Newbern weekly progress., 1860-05-22
Fron, Our own Reporter.
FRONT STREET HOUSE,
REarIEoI,,r NJ n Nav ~ 1870

| arrived here by yesterday evenings train
assisted by the steamer Johnston, about y o'clock
after very agreeable and pleasant run of -
hours, in company with 35 or 40 passengers, most
ly citizens of Jones county. who were under sub
pona, witnesses in the of the State against
John Messer charged with the murder of John Q.
Mallard, which had been moved from Jones.
On arriving at the wharf, at this town, about
25 or 30 of determined to go to the Front
Street House " expecting, of course, to take our
friend Ensley by surprise, (knowing that he had
just opened his house,) and force him to the ne
cessity of asking to go to the older and better
known establishments Ocean and Atlantic houses,
to get board and lodging; but in this we were
disappointed and very agreeably, too, as it turned
out for instead of not oeing able to accommodate
our party we found, to our surprise, that he was
| fully prepared to accommodate US, even had our
party been twice or thrice as large; and not only
to entertain us, but to make US comfortable and
happy. B. A Ensley & Co. have improved the
premises very materially and are still overhauling
it. and will make it quite pleasant place before
they quit. The house is now regularly open for
the season.
During our voyage down it was somewhat
amusing to witness he curiosity manifested by a
number of our Jones county friends, who evident
! ly had never taken a trip before by Railroad
While crossing the sound we were seated on the
| boat by the side of Jones county man. who
doubtless was as little accustomed to travelling
| by steamboat as by railroad, inasmuch as he
started to run when the whistle blew, thinking
the boiler was bursting, and, no doubt, would
have leaped overheard had | not caught him by
the arm and held him until his excitement had
passed off.
| This morning at 10 o'clock, His Honor, Judge
Howard, upon the bench, the prisoner John Mes
ser was brought into the Court House and placed
upon his couch in front of the bar, where he lay
all day and until the closed to night, attend
ed by his wife and daughter, who have not de-
serted him for a moment since his unfortunate
difficulty.
At to II o'clock, the Jury had been chosen
and empannelled, which comprised the following
! gentlemen Martin Van Buren, Davis, Bryan
Dickinson VIM. P. Bell, VIM. Hardest, Charles
G. Forman. David Simpson, Allen Davis, sr.. Eli
! iah A Sabiston, Isaac Weeks, Isaac w. Davis,
David w. Morse and Stephen Chadwick
Messrs. Geo. Green, of New bern, and Wooten,
of Lenoir, assisted Mr.. Allen. of Duplin, who ap-
peared in behalf of the State in the absence OF
Solicitor Houston, and Messrs. Bryan. McRae and
Solicitor Allen opened the case by stating very
plainly the prominent points in the prosecution
together with the evidence by which he expected
to support them. The prosecution then introduc-
ed the following witnesses:
Lewis Messer, (brother of defendant upon
whose evidence they principally rested their cause
and which consisted exclusively in what the de-
ceased told him before his death, he not having
seen the afray. His evidence considered of
high Importance as it was the assertions of dy-
ing man. The next witness was Dr.Shackleford.
I of Trenton, the attending physician. His evil
dence was of Importance as he swore that the de-
ceased came to his death by the effects of the
wound Then there was Jas. G.. Neal and j. O.
Nethercutt.
D. K. McRae, Esq, then opened the case for
the defendant in few very eloquent remarks in
which he alluded very pathetically to the condl-
ton of the prisoner at the bar, and introduced
Miss Susan Messer, daughter of the prisoner and
the only living witness who saw the fight, and
who swore to very different state of facts from
what Lewis Messer had deposed to. She was
the principal witness for the defence. After
which, w. Foy, +. G. Simmons, w. Harrison
Francis Merritt and W. P. Ward, were introduced
to support characters, &c.
| At 5 o'clock, P. NJ. the evidence closed and the
counsel proceeded to argue the cause. Mr. Wooten
led off for the State in a speech of nearly two
houis, followed by Mr. Haughton for an hour or
more, then by Mr. Bryan as long, both for de-
fendant and was closed by Mr.. Green for the State
Who it was believed, made the best speech of his
life, by far outstripping himself. The lawyers all
manifested zeal and skill fully commensurate
with the Importance of the in hand, and
never had the pleasure Of seeing jury a crimi
nal case that demeaned themselves better.
The house was perfect jam all day and the
heat was very oppressive, much that two
men tainted for lack of fresh air, whereupon the
sash were torn from the windows to ventilate the
room.
The arguments of counsel closed at IL O'Clock
in the night, and after short plain and concise
charge from His Honor, the case was given to the
jury who, instead of hanging the man, had sut-
fered the case to hang them. up to the time when
the hstle blew for our departure on Friday morn
ing.
During my stay at Beaufort the utmost decorum
was observed by the large crowd, nothing happen
ing to mar or modest the peace of any. The drift
Of conversation during the Intervals of business
at the hotels and on the train seemed to turn on
that knotty subject, I'D Vatorene, almost to the
entire exclusion of all other topics
Several of our Jones county friends remained
over on Friday to take look at Fort Macon and
the Ocean, having never seen them before not
withstanding they We're raised almost within hear
ing Of the breaking of its serf.
The Charleston Seceders.
The Washington States and Union, speaking of