Newspaper Page Text
DAILY
FORTIETH TEAR.
RUSSIA TO REJECT PEACE TREATY
EVACUATION 0 F PETROGRAD BEGUN
WARREN I. JOHNSON TRIAL IS FEATURED
RY EXAMINATION OF MRS. YEARTIE HOWELL
MCNEIL SEEKS
TO FIND FLAW
IN HER STORY
SHE UNDERWENT A GRUELLING
CROSS EXAMINATION THIS
MORNING ANSWERING SEVERAL
THOUSAND QUESTIONS.
For the first time since the Kade
murder case has been in the courts,
although she testified in the three
trials of Dr. C. K .Chapman, who has
been convicted, Mrs. Yeartie Howel),
star witness for the state, today “slipr
iped up” during cross examination in
the trial of Warren I. Johnson, who 's
being tried as an accomplice in the
killing of Walter Wade.
Mrs. Howell’s lapse of memory
came after nearly three hours o>
gruelling cross-examination by At
torney W. D. McNeil, who msut have
asked her several thousand questions,
one after another, like shots from a
machine gun, during the morning.
Mrs. Howell swore that she had
never traversed the Andersonville road
since the killing on August 17, 1916.
Later on, Mr. McNeil edged in a ques
tion about her trip from Anderson
ville to Americus with Detective Fos
ter in an automobile, and Mrs. Howell
admitted having made such a trip
When asked why she had previously
denied it, she replied:
“I simply forgot it. Anybody is
liable to make a mistake.”
She then stated that she and Fos
ter came from Macon on a train, got
oft an Andersonville, and then came to
Americus in an auto. She said she die
not dis uss the killing at all the entire
trip.
“I Don’t Remember.”
Determined to break down Mrs.
Howell’s testimony on the theory that
she was not telling/che truth about the
affair, Attorney hammered her
mercilessly, but through it all Mrs
Howell kept her poise, and was never
rattled. Time and again, she would
answer, “I don’t remember.” Re
peathed contradictions with her for
mer testimony were brought to Mrs
Howell’s attention, and when asked it
she had testified differently in prev
ious trials she would say, “I don’t
remember.”
The defense was obviously bring
ing out that Mrs. Howell did not re
member anything that happened before
or after August 17, and that she could
not remember any details about any
thing on that day except something
about which she had previously testi
fied.
Never once did Mrs. Howell state,
even approximately, any period or
hour of time connected with any of
the incidents related in her test’mony.
When asked if five minutes elapsed
between thus-and-so. or if it was eight
o’clock or twelve o'clock, she would
invariably reply, “I don’t remember.”
Only Saw Wade Once.
Mr. McNeil elicited from Mrs. Howell
that alter meeting Walter Wade in
Leslie, before she came to A ericua
to live never saw him agl 1 until
the night of August 17, but ’aat she
recognized him when she saw him as
she claims, with Dr. Chapman, Walter
Johnson and Warren Johnson, beside
a Ford car at the corner of Hill ani|
Felder streets. She said that Charl'4
Chapman, Jr., said “Hello Walter}'
but she did not know whether he wail
addressing Walter Wade or Walter
Johnson, but thought it was the for
mer.
‘‘Don’t you lht)w that this defend
ant. Warren Johnseon has never seen
Walter Wade in all his life ” asked
Attorney McNeil.
“I know he saw him that night.”
said Mrs. Howell.
Mr. McNeil took up successively ev
Americus Times-Recorder
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Every alien enemy above the age of fourteen must have his gnfier
prints taken, and this photograph shows one going through the process,
with the aid of a policeman.
ery sentence of Mrs. Howell’s testi
mony, examining her in detail, with ev
ery possible question his mind could
suggest that was legal.
Mrs. Howell made these two admis
sions that the defense apparently re
garded as significant-.
That she had heard that “Uncle An
dy” Jackson, night watchman for the
Americus Construction Company, had
said, or would say, that he saw her in
the car with Dr. Chapman and the
ethers, and that she had on a black
skirt, a white waist and a white sailor
hat.
