Newspapers / The Charlotte Observer (Charlotte, … / June 25, 1909, edition 1 / Page 1
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'V. FH DOLLAKS A YEAR. CHARLOTTE, N." C, FRIDAY EVENING, JU NE 25, 1909. ? ! FIVE CENTS A COPY. V INTENDED TO KILL J: G. . - - r -. This. Judge Frank I. Osborne Does Not Den y in a Masterful Plea to the - Jury This Morning "But Was Not the Real Biggefs Who Slew: His Fellow man9 Judge Osborne Concludes Ad dress This Afternoon, After Which Solicitor Clarkson Will Speak Case Will Not Reach Jury Before To-Mor- row Morning. . The closing scenes in the trial of S. Bissers for the killing: of J. G. liood are now being enacted in the court house, where with the approach cf the end the crowds are thronging in increased numbers and the heat to day has been so intense that it was almost unbearable. - Judge F. I. Osborne is speaking this afternoon. His reputation for oratory, logic and clear thinking, is being fuN maintained, ami not a few are at tending the atrial for the sole 't pur pose of listening to him. His. speech followed Mr. Plummer Stewart's, who began his .argument resterday afternoon and who complete Vd his talk to-day. Mr.' Stewart made one of the strongest speeches for the .State, acquitting himself welt, And at the same time offering argument of io mean quality. Judge Osborne's line of argument, es forecasted in what he said between noon and 1 o'clock this afternoon, Then he was interrupted by the din ter hour, will be to enumerate -a. suf ficient number of symptoms of insan ity in the case of the defendant to J km no doubt but that Blggers. was insane when he committed Tl!he( suet? Juflge Osborne, with an eloquence, sel 3em equaled, has in the one hour of his speech delivered before 1 o'clock, already made a strong impression and has so far enumerated (1) the glassy eye, (2) the incoherence of speech, 13) the sleeplessness all symptoms ef insanity. . .., "I am not going to ask you to be lieve that Biggers had insanity be cause he had one of these symptoms," declared the speaker, "any more than a physician would diagnose a case by one symptom. It is only by the overwhelming- number of symptoms . that the true diagnosis is aTrived at." How long Judge Osborne wjll con tinue his remarks this afternoon is .not. known, as he has not indicated the length of time which he proposes Ko consume. It will probably be 3:30 to 4 o'clock when he finishes, however, 7'hich will leave one hour to one and one half hours for further argument, aai it is not believed that Solicitor Clarkson will fce able to close the ar gument for the State in the short, time that will be left to him this, atf ernoon. Therefore, everything points to the continuance of the case 'over' to to morrow. ' - The Judge's Cliargel ' . The charge of Judge Councill to tte jury will be an exhaustive docu ment. He has already intimated as much when he informed counsel that ' " fy'Jt- ", t ! '-"'': - ?hFi J.-, 1 Mr - J " I JT" 1 i0ther an cousin of Elsie Sigel, Identifying clothing7 owned by tne ua 'rwate girl.' . - ' 1 the would want about five hours to I dictate the charge to a stenographer and have copies of the same made, v Both sides in the case will hand to the judge a number of briefs of points that they wish to have covered in the charge, so that these alone would constitutev quite' a lengthy document, as these requests are asa rule grants ed in full. . The chances of the case's being clos ed and given to the jury by early to morrow afternoon are now good, and it is believed that Jjidge Councill will complete .and finish his charge by 3 o'clock in the afternoon, if not at a slightly earlier hourj , At the close of -court this afternoon the speeches of counsel-will have con sumed three and one-half days of the court's time, and itc.seems likely that a part of to-morrow will also be tak en up by argument for the State, so that four days will be about the total length of time required for the ar guments. . ' Judge Osborne is completing his able argument this afternoon, and his speech has prove h one of the strong est and most persuasive and. most log ical yej; i presented kn 1 tll -iase. ; " ;( v As " stated; theVe' wilLi be' but" one more speaker, following " Judge da borne, namely Solicitor Clarkson, who close? for the State, also closing the entire argumenjt." Judge F. I. Osborne. Judee F. I. Osborne began . hla speech at 15 minutes before noon. He said that he would ask the judge to listen to several matters of law bear ing on the case. First The defendant, if shown in sane, which is first required, must al so show that at the time of-committing the deed the Insanity had de prived the patient of jihe knowledge of