The Laurens advertiser. (Laurens, S.C.) 1885-1973, 1903-10-07
A REVIEW OF THE
TlLLMAN TRIAL.
By Jas. A. Hoyt, Jr.

For six successive days the trial of
j. H.. Tillman for the murder of
N. G. Gonzales has been in progress.
During that time the evidence upon
which the State Of South Carolina asks
the prisoners conviction has been
largely presented, and with one day
more 1t will probably all be in. Then
the defendants side of the case will be
put before the jury. and afterwards
will come the testimony in reply and in
rebuttal. This will doubtless consume
all of the week now beginning, and as
the argument will take several days It
will be well into next week, perhaps
near its close, before the trial can be
concluded.
The analysis and Interpretation Of
the evidence for the assistance Of the
jury in determining truth and justice
each side. This newspaper would not
essay such a task. But the court has
ordered that The State shall not be
read by the jurors, and 1t is therefore
not unseemly to present an analysis of
the proceedings sc far for the benefit
of it's readers who are interested, some
of whom may NJ. have he time to
peruse the evidence in detail as 1t is
given in h State day by day. This
analysis is given with a full UNDER
SSoiiSiillS tho hco h'i
ready to charge partially, luminosity
and bias to it's writer, as to the news
paper in which 1t appears.
What Has Been Proved.
The prosecution has proved that
Narciso Gener Gonzales, editor of The
State, was on the 18th of January, 1908,
shot by j. II. Tillman, then lieutenant
! governor of South Carolina; that the
shooting occurred on the corner OF
! Main and Gervais streets, in Column
~. AA-A IL -I~N a-n VI, n
Luger magazine pistol, a large and
deadly weapon, unfamiliar to people in
this part of the country; that Mr.. Con-
tales died from his wound on
10th, surgical skill being unable to
, save his life; that within an hour of
| the shooting he made to his assistant
| and friend a statement as to the oc-
currence and that within another hour
he made another statement, more for
NAL but differing only slightly from the
| other, to four or five men, each of UNI
impeachable veracity; thai before max
ing these declarations Mr.. Gonzales eX-
pressed the belief that he was going to
die. that he had received a mortal
wound: TO the estaDlishment OF the
| main fact in the case, the shooting
| itself, the prosecution has brought up
eye-witnesses to the deed whose testi-
mon not only agrees the one with the
other remarkably we'll but which coin
| cides Just as well with the statements
of the deceased.
The Main Fact.
This main fact is that N. G. Con
Zales was walking alone on the east
| side of Main street towards the capitol
and j. II. Tillman, with two men, was
, coming in the opposite direction; that
as they approached each other, Mr..
Gonzales went from the outside to the
inside of the pavement towards the
transfer station corner, and as he
passed the three men Tillman fired. AS
A. Al@,. ~ InnH
differ but so far there has been no
evidence to show that Mr.. Gonzales
did anything Inconsistent with his own
statement that he intended to pass
Tillman and proceed to his home.
There is no e idence that he made
any movement towards his assailant
either before or after the shot was
fired and ii is clearly proven that Mr..
Gonzales face showed no sign of hos
tility, that he wore his usual express
sion, and that he was walking in his
usual absent-minded fashion, neglect
ing to speak to ven so good n friend
as Wyatt Aiken or failing in his near
sightedness to recognize him. AS Mr..
Ball said yesterday. to those who knew
N. G.. Gonzales this picture is as true
knew N. G.. Gonzales better than the
man who writes this, yet time after
time Mr.. Gonzales has passed him on
the street, close enough to touch, with
out seeming 10 see MIN III all. Aiu
the hands in the overcoat pockets with
the thumbs outside! With Mr.. Con-
Zales this was not only n personal habit
lit is a family habit.
Another Picture.
Turn from this picture to another.
The first, If you will, is painted by the
friends OF the dead editor. The second
dead mans slayer. You may disregard
If you wish the declaration to Black
and to Terrell of the intention to kill
Gonzales, you may disregard the con-
v%ersation in Edgeield overheard by
Arthur and Broadwater, but there is
no getting around the emphatic and
explicit recital of DR.. &c. l.. Adams.
Here is the prisoners comrade In arms.
his ardent political supporter. who ad.
vised linn to meet his accuser face to
face and resent his a~ccusations man
lto man Offering to ensure fair play by
his w presence. There id the accused
I~ycfusing his plan and de clarinG, II
will snuff his light with this taking
UP n pistol. There is the accused COM
menting on the imputation of melo-
dramatic tendencies to himself, as
sorting: "He can call it mock thea
tricals If he wishes to, but I will make
Ii the God damnedest tragedy that ever
happened in South Cardinal" And how
the end bore out this prediction!
Ned" Adams Is too we'll known in
Richland county to admit of the
thought that any effort Will even be
made to impeach his veracity, yet the
tragedy itself was sufficient to sustain
the truthfulness of his testimony; his
bearing on the witness stand-indicat-
Ing n straightforward fearlessness, an
inherent and inherited love of justice
and manliness--could but make all in
eradicable impression on all who heard
him.
Two Other Pictures.
There are two other pictures.
One is drawn by another friend of