The Birmingham age-herald., 1903-07-30
CONDEMNED MAN
 ESCAPES HANGING
Negro Convicted as Hall Prove
 to be Jackson
MAY GET A NEW TRIAL
A White Man Who Knew Jackson Came From Vicksburg at His Own Expense to Save the Me-
 gro's Life.

Felix Hall, a negro who was sentenced to be hanged at the Jefferson county jail tomorrow. has not only had his life saved but will probably regain his lib- erty once more. He was identified by T. NJ. Morrisey of Yicksburg yesterday morning as Henry Jackson. and and MT. Morrisey says the negro was in Louisi- ana at the time of the killing of Nor wood Clark, for whose death he was con- yieted and was sentenced to hang.
 Hall has claimed all along that his name was Henry Jackson and that the authorities had the wrong man. He said that he could not establish the alibi al the time of the trial because he could not get his witnesses located in time.
 He is an ignorant negro, although he is said to be a good laborer At first he could hardly remember the names of MT. Morrisey and MT. Williams on whose words his fate so largely depended. At torney Charles Denegre was appointed by Judge Dan A. Greene at the trial to de- fend the negro and he finally succeeded in getting the names straight from the negro and in locating the men for whom the prisoner Is said to have been work ing at the time of the killing.
 May Be Cleared.
 MT. Denegre now thinks Hall can be cleared. Governor Jelks has been asked by Judge Greene to reprieve the prisoner for sixty days and 1t Is thought this will be done since the governor stated that he would be willing to act on Judge Greene's Judgment in the. matter.
 T. ". Morrisey arrived in the city yesterday morning and went at once to the county jail to see whether he could identify the condemned man as Henry Jackson. He was accompanied to the jail by Chief Deputy Sheriff stradford, Att torney Charles Denegre and others. Deputy Stradford ordered all the colored prisoners in the jail be released from their cells Into the corridor.
 MT Morrisey then went into the corri- dor, scrutinized the prisoners as he came to them and when he came to Hall he caught him by the shirt saying: This is Henry Jackson; if you hang him you will hang an innocent man." The identi- fication Is looked upon as almost positive proof that MT. Morrisey knows what he is talking about since there were nearly 200 prisoners in the corridor at the time he went in.
 Identified Him as Jackson.
 MT. Morrisey is a wealthy liquor dealer of yicksburg and says that w. T. Will liams a contractor asked him to send him some laborers during the year 1900. Hall came into his saloon several times and he asked him if he wanted a job. When the negro said he did he sent him down to his friend Williams.
 MT. Williams was at that time doing some contract work on one of the levees, and says that he will testify that the ne- gro worked for him during the months of August, September and October of the year 1900. Norwood Clark was killed on the night of October g. 1900. and witnesses at the trial testified that Felix Hall had been living at the railroad camp near Ensley for three months prior to the kill ing.
 Why Morrlsey Came.
 MT. Morrisey is said to be no lover of negroes. and his friends were surprised to learn that he would come all the way from vicksburg to Birmingham to save the life of one. He said yesterday that if 1t had not been for his wife he is not sure whether he would have made the trip or not. He said he told her that he was sure they had the wrong man up here, and she wouldn't let him rest until he had come and tried to save him from hanging
 Attorney Denegre had offered to pay MT. Morriseys expenses to Birmingham, but he refused to accept anything yester- day, saying that he was perfectly will ing to stand the expense himself. He wore two immense diamond shirt studs, diamond rings and other jewelry, so that MT. Denegre did not question his ability to stand the expense
 He returned to yicksburg last night.
 Sid King will probably be the only man hanged tomorrow. The board of pardons has recommended a communication to life imprisonment for Albert Jones, the mur- derer of Walter Cotton in the store of the Great Atlantic and Pacific Tea com pany, so that he will not go to the scaf- fold if the recommendation of the board prevails.
 Sid King is the man who killed fellow convict at Pratt mines with pick. He was serving long sentence in the peni- tentiary at the time.
 Sixty Days Respite.
 At a late hour last night the following special dispatch was received;
 Montgomery, July Ex-Governor Jelks has respited Felix Hall, for sixty days in order that new evidence in his case may be presented to the pardon board.