Went Out “Closed” Street
That she had heard after her first
testimony when she swore she went
to ride with Charlie Chapman. Jr., out
Lee street, that Lee street was closed
up by reason of paving work. How
ever, she insisted this morning that
they did go not Lee street, and that
she still remembers distinctly having
passed the Bapitst church. It has been
shown in the trials of Dr. Chapman
that Lee street was really closed up at
the time.
Mrs. Howell made another variance
with her previous testimony. Today
she swore that the car kept going af
ter the shooting of Wade, whereas, ac
cording to the record, she ha£>«^r e *“ _
iously declared ffigU infc’'car came to a
standstill. Viit that the engine kept in
motion. Today she swore that Charlie
Chapman, Jr., sitting on the front seat
between the dead man and John Eth
eridge, drove the ‘‘big grey car” up
from the Wheatley bottom up the hill
into te “pine orchard.”
It is understood that the defense
is going to lay great stress on the
fact that the hole in Wade’s skull in
dicates that he was shot directly from
b< hind, whereas Mrs. Howell testifies
that Dr. Chapman was sitting in tin.
middle on the rear seat of the car, and
that a bullet from his pistol would
heve entered the man's head would
have entered the man’s head at a dif
ferent angle. ,
Wade Killed in House?
It is also unedrstood that the de
tfense is going to make an effort to
bring out that Wade was really beaten
tp in a disorderly house by persons, or
i person, unknown now, and that when
b was in a half-dead condition he was
Absequently shot.
The defense makes no secret of the
fAt that they think that the state’t
AMERICUS. GEORGIA. WEDNESDAY AFTERNOON. MARCH 6. 1918
own witnesses have “messed up’’ the
state’s case. They point out that one
witness for the prosecution said WaL
ter Wade was in Eva Hays’ house af
ter eight o'clock, and that another said
he was there after eleven o’clock, of
the night of August 17.
However, Solicitor Fort, Judge Hix
on and the other attorneys for the
state say that they have made out a
Attorney cNeil asked her how it
Howell has made no break in her
I story.
No Blood on Her Clothing.
Another interesting feature of the
cross-examination was the state
ment from Mrs. Howell that when she
returned home that night there was
rot a spot of blood on her clothing-
Attorney McNeil asked her ho wit
was possible for Charlie Chapman, Jr.,
Ito sit beside the dead man. run the
I car, and becomes covered with blood,
I and for Dr. Chapman to help remove
I the body from the front seat and get
, blood on him, and for both of them
I to afterwards handle her, one carry
l ing her bodily from the gray car to
' the Ford, and the other giving her t
j hypodermic, without getting blood on
her.
When court adjourned at 12:30, Mrs.
Howell was plainly wearied, and so
Mrs. McNeil. However, the spec
tators been held spellbound by
the duel of’ W * tS ’
No attorney < ho has a l’P eared in the
ease for the de>K nse has made
impression with the\ udience as aV ’
orable as that
Nail Many local attor*/-' .^ 1
congratulated him on his show** " r
The trial is exciting keen interest
and opinion is widely varying. There
are many who unhesitatingly express
the belief that Johnson is guilty, and
there are others who are freely say
he is absolutely innocent.
The indications are now that the
case cannot possibly be concluded be
fore late Friday or early Saturday.
“BRANCH WALKERS” CAPTURE
CAPTURE WHISKEY STILES I
——
ATLANTA, Ga.. March 6.—Six stills
destroyed with warrants issued fo*
five operators is the remarkable rec
ord just made by a detail of Collector
A. O. Blalock's north Georgia “branch
walkers", as “Uncle Henry” Branham
is pleased to term the revenue officers.
VERDON “VET”
TO GIVE FREE
LECTURE HEBE
SERGEANT VERNE MARSHALL. A
FORMER IOWA EDITOR, WHO
SAW WORST OF WAR IN FRANCE
COMES HERE TOMORRW NIGHT
Thrilling stories of life at the front
in France will be told here at Ameri
cus, Ga., next Thursday, March 7th, by-
Sergeant Verne Marshall, 126th Ma
chine Gun Battalion, U. S. N. G., for
merly a private in the French army.
