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Acquitted Upon the Charge of Passing a Raised Bill. The many friends here of John B. Allen, of Logansport, a former Browns town boy, were glad to learn Friday that he had been acquitted in the Fed eral court at Indianapolis upon a charge of passing a one dollar bill that had been raised to twenty. The incident occurred several months ago at Logansport. Mr. and Mrs. Allen were on their way home one evening and stopped at a small store at the edge of the city to purchase some groceries. That night when the storekeeper was counting his cash he discovered a $1 bill that had been raised to $20. He and his daughter insisted that the bill had been passed by Mr. Allen and the Federal grand jury found an indictment against him upon their evidence. John and his wife both stated positively that he had given the man a silver dollar, but under the law a wife’s testimony alone cannot be taken in behalf of her husband in such cases. The case was tried in the Federal court at Indianapolis last Thursday, when Judge Anderson instructed the jury to acquit the defendant, who had a large number of witnesses, including the M E. pastor at Logansport and Postmaster Benton, of this place, to testify as to his good character. How ever, only three or four of these char acter witnesses were used, when Judge Anderson ended the case as above stated. The following concerning the case is taken from the Indianapolis News: Judge Anderson, in Federal court Thursday afternoon, attached consider able weight to the testimony of a polite boy. The boy’s politeness was helpful to John Burr Allen, a Panhandle bag gagemen, who was tried on the charge of passing a$1 bill that had been raised to a twenty. Allen, who lives at Lo gansport, was discharged. Judge Ander son, having told the jury, that if a verdict of guilty were returned, he would set it aside, and directed the foreman to sign a verdict of not guilty. The boy’s testimony strongly support ed the theory of Senator Frank M. Kistler, Allen’s attorney, that Joseph LaOrange and daughter, who said the defendant had passed the bill, had be come confused by the fact that only two days before the bogus twenty had been taken in by them. Allen’s wife had bought groceries at the LaOrange store, and had given a genuine $20 bill in payment. This was the $20 bill of which the grocer was thinking when he accused Allen, it was argued. LaGrange and his daughter in giving a list of purchases made by the de fendant when they said he gave the bo gus bill varied widely from the list Al len said he bought the day he was in the store. They gave the same list Mrs. Allen said she bought when she had a $20 bill changed. To back Mrs. Allen’s statement came the polite boy from the country, who had happened to be in the store and who had volunteered to carry the groceries to her survey, which wait ed outside. The boy’s offer had also been testified to by the grocer. The boy’s bearing on the stand, as well as the incident of carrying the groceries for a strange woman who seemed to need his assistance, made a favorable impression on the federal judge. “The boy is disinterested, and I am satisfied he is truthful,’’ said Judge An derson to the jury. ‘‘His conduct shows he is thoughtful and considerate of others. It may be there are more po lite boys in the country than in the city, but we do not have enough of them here. This boy shows up well in com parison. Why, two fifteen-year-old boys almost pushed me out of the ele vator in this building today, when I started to go into the elevator.’’ Allen, on the witness stand, had de nied that he gave the $20 bill to the grocer, saying that for the purchases he gave a silver dollar that he obtained from his wife. Mrs Allen also said she had given Mr. Allen two silver dollars just before he went into the store to buy groceries.
Newspaper Details
Brownstown Banner
Brownstown, Indiana, US
Wed, Jun 07, 1911
Page 1
Full Page
Clipped by
Ruth C.
USA 10 Jun 2026
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