Daily Republican., 1880-11-08
BARELY WATER PROOF.
Tho Thin Case OfIneiting to Riot
Preforrea Against Wm. Mills ana
keard nc Police Court 10. day.

/
Proforrod Against WIN. Mills I'm,
keard nc Police Court To. day.
William Mills, q colorsd man, wa
arraignSd at Police Court this morning
on the charge Of, inciting to riot a
Ninth snd Walnut streets, on Sunda,
morning, Oct. 18th, during the excite
ment which oecnrred when the polic
attempted to dispNrse the crowd which
nad gathered there to discuss the polit
icsl rist Of the night before.
Austin Harrington, Esq, appeared a
sorussl for the defense, and the hear.
ing was long and tedious.
The charge as stated by the witnesses
for the State, namely, Officers McIlheny
Jones, WhaleR, Cloud and Brickle and
Ssabrook Foster, was to this effect :
That during the disturbance which oc-
Cured Sergeant Whalen attempted to
arrest q man and the prisoner urged
the men to stand their ground and not
to run and acted in a manner tending
to create further trouble.
This constituted the proof OF the
prisoners guilt when the State closed
and the witnesses for the defense were
called. Robert Smith, Andrew Msrris,
Simeon Hood, William Craig and James
Pritchett, all colored men OF good stand
ing, testified that Mills was quiet in.
offensive man, and that he owned an
interest in the property around, which
made his remark not at all out of place,
considering, in addition to this, the
great excitement which was at that
time felt by everybody in the crowd.
More witnesses were now called for
the prosecution, and proof was added to
that already adducsd as follows: Ser
geant Jones testified that the prisoner
drew pistol during the trouble as ii
to shoot Sergeant Whalen for making
the arrest already alluded to.
Officer Cloud testified that the man
said, "stand your ground boys and
don't rum" and that he saw him pick
up two bricks, but he did not throw
them.
Officer Brickle testified that he did
not see the prisoner have either pistol
or brick.
Officer Mccormick testified that he
did not see the man have anything in
his hands and that hs said 1--WE black
men mean to have our rights,
stand your ground"
Under cross examination officer Cloud
said he had never before heard of Mills
being tn any disturbance of the peace.
The defense called no witnesses to
answer this additional proof, which
apparently had only been adduoed by
the authorities in an extremity for fear
Of the charge falling through, the
defense having been so thorough.
Mr.. Harrington asked in his argu-
ment if the officers had known of the
picking up Of the stones and the draw
ing of the pistol why did they not
bring the charge sooner ? The man
had been in town ever since that day.
10 view of the absence Of any proof
that the prisoner added to the riot or
did anything tending to produce great.
er trouble, aud of the positive proof Of
Mills friends that he was at his own
property, and not acting in a manner
at all out Of the way, he asked that the
case be dismissed.
The Mayor held the prisoner in $500
bail to answer the charge at Court, say
ing, 81 think the evidence too conflict
ing and the charge too grave for me to
decide the case. II the Grand Jury
care to ignore it they may"
Mills was then arraigned on the
charge Of attempting to shoot
Sergeant Whalen, the offence being
stated in Sergeant Jones evidence in
the above case. Sergeant Jones testi-
fed at considerable length to seeing
the man draw pistol from his pocket
and start towards Sergeant Whalen
who was making an arrest; he caught
hold OF the man and urged him to put
the weapon down, which he did.
"Can you swear there was any at
tempt on the part Of this man to shoot
Sergeant Whelan ?" asked the Mayor.
~ swear he was going toward him
with the pistol in his hand, but can't
swear to any attempt to Shoot" was
the reply. ,
"Did you see any attempt to shoot
further than that to which you have
testified 2"
"No."
"Will you say that you think 1t was
his intention to shoot the officer ?"
"Yes, think it was."
Sergeant Whelen testified that he
saw the man coming through the crowd
toward him, but saw no pistol.
The case was then d missed, on the
ground that there was no evidence to
sustain the ch rye.
OTHER POLICE CASES,
Que case of drunkenness was heard
at the Police Court Saturday evening.
Yesterday morning William Nicker-
son ana S,smes Jones were fined one
dollar and costs IL. drunkenness and
and disorderly conduct, Three cases
Of drunkenness also were heard. There
were no hearings in the evening.
state Of the Thermometer
at the REPUBLICAN Office, on Monday
Nov. s:
o'clock, 10 O'Clock, IL O'Clock,
37o $40 5GO
Tho weather,