The Birmingham age-herald., 1903-06-20

At the meeting of the sanitary commits sion Tuesday sloO.00o worth of the county bonds were disposed of and the commits sion will commence the actual work of construction as soon as possible. which will be within the next thirty days The bids will be advertised for by the committee on construction, to which the entire matter was referred at the meet ing Tuesday. It is expected that there will be several bidders and that the work will be undertaken at a cheaper rate than the previous bids.
 s~e-~4~~-%~-S~-s-~S- on the arm and told them to stopi that Lathem said. T beg your pardon
 The witness testified that he then heard them quarreling, that he looked out and saw Lathem crouched over and Wise was beating him with some weapon. | The defense moved that the testimony referring to Wise be excluded, but 1t was overruled.
 Mir. Clifford said that Wise was strik- ing Lathem on the head from above and that Havis was striking him from below; that he (Clifford) jumped off his stool, ran outside and threw his arm around Havis' neck, throwing him over toward the stairs four or five feet. and that Havis then pulled a pistol and leveled 1t at him; that he ran into the public office and did not see them any more Heard Three Shots. He said that when he got into the office he heard three shots fired; that he heard some one say 1t was all over; that he came out and found sling shot lying on the floor by the check room. slung shot was at this point pro- duced in court by the state, and the wit ness was asked if 1t was the same he picked up. He said 1t was very similar, but he did not think it was the same; that while the color and size were ts same, he thought the split In the one he picked up was larger than in the one pre- sented and that he dropped the one he picked up back on the floor.
 The witness then said he went in toward the bar, and found Lathem lying there with his head toward the closet and his feet toward Nineteenth street; that he made no sound; that a pistol was lying under the right side of his chest; that the barrel was pointing toward the bar; that he could not see the handle, and that policeman removed the pistol.
 He was then called upon to give de- tailed description of the arrangement of the lobby, the ladies' stairway and va rious entrances. The witness also said that before the quarrel he heard Lathem say several times. "I want to do the right thing and act man."
 The state turned over the witness to the defense and the court adjourned until 2 o'clock in the afternoon.
 Witness Reprimanded.
 At the afternoon session MT. Clifford was five minutes late, and was severely reprimanded by the court He went on the stand immediately and was. examined by Capt F. s. White for the defense
 About the Morris.
 The witness testified that the Morris could entertain 1sO guests; that the hotel lobby is open from First avenue around to Nineteenth street; that people are constantly going in and out, and that 1t is a very public place. He said that room 57 is on the third floor; that when he threw Havis the defendant was nearest the office; that he thought he went against some trunks; that Havis was two feet from the trunks when he drew his pistol; that when he drew the pistol the witness went into the office; that he called on the clerk to bring him gun; that he was even with the heater In the office when the first shot was fired; that Clerk Carter was in front of him and MT. Lynch was behind him.
 Asked about what was said during quar- rel the witness stated that some one said God d. 1t" several times. He said that the men outside had previously ap- peared in good humor, that when the pis- tol was drawn he ran as fact as he coulc on a tile floor, that when he put his left arm around Havis' neck and threw him back he lost his own balance and came near falling, that when he recovered Havis had the pistol on him.
 He said that one going up the ladies' stairway can see all that goes on in the lobby and that a person in the lobby
 
 he would call Wise's weapon a black jack; that he had talked to MT. Rudulph of the prosecution about the killing on the same day, and had also talked with MT Shugart and Judge Banks. He said that he didn't see any part of the shoot ing that he could not see Lathems hands during fight, that when he saw Lathem on the floor his hands were underneath him and that he had never seen Lathem before that day to know him.
 The witness was excused at S15 o'clock. with instructions to be ready to come again.
 Dyar Testifies.
 Probably the most important witness of the day was F. l.. Dyar who was called next He saw all the shots fired, as well as the preliminary fight. He testified In the examination by Judge Banks for the state that he was engaged in the tobacco business; that he was present when Elias M Lathem was killed; that he was in the lobby of the hotel; that his attention was attracted by scuffling; that he was stand ing in front of the counter on which the register lies and that he stepped to the end of the counter and saw two men scuffing, one of whom he had seen since and learned was MT. Wise He said that Wise seemed to be striking the other man with some instrument which be held in his hand: that Wise was over the other