The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1897-01-16

In this act he said he got rid of most of
the champagne as well as the supper he
had eaten. He went to the hotel with Mir.
Toomer, the stenographer of the circuit.
The next morning when he arose, although
not as strong as usual, he went to court
and transacted all the duties of the court.
He was neither intoxicated nor drunk in
any degree during that day. During the
five years ne was on the bench, he said,
he had never been intoxicated.
Referring to the Camden county affair
he said the four tales jurors were selected
in the usual way without any reference to
the race for solicitor. The result was not
to the prejudice of either of the candidates,
each receiving the votes of two of them.
Taking up the Indian Springs incidents
Judge Sweat said he had been invited to
go there by J. L. Beach, clerk of Glynn
superior court He arrived on Tuesday
and stopped at the Wigwam with Mr..
Beach and his family. He went to the
spring for water after being assigned to a
room. He met Miss Leila Bradley, the lit
tie Faulkner girl, then wearing short
dresses, and several other ladies there.
During the pleasantly that passed while
he handed water around he remarked that
he would run race with Miss Faulkner
up the hill. There was no thought of any
thing improper in his mind. He meant no
insult to Miss Bradley or any of the la
dies. They might have misconstrued his
them. He saw no manifestation of dis
pleasure upon their part when they part
ed. Judge Sweat had no recollection that
Mr.. Mills had met him after breakfast
and offered him a cigar. He did not tell
Mr.. Mills that he had friends to meet at
any other hotel there. He had not yet
met Mr.. Beach, and if he said anything
of that sort 1t referred to Mr. Beach and
his family. He had then no knowledge
at all of the presence at Indian Springs of
Mrs. d. NJ. Crosby.
The next afternoon, when walking with
Mr.. Beach and his family, he, for the
first time, met the two Crosby ladies. Pre-
vious to that time, he had only a speaking
acquaintance with Mrs. Crosby. The next
afternoon, while walking out looking for
some peaches for MIR. Beach, he approach
ed little cottage, not knowing who lived
in it. The door was open, and, as he
walked up, he recognized the same ladies'
whom he had met that morning at The
spring. They were in the room sitting to-
gether. He remained but few minutes
They were all sewing to go to camp meet
ing. He sat down on the steps for a few
moments and as he left remarked that he
would not see them again unless some of
them went to the spring. If they under
stood him to invite any of them to walk
with him it was only a miscons truction.
On the next afternoon he walked to the
spring. Mrs d. NJ. Crosby was there with
several others. He spoke 70 her just as
any people coming from the same section
of the state meeting at a summer resort
would do They talked some time. A rain
was coming up, and he suggested that
she should go to the Wigwam and wait
until the shower was passed She said
she had never been there before.
Explaining how he and Mrs. Crosby went
to the hotel Judge Sweat said
he did not mean to charge
Mr. Mills with having falsely testified,
but he was mistaken as to the
route. He then presented a diagram to
show the route taken, which he said was
corroborated by John Byas, examined this
morning for the prosecution. The route
was not circuitous, but the shortest he
believed. He and Mrs. Crosby sat on the
veranda for a couple of hours 1t contin-
ued to rain hard. She then thought it best
to go back to the Elder house or her aunt
might be uneasy, the hour growing late.
He had nc umbrella with him, and sug
gested that she walk up through the cor
ridor to see the hotel. and he would get
his umbrella. The stairway he used was
frequently used by guests, and not fire
escape, as had been said. He did not take
Mrs. Crosby into his room, and did not see
the housekeeper Judge Sweat repeated
this incident, as he desired it in his state
ment. He never went back to the Elder
house after escorting Mrs. Crosby there,
and declared there was nothing in what
had been said about moonlight strolls.
The next day he did meet Mrs. Crosby at
the spring, and took a short walk with
her up the main street of the town. They
parted in front of the Wigwam, this being
the woman in black Mr.. Collier had de-
scribed. Judge Sweat said Mrs. Crosby
was in black on account of the death of
her sister a week previous, which he knew
of. There was nothing improper in their
conduct. and the case of Mrs. Crosby's
husband was never mentioned.
The conversation which John Byas the
| negro reported as having taken place at
the bath house. relative to the Faulkners,
Judge Sweat said had not occurred. 1t
was a fault of the witness memory. Judge
Sweat described how Senator Mercer, who
was merely an acquaintance, had come to
him while he was in bed Sunday night,
when he returned from Atlanta. The sem
ator said the Fauikners were his friends
and he proposed that a note of apology be
written and that some money be sent to
them by him. They were poor people, the
senator said, and the money would settle
the matter. This proposition, Judge
Sweat said he absolutely refused to listen
| to. Judge Sweat's statement concluded
| the investigation of his case, the commit
tee ruling that there should be no argu-
ments made.