The Marlboro democrat. [volume] (Bennettsville, S.C.) 1882-1908, 1903-10-16


81 Nedn Adams is too well known In
Richlana county to. admit OF the
thought that any! effort will even be
made % ito, impeaoh his Yeracity, yet the
tragedy itself was sufficient; to sustain
the e:truthfulnesso OF, his testimony; his
bearing on the witness stand-indi.
eating u straight forward fearlessness,
an inherent and inhbrited love OF. Jus.
tice and manliress Ascbuld but make
an ineradicable:i e:impression on all who
heard him. - :. <. & Il /. =. :,
There are two other picturesis ~.
One Is drawn by another friend 8 Of
the prisoner, Representative II.
Spann Bowling of. Bamberg, who
roomed next to Tillmap at the Cald-
well. was In his room THAT morning
and with him during the days AS soon
as he heard Of the tragedy lie went
to the Jail and expressed Bis regrets
that'his friend was in trGnhle::,S1 hen
at his request he went,tni iasce eftain
the condition OF the man lying so sore
ly stricken, and returning wi6h his
report was told by TillmansssNIf T. hit
him where I.aimed, he is s-sure adead
man. The ball used won tphange its
course" In connection with this,
remember Senator Talbird's testimony
as follows:t
@. Do you know or not, did NIr.
Tillman ever say why he did not shoot
again? A. Well, sir, about that he
gave two reasons when 1 went around
to the Jail. One was, he said that he
did not shoot again because he was
afraid Of hitting me; the other was,
that when 1 threw up my hands and
said, This thing must STOP he did
not shoot again."
The other picture is about the same
time as this. The wounded man Is
being carried to the hospital in an
ambulance; he is accompanied by none
Of his family nor his friends, only a
private physician who knew him but
slightly. 1t is DR.. James II. Mcintosh
who pOrtrays this scene: III
@. On the way did he ask you any
questions about his condition? A.
Yes, sir; on the way to the hospital
he looked around the ambulance and
saw there was no one else in it, and
he said to me: Doctor, I want you
to tell me frankly whether l AN NOR
tally wounded or not 1 replied to
him: Yes, Mr.. Gonzales, I am afraid
you are mortally wounded and he
simply said: Yes, l think the fellow
got me,' and With that he covered ur
his face"
1t was after this knowledge that be
was on the border Of eternity, after
these moments OF undisturbcd renec.
tion as he looked death in the face.
that he gave his second account OF
the shooting to such men as DR.. j. ). w.
BabcOck and August kohn. Prepar-
ed to meet his God, he said he had
sent his slayer no message, that SO far
as he was concerned it was all ended
five months before
This the main is the case against
j. II. Tillman.
What the defense will be Is, of
course, impossible to conjecture. To
break down the evidence Of the pro.
4 tionis an cceptcd mode Of proceed.
"a .swlllzpr proye -i inpossfb blegsin
this case: 1t is useless to impeach
the veracity of'suci persons as Sena.
tor Thomas Talbird and George W..
Brown, Of Mrs. Emma @. Melton, G.
Al. Lide and the other eyewitnesses-
all of whom are persons of unusual
Intelligence and the highest repute.
10 prove by witnesses their equals in
character and intelligence that N. G
Gonzales was about to assault J. H.
Tlllman when Tillman shot Gonzales
Is necessary for the making nf a case
nf self-defcnSc. Can it be made? There
is no other legal provocation for the
/ killing which Tillman can plead, un.
less 1t be that he knew Gonzales had
threatened his life or that he had sent
the defendant a warning message.
The implication Of the defendants
statements up to this time has been
that some such Justification would b,.
attempted. The difficulty Of proving
it can not be undercsLimatcd even b,
the defendants own counsel.
Already one witness for the defense
has testified and she told OF alleged
remarks the deceased made in her
presence concerning the prisoner. Miss
Roper, Il trained nurse who repeated
Il conversation in death chamber.
simply said that Mr.. Con zales said he
had made bIr. ,Pillman show the
white feather twice, that Col. Tillman
had challenged him to two duels which
he did not acknowledge and that Col.
Tillman had no more resentment than
to come in the hotel lobby and offer
him cigar, which he refused" There
Is not the Semblance of threat in
that nor did Miss Roper say MIR. Con
zales had made one. Her testimony,
in fact, had no bearing at all on the
killing, since she merely repeated the
opinion OF Jim Tillman which Mr..
Gonzales had expressed to her, the
same opinion he SO often expressed in
his paper.
This is the legal case. There are
In evidence in the court at Lexington
every copy Of The State published
during the year 1902. 1t was during
six Of those twelve months that N. G..
Gonzales as editor of The State so per-
sistently assailed the public record Of
the then Lieutenant Governor. These
editorials have been read to the Jury
and the jurors will have the right to
inspect them for themselves. Can
anything be found therein to justify
the defendant In believing that N. G..
Gonzales would assault him on sight?
If not, is there yet anything said in
those editorials which tended to de-
stroy the good reputation which the
defendant may claim to have had?
Did those editorials unjustly and un-
truly attack his character? The pros