right or wrong. ' Second -Judge Osborne argued that insanity is a disease and as such must be recognized by many symptoms, and not by a few symptoms. The law also recognizes monomania, or - insanity, about one thing. Also insanity at any time in a defendant, must be granted to have been in defendant's mind at the time of the commission of the deed, nothing to the contrary appear ing. Also those best acquainted with the defendant are the best witnesses as to his sanity. To my mind, that the defendant was insane at one time, should be taken with more credulity and weight than testimony to the ef fect that the defendant was seen on a certain occasion and did not act in- S3.I1 6 - "And now," said Judge . Osborne, addressing the jury, "I am going to reply to some of Mr. Stewart's ques tions that I wouldn't notice if it were not for my respect for him. "He accuses us of importing our de fense from New England in the "brain storm" which I am more than sur- prised at. ' I'll' tell you what the trou ble is, when- a man takes the' law in to, his own hands to defend the honor of a woman, deep down in their hearts the jurors never - convict him for brain-storm aa they call It. You will find in all civilization the law that no man who is a madman shall be. hang ed.. If he is it is a disgrace to human ity. - .' ' .; . : ; -. -,. : "Some of my-friends of the,prosecu-J nun say mat we were driven from our. first position, and went. back, to make our stand' on the contention that lie didn't know right from wrong. yhy, we admit that; hfei knew what he was doing and furthermore that he intend ed, to do it. "What do we know about, the hu man mind it is a machine that "we know litUe about. I . may know tli laws of property rights, but when it comes to the laws of the human mind I know nothing of them, because they were created '.by Almighty God. As someone has said The human mind is the Sinai , from which we commune with God." - "Thevery atrocity of the crime con vinces you that it was the act of a madman. That was Biggers as we knew him in the clay, but' not the Big gers" as we had known him in the mind and heart. "Here are- forty of your citizens who come here arid say he has a good character. -Even kind-hearted, tender, all that's tender and- gentle that you can think of, ready to phare his heart or his money as needed. - - "And yet you tell me he shot down a fellow man in the way you . have stated. It was not the Biggers you once knew, but another man, made angry by the pursuit of Hood and the worry of two years, a poor creature outraged by man. . "We have before us the Biggers as God made him" and the' Biggers mar red by man.' "Insanity is a - disease .with symp toms; some. men being crazy, one. way. and some another, there are many shades in imadness." I' don't" know of any better way to teil you of Biggers' condition than to say he is crazy. Now I don't argue to you that he waa in sane because ,he had the glassy eye. That was just a symptom." Judge Osborne followed the symp toms throughout, the entire course of the evidence, going over the testimony of "each witness who had noted the wildness of the eyes. - Another Symptom Discussed. , The j second sympto discussed by Judge7 Oabo'rne was the failure of the defendant to recognize his firends. "First, there was Query, who had known the defendant for many years, and who comes here j and tells you that he passed him one day and he didn't recognize him. Why, Mr. Stew art tells you of a learned lawyer who goes with his head downy No doubt you know . that man was made that way and can't help it. He had been going that way' all hia lite. -But in Big gers' case we are talking about a change that had been noticed. Incohereney of Speech. Again there is another symptom incohereney or repetation of words in speaking. Now not every witness no ticed this thing. It's just like the pa tient with the rheumatism.. One man goes by and talks to him and does not know he has a disease, while another comes when an attack is on and finds his friend suffering all the symptoms of that disease. On the night before the killing you remember he kept say ing to Allen White, "I want to keep my word." . We admit that parts of that conversation were entirely co herent, but we are just pointing to a few of the symptoms. "My friend Mr. Stewart said there was only one kind of insanity. There are different kinds, some ' with ,and some without delusions; one known as dementia just simplicity of mind, al most idiocy, but not quite- - ' "Now coming to the Sunday, what do we find there? He jumps iip every fifteen er twenty ihinutes andT runs to the door as if expecting company; you see him running, all through the rooms