The People's vindicator. [volume] (Natchitoches, La.) 1874-1883, 1877-12-22
News from Our Friends.
Y III, NOM.
PARISH or NEHNoS, }
Drcmcbcr 1nu, IS11. (

VERNON.
PARISH or \EHNoN,l
Nrcmrbcr 2nu, I>77.
Pear 1iH'|jrntor
Don't You think the Jerk Of the wealth.
rr is forcing the season Il little! Was
there ever such severe r"ld witnessed ia
this climate 5" curly in the season The
ground has been frozen for three days
and nights not thawiuT in the heat of the
day. in the shade. and Il dry freeze too |
think ii unprecedented. I've not Seen
that noted parsonage tho coolest inhab-
tant:' he is frozen up, hu tl;nk that Il"
would agree with me. All the seed cane
that was not we'll put up is ruined,
know several persons in this nriyhhor-
hood whose seed cane is totally spoiled.
This is indeed severe loss, although no
person here plants more than an acre or
so. Yet most of our planters depend mp
on cane of their own raising for syrnp,
and the area of planted cane would have
been considerably increased next year,
those who were already planting it, were
expecting to increase their crop. and 9TH
rr> had engaged SEED for another y~ar.-
But this disastrous freeze will cause i
scarcely Of seed cane. I've seen in somc
of the newspapers complaints that the
can" in the most of the parishes was nut
yielding we'll this fall, the same is tho
case with It's, although our cane is OF
good size yet the late fall rains have rem
dcrc'l it Sapry, and there seems to be lit
tie Sarharinc in proportion t" amount Of
juirr. Last year from $500 to WOO cane
would make a barrel Of syrup, this fall it
has required about 5000 to max" a barrel.
Our standard in length for average cane
is three and one half feet. In some pla-
c"S there seems to lie enough mast to
fattcn the hogs, though as general
thing the mast may bc considered fail
urc in this parish. The health Of the
country was never better.
Yours Truly, VERNON.
November Goth, 1877.
can but hope that this may meet
with better luck than my last did, as l
am informed that IT, after going t" Alex
andra in the mail on Tuesday made it's
appearance in LcrSville in time to be re-
mailed on the succeeding Tuesday, tn
again present itself to the attentive eyes
of the =. NJ, at Alexandria. Perhaps you
may still receive it, if You do the =. NJ,
at Alexandria will certainly be entitled
to your trnlrrcSt regards
The District Court for the 9th Judicial
District began its fall term for this PARISH
OH the 18th, and continued in session un-
I'll the following Monday. There were
scvrra. civil cases dispensed, with but the
most important case was that of the State
vs.. Jacob Gnntcr, and David Gunter,
Gather and sony who were indicted for
the murder of Calvin Bass, which was
taken up on Friday, the 10th, the Coun-
sci for the defense declaring themselves
ready for trial. Considerable difficulty
was experienced in getting jury, attr1
the cmpanmclily of which. the remainder
; Of the day was consumed in the cxamina'
ton of witnesses. At dark the State
through District Attorney L. G. Hunter
opened the pleading, Mr. Hunter spoke
, until II o'clock at nj yht, when court was
adjourned until o'clock the next NOR
ming Saturday and the jury locked up
o At nine o'clock on Saturday court WA:
callco, the court house "a large building
was crowded to its utmost capacity, AIT
the defense opened their argumen
: through f. +. Presley, who was followed
by f. Smith, and he by X. A Hunter o
Alexandria, the three consuming tn
greater portion of the day, and leavin!
the District Attorney the shank of til
evening to close in, which he did, givin
, the case to the jury at dark. The jur
after being charged by his Honor, i'll
t very clear and succinct manner retired
and in the course of an hour returned
. verdict for manSlaughter. Tho connst
, for the defence filed a motion to set asid
y the verdict, and court StOli after ;u(jOurl
ed until eight o'clock on Monday ~ IT
ing, at which time court was called an
the motion for q new trial was read b
: Il. A. Hunter, disclosing five points, as
, basis upon which tn tu'nNl their motion
1 lst. That tho verdict was not in acco
. dance with the law and the evidence.
: End The incompetence of juror W. I
t. Perkins. 3rd. Incompetence Of juror
~ II. }. Richardson. 4th. Improper con
y duct Of District Attorney. 5th. Absent
e of their principal witness. The charge
i gcs against the jurors were Of \ Yer
l. grave nature, amounting to nothing sllo
" Of perjury, and witnesses were introduce
Il to substantlatc them, Int fortunately #
= truth and justice His Honor Judge Blacl
G man possesses a rctcntive memory ~ we
~ as Il mind determined to meto out eve
" handed justice, and in a written dccisi"
Overruled the motion, and completed
vindicate,l the jury collectively aud tt
" jurors Perkins and Richardson PERSONAL
IS also the District Attorney, and shove
$ that if their principal witness was abse'
" it was their fanlt, in not nsing due dill
I, gence to obtain the presence Of that wi
st ness. ard in pre- claiming themselves ex'
for trial without that witness, he al
!, showed that had that witness been pre-
VI cnt he would only have supported Il
. testimony Of one or two Of their witnes
|" cs who were present, which had on
nr tended to invalilate some Of the tcstin
J. ny introduced by the State. After re
lie dcrn! his decision his Homer stutenc
ID the prisoners separately, the Sou, Dav
H. Guntcr, to three years; and Jacob Cunt
,. to six years confinement at hard labor
:, the penitcntiary, and to cap tho elm
y the sheriff permitted them t" escape
fore hc ever moved from Leesville vi
them. I've never heard the particul;