Wheeling register. [volume] (Wheeling, W. Va.) 1878-1935, 1891-06-02

! DtI dUh W Ult luIOIO Vi t<bS NA''N
gained, certainly not lost, popularity by
his attendance at court like an every
day subject. when he could have easily
escaped attendance on the plea of i'll
ness and have had his testimony taken
by commission.
Sir Edward Clarke, amid almost
breathleSs silence then opened the case
for the plaintiff. He said that the charge
covered by the libel was one which in
volved the honor of his client and affect
ed a whole future career which had
hitherto been one of unspotted repute.
His client was a gentleman who had
served his country with distinction Tor
period extending over % years. He was
soldier who had reached the rank or
lieutenant-colonel in one of Great Brit
aims most famous corps, the Scots
Guards, and be was an officer who had
won his medals for gallantry at Telel-
Kefer. He was Il man, too, OF inde-
pendent wealth, who for 20 years had
been received aud honored in the best
society, and one who was the intimate
friend of the Prince of Wales, whose
guest he had several times been at
Sandri,gham Palace. This he con-
tinued is the man who ,ate2 Hds before
the public, charged wit.a,tIr4eating at
cards, and so cheatns : IN the object
Of defrauding some OF /. s most intimate
friends.
The distinguished counsel then mi
nutely detailed the circumstances at
tending the baccarat party at Mrs. Will
sons residence, and reviewed the vari-
Gus phases of the case until the culmi-
nation in the suit for Slander.
At the conclusion of Sir Edward
Clarke's address, in the baccarat scan
dal case, Sir William Gordon Cumming,
the plaintiff, took the witness stand.
After being sworn he testified that in
the game of baccarat to which refer
ence was he'd, the Prince Of Wales had
acted as banker, and Gen. Williams as
croupier. On the first evening of the
play his attention had not been called
to any complaint made of his conduct
of his game On the following evening,
however, Gen. Williams and Lord Gov
entry came TO his room before dinner.
When his visitors had seated themselves
Lord Coventry said to him (witnesS):
Something very disagreeable has oc-
Cured Some stayers here have OBJ
tected to your manner Of playing bac-
carat"
To this. the witness replied: MY
God. What do you mcan?" Lord
Coventry then added that these people
had accused the witness of resorting to
foul play.
This assertion the witness had at
once denounced as foul and abomin-
able falsehood He had then appealed
TO both gentlemen, saying: "What am
I to do? You old friends, say what
shout. ne dcne?"
The interview finally resulted in wit
ness placing the matter entirely in the
hands of Gen. Williams and Lord Cow
entry. After dinner on the day of this
interview witness again denied the truth
OF the charge to the Prince of Wales,
saving 10 him: "Your Highness will
see what terrible thing is this affair
to me, who have been attempting for
90 wears to lead the life Of an officer
and gentleman" To this the Prince
replied: "What can you do? There
are five accuSers."
Witness responded that his first i'm
pulse had been to publicly Insult his ac-
cuserS at the race course on the follow
ing day.
The Prince simply remarked "What
is the use of that? There are five
against you.
The witness, continuing his testi-
mony, which was being listened to with
the most intense interest by the audi
encc in the Court room, said that later
on this same day he summoned Lord
Coventry and Gen. Williams to his room
for consultation. Both gentlemen then
told him that there was only one way by
which to avoid a horrible scandal; that
way was TO sign a document, pledging
himself to play cards no more. To do
this, witness said, was tantamOunt to
an admission Of guilt. Finally, how
ever, he had been persuaded to sign the
paper, which he did, believing he could
trust implicitly in the honor Of Gen.
Williams and Lord Coventry, both OF
whom he regarded Us his most intimate
friends.
Sir William Gordon Cumming further
testified that on the second night of the
play, the Prince of Wales still being the
banker, Mr.. Stanley Wilson, the son of
the hostess, won five cOups running
This. the witness thought, was good
play for novice. At the end of the
game, plaintiff continued, and the
Prince of Wales laughingly y said: Cum
ming. how came You to win so mrch?'
referring to the fact that | had WOE
e225 in two nights play. To this l
cir annlH mot
help winning with such luck, showing
the Prince card on which ! Kept
marked under the headings of banker"
and "player," the exact number of
times which the banker or player had
won during the evenings play"
Then Sir William, under cross-eXam-
ination, explained at length several
points in regard to baccarat playing.
He also said that he had nothing before
him on the table while playing baccarat,
except a small piece OF paper and pen
Gil, and possibly tumbler The wit
ness, himself seggested putting tho
stakes on piece of paper. This the Bar
onet added, facilitated handing up and
affords the banker AN opportunity OF
readily seeing the stakes. Sir Charles
Russell then asked the plaintiff a num-
Der of questions: it being evident that
the plaintiff would be accused OF increas-
ing his stakes. after seeing the cards OF
his neighbOrs.
Replying to questions put by the
leading counsel for the defendants, Sir
William said that Lord Edward Somer-
set and Mrs. Coventry increased their
stakes aud they also kept counters in