Evening star., 1901-04-16
RIPLEY ON THE STAND
He Tells Of His Conversations With
Governor Taylor.
TALK WITH J. B. MATHEWS
Prosecution Hinges on His Inter-
views With Taylor.
PRISONERS EXPLANATION

FRANKFORT. KY. April 16.-Capt. Gar
nett Ripley. on trial for alleged completely
in the shooting of Governor Goebel, re-
sumed the stand today and was further
cross-examined. His answers We're clear
and it soon became evident that the Brad
Iey-Yost evidence to what Governor
Taylor said the day before Goebel was shot
Is the point on which the prosecution
hinges its case
Ripley told of his movements after the
arrival of his company here the morning
of January 81. His company was stationed
near the executive mansion and peniteu-
tiary and had nothing to do with prevent
ing the meeting of the legislature.
Ripley was asked by counsel for the pros
ecutiOn II he had not said In substance to
]. B. Mathews in April last year the fol-
lowing; Mathews, l am going away soon
and l want to tell you confidentiaily that
L know Caleb Powers is innocent. and could
tell enough to clear him If it becomes nee
essary for to tell it. Now is not the
proper time. but l am going to New York
and later possibly to California. l will
keep you advised OF my whereabouts, as /
know you are a friend of Powers. and
whenever 1t becomes necessary to tell it In
order to save Powers | will do it, but IL
you tell what l have said to you be-
fore then l will deny that had this talk
with YOU"
Mathews, VINO was referred to. was Pow
ers assistant secretary of state
Not Sure He Said So.
Objection was made to this question by
counsel for the defense on the ground that
IT was testimony in chief" but the ohsec-
tion was overruled Ripley then replied
that he might have said this to Mathews,
but that II he did he had IN mind things
which he had heard duplicating Henry
XOutSaV and fhp of SaAing
Youtsey come out of TayIor's office. Janu-
uary -. He was not positive, however.
whether he said this to Mathews or not.
Ripley could not remember whether he
also told Mrs. Mathews anything of the
kind. but admitted he had asked Mathews
to go away with him. and suggested that
their wives go TO his home in Henry coun-
ty. He could not remember whether he re-
ferred to Taylor as a coward but did re-
member that he commented on the fact
that he left his family alone IN the execu-
tive mansion too often.
Cross-examination was completed shortly
beofre noon Redirect examination, which
followed. developed nothing new.
Hayden Smith and Hunter Moody con-
tIadicted the testimony of Witnesses Fer
guson and Crawford. who said Ripley had
denounced Goebel in vile terms and said
ne should have been killed or would be
killed. etc
Garnett Ripley was put upon the witness
stand yesterday afternoon He did not deny
that he made the statements attributed to
him by eKGoy. Bradley and Judge ". Fl.
Ycst concerning ex-Gov. Taylor's remarks
to him. but said while he thought that they
Were substantially correct in their evidence
they had misunderstood him or be had fall
ed to convey the proper impression on them
at the time.
On direct examination Ripley stated that
he was forty years Of age last month and
Is farmer. He had been talking with the
boys in his neighborhood for several years
about getting up company of cavalry. He
tTa arr1a rs. r4 G.rA
.day of the Colson-Scott tragedy. selecting
this day In order to William J. Bryan
who was to be banqueted there that night
He had never known Gov. Taylor till that
day and never saw him but once after that
January .. till after his company was call
ed out He said he never knew Powers or
1outSey till some days after the shooting:
never saw Berry Howard at all; had seen
Jim Howard only since they had been in
Jail together and never knew either Cul-
ton or Wharton Golden. Taylor gave him
the order January 18 for the organization
of the company and on January RipIey
went to Frankfort and secured equipments
for It. This was the day on which he had
the conversation with Taylor and his YER
sion of It, which varies materially from
that stated by Messrs. Bradley and Yost
was as follows:
Talk With Governor Taylor.
81 went into the governors Office and
found Governor Taylor looking very badly.
1 told him / was sorry to see him looking
badly. to which he replied. In substance:
In these horrible times anybody would look
badly. Some irresponsible fool or crank Is
likely TO kill me kill Goebel and cause
riot around here in which there will be
many lives sacrificed Then I told him l
did not think this would occur. and went
on talking to him about my company
which | was getting equipments for NV
God. said he, haven't you got that com
pany ready YETI That was what 1 was
trying to tell Governor Bradley and Judge
1oSt, but may not have stated il to them
as clearly as l intended to-"
ripley denied that he ever said to Fer
guson and Crawford that Goebel would be
Killed. but admitted that he warned W p
Thorne on January % to keep his son away
from Frankfort, claiming he did SO because
OF the disturbed conditions there and not
from any knowledge Of what was going to
occur the next day.
No Secrecy About the Organization.
lie maintained that there was no secrecy
about the organization and equipment Of
his company. and said that Governor Tay-
ior told him that 1t was not necessary to
apply TO the county judge for authority to
organize 1t. The company, he said. was or
ganized for pleasure.
Cross-examined, the witness said that r
A Corley and five six others accompa-
MED him to Frankfort January IS The
Scott-Colson tragedy occurred soon after
their arrival. and they did not see Taylor
TIL after dinner, Did not hear anything
about a conference of leading republicans
and antl-Goebei democrats as to the means
OF ending the contest, and was not invited
70 the Louisville Calf House conference
that night.
witness said he went to the state arsenal
January 20 and looked over eautpments
with a view to selecting such as his com
pany needed He received a special deliy-
cry letter from Governor Taylor late in
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