Sergeant Marshall is touring the
Southeast under direction of the Unit
ed States treasury department. The
purpose of his narrative is to depist,
the life of the French army with
which he was identified before this
country entered the war, so as to
bring home to Americans a better
realization of what American boys are
going through, and will go through, in
the trenches until the war is won.
Marshall volunteered in the Ameri
can Ambulance Field Service, a self
sustaining organization, the members
of which were automatically enlisted
as privates in the French army. The
men paid their own expenses and re
ceived the pay of the French poilu—
five sous, a nickel a day. With his
ambulance section, No. 4, Marshall
spent many months at the front, and
was for three months at Dead Man’s
Hill at Verdun wnen that battle was
at tiijp zenith of its intensity. His
narrative is said to be one of the most
graphic, delivered in this country, one
that presents vivid and actual pic
tures of the front.
Previous to his enlistment Marshall
was editor of the Evening Gazette,
Cedar Kapids, lowa. Following his re
turn from France he traveled through
the middle west lecturing for the Red
Cross, Belgian Relief, etc., and was
responsible for the raising of about
three-quarters of a million dollars. Re
fusing proffers of a better position be
cause of education and experience, he
enlisted at a private > n the lowa Na
tional Guard, which is in training at
Camp Cody, N. M. The treasury de
partment is using him as an aid in
awakening the people to the peril of
their position, a oeril that will exist
until Prussian militarism is defeated.
No admission will be charged at the
meeting, which will be held at eight
o’clock p. m., at Carnegie Library.
AMERICUS NATIONAL
DEPOSITORS TO GET
ANOTHER DIVIDEND
Receiver N. M. Dudley announced
this afternoon that a dividend of 5
per cent, will be paid to depositors
and creditors of the Americus Na
tional bank, beginning this morning
at 9 o’clock. The institution has al
ready paid several diyjj’f y o* ? and
10 per cent, respe- i * • .-<*
yet a small ctively, and there .«
among th3 lance left for distribution
.j creditors of the bank.
Conference to be
AT SALEM CHURCH
Quarterly conference for the
churches of Americus circuit will be
held at Salem church Saturday,
March 9th. The presiding elder, Bev
O. B. Chester, of Dawson, will preach
at 10 o’clock in the morning and din
ner will be served on the grounds. The
conference will convene immediately
after dinner. Dr Chester will also
j.reach at Salem church Sunday morn
ing.
in most cases a still is destroyed with
out knowledge as to the identity of the
operator, but in this particular raid
the agents had better luck and bagged
the men as well as th® stills.
LfIFDLLETTE IS
DENOUNCED BY
HIS OWN STATE
LEGISLATURE OF WISCONSIN
PASSES VOTE OF CENSURE, AF
TER BITTER FIGHT AND AN ALL
NIGHT SESSION.
MADISON Wis., March 6.—The lower
house of the Wisconsin legislature
held an all-night session last night
without reaching a vote on the reso
lution to censure Senator LaFollette
for his attitude toward the war.
The deadlock continued unbroken
earlj- today with neither side able to
gain strength, but indications that
the resolution would finally be passed
owing to the attitude of the social
ists.
When a motion was introduced to re
cess for breakfast socialists imme
diately the measure, ani
succeeded in blocking its passage.
After the failure of teh effort to
adjourn the resolution of censure was
passed by a vote of fifty-three to thir
ty-two.
AMERICA HAS SENT NO
COMMUNICATION TO JAS
ON SIBERIAN SITUATION
WASHINGTON, D. C-, March 6.
It is authoritatively stated today that
the United States has sent no com
munication to Japan on the subject
of action in Siberia, and that if any
views are expressed they probably
will be conveyed through Great Britain
through which the United States has
received all its information on the sit
uation.
