Evening Republican, Volume 21, Number 88, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 22 April 1918 — GUILD STILL A BIG MAN [ARTICLE]

GUILD STILL A BIG MAN

THE CHICAGO ACCOUNT OF MEL GUILD’S CONVICTION IN AUTO CASE.

The Chicago Evening News of Saturday contains the following account of the conviction of Mel Guild, Medaryville, on the charge of stealing automobiles: Down around Medaryville, Ind., there are more than 100 farmers—• good, respectable men in their community—who are today riding about in automobiles stolen in Chicago. These farmers were innocent purchasers of stolen property. They did ; not know their cars were stolen. They bought them in good faith from Mel Guild —at a price, of course, much lower than they could have bought them at the factory—but then Mel Guild is a member of one of the best families of the county; is a director in their bank, a member of the Farmers’ alliance, and, even since his indictment as an automobile theif, has been elected aiderman, of Medaryville. Guild was con-j victed and a motion for a new trial; was to have been'heard by Judge R. E. Crowe of the Automobile court today, but on account of the labor I liberty loan parade the courts were j closed. The motion will be heard 1 later.

The conviction here of Mel Guild as head of a widespread automobile stealing gang is considered in Medaryville as persecution. Members of the gang went to Medaryville and attended a meeting of the citizens and told them that “Mel” did not know the cars he bought from them had been stolen. So the citizens elected “Mel” as aiderman even after his indictment as a thief. On Tuesday night the Cook county jury returned a verdict of guilty against Guild and fixed his punishment at three years in the penitentiary and a fine of $3,000. Harry Raymond, a Chicago postoffice clerk, was convicted with him and sentenced to three years. Their. attorneys have asked for a new trial. This is the first big conviction in automobile stealing cases in Cook county and it is hoped by the authorities that it will be the means of breaking up various organized gangs of automobile thieves whose activities are so interwoven as to really form one large combination covering the entire country. Mel Guild, big man in his community, saw an opportunity to sell many automobiles at a big profit if he could get them at a price, according to the testimony brought out at his trial. He first conspired, according to court testimony, with Julius Zibberman, ex-Chicago policeman and former resident of Medaryville, to get the cars. Zimmerman is now under arrest in Kansas. City and will be brought here for trial. Zimmerman, it is said, hired men to steal cars and the roads to Medaryville were “burned up” by Zimmerman’s aids taking cars to Guild until Mel called a halt and said he could use only fice cars a week, the testimony showed. When members of the gang were arrested here and confessed. Guild defied the Chicago police to take him away from Indiana. “My peo pie own Medaryville,” Guild is quoted as saying, insolently, jumping upon the running board of an automobile containing Chicago officers. “We own the banks, the courts of the county and the whole works. I defy you to take me out

of the county.” j And so it appeared to the Chicago authorities who tried to obtain stolen cars through replevin proceedings. They were defeated and laughed out of town. Guild was finally arrested at Valparaiso, Ind., where he had)