The Savannah morning news., 1903-01-10
SHOOTING OF BRIGGS
NED TATNALL TOLD GRAND JURY
OF TURNER ROCK AFFAIR.
II INDICTMENTS RETURNED.
TWO CHARGES OF FORGERY
AGAINST f. =. ROHN.

AGAINST f. =. ROBIN.
sam Ganaway Indicted for Burglary.
Held for Assault With Intent to
Rape-Was Discovered by White
Woman at Her Bedside at Night.
Snfd He Was Drunk and Had Lost
His Way-Men Who Broke Into
Webster Clothing Co.'s Clothing
store Observation-Disclosures walk
er's Illness Prevented Investiga-
tion of Sessions Assault Case.
Besides the DeCris CASE there were
several others before the Superior
Court grand jury yesterday afternoon
In all. there were eleven indictments
The grand jury was in session nearly
Two hours. during which time it heard
the evidence of more than fifty wit
neses. and returned true bills in every
case.
Two indictments. one for longing
oysters on private beds and another
for assault with intent to murder
were returned against three Of the
negroes implicated in the Turner Rock
case. The first Of the indictments
charged the negroes with longing oys-
tiers on the private lands of Augustus
Oemler, while the other charged them
with shooting Waterman G. D. Briggs.
Bench warrants were issued on the re-
turn of the indictments. and placed in
the hands of Deputy Sheriffs O'Connor
and Westcott
Ned Tatnall. one of the negroes in
shooting. He said that on the night
it occurred, he. in company with four
other negroes, were stealing oysters
from Capt. Oemler's beds, when they
We're surprised by a man i'm boat In
the darkness they were unable to dis
tinguish who the man was, but
thought he was a negro in the en-
ploy of the Oemler Oyster Company.
I'VE start den to row, and we
rowed for fair" he said. 81 had
start on de other niggers and l KEEP
ahead all de way. As we row up de
crick. we make de spa'k fly from de
water, and all de mullet make a fuss
glttin' outen de way. De man what
pursue pull a strong oar an l know
he mean business. When l Ian l amt
seen who do the shootin', but l know
alright. ca Sc de Niger what do il make
he brag he done made way wild he
man"
When Tatnall heard that the officers
were looking for him he gave himself
up. and confessed. After the in
dictment was returned he was
placed under arrest. He claims he
does not know the whereabouts of the
other two negroes who were in the
party, and against whom the indict-
ments were returned. One. of these, he
says. did the shooting. The officers
think they will land their men in short
time. as they have evidence as to their
whereabouts.
r.. s. Rohn, young white man.
Wen known in Savannah. was indicted
on two charges of forgery. in which
George Schroeder and Fred Blenjes
We're the prosecutors. Rohn forged the
name of the Savannah Hat Company,
by it's manager j S. Rose. to two
checks. one for SIS and the other for
49, which he presented to Schroeder
and Blenjes. The checks were paid.
and Rohn left the city. He was sub
sequently arrested by Detective Wall
in Jacksonville. He confessed, and
asked that he be allowed an oppor-
tunity to make good the money secured
by the forgeries.
Sam Ganaway. who has been held
on a charge of assault with intent to
rape, was indicted for burglary. Four
witnesses. all white. were examined by
the grand jury. All of them testified
that on Christmas night Mrs. Essie
Hester was awakened by a sound near
her bed, and opening her eyes, she saw
negro standing by her bedside. She
screamed. and the other members of
the household came to her assistance
The negro was taken in charge by the
male members of the family and
brought to the city the same night
The house which Ganaway entered
is on the Louisville road. between the
nve and six-mile post and is distant
from the road about 300 yards. The
negro endeaVored to explain his pres
ence in different ways. saying that he
had lost his way and that he was
drunk. The jury did not think that
enough evidence was adduced to show
an intent at criminal assault, and held
the man for burglary.
For smashing the show window of
the Webster Clothing Company and
stealing therefrom several articles of
dress, William Wright and Frank
Demere were Jointly indicted The
men were arrested by Detective Frank
Wall, who picked them up as sus-
picious characters. On being searched
at the barracks by the detective, a
number of clothing tags were found in
the pockets of one of the men. An
examination of the room of the other
man disclosed the presence of the miss
ing clothes. The witnesses before the
grand jury were the detective and
David Greenbaum, manager of the
clothing store.
The case of Frank Sessions, charged
with assaulting with intent to murder
d. p. Walker, Union Station patrol
man, a few nights ago. which was
down for hearing before the grand
jury, was not investigated. PatroIman
Walker was taken i'll in the afternoon.
and had to be removed to his home
in a cab. He was preparing to come
TO the Court House when he was taken
i'll.
There were several other cases of
minor Importance. July Houston was
lndicted for assaulting Scipio Brown.
In this case there We're about a dozen
witnesses, but the grand Jury mad
enough evidence to warrant a true bin
before half of them had been examined.
Willie Bradley was indicted for as
sault with intent to murder his victim
ana prosecutor being London Stephens.
Whom he shot Dec 10. Eddie Cohen.
VINO shot at ID. Gowens on Christmas
Day was also indicted on the same
charge.
The grand jury convened at O'clock