A 30-Cent Debt Ends in a Water Pitcher, a Watch Chain, and Two Lawsuits
A Newcastle boarding-house keeper and a stage driver turn a petty fare dispute into a grand-larceny trial, a jury, and a follow-up assault charge.
The story, cleaned up
A cleaned-up reading of the newspaper page: spelling and layout repaired, one story lifted off a crowded page. It follows the original closely but it is not a transcription. The original page is below; read it if a detail matters.
The whole population of Newcastle has been stirred up over a controversy involving a little matter of 30 cents, and the end has not yet been reached, as the case still occupies the justice courts.
Lulu Curtis is a buxom colored woman who keeps a boarding house at Newcastle. Not long ago O. C. Luther, a stage-driver, went to her house to collect 30 cents, which he claimed she owed him as a balance for transportation. Mrs. Curtis said she would send the money down in the evening, but Luther said that would not do, and wanted it immediately. The result was a row, in which Mrs. Curtis claims that Luther hit her on the breast. Mrs. Curtis was not backward in defending herself, and smashed Luther on the head with a water pitcher. A clinch followed, but one of Mrs. Curtis' colored friends stepped in and dragged Luther away. After the row was over, Mrs. Curtis found Luther's watch chain in front of the house. She made no secret of the matter, and sent word that he could have the chain by coming after it. Luther was afraid to go, but took the ground that she had stolen it, and had her arrested for grand larceny.
The case came up before Justice Tutt at Newcastle day before yesterday. In the justice's room, a small apartment, were crowded as many colored people as could get in. There were about fifteen witnesses on each side, and a bitter fight was looked for. The justice appointed a young man to prosecute the case, but when Attorney Phil White objected concluded he would prosecute himself. It took considerable maneuvering, but finally the value of the chain was gotten down to $25, making the case petit larceny. Then the defendant demanded a jury trial, and about two hours were consumed by Justice Tutt and the attorney in agreeing on the way to get a jury and who should be on it. The case was not finished until 10 o'clock at night, when a verdict of not guilty was rendered.
Mrs. Curtis was so pleased at the result that she came to the city yesterday and swore out a warrant for O. C. Luther in Justice Caldwell's court, charging assault and battery. Mrs. Curtis is trying to get a divorce.
“The whole population of Newcastle has been stirred up over a controversy involving a little matter of 30 cents, and the end has not yet been reached.”
A tiny debt escalating into arrest and courtroom spectacle shows how thin the line could be between daily quarrel and criminal charge in a Washington company town. The packed justice room also reminds us that Black residents had to navigate and contest legal systems that were far from neutral.
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