The news & observer. [volume] (Raleigh, N.C.) 1894-current, 1897-12-12

,compIete and unsatisfactory" She iden-
| tilted him first two weeks before the
trial positively and with every appear
ance of recognition in her manner.
Again she identified him on the trial;
and the third time, after all his evidence
had been produced, on the third day OF
, he trial. sire declared to his attorneys
that she had no doubt Of his beng the
man.
II is true that a white man was ar
. | rested on suspicion of this crime, but
NOT nj the instance OF Miss Matte; and,
In fact, before his arrest, she stated
shat she knew this white 1nau wen and
had worked in the mill with him, and
chat he WAS not the man.
1t was slown on the trial by Mr..
Terry, Il witness for the defendant. that
at the time of the commission Of the
crime. that there was sufficient light for
the perpertator to have been seen and
identified.
The assumption that the perpetrator
Of the crime knew the habits OF the
young ladies i'll travelling that certain
pa tn. and was lying in wait for his VIC
tim. is by no means certain: ana the
argument that it could not have been
Evans. because he was stranger in the
town. is not sustained by the facts. 1t
was posted would have planned the out
rage of Miss Cole at a spot which IL
L within hearing Of her home, where her
II father then was, having reason to eX-
II pect that her two sisters would be with
II her, and possibly her father himself, as
II he did sometimes accompany MS
II daughters to and from the mill. John
Il Evans may never have lived in the
il town, but he was not stranger;
II he had resided for many years in
this and an adjoining county; and,
| according to the evidence, had lived
several months five miles south or the
town, and had visited 1t frequently,
during that time; admitted on the stand
that he knew where one George Stan
back lived colored man, who came
from the neighborhood where Evans
was raised. but was then living about a
mile north of the town, and the nearest
way to whose house from the neighbor-
! hood of the livery stable would be along
or near this very path: sister of the
accused was at this time hired as a
cook for NJ l.. .tinSOn, a direct route
to whose house would be along or near
; the same path Evans claimed to have
arrived in town the evening before, to
have spent the night at the livery stable,
and a trip early the next morning to
Mr.. Hinson's or to George Stanbacks.
TO get his breakfast. would put him at
: the scene of the outrage at the time
necessary.
All me clrcurus tapt~s surrounding the
I case could not well have been stronger
J. against Evans. Many of these nave
!; been pointed out in the Everett article
o alluded to. His demeanor ON the stand
S was that of cool. calculating VILLAIN;
= his story was plausible and cunnlngly
y told: he denied knowing that his sister
L cooked for Hinson; he said he had not
e seen her since Last January; she swore
n he saw her last August; he tried to put
1t his trip up town from the stable that
4 morning as late in the day as he could
y said he heard about the outrage and
a talked to the other boys about it be
Or fore leaving the stable; they contradict
N ed this: he claimed to have gone into
Everett's store first thence up the
ly him nearer the nlaee Of fb e cri sa
ne three of the States witnesses made i
- hclear that he was at the latter place sooI
u. latter O'clock went thence to Everett
VI store and from there continued dow
ie the street toward the livery stable. HI
u tried to break the force of Miss Matti
s. Coles evidence by swearing that whel
he was brought before her, soon afte
ne his arrest, she said 81 reckon he is TIL
Of man." Mr.. w. G.. Leak, gentleman o
It. unusual prudence and high character
d. was present at the time, observed closet.
IN her manner and words, and testified
In that She used no such language, bu
Of said. "He is the man, | know him,
TT know him."
y The attempt and failure to prove al
le alibi is in itself strong circumstanc,
y of guilt. The evidence showed that tn,
= crime was committed very near the hou
y of O'Clock, Saturday morning, Octobe
III 23rd. Evans made show or ac
u counting for himself during the early
N part Of Friday night But his defence
ne crumbled to pieces about day Saturday
n morning, and left him absolutely "nakel
10 to his enemies" He claimed to have
'e spent the night in a small room, abou
twelve feet square, in NJ. L. Hinson's
Il livery stable, in company with Fletcher
II Teal, VIII Tilman, Amos Powell and
~ VIII Richardson, and to have been there
y the next morning at the time the crime
'r was committed. VIII Richardson left
/ the room and went to work at the cot.
u ton gin about o'clock, leaving the alb
!, to depend upon the evidence Of the ac-
cused, Powell, Teal and Tillman. Mr.
- James Watkins, a white man whom the
destroyed it completely. Powell, Teal
and Iillman are negro boys Of low
order of intelligence, without character
whose sympathies were manifestly with
J 1.-THE accused. There were many contra
8 ldictions among them as to what took
: place in and about the room from the
hour Of o'clock a. m. They admitted
> that they all lett the room early in the
morning, but had no time piece, or sat
isfactory way Of arriving at the exact
> time. They claimed that all four Of
them were in the room when Mr.. w. p.
Ingram came from the $50 train to
get his horse hitched up. They also
: claimed that all four of them were in
, the room when Mr.. James Watkins
came there to get his teams to go to
work. They also assigned as reason
why they were tardy in feeding the
horses that morning that their employer,
M l.. Hinson, was in Raleigh.
Mr.. w. p. Ingram, an intelligent
white man, stated that he had known
, John Evans long time; that he went
Ito This same livery stable between $50
, ,and 6 o'clock on that very morning and
Invent through this small room with a
3lamp in his hand, and that he did not
Asee Evans, but that he saw Amos and
1Fletch. and had them to get up and catch
: Ahis horse The defendant had previously