The Savannah morning news., 1903-02-14
PRETTY YOUNG WITNESS
MADE EYES AT COUNSEL
Negro Who Insulted Miss burden
Fined $3.50 and Costs.

You have been tried for assault
and battery, and the jury in your case
has found you guilty. If 1t were an Or
binary case of assault that you had
been guilty of, I would be disposed to
impose a reasonable fine, but the cir
cumstances disclosed by the evidence
in this case show it to be one, the par
allel of which has not been heard be-
fore in this court"
These were the words of Judge Nor
wood to F. #. NJ. Johnson, who was
tried in the City Court yesterday on a
charge of assaulting w. Y. Gilbert,
and who was recently fined in Police
Court for insulting Miss burden, and
after running her to Mr.. Gilbert s
home attempting to effect an entrance
against his wishes.
THE circumstances surrounding the
commission of the offense in this case
are aggravated in the extreme To
meet a young lady on the street, run
after her to her house, and then, on
being refused admission. to strike a
white man in the face, are circum-
stances which constitute a very grave
offenSe, and an outrage, the parallel
of which has never before been ex-
posed in this court. l fine you $3.50
and costs, or twelve months on the
chaingang, and We're it not for the
responsibility of your father 1 would
fine you a thousand dollars"
The case proved to be very interest
ing, and a great many things happen
ed during the hearing of the case to
entertain the jury. Particularly was
this true when Mr.. Emmett Wilson was
addressing the jury, when Miss Dur
den, who is a rather chic and pretty
young girl, stood just without the door
and amused herself by reckoning,
winking and making faces at the at
torney. This, of course, attracted the
attention of the attorney, and he i'm
mediately paid his respects to the
young lady.
''They tell YOU" he said to the jury,
that the reason why they have de-
layed swearing out this warrant is be-
cause they wished to spare the young
lady the modification incident to a
trial. Do you think she minds it. Oh
no it's sauce to her. There she stands
now winking and reckoning and maxi
ing faces. 1 guess she is making
them at me-" The jurors all looked
through the open door way, where the
young lady stood. Il don't know who
she is screwing up her mouth at, but
it looks like it is intended for me-"
There were many interesting features
to the testimony. Miss burden had
been met by a negro, who was very
much intoxicated, and whose head was
bandaged up. He accosted her, and
when she ran. he pursued. She enter
ed the house of Mr.. Gilbert, who order
ed the negro out. He refused to go, and
struck Mr. Gilbert. Then he ran. Of
ticers were notified. and a search for
the young lady's assailant was insti-
tuted.
The officers soon came upon johnson.
his head bandaged, reeling drunk with
in a few blocks of the house. When
they attempted to arrest him he fed to
his home, where his mother locked him
in a closet. A mob surrounded the
house and went in and got the negro.
He has stoutly denied from first to last
that he is the same negro who accosted
Miss burden. He says that he had
he was arrested, and that for that rea-
son he ran when the officers came after
him. He contended that the whole af-
fair was a put up job on him.
A motion for a new trial will be ask
ed by counsel for Johnson. johnson
has given bond. The imposition of the
fine yesterday recalls the case which
came before the City Court some time
ago, when during the Spanish-Ameri-
can War a soldier named Moore. was
fined $500 by Judge Norwood for plac-
ing his arms around a young lady's
waist on the street.
In the trial yesterday the state was
represented by Mr.. Dan. J Charlton.
and the defense by Mr.. Emmett VIII
sons