The Guthrie daily leader. [volume] (Guthrie, Okla.) 1893-1996, 1899-01-28

/ flNlrt NltiNtNDA Ut ne SD NNetHtH ana Cen
erol Eagon's friends Will urge ,-at h,s
punishment he confined 10 the relieving
hum from the duties Of commlszarv een.
eral and 60 q detail 10 garrison duty.
! Washington. Jan o. Tho case OF Conn
missary General Charles Il EnEan. cfarz-
ed with conduct unbecomlng an officer
and gentleman, and with conduct tend-
| Ing 10 the prejudice OF god order anil
| military discipline. is now in the hands
Of IKE court martial appointed Co try him
Today the taking Of testimony WINS closed
ana arguments Of counsel submitted The
trial had lasted three days aud consum-
ed loss than eight hours OF actual site
ting. a session behind closed doors of am
hour or so sufnced for the court to reach
a conclusion and embody in &C q report
What the verdict VIII be Is altogether "a
matter of speculation, and will not Do
made public By the trial board military
regulations reGdirinG that It's finding
shall 90 through prescribed channels and
be kept secret until action be had and
promulgated by the proper reviewing au-
thoritles
The attendance at the court martial was
much larger today than at any other time
since the trial began and among the apec-
tators was a score or more OF ladies.
Several Of them were friends OF General
Eagan's daughter who was called as a
witness while others were attracted by
curiosity. The testimony at the closing
session OF the court was directed largely
to establishing the fact that the general
had lost his mental balance as a result
Of tho charges made against him by Cen
eral Miles HIS daughter and her hus-
band told Of the generals changed condi-
ton and intimated that they had great
fears that he might at any time N his
accuser Mr Mckee. a life long friend.
stated that at that lime he believed him
actually insane. The facts In this con-
nection were brought out strongly by
Mr.. Worthngtou I'm his efforts TO show
chat General EngaE. at times was wholly
Irresponsible. A dramatic incident OF the
trial today was the testimony Of the
generals daughter, I'm which she descrlb-
ed her fathers appearance ON tho day
he first read General Miles statement
Standing I'm the door of his house with
the newspaper containing the evidence in
his hand he had exclaimed wildly 'I
have been crucihed 10y General dile3"
Throughout the three days II the trial,
the members OF the court sat IN their
places and aucouvely listened 10 every
word Of the testimony Only ON two or
three occasions did they ask the wltnos-
es any questions and then. an answer Of
yes air. or no sir, sufhced. Where tholr
sympathie were or what was passing In
their minds was not disclosed by even
the sngntcst change ot ossprc-aio1.
Immediately upon the case being closed
the room was ordered cleared ana the
court went into executive session 20 de-
librate their findings.
ARGUMENT BEGUN.
In opening the argument Counso re-
viewed thc statement made py General
Miles and characterized It was without O
parallel I'm the history OF the country lie
commented upon the statement that Gen
eral Miles pretended 20 have known about
the so-caled beef frauds for three mon,Ds
before ne had sprung them upon the
country in his testimony before the war
investigating commission. During that
time. said counsel, General Ines lad not
communicated the alleged 4acts to the
responsible officers nor taken any steps
20 put "a stop TO them.
mony which had been given tending to
show that General Engans mind was 80
seriously affected by the accusations
which had been made against him that
his friends feared that he would go out
upon the street and shoot General Miles
on sight. lie was no longer himself and
no longer could control his feelings or
his actions. In concluding his address,
which lasted over an hour, Mr.. Morthing-
ton made a strong plea for the accused,
asserting that through this whole contro-
versy he had conducted himself as an
honest man goadcd 20 desperation oy the
cruel and unjust accusations OF his sl-
pcrlor officer.
colonel Davis the Judge advocate, clos-
ed the argument He said that he had no
other idea from the beginning than that
AN the facts and the whole truth I'm this
case be brought out lie said tat II .Ac
accused thought himself aggrioved by the
statement of General Miles he had a pos
itlve and sure remedy Tie "a da right %
demand O. court OF Inquiry and he also
had the undoubtod remedy OF resort TO
the civil and criminal law. But he saw
NJ 90 ignore AN these remedies and 20
take the matter into hls own hands He
had prepared with dcliberauon state
meni whic. he ad read before the war
commission which was grossly Insulting
and undoubted infracylon Of the army
regulations az charged. on the question
90 immunity the Judge advocate stated
that On an courts, the language in or
der 70 be privileged must be pertinent 20
the issue. a. cannot be slanderous and
u violation Of military regulations
This was the universal rule. The war
investigating commission which had been
created by the order OF the pre9ideut,
was an Informal tribunal. necessarily 20
by reason Of the great scope given 70 ms
investigation. and 81 was not such "a ri-
bunal as could punish for contempt II