Richmond dispatch. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1884-1903, 1895-07-06
The FORMERS ADMISSIONS.
UndHl Certain Conditions Would ProOa-
bly, hot Have Written The Article.
oyu SENSATION.


,,oreelincs were fun Of spice ana inter-
-, and both sides scored points. These
to testify were Messrs. Il. +. BYRD
the author Of tho alleged hbeions
article and ". y. jones, an oN-m'm-
Der az the House Of Delegates and SEN
ate ~ virginia The object OF the CYL
dencc was 20 show the GROUNDS Tor
tho article complained or and to de-
n,ops:ratc whether or not the piaintlf
had ever been guilty OF conduct similar to
,,s, ,,,tn which ne S. charged In the article.
There were many incidents during the
day and several times Judge Prentiss
was forced 70 use imperative means to
keep order.
The court convened az 1919 o'clock. II
was one of the few days Of the trial IN
which ali members of the bar in the
case were in attendance AT the opening
Ut The days proceedings. Mr. 1hom
rroes and addressed the Court stating
that. I'm view Of 2 certain deposition In
Connection with thc matte; Of the Lou
isiuna contract Dee would withdraw MS
objection OF Wednesday TO admitting that
contract To evidence. The paper then
went IN.
Nh r.. L. Byrd was then recalled to
tho e4gua. and examined further 10y Mir.
Small The witness said that In conncc-
ton with this school-book contract IN
yesticat.On made by him he looked IL
the varlencc ia the prices OF books
furnished 20 Virginia and those f..
riehcd other States. lie said that D.
discovered that books were supplied I"
the Indecent children OF Louisiana at the
retail prices. with discount OF 70 per
cent. while tho poor children OF VIZ
glnia paid the fun sum. In Iowa. the
witness continued. Webstcrs Academic
dictionaries were furnished al a cost of
only $50 while Virginia paid $50 for
them. he had examined the contracts OF
many States, and found a number of
differences IN the prices Of the books sup
piled by I'VE American Book Company,
V.aich rar'auccs were 10 the detri-
ment Of the state Of Virginia
THE WORLD ARTICLE.
Mr. Small. having concluded his exam-
nation. the Witness was taken in hand by
Mr.. Wise. who asked several questions
about the article
in this article dn the Pilot YOU state
hat the new paper took the matter up.
and that the New York World as early
a. 800 openly accused Massey of cor
-upt.on. iii you know that TO be true"
sueriol Sir Wis.
Counsel for the plaintiff objected, and
after some argument the Court sustained
the objection. and the witness was only
permitted TO say that he believed il to
be true.
'WHl YOU state the grounds Of your b.,
llef9" asked Mr.. Wise
They were that / saw the article in
the New York World. read Il. and have
&c." replied Mr. Byrd
Mr. wise iutefrogated the witness con-
corning his othe. statements In regard 10
a.. ttf.t. .fr ral,
similar answers
Here Mr.. Wake addressed the C0ur'
briefly. stating that on Wednesday. after
he Judge had ruled that the witness, Nj.
r. r. Byrd. could not testify "a to his
motives IN writing the article complained
IT, yet IT appeared that the witness had
given such testimony. He asked that II
- stricken ont.
Mr. Wise said he thought counsel for
The plaintiff were too late IN making such
motion. and argued that the recorN
should stand as 10 was.
THE CROSS I,XANlINATION.
The Court passed the matter by for the
.ime. and Mr.. Nicely commenced the
denomination.
Mr.. Nicely asked tho Winchester attor-
,cv N he believed his statement published
n the Pilot concerning Mr.. Massey's
transfer Of his farm. Ash Lawn. Abe
matle county.
Mr. Byrd said that he dld
Did YOU then believe that that deed
was fraudulent querieG Mr.. Neeiy
II cid, SIR
"Did you know at that time that that
Ccel had been contested. and that II had
been decided that 10 was a good deed?
81 did not then know so. but | learned
- afterwa-d."
Would YOU have believed that deed
fraudulent - you had known that that
matter had been properly adiadicated by
a competent court OF record
81 would. sir; but ! should have added
ne court matter had / known Of IL wheh
l wrote that article"
Tho witness was interrogated concern
ing what be wrote about the second trans
fer Of the Ash-I-awn property, which the
Pilots article said had been transferred
back 10 Nj. Massey and his creditors de-
frauded. Birg closely questioned by Mr.
Nicely the witness said that he did not
know what amount Of Mr.. Massey's debt~
had been paid ANA that he did not know
that al that time there were only the
Judgment creditors OF Rockingham.
Counsel then took up the part OF the
article which spoke OC the purchase OF the
Charlottesville properly. The witness was
asked II. when ne wrote the lines which
said that Massey had bought the pro-
uerty 10 give 10 his wife as birthday
present. he knew that 20 be a fact tie
replied that IL was his positive belief
that that was a fact. He continued by
saying that Mr.. Payne, who sold the
real estate. admitted that he had told
Mr. George Norris OF Albamarle county.
that Mr. Massey had said 10 him that
ne wanted 10 keep the purchase a secret.
as he wished 10 give the place 10 his
wife as a birthday present. He said,
further that ne had Il from Mr. Massey's
lips that he paid a large part OF the
purchase money Witness said that II
was his belief that all The money was
paid by Mr. Massey. Be9g questioned by
Mr.. Neeiy further. Mr. Byrd said that
he had not seen MIR. Massey pick up
the 5000 referred to in his article. but
that he had good reasons 10 believe
that he got II Immediately after the book
adoption I'm 1894 Counsel was very rigid
IN his Undergraduates here, and the wit
ness was compelled 20 admit that the
statements made by him were made upop
what was partially hearsay evidence.
WAS NOT EVEN MARRIED.
'Alr Boyd. when you wrote that arti-
Gle ga you know that Mr.. and Mrs.
Massey had taken an expensive trip TO
Mexico" oueried Mr. Nicely.
% had been under the impression that
Dir Massey married early IN 1880, but hni
out that was mistaken
DO you know that Mr.. Massey went
% Mexico"
II DO not. ! believe that he did"
did you state that you believed soy'
Il don't think I die.
Would YOU now write that ar'icie?'
Il would SIR"