Memphis daily appeal. [volume] (Memphis, Tenn.) 1847-1886, 1869-06-27
THE CRANE HOMICIDE.
Witnesses Examined on the Tenth
and Eleventh Days.

is progressing slowly. TIE eXamina
tiOn Of witnesses for the uefense com
| menced on Monday. Our repsrt
have indicated the direction it ha
taken. It is not probable the cas-
will be concluded soon.
TUESDAY, June -, 1869.
| William b. Taylor said: / have re
sided in Jackson for IS or 10 years
! nv residence adiOins that of accused
'have resided there about four years
/ was in New Orleans the day Of Col
Cranes death; | was in Jackson on
the 18th day of June, the day thu
piano was seized and taken away
| rom the residence of accused | saw
Mrs. Yerger late in the afternoon 0
that day; her manner was such as tC
impress me with the fact that some
thing unusual and distressing had oc-
CURED. Witness then explained why
Yerger had good grounds for refusing
70 pay his taxes, showing that the
corporation owed him $500 to Sl0E
for damages done his property. !
first made the acquaintance of accused
about the year, 1850; on one occasion
about four months ago, Noticed some
peculiarities in his conduct; / went
to his house al the request 0f his
uncle John X. Yerger; the accused
seemed to be laboring under some
great mental depression; he had con-
ceiYed the idea that there was a rob-
Der in the house, and that he had been
struck by the robber; he was bleeding
from the head profusely; as / went in
/ met him on the gallery; we went
into the library; | ordered tub of
water, and at once commenced bath
ing him, and the bathing seemed to
have good effect; / requested his
uncle to go for the family physician;
he was very much excited, and
seemed possessed Of the one idea that
there was robber in the house, and
he would not sleep until he caught
him. I remained there one and a
half or two hours; the excitement
continued as long as | remained with
him. DR.. Craft, his family physician,
arrived some thirty or forty minutes
after my arrival. When I entered
the library his pistol was lying on a.
book case and his knife on the mantel
piece; he walked toward his pistol
and said he would go out after the
rObber; if he was labOring under
delirium tremens it was different from
any | had ever seen; he had hut the
one idea, that there was a rObber
about the house; I don't know if there
was an effort made to convince him
that there was nOrObber in the house.
Mr.. and Mrs. Anderson, and Mr.. J.
II. Echols were there; came after |
had arrived: John X. Yerger went
for the Family physician. l don't
know how the cut on the head
occurred; I don't know what became
of the pistol; my impression as to his
mental condition was that he was not
in his right mind and was deranged
at the time; there was no appearance
OF intoXicatiOn that | could discover.
| don remember to have seen a per-
son appear intoxicated in deJjTitm
treHteRS. He mentioned his immi-
grafton scheme to Eee frequently; said
he would explain it to me, but never
did; he proposed to make milliQnaires
Of his friends,
4 j, Davis said: / have known Mr..
Ierger for fifteen years. On the
of the LIST of March, the day
the Clarion Office burned, while stand
L
up TO me and asked why | was hunt
ing him with double-bapelled shot
gun. He said the son ~ a woman
who made mattresses in town had told
him that | was hunting for him.
asked a friend who was by me If he
heard that? lie said no. Mr.. Nerger
kept watchingS3 was struck with
his appearanceSdndc conduct, and left
the place, thinking he might want to
raise a difficulty with me. | reported
the case to my mother, aud she said
it was only aTe 6f Col, Yerger's
crazy fits" ! never had a word with
Col. Nerger previous to that time.
James d. Stewart said: | reside in
Jackson am brOther-in-laW to accused,
having married his sister; have known
him about eighteen years; our social
relations for tine past eighteen months
have been unfriepGly, no intercourse
and | don't think we have
spoken for fifteen months; the circum-
stances that / suppose led to the un-
feeling were rather of pri-
vate nature than otherwise; about
eighteen months ago was in Eyrich's
book store, when Mr.. Yerger sent me
a message requesting that ] would
come UB and take q drink Of liquor
With him. ! replied by the messen-
ger: " Please excuse me; | do not
wish to drink" In a few minutes,
Mr.. Nerger came in, very much eX-
cited, and asked me if | had not
refused his friendship: | remarked
that that was not the question, it
was simply as tC the drink, he then
cursed me; | rose from my seat with
the Intention of striking him, under
the influence Of the excitement, when
be put his hand behind him, as if to
draw Il weapon; | said to him, " You
are armed, and l am not" he imme-
diately pulled out a pistol, ndSaid
be had two, and said we wOuldkght
il out then. / replied that, CWiffg to
peculiar relations, ! would decline to
do so; it was not necessary to state
them; he ought to be aware of them;
he then proposed that we should go
on the street and settle it, which he
said could be done in ten minutes; /
declined that also, and said that [
would send q note to him BY a friend,
and that L thought that gentleman
ought to be satisfied with promise
Of that sort. He then threw the pis-
tol at my feet, and it went off; the
pistol was picked up and put away
by some one; presently he called for If
and it was given him. He asked nae
then if would go up and take a
drink with him; / refused, and he
wanted an explanation, and told him
that the rude manner and offensive
language in which he accosted me
made me decline again. He asked
what would satisfy me, and | told him
that an apology or retraXit. lie, in a
very curious manner, and a great deal
Of gesticulatiOn, said the expression
was not strong enough, that it was OBJ
liberated from his memory, or some
such strange language. | then went
TO Spengler's saloon aad took a lem
0nade with him. Hethen' remarked
that this family feud would have
to be settled, or there would be hell
Of a difficulty, / said that was mat
ter entirely with himself By agree
meIt he proposed to meet me at my
house at six O'Clock and we would talk
the matter over; he failed to come
appointment was made and
he failed again. Some time after he
sent a message for me to come over
and take a glass of wine with some