The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1897-01-13

| and impartial manner in which
| have performed the important and respon-
| sible duties devolving upon me- And in
| this connection. 1 trust / may be pardon
| ed for mentioning the fact, that pending
! the charges now made against me, | have
received from nine-tenths of the members
! of the bar and county officers of my circuit
! a voluntary expression Of their continued
| confidence and esteem.
! That my answer may be more fully I'm
! derstood, il is necessary to bear in mind
| all the details of the Looking Glass article
| and as well of the supplemental charges
! preferred against me, l propose to an
| swer them fully and to their minutest de-
| tails.
When the Looking Glass article was
| published, it was determined, upon the adj
| vice of friends, that / could not afford to
! take any notice of a sensational and ir-
| responsible newspaper publication how
| ever, scandalous, false and malicious it
| was, hence, 1t was permitted to pass uu-
! noticed But when presented by a senator
| more than year afterwards the least that
| l could do was TO dcnounce il as l did, and
| to stale my purpose and readiness TO show
| It's utter falsity and without any sugges-
| ton from me, the legislature in its wis
| DOM has afforded me the opportunity of
| doing so through the medium of this hon
| orable committee.
l am aware, the burden of proof rests
| upon the senator making the charges to
| establish their truth before committee
| sitting as an impartial tribunal which 1
| realize he cannot do, and | understand, of
| course, that only so far as the charges re-
! late to and effect my official conduct and
| duties, are they the proper subject mat
| ter OF legislative action which under the
| charges made and implied in the Looking
| Glass article and supplemental charges on
! ly include the Crosby case and alleged
| drunkenness on the bench. Yet desire
| ing full. fhOrnuoh q
! ton, want all proper and legitimate ev-
| idence received relative to each and every
| charge of wrong doing made against me,so
| that l may not only be eXonerated as a
| judge, but a gentleman as well. And not
| withstanding populist senator has made
| charges against a democratic judge / ex-
| pect the truth to be so overwhelming in
| my favor as to demand eXoneration and
| vindication from democrats and populists
| alike.
Now, as the Looking Glass article and
| the charges therein made and implied |
have to say that D. M. Crosby had been
| admitted to bail by me IN the sum of $1,000
| under the charge of murder more than
year and half before the alleged meet
| ing between his wife and myself at In
| dian Springs, so that my action in that
respect could not have been the result OF
| any undue influence resulting from such
| meeting, and as ] shall show, my conduct
| throughout that case was that of an i'm
| partial judge. l not only did not take
| Mrs. d. M. Crosby to Indian Springs and
pass her off as my stenographer, but
! neither knew anything of the visit of the
| other, as L will show, until we met there
| by chance. After months of incessant
| and arduous labor with the courts, 1 went
| to the springs for a little recreation at
| the earnest solicitation of my friend Mr..
| ]. L. Beach of Brunswick, clerk of Glynn
| superior court, who, with his family, WAS
| spending a while there for his health and
was his guest at the Wigwam hotel for
| few days Mrs. d. M. Crosby came there
the same week with a sick aunt, Mrs. S.
| A. Crosby of Appling county, and they
| stopped at the Elder house. 1 only visited
| the Elder house once while they We're
there, and on that occasion Mrs. D. M.
| Crosby had gone to the spring alone one
afternoon, her aunt feeling too unwell to
| accompany her, as l learned, and a hard
rain coming up suddenly and she being
without an umbrella, she went into the
| Wigwam hotel which was near by, at my
request, it being some distance to the
| Elder house, and remained there until the
rain grew lighter, sitting on the
veranda most of the time and
| walking with me along the
| veranda and through the corri-
doris looking at the hotel and the views to
be seen from it, when getting my umbrella
| from my room, l escorted Mrs. Crosby
| back to the Elder house and this was the
| only time, so far IS | know, she was at
| the Wigwam hotel while | was there The
| chambermaid had my room door open put
ting water and towels in for the evening,
and when l went in and got my umbrella
and passed out, requested her to move
one of the small tables sitting around the
arcade or in the corridor into my room, on
which l wished to do some writing that
night, and have since learned that some
ladies' who were sitting nearby, heard
what l said and remarked that the lady
who was with me that afternoon and who
was unknowned to them, must be my
stenographer, and from that, the gossip
in that connection was started. l met
Mrs. Crosby casually once or twice after
that only, and so far as taking moonlight
strOlls with her is concerned, no such
thing took place, and so far as it is charg-
ed or implied that either at Indian Springs
then or at any other time or place, inn
proper relations existed between us or
anything wrong whatever ever occurred
between us, it is absolutely and unquali-
fledly false Soon after the publication of
the Looking Glass article there was some
correspondence between myself and GER
tain parties at Bailey in reference to it,
but deny most positively having written
to Judge Parker or any one else, anything
in the nature of confession or of an i'm
eliminating character, but protested then
as l have always done, my innocence of
the charges made and implied.
Mrs. Crosby is, so far as 1 know a per-
feet lady, and any man or newspaper at
tempting to defame her in connection with
me, is guilty of most dastardly and out
rageous SANDER
Early one morning soon after my ar
rival at Indian Springs, the first of the
week. met several women at the spring
and while waiting on them dipping and
drinking water, and in leaving the spring,
I said to a little girl in spirit of fun,
whom l understand to be Miss Faulkner,
that if ! was not feeling so weak, from a
recent slight indisposition, 1 would race
with her up the hill, and this was all that
l ever said to her, and before finally sepa-
rating some pleasant unimportant re-
marks were INDUCED in to others, but
deny most positively making any improper
or insulting remarks or proposals to them
or to any one of them in their presence,
and If anything was said by me in refer
ence to treating and money. nothing was
meant by it beyond treating them TO
fruits and candles at the little store near
the spring, If we met there again. In
leaving the gnrino I walked around m or