The Savannah morning news. (Savannah, Ga.) 1900-current, 1901-06-24
BUSY WEEK FOR COURT.
Judge FaIIigant VIII Listen TO Many
Criminal Cases.

This will be a busy week in the Supe-
rior Court. Beginning this morning. when
Elijah Shaw will be placed on trial for
the murder OF Matthew Johnson. until
and including Friday, criminal cases will
be tried every day. Most Of these are
interesting TO the public, and some OF
them OF the first magnitude.
The alleged murderer who is to be
placed on trial to-day, is a negro boy.
perhaps IS years old. who shot and kill
ed man twice his age. 4 quarrel began
between Shaw and one OF Johnson's sons.
who had an animated fistic encounter out
on Stiles avenue. west of the city, and
near the water works, on the afternoon
of Sunday, May %. johnson separated the
two boys who had been fighting, and
then the fatal quarrel between Shaw and
himself ensued.
There is a conflict of evidence as to the
incidents which led up to the shooting,
the witnesses for the state contending
that the shooting was unprovoked by any
act of violence on the part of johnson.
while Shaw claims that he shot only at
ter Johnson had two or three times chok-
ed him almost into insensibility, and when
ne was advancing upon him. for the third
or fourth time. with the apparent pur-
pose OF doing him even more serious bod
lily injury.
Inc coroner's jury returned a verdict
which declared the homicide murder and
the grand jury indicted Shaw for that
grade of the offense. A petit jury is to
pass finally upon the case this morning.
The solicitor general Will prosecute for
the state, while Mr.. r. L. Colding will
look after the interests of the defendant.
A batch of six of the cases made
through the agency of the old Law and
order League against saloonkeepers of
the city, who are charged with keeping
open a tipping house on Sunday, will be
tried tomorrow. The defendants are
c. l.. Luerson. John F. Meyer, John
Yeyer William Oilers, George C.
Schwarz and j. K. Taylor. Some time ago
1t was said that when these cases were
tried there would be interesting evidence
of the "thouh, too" variety, brought out
at the hearing, but not so much of this
talk has been heard lately. The threat
was that the defendants would endeavor
to show up something of the private lives
of some of the principal witnesses against
them and in this manner endeavor to re-
HeCt upon IHe enIlre purity ana ulSlnter-
estedness of their motives. All the de-
PENDANTS, however, are going to fight, and
to fight as hard as they can, and the
trials will not be lacking in interest
whether or not this feature of the case
develops.
Two murder cases have been assigned
for trial on Wednesday. those of Frank
Pitts, alias Frank Jones, who shot and
killed William Newsome, in a drunken
row in Frogtown, and that of Emma
Anderson, who is said to have beaten to
death a little negro child. a year or two
old, that she had adopted and was rear
ing as her own.
Thursday two other of the Law and
and Order cases of Sunday violation, the
defendants in which are Neil Gildea and
]. K. Pedrick will be tried The three
small boys, Jim Smith Stoddard, Henry
Jones and August Melcher whom the
grand jury has indicted for burglary, will
also face jury on that day. There will
be other cases on Friday of a criminal
character, and on Saturday there will be
hearings in a number of the important
civil cases, applications for injunction and
other equitable relief principally, which
are now on the docket of the court