The age-herald., 1898-02-08
Special to The Age-Herald.


 Greenvile, Feb 7.-John Gafford fully expected an acquittal before the jury re- tired in his case on Saturday night To- night he will be content if his life is not legally forfeited.
 He is not the same ever smiling and confident Gafford who laughed and joked with the jail guards on the night that he knew their presence was the only barrier between he and death. In his stead de- jected and desparing being. who sees portentieus signs of an approaching doom, is the prisoner. and the humor Of his ar- rogant mood has changed to the anxiety of the man who realizes that the swords of Damocles is suspended above his pros- trate head and that on one word it may fall. Full of that hope that in his invoca- ton of self-defense he could appeal to the chivalrous sentiment of southern jury successfully, he made an engagement on Saturday evening which he found it impossible 10 keep. That mysterious want of conscience of the finer sensibilities of an ordinary human being. which buoyed him up for so long, and was mistaken even by his bitterest enemies for courage, or as they termed it, nerve" has desert- ed him in the hour he needed it most.
 That Supper Has Been Postponed.
 On Saturday it was only too evident. as he told relative in court to prepare supper at his home for him at late hour, as the jury would not take long with his case. The fates were not propitious for Gafford as he expected, and the supper has been indefinitely postponed in view of the ominous silence of the men who have his life in their hands
 The guise of satisfaction of family honor' murder has been too frequently committed in this and adjoining counties, and law-abiding people side with the so- icitor and Representative Sta1ngs that the carnival of the man slayer must cease. This is the principal cause of the under current of hostility to Gafford, all the more dangerous because it is an undercur- rent. When it reaches the surface as 1t most surely will do if any compromise is made upon the penalty by the jury, it will have become a raging torrent to en- gulf him as mark of the peoples dis satisfaction
 Five for Hanging and Six for Life.
 From reliable source the standing of the jury Is obtained tonight as follows: Five for hanging, six for life and one not voting. It has been impossible to discover the name of this juror. Judge Tyson and aal court officials declare the Birmingham rumor that one of the jurors has been brbbed to acquit dr hang the whole body for a mdstrial to be untrue, and as credenca is given to it on the outside, the court Is as determined the jury, and no mis- trial will be entered in case of final fail- ure to agree. until the conflicting forces have experienced at least fourteen moro days of uncomfortable living in a small retired room.
 A remarkable state of affairs exists to- night in the circuit court of Butler. Calf ford's jury couples the room to the right of the bench and in the room on the left a similar body has under consideration the punishment of Walter Moore, colored, who, in cold blood, cut his brothers throat dur ing the period of excitement which followed the killing of Lloyd. In this case the guilt of the defendant was too clear, leaving the ques tion of penalty alone with the jury, and they are said to be equally divided on a death or life sentence, and are hung for the night.
 Unprecedented in Alabama.
 This situation is unprecedented in Ala barna and perhaps in the whole country. Butler has created a precedent and may tomorrow increase the unenviable noto- riety which the incident is bound to give her in the press of the country by adding third panel which may follow the lear and tie up the court proceedings The case set for tomorrow Is murder against three men who will be tried together.
 The condition of affairs can be better imageined than described if the jury which will try their case retres before either Of the others have agreed upon a verdict. There are two other murder trials to fol- low.
 Small wonder that the agents of the law. backed by the best element of society should say, Let the carnival of the man
 J. P o'c.