The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1896-06-14

when the boys saw Pres was getting the
best OF me lney pulled aim on We Wa-ka-
W ~ tle bfr, ana each taking a drink
~ WHISKY we bumped glasses ana were
friends again Eut Pres ua4 nos sol
through with me- As We stood there. with
our any warning. be nix zoe blow on
tAe upper lD- He was going 10 hlr me
win e glass. when another man said,
ser tna- down. q you strike him with
NJ ~ s.-ss VII hlll you Then we par -ed.
ALV.1het 7toie qult from a oussy near
pE- ana wrapping DO around him, walked
oiL 70 pei- saw nothing more OF him un-
tll me next morning. when he walked 10
him- HIS right eye was swollen shu-. he
ualne1 % WIKI 4 glass of whisky. drank
morse ana rode away Several days after
t-a- ne died Then the officers came and
ares .ed me and put me Ga jail.
had a preliminary trial az Havana
ana was held without bail. All The bad
. luck IN the world seemed 20 come 10 me
low On This very day my father. Jack"
90 my mother. Hannah. seU avervrbing
70 clear Dun. These were almost his
.asl words i was kind OF fav0rite with
hiy ma and pa both. / always stayed at
nome with them
After the change Of venue 10 Boards
own Lincoln told my mother he would
gtlslu me. At the trial had about TWEEN
ly-HFe witnesses. The strongest witness
-t4hst me was Charles Allen He was
the witness that swore about the moon:
--C = vlg u Vas tull moon and almost
overhead Uncle Abe asked him over
auu over about 10. but he stuck 10 IL
4 men ne said he saw me strike Metzker
with a slung-shOt Uncle Abe asked hin,
20 tel now il was done. He got up and
MeHS through the motion. struck an over
Lahu D-oW, Just as he declared he saw me
40 by the light Of the fun moon Uncle
ADs had him do IL over again. After Al
zen testimony everybody thought /
MoHlu De convicted. After Uncle Abe
Aau talked TO the jury a little while. he
salu' Now, / will show you that this
nan amen testimony is a pack of lies;
Zker with siungshOt: that he did not
M.-uess tNls nght. by the light of the full
.iL-oll' LOT the moon was not In the heavens
80 ilslt. And then Uncle Abe pulled
out the almanac and showed the Jury the
ruin ABOUT the moon. do not remember
exactly what IL was-whether The moon
nda not risen, or whether it had set. bur
Whatever it was il upset Aliens story
completely. lie passed the almanac TO
..f-T ~ ~ ana they all inspected it. Then
CIc!e ABE did his best talking when he
tolq the jury what true friends nv father
5nu mother had been to him in the early
Ne wen ne was a poor young man at
~" SaIem. he told how he used 10 20
Out TO- Jack Armstrong; and stav for
lays now kind mother was to him. and
s s'Io@, many time, he had rocked me to
1-G0p ~ me old cradle. He said he was
not there pleading for me because he
Mas pdlQ Tor IL; but he was there to helm
q good woman who had helped him when
ne needed help. Lawyer Walker made -
bOod speech for me, too, but Uncle Abe's'
peat anything / ever heard.
gnHGph
ne said; 1 hope this man will be a free
man before sundown.' The iurv retired
ana nearly everybody went to sumner
lHey IeIl me there with the sheriff NV
Drother Jim, and parcel Of bows The
Jury was IN a room near by, and il was
/nQl over hVe minutes after they went out
MHsh 1 heard them talking and laughing
ana my heart beat a little faster AZ
SION - the Judge and the lawyers GOT
PACK from supper the jury was brought
~ 1Hey nad to pass me, and 1 eyed
mem closely for some hopeful sign one
OF them looked at me and wiuked Then
1 hnTW IL was right, and when the fore
man handed up the verdict of mot guilty.
reckon. "O'iu'
Now. my mother was not in the court
room when the jury came in, ana ii Is
an stun about her fainting and falling
mo my arms. She was away some,
Wtn65te; DOM know just where. That
hight she went home with Jim Dick me
snerln; l went home with Dick Overton.
anu as we went down the court house
Steps ne slipped a. five-dollar bill into my
hand. Uncle Abe would not charge mn
mother cent; ne said her hardness
over, my freedom was his sufficient re-
The almanac used by Lincoln was one
wh'ch my cousin, Jake Jones. furnished
MN. On the morning of the trial / was
f Ttf,e, OUTSIDE the court room to talk to
LINCOLN Jake Jones was with us Lincoln
SAID ne wanted an almanac for 1857 lake
went right off and got one and brought
~ 10 Chcle Aoe 1t was an almanac for
about II. The truth is there was no
moon that night; if there was, it was hid
Ger by clouds. But it was Eight enough
Tor everybody to see the fight. The fight
took place in front of one of the bars.
and each bar had two or three candles on
III. mad no slungshot; / never carried a
weapon or any kind-never in my life.
Metzker had loaded whip, but he did
| not attempt to use it on me 1t was onlv
/ INST fight and If I killed Pres Metsker
kllled MN with my naked fist
! James H. Norris was indicted with me
| Tor the killing of Metzker. He was tried at
/ Havana before my trial was had Now. he
/ had no more to do with the fight than any
/ or the other bystanders; but he had killed
/ a man some time before and had gotten
/ clear, ana everybody seemed to think this
/ would be good chance to give him his
/ Just deserts. So ouey sent him to the
/ penltenLary for eight years
w neu the war broke out the four broth
/ ers OF us enlisted in the army. Jim was
| wounded at Belmont; Pleasant died. l
/ served on until near the end Of the war
! when mother took a notion she wanted
/ me. People laughed al her when she sa id
/ she would write to the President but she
| SAID, Please goodness, ! am a-going to
| try it,. She got Squire GARNER of Peters
! burg TO write to Il ncle Abe. and in a fe "
! days mother got a telegram signed a
/ Lincoln, telling her I had been honorablv
| discharged AT that time ] was at Elmira.
/ n. Y, helping pick UP deserters, and dis
charge was the last thing l was dreaming
Of" o