Steffins Fined Two Hundred and Costs

The case against George Steffins, charged with running a "blind pig" on Wilmette avenue, between Fifteenth and Sixteenth streets, and the ten or twelve men caught in his place when it was raided by three deputies form the sheriff's office on the night of Nov. 7, came up before Justice Dunshee last Saturday morning. The hearing was to have been held on Thursday, the 12th, but the defendants failed to appear and their bonds were declared forfeited. It was found, however, that they had been waiting for a lawyer from Chicago, and, as he was late, they had paid no attention to the calling of the case. It was finally agreed that the cases should be reinstated and their hearing was set for, and held, Saturday morning.
Deputy Mackey testified that on the night of Nov. 7 he and two other deputies had called at the Steffins place and, after having been refused admittance, had forced open the door and found several men seated at tables, on which were beer bottles. In another room, two teapots were found each containing whisky. Full and empty beer bottles and a bottle of whisky were produced at the trial as evidence

Frequent Deliveries
Mr. Joe Shantz testified that business had taken him into the neighborhood of WIlmette avenue and Fifteenth street almost daily for some time past and that he had often seen a motor truck backed up in front of the Steffins place, but as the truck had been covered by a tarpalin [unclear], he was unable to say what it contained.

Lost, Strayed or Stolen
George Steffins was called to the stand to testify, but it was soon found that he was suffering from a severe attack of absence d'esprit, which was more or less aggravated by the disconcerting questions hurled at his [unclear] head by the prosecuting attorney. MR. Steffin's case was one of the saddest ever brought to our attention. Could his memory have been reduced (by some miracle) to a tangible substance, it would have contained about the same amount of space as a geometrical point, which is said to have neither length, bredth nor thickness. How any man, in the mental condition in which he was [unclear] could have conducted a business (and a "land office" business, at that, apparently) is past understanding. It was plain to see that the spectators sympathized deeply with George and that Justice Dunshee was so moved that he was preparing to give him something (probably the limit) to compensate him for his loss of memory. When questioned, he couldn't remember when he bought the beer nor of whom it had been bought, nor where nor how often. In fact, his memory seemed to be in a total eclise. He refused to answer whether or not he had sold or given qaway either beer or whisky on the grounds that it might incriminate him.
After the evidence had all been admitted, the attorney for the defense arose and with his hand [unclear] resting on the table on which stood some half dozen bottles marked exhibit A, exhibit B, etc., offered the suggestion that, inasmuch as no evidence had been produced which would [illegible] to show that his clients were anything but angels (or words to that effect) the cases be dismissed. He neither looked nor acted as though he expected his suggestion to be acted upon and he wasn't disappointed. Attorney Jackson recommended that the men caught in the raid be given a small fine--enough, however, to impress upon their minds that frequenting "blind pigs" is unlawful. But in Steffin's case, Mr. Jackson demanded that the maximum penalty be given. He stated that while this was the [unclear] time Steffin's case had been brought to the attention of the court, it was by no means his first offense and that [unclear] fact that he had taken[unclear] license constituted prime [unclear] evidence of his guilt.
Justice Dunshee ordered that the fine [illegible]