1915-03-29oo

Hamilton Police Court, during the morning of March 29, 1915, had two interesting cases for the Times reporter to feature in his column which appeared in that day’s afternoon edition of the paper.

The first would certainly catch the attention of those Hamiltonians who would never enter the “foreign districts” of East Hamilton. The incident would reinforce many of the negative prejudices already held by much of the general population :

“A fine of $100 was imposed upon Alonzo Puma this morning in police court when he was convicted of carrying an unlawful weapon. Puma was arrested when the police were called to break up a gang fight on Sherman avenue north, in which several foreigners were engaged.

“When constables Fleming and Coburn arrived upon the scene, Puma was backed against a wall with a revolver in his hand and a gang of men were around him. There was an immediate scatteration of the men, but the police grabbed Puma and Joe Moreale. They were both charged with carrying unlawful weapons, and Puma stated that he did not draw the revolver until Moreale threatened him with a knife. No knife was found on Moreale but a wicked-looking stilletta was found on the ground between the two men. The knife evidently belonged to Moreale but this was not proven, and he was fined for being drunk and allowed to go. Puma paid the fine.”¹

¹ “Held Crowd at Bay with a Revolver.”

Hamilton Spectator.    March 29, 1915.

The other case of note concerned the High Level Bridge over the Desjardins Canal in the city’s far west end. Since the outbreak of the war, the bridge had been guarded in case of sabotage by enemy spies :

“The police were at a loss to know what charge to bring against George Shawcross this morning. He was drunk on Saturday evening and interfered with the soldiers guarding the High Level Bridge.

“Crown Attorney stated that it was not an act of war and he could only be charged with being drunk. With him at the time was Bessie Carter and she was also charged with being drunk.

“The Magistrate fined Bessie $1 and George $5, but Shawcross stated that he might as well said a million.”¹