The Montgomery advertiser., 1904-12-17

Three happy negroes walked out oi
 the Criminal Division of the City Court
 of Montgomery yesterday and crossed over to the county jail in the custody of deputy sheriffs. They were happy not because they were free of the shackles of the law but because each of them had good reason to believe that twelve good men and true would find, that they should be hanged by the neck until they were dead. These negroes and the charges rape; Frank Smith, rape; Summers Wilson. murder.
 It was perhaps, the busiest day of the court over which Judge William H. Thomas presides in recent years. At no time during the day was the Jury rooms empty. and the cases were sandwiched in between the trial of W. C. Sanford. charged with the mur- der of J. A. Achors, in whose case 90 much trouble was experienced in se- lecting a jury.
 Throughout the day the jury in the case of Willie Dowdell indicted for criminally assaulting Hattie Short, a fifteen year old negro girl, wsa locked up in the jury room in the southwest wing of fthe court room. This case went to the jury. of which o. F. War per was foreman, at 1:30 o'clock Thursday afternoon. The jury slept over the case Thursday night and re- ported to Judge Thomas yesterday morning that 1t wa sunable to agree. The jurors were sent back into the jury room and at 1:45 o'clock yester- day afternoon they again reported that a verdict was impossible. Again Judge Thomas sent them back to the work and they remained in the room
 until' 6:15 o'clock yesterday evening counsel for Dowdell a mistrial was en- l tered and the jury was discharged. It Is understood the jury stood eight | for conviction and four for acquittaI
 The question of the penalty was never discussed.
 Dowdei, will De tried at the next l term of court
 Frank Smith. the negro who was
 convicted of raping negro woman
 and was sent to the penitentiary for | forty-five years on Wednesday, enter
 ed a plea of guilty yesterday to a sec- ond case of rape against a negro wo-
 man and by agreement his punishm ment
 was fixed at ninety-nine years in the
 penitentiary.
 Smith Is the young negro who ter
 rori2ed negro women in the Southwest
 ern part of the city three months ago
 He was captured in Pensacola. Summer, Wilson the negro slayer of
 John Alexander. negro, pleaded guilty to murder in the second degree
 and by agreement of Solicitor Dent
 his punishment was fixed at thirty
 five years in the penitentiary. | In brief statement to the jury So- licitor Dent said that after a careful
 examination of the witnesses for the
 State he found that it would be i'm
 possible to convict Wilson of murder
 in the first degree. He was therefore | willing for the negro to serve thirty l five years for his crime.
 Summers Wilson killed Alexander al
 the corner of Monroe and Court Streets several months ago. The diff ficulty was due to the fact that VIII l son had chastised the young sister ot Alexander.
 | With the completion of the Sanford
 trial. which may be finished tonight
 disposition will have been made of all capital case" cn the docket of me City Court. Prisoners will be sentenced
 Tuesday morning at 10 o'clock. | Judge Thomas said yesterday that
 the motion docket of his court would
 be called Monday morning at IC o'clock.