The Washington times., 1902-08-26
SLOW PROGRESS Of
NELSON ARSON Case
Only Q e Witness Examin-
ed at First Day of Trial.
CROWDS At COURT HOUSE
All Alexandria County Shows Interest
in the Jackson City Case, and 1t
Was With Difficulty a jury. Was Sc
cured.

cured.
Only one witness was examined yes
terday in the trial, at Fort Myer
Heights. of John c. Nelson, charged with
! the crime of arson as the result of the
burning OF the alleged gambling houses
1T Jackson City on the night of July a..
The case opened yesterday morning. ana
despite the slow, progress made the
crowd that assembled early at the
Alexandria county courthouse had not
decreased when the court adjourned last
! evening. Almost the entire time from
the calling of the case at 10: so a. nj.
to 4:30 p m. was consumed in the pre-
liminary motions of the counsel and the
impaleIing of the jury. a disposition to
fight every point was manifested by the
counsel on both sides and consequently
the trial is expected to continue through
out the week.
Both the defense and the prosecution
have summoned a large number of wit
nesses and The chances are that the case
CT John Tighe, who is charged with Mel
son with being the cause of the elimina-
tion OF the Joints" at the south end OF
the Long Bridge, will not come to trial
before Saturday at the earliest.
The interest manifested in the case
in Alexandria county prolonged the task
Of choosing jury satisfactory to both
the defense and prosecution. as it ap-
peared to he hard matter to select
men who were willing to swear that
they had not formed an opinion of the
case.
May Drop Other Indictments.
The Indictment against Nelson was
for the arson of the one-story frame
building of Frank Foster and Charles
Z. SanGorson, who. it is claimed con-
ducted 4 gambling resort Jointly with
Nelson. It was from this building that
the fire which destroyed the rest of
the buildings started. and if a convic-
tion is secured on this charge 1t is
likely that the rest of the cases will
not he prosecuted. On the other hand,
if Nelson can establish his innocence
ot this charge. it is generally believed
that the remainder of the ten indict-
ments against him will be dropped.
Attorneys R. Walter Moore, CT Fair
fax, Va. and Joseph Bendheim and
Charles ShilIirgton, OF Washington, ap-
peared for the defense, and the at
torney fer the commonwealth. Mr..
James f. Clements. was assisted in the
prosecution by Messrs. Edmund Burke,
of Washington, and Samuel G. Brent, of
Alexandria.
When the case was called Attorney
Moore. addressing the court, withdrew
the plea OF not guilty which was entered
by the defendant at The last tern G.
court, when Nelson was arraigned be-
fore the grand jury, and introduced
written plea IN abatement. He then
moved to quash. and entered 4 demur-
rcr The plea in abatement, the Irotion
to quash and TIE demurrer were all
overruled by the court.
The plea in abatement was designed
to present the point that the grand
jurors who returned :he ten indictments
against Tighc and Nelson were not
legally qualified 10 sit as such at the
time they were summoned and served
This contention was based on the fact
that under the new constitution FOR the
State they were rot registered voters.
Could Be No jury.
The counsel for the defense admitted
he right OF the jurors to vote under the
constitution which expired on July TO-
but insisted that until a new voting
class had been established in the Com
monwealth there were 10 qualified yot-
ers in the county, and therefore. no
qualified jurors. The plea OF abatement
was entered with the expectation tnat
TIE court would cverrule it. and FOR the
purpose OF paving the way for an ap-
cal to the higher cour,s if the present
trial resulted disadyantageously to the
defense.
After the court had overruled the
plea the motion to quash and the de-
murrei a bin of exceptions TO the ruling
Of the court was filed. and then the
counsel foi' ,ue defense entered plea
OF not guilt Q IT, charge in the indict-
ment.
The prisone, was brought into court
to answer to the Indictment read against
him by the clerk He took his seat near
his attorneys and shortly afterward his
wife entered the room and seated her
self near him. but on the outside of the
rail which divides the space set apart
Tor the legal fraternity. Nelson and his
wife held frequent whispered conversa-
tions throughout the day.
The impaneling of the jury was not
begun until after II o'clock. 1t was
after l in the afternoon before the Sc