Pittsburg dispatch. [volume] (Pittsburg [Pa.]) 1880-1923, 1892-10-29

tense and punishment, and then the guard
paraded me ur and down before the regi-
: ments. Behind a guard of eight men and
the drum corps, playing a march, was
hurried to the limits of the camp, the regi-
ments following me. There Colonel Haw-
kins rode up and told me 1 was discharged.
and that must get away from the camp At
once, for if found there again I would be
dealt with summarily. boarded freight
car, in which L changed my overalls tor
suit of citizens clothes"
The Witness Was Very Cool
Such was the story told BY young Iams in
answer to Mr.. Watson's questions
The witness was very cool, and very
often smiled, as he had done when his
champion, Mr.. Watson, in a really brilliant
opening speech had gone over the same
ground earlier in the day.
Iams' face ciouded up as he went into the
details of mis- ignominious drumming out of
camp. and the jury, who were listening in
tently, no doubt saw the tears glisten in
the young soldiers eyes. He looked no
more than his age, which he gave as 20-he
was still 19 when the alleged assault was
made upon him. There were few objections
to his testimony. Attorney Watson's last
question was objected to. He asked Iams
to tell from whom he got the hat which he
exchanged for the cent straw as soon,as he
got clear of the camp. The counsel for the
defense objected, and then Mr. Watson ex-
planned that he only wanted to bring out
the fact that his client was indebted for the
hat to the generous and learned counsel on
the other side, Senator Robbins, who was
then acting as Quartermaster of the Tenth
Regiment
Deciding the Question of Jurisdiction.
At the morning session, for Private Iams
did not go upon the stand till noon, almost
two hours were taken up in tossing back
and forth the plea offered BY the defense
denying the courts jurisdiction and
the prosecutions replication to the
same. Attorney Iams made a motion to
strike of the plea, after stating his case at
length, and Judge Porter entered judg-
ment tor the Commonwealth finally. This
set the trial really in motion, the jury was
sworn and the prosecutor (Iams) entered
the witness box, telling his story under
direct examination as related above.
Mr.. Braden was delegated to do the cross
examination for the large cohort of attor-
neys for the defense, to whom Attorney
Watson contrived adroitly to direct the at
tention of the jury by asking the Court how
many of the eight counsel he saw across the
table were to be allowed to cross-examine.
Mr. Braden, who is one of the leading
lights of the Washington county bar, and
large-tramed man with head to match,
conducted the ecross-eXamination in q smooth
and quiet way that boded i'll for Mr. Iams'
personal comfort, though the young man
did not perceive his peril till the insimiat-
ing cork-screw welded by Mr. Braden had
extracted several admissions and negatlons
of evident value to the defense.
Iams Makes Several Admissions.
Under Mr.. Braden's guidance Iams re-
vealed the fact that though he had claimed
to be citizen of West Virginia he had
lived for several years almost wholly in
Pennsylvania. Here is the pith of what
Mr.. Iams said under cross-examination:
That he thoroughly understood why the
troops had been called to Homestead, that
the labor troubles and Mr.. Frick's active
part in them were within his cognizance.
He admitted going to sleep on
That occurred on Thursday or Friday night
before the thumb-hanging episode, he was
not sure which. He went to sleep outside
Company A. 8 cook tent, four feet from the
road which his beat as guard lay upon. He
was punished for this offense by being made
to carry log all day. He repeated his ac-
count of how he came to say "Hurrah for
the man who done it!' and not as alleged,
''Three cheers for the man who killed
Frick!' and did not vary essentially in the
narrative. Colonel Streator was the only |
one he was sure heard the remark, but ad-
mitted others might have heard him. He
did not feign sleep when Colonel Streator |
came out to see who had made the remark,
but had his eyes half shut When Colonel
Streator asked him what his object in max
ing the remark was he didn't reply: 81 said
it because 1 don't like Frick. His reply
was: 81 had no object-I don't like Frick,
but that wasn't the reason 1 said it"
The Witness Rigidly Cross-Examined.
The witness stuck to this version, although |
pressed hard to remember some other things |
said by him, and by Colonel Streator as al |
legged by the defense In the matter of the |
hanging up itself, Mr. Braden tried to get |
Iams to admit that he swallowed the tobacco |
juice-purposely, 1t was hinted-from the |
chew he had in his mouth, and that that |
and not physical torture had made him sick |
and faint. Iams would not say how many |
times he had expectorated He denied that he |
had ever told anyone that he had swallowed |
tobacco juice; specific lily he denied telling |
DR.. Ullum or the regimental hospital nurse. |
He also denied telling man named Hat |
feld that he didn't blame Hawkins or Strea- |
tor for his punishment but
- with glasses who lives up on the hill |
He denied having invited the hospital nurse |
in camp to come up to his tent, where he |
had plenty of beer on the morning of the |
day he, Iams, was strung up; or that when |
the nurse advised him to beware or he would |
get into trouble that he, Iams, said that he |
wanted to get four days in the guardhouse. |
The Court Speaks Strongly.
At this point Mr.. Watson objected to the |
turn the cross-examination was taking, but |
the Court in overrulIng the objection took |
occasion to say emphatically: 81 hold that |
a commissioned officer of the National
Guard may without reference to a court 1
martial, in the case of sediton or mutinv,
for the purpose of preserving discipline,
order reasonable punishment. have no
doubt but that such punishment would be
legal. The very nature of the emergency |
calls for summary punishment.
Proceeding with the cross-examination,
Mr.. Braden elcted from Iams that he had
said 10 Surgeon Neff when he was hanging |
by his thumbs that as soon as Colonel i
Streator got tired of amusing himself !
he could cut him down. Iams ad-
mitted that as Colonel Streator passed
he might have said: ''There goes the -
using an opprobrious
epithet When Surgeon Neff had asked !
him if the punishment hurt while he was
yet hanging Iams said that he replied that
it did, but he could stand it He denied |
telling Lieutenant Wallace that he meant |
to do something to get his discharge from |
the guard He had said to Wallace over
year ago that owing to his being away so
much he was going to ask for his dis |
charge. He denied telling a man named
Hughes that the hanging-up didn't hurt |
him a bit
Did Not Complain Very Much.
He acknowledged that he did not men
tion the acute pains described by him as re-
sulting from the hanging to anyone at the |
ten at the time heinp put down he /