and about the house; Why you know what the matter was with him just as if you could put yourself in theJ place of that little wife sitting tnere and watching all these symptoms. , "Don't take the evidence piecemeal, but put it' all1 together and consider it that way. . "Why the North American InJian would noa slay their madmen.' Even they recognized that he iwas not to be punished. I don't want you to lay your hands on a man made ln God's image. V The Pain ' in the Head. There is another symptom to b tak en into account. To Mr. Crowell and to Mr. Stinson says he, "My head, my head." This is one symptom of in sanity. Another thing and that was his sleeplessness. Sleeplessness is not only a symptom but a cause of insan ity. .. . - " , It has been -intimated that this evi dence was being gotten up after the tragedy. Once for ailclet me set this at rest when I remind you ' that Mr. Allen White , way, back yonder in Jan uary noticed the. change in the defend ant. Was that making -evidence" after the " tragedy had taken - place ? Stinson also noticed it and though that Big gers had something wrong with . him. i "Biggei was notr planning a homi cide that Monday night. -' - ' - MR. STEWART. rAt the conclusion . of Mr. Maxwell's fine speech, Mr.: Plummer .Stewart, for the prosecution, began . his address, which will' be Vended this morning. He was getting weilr warmed up when time for adjournment came. By an ineentoais mental feat, 'Jie conceived of la supposition trial, as a basus for wmcn was -Tto - uiicukui ii.o.k. , uj Hood ,at Biggers was crazy. Biggers and 'his friends had resented this and had 'brought suit , for. slander, Mr. Stewrt then-imagined the attitude which- ex-Judge Osborne would as sume toward: his own evidence which would be brought forward in. the Im aginary case as proof of -Hood's charges; The viewpoint was distinctly original. " "; ' - ' - The speaker said it , was a mighty etrange thing to him, that the prisoner, should lose an; arm- in' a railroad acci- Continued on. Page 6. DON'T LE NO TRACE OF LEON LING IS FOUND Every ; Hoi and House in Chinatown Being Searched and Guarded Even Police Astonished at Iioath some DensQuarter Being Thor- oughly Cleaned Up. NEW.YORK, June 25. A cordon of detectives and . police was thrown around Chinatown to-day so as to completely- encircle the quarter .and whjle" these kept guard another body of detectives .made an exhaustive search of eVery hole and house in tne 8ectiOif$ajp3i8sing. Leon Ling.-. Up to noon no trace has been found of the man, buXsuch conditions were revealed as to show that Leon could have been in hiding there all the time. - The police themselves were aston ished at theloathsome dens Jii&t were found. , The quarter is being completely cleaned up and the men and .women - Chung Sin, the friend of " Leon Ling, accused of the murder of -Elsie Sigel, who was : caught recently . in Amsterdam, New York, and who con fessed ,' to IMstrict - Attorney Jerome, that he witnessed the killing of Miss Sigel. found in the .dens turned into ' the street.:;--.-- - ' . - - . . , ' Another Sfispect Arrested. NEW YORK, - June. 25 After . a long chase' through the. fields '. near Newstowns, beyond . Long . Island City, a Chinaman, was to-day arrested as a Sigel murder suspect. , He was : ar raigned In Flushing police court to await the arrival of officers who may identify him as Leon Ling. ' : The Queens' police are excited. oer th,e arrest. f i I ' A ' m n fsmk - k! I v fZM V- if kj &m&m mm. P ,. W R tit $& (' X s I, n I if T HIM STOP HERE, MR. SLAYER OF MRS. WOODILL SHOT BY SHERIFF'S POSSE Ernest E. Roberts, Who Murdered Beau tiful Woman and Threw Her Nude Body in River, is Trapped by Officers Who Return His Fire andKill Jtiim lAstaritly. ST. MICHAELS, Md., June 25 Em met T. Roberts, Washington newspa per correspondent and magazine wri ter slayer of the Jaeautif ul and accom plished Edith May Thompson Wood ill, the adopted daughter of Col. Chas. A. . Thompson, a wealthy Los Angeles auto manufacturer, whose nude, mu tilated and weighted down body vas dragged from the river here. Wednes day, was shot and killed by the sher iffs posse while resisting arrest at the jwharf at McDaniel, Talbot county, at 4 o'clock this morning. Shortly after midnight a mysterious looking boat was seen moving up Back river.' John McQuay, a farmer living in the vicinity, saw the craft and thinking it unusual for a man to be rowing at such a late hour notified Sheriff Mortimer and Magistrate 4Willy at St. Michaels. McQuay declared the boat resembled the one Roberts es- NO OPPOSITION TO INCREASED RATES Officials of Bell Telephone . Company Appear Before Corporation Jn: Sup-' port of Petition to be Allowed to Increase Rates in : Ashevllle and ' Wilmington. , f . J - '.". CRONICLE BUREAU, ' RALEIGH, June 25. The Corporation Commission is de voting to-day to a hearing of the evi dence and argument by official of the Southern- Bell Helephone, -Company, to support petitions to allow an increase of telephone station rates at Wilming ton and Asheville of 50 cents a month oh both residences and business sta tions, at Asheville, and 50 cents a month" on residence statibnS only at Wilmington. - No one appeared to oppose the in crease. Southern Bell officials here are: President W. T. Gentry; Vice President J. M. B.