At the same time it is understood
the government of Japan understands
the United States government is giv
ing no special thought to the moral es- !
feet in Russia of such action, and
Japan should (feel the absolute neces
sity for action before it is undertaken
These views have been expressed to
Great Britain.
FORTY-EIGHT OUT OF
610 ABOARD LOST ON
ARMED MERCHANTMAN
LONDON, March 6—The admiralty
officially announced today that the
British armed merchantman-cruise 1-
Calgarian, of seventeen thousand
hundred tons, was submarined off
Irish coast March Ist. The _.ne
on board at the time six had
ten persons, of whom two offi ed and
forty-six men were last. cers and
REDMOND, IRISH A
’ c ADFR ‘
IS DEAD
LONDON. March 6- John E. Red
mond, Irish nationalist leader, died I
this morning, death being due to heart
failure, induced by an operation per
formed last Friday. He was one of
the foremost exponents of Irish
thought in the United Kingdom, ana I
recognized head of the nationalist par-I
ty in the house of commons.
AMERICAN PATROLS
CONTINUE ACTIVITY
WITH THE AMERICAN ARMY, in
France, March 6—-During Monday I
night’s normal artillery fighting pa- :
trols continued to be active along the
American sector northeast of Tout but ■
no engagements were reported.
cm
EDITION
NUMBER 56.
STATE MINISTERS
UNO POPULATION
OUITTINGGAPITAL
BOLSHEVIKI GOVERNMENT WILL
MAKE NO RESISTANCE BUT WILL
DECLARE MOSCOW RUSSIA’S
CAPITAL.
LONDON March s.—Te evacuation
of Petrograd has begun.
A Reuters’ news agency dispatcM
dated Tuesday-states three state min
isters have already started to learn
the capital, from which the population
i® also fleeing.
Arrangements have been perfected,
it is stated, for th)e removal of state
archives and records, and all state
officers have prepared to depart hast
ily before the advancing Teutons.
Authorities of the Bolsheviki gov
ernment state it is te purphose of the
government to declare Moscow the
capital of Russia, with Petrograd a
free free port. Meanwhile the Ger
mans continue to advance.
Refusal of the peace treaty by the
congress when it meets at Moscow
next week, probably will cause the
downfall of Lenine and Trotsky, if
they do not resign beforehand.
Krylenko Appeals to Enemy.
LONDON, arch 6.—The Bolsheviki
commander-in-rhief Ensign Krylenko
today notified the German and Au
trian high commands that fighting in
Russia is continuing despite the peace
declaration and asking is further are
considered necessary to secure a ces
sation of hostilities.
FOOD WM
HERE SEEKING 10
0011 IDE OFFICE
ASKS THE STATE FOOD ADMINIS.
TRATOR TO ACCEPT HIS RESI6-
AATION—NO REPLY IE RECEI”
ED AS YET. .
uni'
Franc Mangum,
for Sumter county, e< a(lmi ni ß tratoe
At Soule, the stateo^ las [j r
accept his rseigmfe? administrator, to
I-'ll l ig.tion, effective March
Mr. Mangung*
J.U- states in hU letter
i”- the work of the office
ei&fo increased to such an extent, since
| the flour permit system came into es-
I feet, that he cannot attend to it, and
i do justice to it, without absolutely
' j giving up Ills own business.
1 There are about 1,200 flour permits
used in the county each week, ani
each must be indexed. Resides, thoro
ar e many other duties, a great deal of
correspondence, and considerable in*
veetigation of complaints. The gov
ernment does not. even pay the ex
penses of the office.
Th e food administrator’s resignation
was sent in several days ago. but thero
has been no reply to it as yet.
MAIL ORDER HOUSE
] BRANDED AS UNFAIR
WASHINGTON. D. C.. March
The Federal Trade commission haa
I completed its investigation into the
operations of certain large mail order
I house in the United States, and today
| fi’ed a complain charging Sears, Roe
buck & Co., of Chicago with unfair
methods of competition in the conduct
lo’ business. The concern ha s done
ar. especially large business in the
j South, where much interest will ur