The morning call. [volume] (San Francisco [Calif.]) 1878-1895, 1891-06-03
WALES A WITNESS.
The Great and Latest London
Society Sensation.
Ills Royal HishnesS TeSIi1eS in The
BaGGarat Scandal.
Sir Gordon Cumming Appears In a Bad Light.
His Immediate Friends Believe Him
GullE-The Other Testimony.
spceial to THE MORNING CALI.

LONDON. June 2-The second day of the
baccarat trial began this morning with
repetition of the scenes of yesterday. Long
before II o'clock, the hour fixed for the
opening of the court. all the seats were
filled. Many of those present brought their
lunches, so that they would not be com
PEELED to lose any part of the proceedings
by going out to eat.
The plaintiff, Sir William Gordon Cum
ming, resumed the witness-stand and was
pressed with cross-examinatiOn questions
by Russell. The plaintiff said he took the
present legal proceedings because the bac-
carat scandal had become public matter of
conversation and comment, and because it
reached the clubs to which he belonged, the
Turf Club and the Marlborough Club
among others, and had he not have taken
action in the matter his clubs would GER
tainly have done so. Sir Charles then read
two letters from General Williams. They
were addressed to Dear Bill" and referred
to complaints made by the plai ntiff that the
pledge of secrecy given when he signed the
document agreeing never to play cards again
had been broken.
WANTED TO RETIRE.
Ia reply to defendants counsel's ques-
tions, Sir William said he applied to Colonel
Stracey of the Scots Guards in January last
for permission to retire from the army on
half-pay. lie added that Colonel Stracey re-
piled that the fact that the plaintiff bad
signed a document of the nature of the one
already described could not be overlooked
letter from General Williams to Cumming
was then read and placed in evidence. 1t
was addressed to Ny Dear Bill" and its
contents were that nothing was left to him.
the plaintiff, but to place himself unre-
ServedIy in the hands OF his commanding
officer, Colonel StraceY, as he had done
The letter also contained the following ::
You are quite at liberty TO tell Colonel
StTacey that y0usIgned the document under
extreme pressure and promise Of secrecy"
Witness here said: II have never for
moment ceased to deny the accusation made
against me-" Later on Sir William denied
that he had said to Berkeley Levett, Gould
you not say that you were Mistaken a
sensation was created at this point bY Sir
Charlrs Russell, who, after hearing this last
denial from the plaintiff, remarked gIavely,
fixing his eyes steadily on the BarOnet IN
the witness box, Colonel Sir William Cor
don Cumming, you will have to be careful"
a low murmuT OF comment passed over the
people in court as Sir Charles Russell ut
tered these words. The plaintiff evidently
noticed the effect they had. for almost i'm
mediateIy alterward his manner seemed 10
lose some of its jaunty carelessuess and he
acknowledged that he had said something
of that sort" to Berkeley Legett. This
caused another sensation, and it seemed
to be admitted that counsel for the defend
ants had scored his first real decided ad-
vantage.
THE PRINCE TEsTIFIEs.
The Prince of Wales was next called to
the witness box The Prince gave his taSti-
mony in a clear voice and with unruftled
brow. In substance the Prince said: |
have known plaintiff for twenty years, and
have been his friend for the past ten years.
He visited my house several times. Oar
intimacy continued unimpaired until last
September. / observed nothing suspicious
in plaintiffs play at Tranby Croft l was
first informed Of the reports current in re-
gard to Sir William by Lord Coventry"
Continuing, the Prince said the sad event
(the charges brought against Sir Willlam)
broke up the party at Tranby Croft. lie,
the Prince, sealed the document up, put II
in packet and sent it to his Secretary,
who was not aware Of the nature of the
contents. The letter, said the Prince, re-
mained in a safe place until sent for in con-
nectiOn with the present proceedings. The
document inside the packet, the Prince ex-
planned, was the statement OF three gentle
men and two ladies' Mr.. and Mrs. Lycett
Greene, Mr.. aud Mrs. Arthur Wilson and
Berkeley Levett. The Prince then said:
" 1 did notsee any of the five persons in
question until after Sir William had had an
interview with me and denied the charge
brought against him. When | heard the
gentleman story several days afterward,
Lord Coventry and General Williams pre-
pared statement of what had taken place
and handed il 20 me-"
Cross-examined by Russell, Wales was
asked, "Do you rec0llect whether, in ad-
dition to the three gentlemen referred TO,
you also saw Lord Edward Somerset and
Captain Somerset ut TranbY CruftY
The Prince replied. :" | believe | did"
''To whom certain statements were made
by the other three gentlemen? asked Sir
Charles.
YES" replied the Prince
THE ALLEGED CHEATING.
Had you also been informed that two
ladies, whom you did not at the time see.
had alleged they also were witnesses TO the
cheating?"
Il was not"
"In reference to this statement" con-
tinued Sir Charles, "could you charge your
memory as to whether any of the three gen.
tlemen said anything about Withdrawing a
portion of the stake, and that Sir William
table when he won than was ordinarily
placed thereP
In answer to this question the Prince said ::
81 do not IecOllect that any such statement
was made"
Sir Charles next question was: "Was the
memorandum suggestion of yours or of
another, In which you aequiescedY
In reply the Prince said: "The sugges-
ti0n did not come from me. / acQuiesced in
the suggestion made by Lord Coventry. [
was greatly distressed by the occurrence. l
was present at the interview with Sir Will
lam in the presence of General Williams and
Lord Coventry. | think he (Sir WiIIiam)
asked me whether / believed the statement
made about him. but | do not recollect what
| replied"
"Do you recolleet any reference to the
Duke of Cambridge" was the next ques-
ton.
Decidedly" replied the Prince.
did you desire, under the circums ances,
to act as leniently as possible out of reg ard
for Sir William Gordon Cumming?"
Most certainly. The date of the docu-
ment was omitted by Lord Coventry and
affixed to it after it had been signed
Have you met Sir William since the
occurrence at Tranby Croft?" asked Sir
Charles.
''No," answered the Prince.
And have you intlmated that you cannot
meet him; that 1t would be more agreea Bile
not to do SOP"
AN INQUIRING JURYMAN
At this stage juryman caused sensa-
tion by rising in his place and asking in q
loud voice: 'Is the jury to understand
that you we're banking on these two occa-
sions and saw nothing Of the ALLEGED NAL
practices?"
The Prince hesitated for moment, as IL
undecided as to whether he ought or ought
not to reply. Finally, ne said, with a half
smile: ut is very easy for bankers when
dealing cards not to see anything especially
when in the company okfriends in country
house. You do not for moment suppose
that any one viii. play unfairly"
The juror then asked "What was your
opinion at the time the charges were made
against the plaintiff ?"
To this the Prime suayey replied: ''The
charges made against him were 81 unani-
nous that l had not any other course open
to me than to believe them"
The prince'S last anSVpr oauead ouofbor