, and as there was nbt sufficient evidence to warrant detaining them, they were turned loose and told to leave town, which they did in a hurry.