The Wichita daily eagle. [volume] (Wichita, Kan.) 1890-1906, 1897-04-10


His Hands and Two Witnesses Swea
Positively to the Contrary - The Youni
widow Appears in Court - ProbabiiIt.
Is That the Defendant VIII Be Released
on Bond Today.
In the preliminary hearing in the cas-
Of the state vs. j. Y. Cunningham
charged with murder, the evidence is al
IN and the arguments will be made thi.
morning in the appellate court room
commencing al 10 o'clock.
The arguments Will last two hours
each party agreeing that one hour fol
their side will be sufficient.
Mr.. Cunningham viii be bound over
10 the district court. and in all probable
ify will be allowed 70 give bail. If such
is the case, the bond will very likely be
fixed at $4,000, and it is pretty wei IN
derstood that there is man here who
will sign it for that amount al once.
The examination commenced promptly
at 10 o'clock yesterday morning in the
main room of the court of appeals, be-
fore g. w. G. Jones, justice of the peace
who had fixed up TO preside over such
an important case with becoming dig
nity.
The court room was crowded to its
fullest capacity, and the court had to
stop the proceedings several times TO
permit the constables TO drive back the
mass Of people that suTged up against
the railing on either side. With the
exec piior Of crowding, however, the best
Of order was preserved and all attempts
al laughing aloud in the audience was
promptly suppressed by the court.
The audience was made up principally
of men, only about dozen women being
present, and most Of them were SHOW
people.
Or the inside Of the railing there were
not more than fifty or seventy-five per-
sons, and most of them were lawyers
and old people who had come early and
were allowed to sit inside by Constable
Noss, who had charge of the court.
The north side Of the lawyers table
was occupied by the defendant, his law
YES and his friends. including a. z.
Helm and Judge Wall of this city. and
ilene, Texas, United States Marshal Love
Of Texas. and the sons, brothers and
other friends of the defendant.
the south side OF the lawyers table
was occupied by County Attorney Ami
don, Assistant County Attorney Conley
and John Beaucleigh, the attorney for
the circus. In the afternoon, Mrs Nc
Mahcn, widow OF the deceased, attend
ed the hearing and occupied a seat
near +he attorneys for the state. She
was accompanied by Mrs. Edwin Tay-
l0r. Mrs. Mcmahon was in mourning,
but not in the garb of a widow She
was not long in the room when she ask
cd 10 see thu man who killed her hus-
oand and when shown him she hardly
took her eyes off him during hte time
she remained in the court room Only
one man sat between Mrs. Mcmahon
and the man who made her a widow
After tesiifying in the case, about
O'clock she left the court room. She was,
OF course the object OF great deal of
curiosity, and the fact that a thousand
eyes were fixed on her did not seem TO
unduly worry her.
-
took his seat and Miss Nellie Fitzpat-
rick was sworn as stenographer. This
young lady made the best stenographer
called into service in a preliminary in
this city for a long time. Without fur
ther ceremony the trial commenced and
al no time was it exciting except, per-
haps, during the clever and trying cross
examination of J. c. Clark. by Judge
Wall. The work Of Judge Wall was COM
mented on very highly by those present.
He succeeded in giving a severe twist
ing to the main witness for the pTosecu-
ton.
The evidence closed at $50. It ended
before anybody suspected it would. and
so suddenly that the defense forgot to
put United States Marshal Love, of
Texas, on the stand to prove that Gun
bingham had a commission from him
as deputy. Marshal Love came here for
that purpose. The defense will try 10
have the error remedied this morning.
DIR. HOFFMAN'S EVIDENCE.
The first witness put on the stand was
DR.. J. c. Hoffman. whose testimony, in
substance. is as fol ows:
Il am practising physician and sur
geon, a graduate OF the University IF
Pennsylvania. I was acquainted with
Joseph Mcmahon and saw him tina; day.
He was a man % magnificent physique.
ana in the neighborhood of 8 feet high.
and weighed about POO pounds. I saw
him on the md of April on a led IN the
hotel: he was shot. He was
intense pain. The hal perf3rat-
I'd four Of the smaller iateslines. Death
was the result. 1t was a fatal wound.
was with him from half past three until
he died the next morning. McMalan MSS
about 81 years OF age. 1 heard Mcmahon
make a statement. He told me he was
going to die. encouraged him all l could
put 1 thought the shot fatal. I heard
him make a statement after ne thought
he was going 10 die"
The defense objected 10 the witness
te.;ing what Mcmahon said, because lis /
statement had been reduced to writing /
and it would be the best evidence. Coua- |
s Attorney Amidon claimed that any /
statement he made in the presence Of |
Heath was more sacred than an oath. /
Justice Jones held that 70 aute-n-or-ain I
ytaten1ent reduced % writing vas The best /
evidence. and sustained me objection.
on croSs-eXamins.ion, DR.. Hoffman |
aid:
II saw Mr. McNahon n twenty rim