The Montgomery advertiser., 1904-09-17
TROOPS ON GUARD ...
 AND ALL IS QUIET
Attorney Cooper Enters Pro- test Against the Pres
 ence of Soldiers.
gudse Paul Speake Characterizes the Words of the Lawyer as Incen- diary and Liable to Arouse the SIumbering Passions of
 the People.

Huntsville, Sept. 16.-(Special) )-The principal development in the situation here today was the arrest or Thomas M. Higgins. proprietor of the Stegaii Hotel, on a charge of taking part In the lynching of Horace Naples.
 The charge against Higgins Is the same as returned against the others. murder in the first degree in hanging and shooting Naples to death.
 It is stated that the prisoner refused to assist in putting out the flames In the jail when his aid was requested by the sheriff. and that he said the ire would be put out when the sherin turned the negro over to the crowd. MT. Higgins is one of the most popular men in the city and he also stands well with the country people, his hotel being a popular resort of the people of the county.
 Soldiers in Court.
 For the first time in thirty years, soldiers were on guard in the court house this afternoon when Higgins and Hill were brought into court for ar raignment. Squads of soldiers were placed on each side of the prisoner and others were scattered through the court room, presumably to quell any incipient disturbance. It reminded the older citizens of the reconstruction days and there Is considerable indigna- tion expressed here because of 1t.
 The ordinary duties of camp life Is the most exciting thing the Birming- ham militia companies have been called upon to do so far. The night was a quiet one around the jail and the ofii- cers and men, wrapped in their army blankets, slept on the cold asphalt floors of the building. This morning. Captain Brown and his men pitched bivouac tents in the jail yard, and they are now more comfortably situ- ated. Ono of the men, Corporal Mo- Nicely. IS sent home today on account of illn, ss contracted at Manassas.
 Grand Jury Still at Work.
 The grand jury spent full day car rying on it's investigations. and late this evening turned In nine true bills No additional arrests have yet been ef- fected.
 The grand jurors who were willing to talk of the matter, state that they are still many days from the end of their investigations. It is regarded as significant that many cotton mill op- sratives have left their homes in the last two days, and 1t is said that a large majority of those who are going fear they will be connected with the mob. More than one hundred men . have left the village of Dallas and the smaller mill villages have lost citizens in proportion to their size.
 Ben Hill and Thomas Higgins were arraigned in the circuit court before Judge Speake at ? o'clock in the after noon. Both men were marched up be- tween squads of soldiers armed with bayoneted rifles.
 William B. Bankhead. attorney for Hill, asked that the court not compel his client to undergo trial while public feeling over the lynching is aroused to such a high pitch. He said that the defendant had witnesses who have gone to other towns, and 1t will re- quire several days to bring them back here.
 Pettus Against Delay.
 Solicitor Pettus argued against de- lay. Judge Speake informed the at torney that he did not wish to force a trial without giving the defendant an opportunity to get his witnesses to- sether, but the public demanded a speedy trial of these lynching cases. and would criticise the court unless all efforts to have speedy trials were made.
 The indictment against the prisoner was then read by Solicitor Pettus. It charges Hill with murdering Naples by hanging him to tree and shoot ing him with a pistol.
  tember 26, and a special venire of fifty jurors was drawn. MT. Bankhead filed an exception to the indictment on the grounds that the Lusk bill creat- ing the Sixteenth Circuit Is unconsti- tutional.
 Attorney Lawrence Cooper addressed the court when Thomas Higgins was called. and his remarks created great excitement. He said
 s'ThirtV years ago fh{s court ho,iSn was invaded by the militia, and 1t has taken thirty years to wipe out that stain cast upon our government. This is a civil court. and desire to enter a protest against the entrance of the militia into the court house
 Protest from Cooper.
 Noble fellows as they are, they are cut of place here. and. as a citizen of ehe State of Alabama I protest against and question the authority of any man in any place who will place militia In the civil courts of this State or sug- guest that they be placed here.
 It is Ut right. 1t Is not justice to intimidate the people in this manner. These soldiers may stand guard at inc court house or at the jail. but I must Say that this defendant does not need their protection and does not desire il He needs no protection besides his own innocence of the crime charged to him."
 MT. Cooper's speech was delivered with impassioned eloquence.
 Solicitor Pettus replied to MT. Cooper. and said that the militia al- luded to by him as having invaded the court house thirty years ago consisted of alien soldiers. These men here to- day" continued MT. Pettus, are boys from the hills and valleys of Alabama who have authority to go wherever they are ordered by their State to pre- serve and uphold the laws of their State.
 There to Uphold Law.
 sZhAY are not here to intimidate