Iron County register. [volume] (Ironton, Iron County, Mo.) 1867-1965, 1898-09-22
THE MAx-wITHERs FEUD.
Interesting Details of q Southeast srissosri
Case that Promises to Become
Celebrated.

Greenyille, Mo, Sept. 12.-Wayne
county is again thrown into state
of feverish excitement as result OF
the latest development of the famous
Max case which had its beginning one
year ago. The last chapter is the
shooting, from ambush, of Kirk Max.
on the night of the 9th inst. The
known facts in connection with the
death of George A. Withers, cashier of
the Farmers and Merchants bank of
Piedmont. whose body was found dead
In the railroad yards at Piedmont on
September s, 1897, have also been pub
hshed, but a review of the crime and
its peculiar subsequent developments
is of interest at this time.
On the night of September z, 1897,
George A. Withers, cashier of the
Farmers and Merchants bank of Pied
mont, returned from business trip to
Ironton, Mo-, on train which arrived
in Piedmont about a. m. of the sth.
He was seen to alight from the car
and remain minute or so on the
depot platform. His dead and
mangled body was found in the rail-
road yards nearly quarter of mile
SouJA vi tAC OGDOI dt dOOut - a. AAAs VA
the sth. A search was Immediately
began, the object of which was to find
some clew which would help solve the
mystery of the killing. The general
consensus of opinion was that Withers
had been murdered, and the investiga-
sion and search, though it was system
attic, and was conducted by divers per-
sons, brought out circumstances which
pointed to the Max brothers as being
guilty of waylaying and numbering
Withers and then conveying his body
to the railroad yards. Something
like blood stains were found on the
iron sill of the Harmon building, on
Main street, and rag was found in
the street near by, which it was al
legged Withers hal worn on a sore
finger. A witness was found who saw
Henry Max driving his buggy out of a
nearby alley at an early hour that
morning. Buggy tracks were found
going in the direction of the place
where the body was found. The bug
CIV making the track tracked crooked;
so did Max's. His buggy was exam
ined, and blood stains were found on
it. A valise belonging to Henry Max
was found in his room, and in it were
found blood stains. The Max boys
were arrested, charged with the crime
which the circumstances showed to
have been committed.
Nearly year before the killing OF
Withers, Henry Max had been accused
of having had improper relations with
a young girl named Sophronia Harness,
an orphan, and Lad been indicted by
the grand jury. Withers had taken a
leading part in the prosecution of Max.
The case had been tried once, but re-
suited in hung jury land had never
come up for another tr1aT. mis- TACT,
together with the fact that Withers
and E. X. Max had had unpleasant
business relations, was also taken as
circumstantial evidence by the state.
The case finally went to trial last
February before Special Judge John
G. Wear, who had been selected to try
the case. The trial was fairly under
way when two of the jurors became
sick, and the others being excused,
court ad iourned until March. The two
jurors who had sickened died at their
hotel, and two others of the 100 venire
sickened and died after going to their
homes.
Before going into this trial sever.
ance had been secured by the defend
ants, so that they were to be tried sep.
arately. AT the March term another
wenire of 100 was secured, a jury Sc
lected, aud the trial again begun, re-
cutting in the acquittal of Kirk Max
after wekk's trial.
The trial of Henry was set for Au-
gust %, but by mutual agreement it
was postponed until December /. The
states reason for wishing continue
;ance was that the railroad man who
first found Withers' body was unable
to attend court, while the defendants
reason for agreeing to postponement
was that he had heard of an important
witness whose whereabouts had not
been ascertained, and it was feared he
could not be got into court. Since
then this witness has been found at
Union, III. His deposition has been
obtained. He testified that a man
whose description as given by him tall
lied with that of Withers got on the
ssbumper' of . freight car in the yards
AT Ple0mOnI. InaJ IN SW1Ccn1ng ne
was thrown from the car, his head
striking the rail, killing him. He
swore that he lifted the dead body
around, leaving it between two tracks
After the trial of Kirk Max, in
March, tramp who swore that he
had overheard the Makes planning to
Kill Withers went before justice of
the peace at Piedmont and made aft
davit that ne had sworn falsely against
Kirk Max, and that he had been hired
to do so. He was arrested at the in
stance of the county attorney, charged
with perjury, and placed in the city
fail at Piedmont, from which place he
escaped few days since. This testi.
mony being out of the case, it Seems
that the states case largely hinges on
the truth of the Union witness testi-
mony. If it is believed. Henry Max
must be innocent; # disbelieved. the
case rests on the old issues.
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