- Hoxsey, General Superintendent of Plants T. L. In gram, - Chief Engineer r George L. Yundt,' General Counsel Hunt Chipley. B0 MURDERS BABY BROTHER Cecil Hopkins, 12 Years Old, Fatally . Shoots His Six-Year-Old Brother and Buries i Body in Hog Pen. MODISTO,-Cal., ' J une 25. After shooting , and killing his ' six-year-old brother,; Theodore,' Cecil Hopkins, 1 2 years .bid, buried the body -in a hog pen near the home last-night, .stuffing the boy's mouth full of sand. -. - Cecil' to-day confessed. - He gives no reasons for his act.' v ' Weeleyan CtonrnxeDcement. MIDpLETON, Conn., June 25. To day .is. the beginning of commence ment week at .Wesleyin,' University. The declamation contest begins to-day and ends Wednesday. President-elect Shanklin . and acting - President Rice will both garticlaate in the exercises. ALDERMEN. caned in from McDaniels and the mail in it resembled Roberts. " r An hour later the sheriff, magistrate and six men reached the river. Sheriff Mortimer and two men followed Rob- efts in a boat. The others walked stealthily along the shores. - When near the wharf where the rlveF is very narrow," the magistrate and his assistants ordered Roberts to surrender from the shore. Roberts standing in the -boat :-fired. - The posse returned the fire, shooting Roberts through the mouth. When th3y reached the boat" the murderer was dead. ' : A bottle of poison and several let ters were found on Rpberts' persdn. It was discovered fo-day that the Woodill woman was married twice. Tt is believed that she -was married first to Dr. W. W. Caswell, of Boston, when 17 years of age leaving him a tew days after the wedding. HEAT FATALITY , LIST INCREASES Four More Deaths and an.. Alarming lunuer oi' rrostrauons -Keported in New York To-Day. NEW YORK, June 25. A' scorching sun ushered in the fifth day of the hot wave and four deaths were reported to the police before the day was more than a few hours, old, and prostrations have increased alarmingly. - Theymffering that has been caused by the heat, especially in the tenement districts, is cumulative and during the early hours was worse than at any time since Monday, children, as always is the case, being the worst off. TWO NEW COTTON v MILLS CHARTERED L. Banks. Holt Manufacturing : Cont - pany Chattered With Capital of $1,000,000 New Mill Chartered for Charlotte. ..- CHRONICLE BUREAU, RALEIGH, S.une 25. ' Two , big new cotton mill corpora tion are chartered to-day. The L. Banks Hol,t Manufacturing Company, of Burlington, capital $1,000,000, by L. Banks Holt, Mary S- Holt and L. B. Williams..'" . .' . The Akron Manufacturing'Company wtih $150,000 capital, by J. H. Mayes, li. Mi Miller,-Jr., jihd T. C. Guthrie, Charlotte. Mrs.' John J. West Dies at Salisbury. Special to The Chronicle. . SALISBURY, June 25. Mrs. Alice West, aged 54 years, a well ( known resident of Salisbury, died at - lier home here yesterday jafter a brief ill ness. She is survived by a husbana, Mr. 'John J. West, and; five children, among them being Mrs. Clyde" Ennis, of -Goldsboro; Messrs Theodore and Carl West, of Waeo Texas; Earnest West, of Atlanta, and Mrs. H. H. Speddin, of Macon Va. "" , - WILL STUDY PUR -FORESTS State Forester J. S. Holmes to be in Charge of the Inspection. FARM EXTENSION WORK OF THE A. & M. COLLEGE Call. Issued. for . Reports of Bank The 106th Conviction of . Arson i Experiment" Station May be Moved from Statesvtlle. to Raleigh for Benefit of A. & M. Agricultural StudentsImportant Study of Forests to Begin ; at . Once Other. Raleigh Notes: ' CHRONICLE BUREAU, l ,f ; : RALEIGH, June 25. . Commissioner of Insurance J. R. Young, has Just : received telegram announcing - the conviction . of a man by, the name of Arthur at Beaufort for burning his house for the .insur ance. This makes 106 convictions during the ten years that Mr. Young has served the State as Commissioner of insurance. " ' V A call for reports of -the condition of State, private and. savings banks at the close of business, June 2 3 (was issued to-day by . the ; North Carolina Corporation Commission. The