The age-herald., 1902-01-05
Certain Officers Thought Bran- don Was Stacking Court and Wanted to Protest COURT ADJOURNS TILL
 FRIDAY, JANUARY 10 Whole Case. Now Depends on Decision as to Whether the Alleged h. sultins Letter to Col. Hia-
 don Was Official

Montgomery January 4.-(Special)- The Ifigdon-kyle eourt-oardal complet- ed the third session of the third day at II o'clock tonight and adjourned until Friday, January 10. The testimony has all been taken except that of Lieutenant Colonel Kyle The court made slow headway today. the greater part of the time being consumed in the reading and correction sos testimony taken yester- day,
 Four new witnesses were examined for the accused. They were Majors Parkes and Huey. of the Third Regiment, Cap tain W. E. Wallace. of Decatur, and Lieutenant w. A. Hasson of Gadsden
 The testimony of Major Parkes and Huey bordered on the sensational. They told of d meeting of some officers of the Third Regiment held in Birmingham at which the charge had been made against A6jutant General Brandon that he was attempting to i'll the court of men parti- san to Lieutenant Colonel Kyle. and that
 1t was really for the purpose of acquaint- ing the Governor of fhis matter that a committee was appointed ly that meet ing to come to Montgomery.
 The testimony of Hasson was also rath- CT sensational. He testiaed chat he had not signed paper offered in the Court with his name attached. and purportng to be his resignation as First Lieutenant of Company c.
 Brass Buttons Attractive.
 Brass buttons, epaulets and swords
 proved very attractive today and the gal
 lery of the hall was filled with ladies at
 each of the three sessions. though two
 of them were entirely consum ed with
 the dull and uninteresting reading and
 correction of testimony.
 The attendance was larger today than
 upon any other day The members of the
 court showed perceptibly tonight the re-
 suit of three daily sessions. They seem
 ed tired and weary.
 From the evidence so far it seems that the prosecution has been narrowed down to one ouestion-whether or not the letter of Kyle to Higdon was official. Kyle
 has offered testimony to show that he
 rendered excuse for not attending in- spection of companies and that he was absent from the state at date of encamp- | ment and claims not to have received | orders. He offers much evidence to claim | justification of his famous letter to Hig- | don and If the court holds that it was official and convicts the accused on | the charge of conduct unbecoming an officer and gentleman the plea of uncon- stitutionality of the statute governing the state militia Is set up in order to get
 the case into the civil courts. Met at 10 O'Clock.
 The court met this morning at 10 o'clock.
 More than an hour was consumed in the reading and correcting of testimony Adjutant General Brandon was recalled by the accused after he had corrected his | testimony f
 Have you in your office any record of the resignation of Lieut. W. A. Hasson of Company c, Third Regiment?" MT Lomax asked.
 We object said the judge advocate Addressing the court MT. Lomax said
 that by this questioning he expected to show that the resignation of Lieutenant Hasson had been forwarded by Colonel Higdon to the office of the adjutant gen
 eral, and he would prove by Hasson that he did not sign the resignation. The court oyerruled the objection and
 the witness answered that the resignation had been received. and he then read the official letter of Colonel Higdon forward ing the resignations of W. D. Wallace
 as captain and W, A. Hasson as lieuten- ant It was stated in this letter that these resignations had been received at the encampment in Birmingham but the prompt forwarding had been overlooked. The purported resignation of Lieutenant Hasson bore date Camp Rufus N. Rhodes, July IS, 1901." and was "ap- proved" by Colonel Higdon.
 special order 4f or uate. August 5U l9Ul, for elections to @fill vacancies as above stated. was read.
 Elections Were Held. On ors,ss--xafniriation Colonel Brandon said elections were held in pursuance oi these orders and vacancies filled. Of fcers elected on that date were now serving. Hasson had not filed official claim to the office since the election l Witness had unofflcially heard that Has son had removed from Gadsden to An niston after date of encampment. and | had become candidate for n lieuten- | ancy in an Anniston company, or the re- turns from the Anniston election had shown that votes were cast for Hasson MT. Lomax moved to exclude that part I of the testimony referring to votes being | cast for Hasson, as this did not neces- sarily show that Hasson was candidate. 1 Colonel Dumont announced for the court ! that the motion to exclude would be sus- | tained for the present.
 ! Major Mcconnell was next called and