The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1899-02-28
BANKSToN IN A TIGHT PLACE.
FEsDIEY's CONFESSION C0RRoB-
GRATED IN MANY WAYS.

Ranlxston Gould Not Have Seen
O,ouinn Leaving the SaIOOn-BOth
Men Are in Custody. and the Grand
Jury VIII Meet Next Week-Bival
PaDers Trying TO Outstrip Each
Other-TheatricaI Company Goes
Under.
Atlanta. Feb 27.-stiH another link in
me chain of circumstandal evidence cor
roborative of the confession of Pendley In
the Ponder murder case. was forged To-
day.
1t now seems almost certain that Bank
p ston and Pendley will both have to face
jury to be tried for their lives on account
OF The latters confession of guilt
Next week the grand jury will meet 10
investigate the case. Both men are in Gus
tody and there Is no hurry by the officers
to secure action oy the grand jury. Enough
witnesses to facts corroborative OF the
Pendley confession have been found 10
warrant the prediction as certainty that
true bills VIII be returned against both
men.
To-day Mr. ]. A. Fisher, one of the most
prominent contractors of the city came 10
the front with a material statement bear
ing upon the relations between Pendley and
Bankston. Fisher had a contract on the
Brown building at which Bankston was
employed by him as Waterman at the time
of the murder Shortly after the shooting
took place Fisher was passing the Brown
building and saw there the countryman
named Rice. whom Bankston mad employ
ed to watch for him while he was off for
few hours. Fisher says he stopped and
asked Rice where Bankston was.
Later on when O'Quinn wes on trial for
the murder, BankstOn Is a witness sWore
that he saw O'Quinn running through an
alley away from the Steinau saloon, where
he was on duty as Waterman at the
Brown building which is in the same block
with the Stenau saloon where the kill
ing occurred, which accounts for his be-
ing so close at the time.
Mr. Fisher says il was impossible for
Bankston to have seen O'Quinn running
away as he swore and he so declared 10
him after he heard of his evidence. He al
so says he went to the detectives and told
them that Bankston had sworn falsely
about being on duty as sworn as watch
man when the shooting occurred, and
acquainted them of his suspicious against
Bankstcn, but the detectives paid no at
tenuon 70 his information.
BankstOn Was Discharged.
Bankston was discharged by Fisher at
once, as he had no confidence in him after
knowing that he swore falsely 20 convict
OQuinn. Although Bankston maintains
that he never knew or saw Pendley before
& has been established by two other wit
nesses that they were seen toglher more
than once before the murder of Ponder.
The local papers are trying to rial the
famous Cornish bromo-seltzer case with
their work IN proving the Ponde~ muir
der against Bankston and Pendley.
Following up this kind of work the Jour
nal this afternoon publishes an autobiog-
raphy of Pendley, the self-confesesd muir
derer IN which he exploits himself as a
thief from his childhood. He details a
numher of robberies and burglarles n
which he engaged and takes pains TO cor
rect a story that is going the rounds to
the effect that when a boy he stole a
chicken and sold 1t six times in succession,
sayng that. Ia fact, he performed this
feat Of knavery niae times, and when he
finally carried the chicken back to mis-
grandmother from whom il was originally
stolen. she paid for the time he had devoted
TO trying 10 seal it for her. as he claimed
Another Company Stranded.
Atlanta seems TO be a Jonah to theatrl-
ca. companies this season. Two weeks
ago the Lyceum stock company found it.
self stranded here and had to get up a
make-shift performance at the Columbia
Theater to raise enough money TO get back
90 New York.
They had scarcely got away before the
Dorothy Morton Company struck the
rocks. This opera company is now hung
up here for the week. awaiting money
from the East to release itself. William
f. Emerson, the treasurer of the com
pany, has gone to New York to raise the
necessary funds, it is said by Miss Morton
Salaries have not been paid for several
weeks, and the company, which has had
a long streak of hard luck, is In peck of
trouble. Before reaching Atlanta Miss
Morton is said to have pawned several
thousand dollars worth of diamonds 20
keep the company going