Show FOR CRIMINAL ASSAULT Charge on Which Ben E Smith Was Arrested IT IS ONE MORE LIBERTY PARK CASE Officer Heath Was on Hand and Put an End to Smiths Attempt The Prisoner Says He Is a Railroad Brakeman Ben E Smith was arrested in Liberty Lib-erty park yesterday afternoonVhile in the act of making a criminal assault upon Josephine Carney a glri 10 years of age Officer Heath took the man in custody and he is now confined in the city jail with the charge of attempted rape resting against him The cunning of Smith or as he gives his name Frank Campbell is revolt lag in most of its details From the disclosures made by Josephine Carney to Chief Paul and Captain Esllnser It appears that Smith made an engagement engage-ment to meet Josephine and her elder sister Clara who is 12 years old at Liberty park about 130 oclock yester day afternoon He kent the appointment appoint-ment which was to have been for the purpose of selecting choice watercress from a snot where Smith claimed the delicacy grew in profusfon Thus far Smith does not deny his relations with the girls but he avoids any acknowledgements acknowl-edgements tending to incriminate himself him-self However Officer Heath shadowed him and saw enough convince himself him-self that the mans intentions were evil evilThe The Carney girls are the daughters oC Mrs Kate Carney a widow living in Hammers court between Fifth and bixth South and Second and Third I East Josephine Carne is a pretty Ittil maiden and looks older than she is Her sister though taller is not as i attractive a type of child beauty nor has she the assurance of the younger girl About four years ago Mr Carney the father kept a saloon on West Tem ole street where the girls became be-came acquainted with Smith When at work he professed to be a railroad brakeman but most of the time was without employment There is certainly nothing prepossessing in his appearance appear-ance He is slovenly and owns a designing de-signing pair of furtive black eyes He also waxes his mustache to lady killers points upon either end in brief Mr Smiths general makeup betokens the idler He was ambling down Main street yesterday about 11 oclock twisting his mustache points and had reached the corner of Third South when he chanced upon the Carnev sisters Smiths idle brain seems to have then and there conceived a dastardly scheme Some conversation with the children revealed to him that they were also idling He asked them if they would be busy during dur-ing the afternoon and upon being assured as-sured that they could meet him at Liberty Lib-erty park he proposed a hunt for watercresses The girls acquiesced and without waiting for the hour at first set walked out toward the park Officer Of-ficer Heath noticed the group and something prompted him to keep his eye on them He noticed that Smiths object was te separate the girls but the elder could not be shaken off Presently Pres-ently the man sat down on the crass and attempted to take liberties with Josephine but Clara was in the vicinity vicin-ity and the fellow desisted Then he induced the younger girl to accompany him into a deserted barn on the other side of the lake In this place he resumed re-sumed his scoundrelly plan when surprised sur-prised by Heath The sriris dashed away across the park in affright and were subsequently found at their mothers residence and brought to police headquarters by Captain Cap-tain Eslinser where they were subjected sub-jected to a searching examination by the chief The stories of the girls induced in-duced the chief to hold Smith but it has not been decided whether to ar raitm him on the charge of attempted seduction or race Josephine Carney tells a very straightforward account of the affair and one which coincides with the observations ob-servations of Officer Heath She also repeated some cf Smiths foul language which he used while cndeavoring to accomplish ac-complish his ends She claims that she bad no idea what Smith meant to 3o Clara Carne does not tell a truthful story She seems to be a knowing1 girl and it is suspected that she is not altogether alto-gether innocent in the matter for it was evident to the officers bv her uneasiness un-easiness in the park that she knew Smith meant no good Smith said that he was 54 years of age although his looks belie the assertion asser-tion He says that he has played with the children for a hong time and intended in-tended no wrong when he took them to the park He contradicts the statements state-ments of Josephine Carney and Officer Heath It is very plain however that Smith realizes he is in a tight box Mrs Carnev believes that the girls are moral and says that this is the first time they have ever gotten into any trouble Carney deserted her about four years asro and died since that time The hearing will be set in the police court this morning |