The age-herald., 1901-04-16
Defendant MadeStarHing State- mGnts on Witness Stand, ADMITTED YOSTS EVIDENCE Had Talked of Military Com
 pany For Years.
ORGANIZED ONLY FOR PLEASURE
Said His Being in Frankfort at Time of Shooting Was Merely coinci- dence and He Denied Any Pre-
 vious Knowledge of It.

Frankfort, Ky, April 15-The Ripley trial was resumed this afternoon and the defendant went on the witness stand. Ripley did not deny that he made the statements attributed to him by ex-Gov- ernor Bradley and Judge w H. Yost con- cerning ex-Governor Taylors remarks to him, but said while he thought they were substantially correct in their evidence, they had misunderstood him or he had failed to convey the proper impression on them at the time. The cross examination was not completed and Ripley will be on the stand again tomorrow
 Ex-Governor Bradley and Judge Yost will not be recalled as witnesses and the jury will have to decide as to whether they or the defendant is correct as to Ripley's statement of the Taylor incl dent.
 On direct examination Ripley stated that he was 40 years of age last month, and is a farmer. He had been talking with the boys in his neighborhood about getting up a company of cavalry. He came to Frankfort first on January 16,
 the day of the Colson-scott tragedy. se- lectlng this day in order to see Bryan.
 who was to be banquetted here that
 night. He had never known Goysraor
 Taylor until that day and never saw him
 but once after this, January 25, until his
 company was called out. He said he
 never knew Powers or Youtsey until some 1 days after the shooting. never saw Berry Howard at all had seen Jim Howard once since they had been in jail together here, and never knew either Sutton or Wharton Golden. Taylor gave him the order Jan uary 16 for the organization of the com pany and on January 25 Ripley came here and secured equipments for 1t. This was the day on which he had the conversation with Taylor and his version of 1t, which varies materially from that stated by Messrs. Bradley and Yost, was as follows:
 Governor Showed Fear.
 'I went into the Governors office and found Governor Taylor looking very bad ly. I told him I was sorry to see him looking badly, to which he replied: In these horrible times anybody would look bad. Some irresponsible fool or crank is likely to kill me or kill Goebel and cause riot around here in which there would be many lives sacrificed, or that in substance Then I told him did not think this would occur, and went on talk ing to him about my company, which I was getting equipments for.
 My God said he, haven't you got that company ready yet? That was what was trying to tell Governor Brad ley and Judge West, but may not have stated 1t to them as clearly as I in- tended to-
 He intimated that evening to Ferguson and Crawford that Goebel would be killed and admitted that he warned W P. Thorne, on January 2s to keep his son away from Frankfort, but said he did so because of the disturbed conditions here and not from any knowledge of what was going to occur the next day. He maintained there was no secrecy about the organization and equipment of his company and said Governor Taylor told him 1t was not necessary to apply to County Judge Taft to organize. The com- pany, he said, was organized for pleas ure.
 Did Not Attend Banquet.
 Cross-examined the witness said R. A Corley and five or six others accompanied him to Frankfort January 16. The Scott Colson tragedy occurred soon after their arrival and they did not see Taylor until after dinner. He did not hear anything about conference of leading Republf- cans and anti-Goebel Democrats as to the means of ending the contest and was not invited to the Louisville Gait House con- ference that night. He saw Colonel Bull lit and others here who participated in the Galt House conference, but none of them spoke to witness about It.
 On January 19 witness said he procured from a Cincinnati firm shoulder straps and received them the day Goebel was shot.
 Commonwealth's Attorney Franklin produced an order signed by former Ad- jutant General Collier for the straps and marked rush" Witness said he did not know whether 1t was Golfers signature or not, and could not recall whether he or Collier sent the telegram. He went to the State arsenal January g and looked over equipments with a view to selecting such as his company needed. He received a special, delivery letter from Governor Taylor late on the afternoon of January 30 ordering the company out. The letter did not state that Goebel had been shot and did not give the reason for calling them out He received the shoulder straps ordered by General Collier the same day.