United States Treasury Department has issued callsfor. reports on"" the same date from the national banks. Agricultural Study at the A. and M. President Hill, of. the. A. .and. M. College saya' he is expecting any day to receive notice' from the man'chosen to undertake the new work of farm extension and college co-operation that he . accepts -the plaoe-. He -is' a (North Carolina man, said to be pecu liarly fitted for the duties which will be especially to establish and main tain a system of co-operation between' " the college and the farms through out the State. . He regards this as one of the most - important moves that has been --inaugurated at the college in years. Arrangements . are being made, too, for moving the headquar ters of C. R. Hudson for farm experi ment work from Statesville to the college here, thus giving the agricul tural students the advantage of ob serving this work. Ten . new rural school libraries are approved for Cabarrus county, and the State's appropriation, paid by 6r der . of the State Superintendent of Public Instruction. Study of Forest Conditions. ' An official study of forestry condi tions in the State in all its relations to economic r matters la to begin in the extreme western counties atoncn and be pushed as rapidly as possible eastward until every county has been canvassed . and- a complete- detailed record of the conditions made. State Forester. J. S. -Holmes will be in charge of this inspection and he will be' assisted by one or two governmeht experts, the State and the United States departments sharing the ex pense equally. As nearly as possible every section of every county iwlll -be visited." Among the information to be gathered jtill be the 'percentage and comparative value of forests for agriculture and for protection of streams; percentage and location of the' principal forest types with ap proximate' stands; average consump tion of timber, by various ; industries of the State and "estimate of timber land necessary , to give the supply; cost, frequency and effect of forest (fires and means of , fire protection. OH Test Rules in Confusion. . Confusion seems to multiply with reference to the preliminary arrange ments for the enforcement of the new State illuminating oil inspection law. effective July 1. .The State board of agriculture,, at its June meeting, adopted a series of regulations, for the. guidance Of . the inspectors. Strenu ous exceptions were taken by the oil companies. The board; appointed tho special voil inspection committee, with Commissioner Graham and Messrs. Horne, McCallum and Barnes - as members to . effect an adjustment. There was a hearing and a number -of concessionsgained by the oil people.- Then yesterday there was an- ' other meeting of the committee, when ex-Governor Aycock and .James, H. Pou, representing the independent and the Standard Oil, secured the abolition of the jEHIot cup system, of test and an' order for "the adoption of what counsel represented to be the government test , of 110 Farenheit flash. Now this proves not to b a real government - test and : Dr. Syne, r the ; State oil chemist, has been dis patched to Washington . to find just (What the oil tests by the government are . with a: view to conforming, if possible. In .the jneantime when the v law goes into effect July .1 .the Elliot cup system wili.be aplied if arrange ments for, applying a government sys tem; of tests are not: perfected. It is contended -- by members of - the com mittee . that; the J 10 'heat test' is too low '-and would result in dangerous oil being sold in the State. " .. New Cliarters Granted... . Charters are : granted to five ',im- " Iortant new corporations and amend ments made' for two others increasing capital.- .The. new corporations are: Jackson Lumber Company, Asheville, capital $700,000, New York and Phil adelphia - capitalists . and. Henry B.; Thomas., Asheville; the North State , Development Company,' Rocky Mount, ' capital $100,000. by G. N."Buell and others; Hassell Suply Company, -Washington, capital $25,000,.for deal ing In nfachinery, George Hackney principal infcbrporator; Dixie Ice and Coal Company, .Greensboro, capital $50,000, by J. W. .Landreth and oth- ' ers; Concord Driving Club, 'capital $25,000, by JF. Laughlln and oth-, ers. The , amendments are for the ' University , Drug . Company." Chapel Hill, -increasing capital to $2.5,000, and ' Yearby Drug. Company, Durham, in- , creasing capital to 450.Q00 and hangmar the name to the Peabody ' Drug Company. ' . , s
The Charlotte Observer (Charlotte, N.C.)
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June 25, 1909, edition 1
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