The Salt Lake herald. [volume] (Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1870-1909, 1900-07-31
POWERS ON THE STAND
Defendant In Kentucky Case
Enters Many Denials.
TELLS OF ARMED BAND
PURPOSE WAS ITO PETITION
NO PLOT TO KILL.

Georgetown, KY, July 3O.-Ex-Se
tary of State Caleb Powers, charged
with being accessory to the murder of
| William Goebel, took the stand in his
own behalf today, but did not COM
plete his testimony on direct examina-
ton He will be on the stand all day
! tomorrow
His defense is an admission that he
organized the body of mountaineers
who went to Frankfort on several oc-
| casions last winter for influence with
| the state contest board and the legis-
/ lature, but not to intimidate them. He
! entered a denial of the damaging
charges made against him by Culton,
| Golden, NOakeS and others.
| On the stand this afternoon he de-
| MED that Horace YOutSey had the keys
! to his office on the day of the assassin
alton, but said that there were two
| keys to the office, one of which was in
/ the possession of Former Assistant
| Secretary of State w. j. Davidson and
another in possession of Ben Rowe,
! Governor Taylor's colOred porter. Pow
ers said neither of these keys was ever
! in his possession, and that he had his
own key in his pocket in Louisville the
| day of the assassination. Davidson is
in the far west, supposed to be in the
state of Washington, and Rowe, the
colored porter, is somewhere in In
diana, probably at Anderson.
Immediately after court opened this
morning the jury was polled and then
/ excluded while Ex-Governor Brown, for
! the defense, made a motion for per-
emptory instructions for verdict of
acquittal. The motion was submitted
without argument and was promptly
Overruled by the court
The defendant occupied his custom
/ airy seat among the attorneys FOR the
| defense and seemed to direct for the
most part the movements Of his coun-
/ sci
A large number of witnesses for the
defense, including Ex-Governor w. o.
! Bradley, arrived this morning.
Outlines of the Defense.
Attorney Faulkner of Barbourville
stated the case, giving the line Of evil
| dence for the defense. He reviewed
| the political events for the last nine
months and said the defense would
| show that the contests over the state
! offices were not tried on judicial lines,
but on a partisan basis, and that poll
| tics was responsible for the present
! prosecutions. He intimated that the
| prosecution knows the identity of the
assassin, but has concealed him.
He said it would be admitted that
| Caleb Powers and Charles Finley or
! ganized and brought to Frankfort the
! crowd of mountain men who arrived
| there Jan. %, but that this was only
! to petition the legislature. and not to
| intimidate that body. He claimed it
: 1zvO11I6 "a cbOu-1a that tho mon xUhO 0or1
| posed the mountain army were not bad
| characters, as charged by the other
| side, and he charged also that the
! Democrats at that time had also large
! bodies of men in Frankfort to back up
the contestants.
! He said Powers had in his pocket al
| the time of the killing the keys TO his
| office which the prosecution alleges
/ had been given to YOutSey; that Pow
| ers never even conferred with YOut-
sey, Berry, Howard, Jim Howard,
/ Green Golden or Dick Combs, and that
! Jim Howard was not on the capitol
grounds until after the killing.
! 1t would be proved. he claimed, that
] Weaver, one of the main witnesses for
! the prosecution, was never in Frank
! fort until yesterday; that Finley, An
/ derSOn and Robert NoakS testified for
| money, and w. H. CultOn in the hope
/ obtaining
| ton, and that Wharton Golden would
/ also be successfully cOntradicted.
Powers Takes the Stand.
The defendant, Caleb Powers. took
/ the witness stand.
! The witness said he never knew Jim
/ Howard. Harland Whitaker or Rich
ard Combs. three of the defendants,
/ prior TO the assassination. He had
{ L. IL CT, TnrN
In regard to the bringing of the
| mOuntaineers to Frankfort the witness
! said:
! There were three crowds of men
! brought to Frankfort and l had some
/ thing TO do with the organization. The
purpose was to show the interest of
/ these people with the matters in hand
at that time, and not to intimidate
either the state election board or the
! legislature. 1 instructed the men to do
| no acts of violence, and SO far as
| know none was committed by them.
1.-The last crowd Of men were brought
/ for a double purpose. We expected TO
| use them as witnesses before the con-
! test board and also to show by their
| presence the interest they felt in the
/ contests We also had heard rumors
! that we were to be forcibly elected
| from the offices. These rumors We're
! based on newspaper reports. We in
] tended to resist violence"
/ Continuing the witness said he had
received information that Mr.. Hill, the
/ contestant for secretary of state, would
not wait until the contests were set
| tied in court. but would take forcible
possession as soon as the contest board
acted.
IF that sort of thing" said he, had
| been attempted. we intended to hold
! the offices. I had a conference with
] Governor Taylor and he advised the
bringing of a large body of men 70
/ show their interest in political affairs
/ He also advised that they be brought
! armed, and promised to pay the ex-
! penses. 1 acted on this. The plans
were kept secret to prevent dropping
us through a bridge or derailing our
/ train. | told those in the conference
] that the utmost secrecy must be OBJ
! served in getting them there before the
news got out"
! Powers told of the Barbourville con-
/ ference at which he, Finley and others
! discussed the arrangements for taking
! the mOuntaineers TO Frankfort with
John A Black. who strongly opposed
/ the movement. The witness said he as
| sUred Black that he and Finley would
use their best endeavors to keep the
/ crowd from degenerating into a mob
/ but denied that he told Black he was
/ going to organize a mob.
Denies Plan to Kill.
| He said he had no recollection of hav-
/ ing said in the presence of w. H. Gull
/ ton that the legislature would be given
! thirty minutes to act. and if it did not
! do it in that time they would kill the
/ Democratic legislators. Afterwards he
said positively that no such remark was
made. and added:
The men came and nothing of the
sort was done We could have cleaned
/ them up, as Culton put it, if we had
| desired"