The morning news., 1889-04-26
KILLING OF MAY HAYES.
THE TRIAL OF HER FATHER STILL
ON AT BIRMINGHAM

ON al 81 -
| Cross gx xamining Has Failed to Shake
the Testimony as Yet-The Prosecu-
tion Proceeding on the Theory That
| the Child Wes Smothered Before
Thrown Into the Lake.
BIRMINGHAM, ALA, April 25.-There is
no abatement of interest in the trial of
| Dick Hawes for the murder of his little
daughter May. The prisoner shows more
and more interest and feeling as witness
after witness goes upon the stand and re-
peats without variation the stories told by
the newspapers at the time of the tragedy,
and which led 20 universal belief in Hawes'
| guilt. The cross-examinations so far have
not shaken any Of the testimony. though
| the counsel for the defense are conteSting
every inch of ground aud consuming much
time over every fine point. The leading
counsel for Hawes is Col. Taliaferro, form
| eTly speaker Of the Tennessee House of
| Representatives. The associate counsel are
! Col. Mcintosh, formerly of Meridian, Miss.
an dFrauk Barnett Solicitor Hawkins is
assisted by Judge Denison and Solicitor
| Charles Ferguson Of the circuit court. The
case ison trial in the criminal court, pre-
sided over by Judge Green.
THEORY OF THE PROSECUTION.
The theory OF the prosecution is that
Hawes murdered May on Monday evening
| by smothering her, and after ward tossed
| her body into the lake. where it was found
the next morning The defense is making
| an effort to show that death was caused
from drowning, and th-t the body must
have been in the water several days before
| it could have risen.
1 k,aG fret my. Had &c ,fyafr
Leslie, the undertaken who embalmed the
body, and who testified yesterday. He had
! punctured the stomach in embalming, but
no water, and little gas, had escaped. Cor
| oner Babbitt was recalled and testified to
having noticed an abrasion on the nose and
cheek, when the body was first discovered.
TESTIMONY RULED OUT.
Julia Campbell knew Hawes' family. A
question as to whether she was at Lake
View when Mrs Haves' body was found
was objected TO by Col Taliaferro. The
jury was sent out while the question of
admissibility was argued. Tne defense
insisted that the murder Of Mrs Hawes, if
she was murdered. had nothing
to do with the case, and the prose
cution contended that the previous murder
of Mrs. Hawes, and the fact that May knew
of it, was competent as showing a motive
for the murder of May. Judge Green ruled
it incompetent, though he said he might
admit it later on, if its relevancy should
appear.
| A WOMAN WHO WAS AT HIS HOUSE.
Sarah Lett colored) was at Hawes house
Monday evening, before Mays body was
found tho next day. Hawes, May and
Fannie Bryant were there. Hawes told
May to tell Fannie good-by and come with
him He then took May by the hand and
they went awav She then identified the hat
tba 1aa rri,-la NJ hsI = Nhn1
evening. On cross examination as tC
whether she knew Hawes, she said she had
seen him two or three times. She identified
him positively where he sat among his at
tornevs. 1t was dark before Hawes and
May had gone away together on that Mon
day evening.
SAW THEM START
Elijah Gordon lived near Fannie Bryant's
house at the time of the Hawes tragedy.
On Monday evening late. the night before
the body was found, he saw May Hawes al
Fannis's house. Shortly after O'Clock he
saw Hawes come into Fannie's house,
get May and take her ont, going
off toward the dummy line. Hawes
told May to tell Fannie good-by, which the
child did, and Fannie told the child she
must be good girl. On cross-examinatior
he was positive it was not s, but a little
after O'clock. He was uncertain about
Hawes' clothing,
RODE ON THE DUMMY LINE.
r. NJ. Brown, conductor or the Lake
View dummy line, said that one night
shortly before ne heard Of the finding oi
the body, gentleman and little girl got
on his dummy at Lake View, rode into
town with the little girl, and held her close
to the stove. The mans tenderness
attracted his attention. he thought
the defendant was the same
man. He thought this was on
Sa turday night, but was not positive He
had run on the train Friday, Saturday
Sunday aud Monday nights. Lake View
was a square or two from Hawes' house
He thought the time Of his train was be
tween q aud o'clock.
LOOKED LIKE THE HAT.
F. B. Lawler came in from Just this side
Of Lake View on Monday before the body
was found the next morning. He noticed
when he got on the dummy that man and
little girl were there already, and that the
mau was very careful of the little girls
comfort. The little girl was well dressed
and had on a straw hat which he thought
was the same as the one shown him and
found with the body. He went
and his opinion was that it was that
of the little girl he had seen
in the dummy. He picked out the defend
ant and thought he was the same man. 1t
was the $50 O'clock dummy At the con
clusion of LAWYERS testimony, Juror Dunlap
was taken sick, and the court adjourned till
tomorrow.
The progress OF the case is rather slow
Col. Taliaferros cross examinations are long
ana searching.