The Savannah morning news. (Savannah, Ga.) 1900-current, 1904-10-15


Orders TO Griner.
Zap. Iapt. Hitch was called as the first
Wlthess for the state. He ha1 in
structed Lieuts. Cone and Griner 10 |
t ;ahe charge of the camp Tuesday MORN |
ing Had not instructed Lieut. Griner |
~, ~ SEND any telegram Had not re- |
.i iSNou the oIhcer at any time Witness /
90" Lieut.. Griner i'm citizens clothes |
at camp about an hour after the prison. |
efs We're taken.
Ol cross-eXamination. Can't. Hitch |
stated that he gave the instructions |
10 me two Statesboro officers to- |
gelher He only saw the defendant |
LOT a few minutes. He had not re-
IeVed Lieut.. Griner, when he saw
me iatter. Witness was positive he |
%" nm at camp in citizens clothes.
Didn't Seem Busy.
Lieut.. G. A. Nell testified that ne
saw Lieut.. Griner at the Court House,
pul not at camp. Could not recall
what the defendant was doing. After
me prisoners We're taken defendant
asked to be excused from duty. He
was referred to Capt. Hitch, who could
not De found then. Lieut.. Griner came
BACK and was finally excused. This
was about two hours before the camp
was abandoned
Col. Anderson: Was Lieut. Griner
standing around doing nothing?"
Lieut.. Nell: 1T seemed so to me,
sir. He was in uniform"
Jones in Deep Water.
Sergt. John Paul Jones, who was the
next witness, initiated his distinguished
namesake by getting into deep water
early IN his voyage. In spite of the
seriousness of the testimony offered by
the witness, it was impossible for his
hearers to keep sober. In fact the
reading of kilograms sent by witness
10 the Governor were so humorous that
the court and audience were conVulsed
with laughter for several minutes.
Sergt. Jones was the company quar-
termaster. Lieut.. Griner had asked
him to go to the telegraph office with
the officer. While en- route Lieut.
Griner told witness to send a telegram
to Gov. Terrell and told him what to
say. Defendant left before kilograms
were sent, but witness tried to follow
instructions. He denied that he sent
bifurcated message such as the oper-
ator delivered to the judge advocate.
A BifUrcated Message.
The messages were read by Col. Ma
pier as follows:
Gov. j. NJ. Terrell Atlanta, Ca
if assistance not here in hour prisoners
Griner, the only man not captured
John P. Jones, Com. Sergt."
Gov. J. NJ. Terrell Atlanta, Ca
Said military men are in trouble. Les
ter Proctor, private of the said mill |
tary company A, has been seriously
wounded by mob of said county of Bull
loch. Sergt. Jones has but only one
man. and he is a commissioned officer
that has not been captured. Sergt
Jones, Com. Sergt."
The witness strenuously insisted that
the telegraph operator, who actually
wrote the message for him, had made
monkey out of him by cutting the
message in two and had also interpo-
lated some words he did not intend to
use.
Effects of Message.
THAT message was enough to throw
the whole state of Georgia into con-
niption fits" said Col. Napier when
the court and audience We're able to
control their facial expression. Here
was the whole shooting match"
Pardon me- said Col. Anderson, 4
but l do not believe your choice of
terms is a happy one"
Il apologize" said Col Napier when
he caught the point.
The state rested at this point, two
witnesses being absent.
LIEUT. leSNAHeSs
Lieut.. Griner was the first witness
in his own behalf. He told about or
dering the men to fall in When he
heard the squalls from the Court
House. Leaving Sergt. Proctor in
charge of the men, he started to the
Court House to find out the situation.
He got two guns from the crowd. Be
ing unable to get into the Court House
he went back to camp and then to
the telegraph office. He thought that
none of the officers inside the Court
House could get out and that he was
the senior officer left.
After the prisoners were taken, wit
ness tried to get Lieut.. Nell to relieve
him so that he could go back to his
work at the railroad office. This was
some time after the rioting had taken
place. He had received no specific
orders from Lieut. Cone, who had told
him that the two officers were in
charge of the camp. He did not un-
derstand it as a command.
Col. Napier: why did you wait
around the camp a half hour after
you were excused on account of urg-
ent business p
Lieut.. Griner: Il just stayed around
with the boys"
Went to Scene of Lynching.
After changing his clothes witness
went to work at the office. In reply
to a question the witness admitted that
he had gone out to the scene of the
lynching in buggy, but this was three
hours after the burning. Witness had
not asked for permission to send tele
gram. Had not seen Lieut.. Neil
around the camp when he left. When
Lieut.. McIntire was forming the men
for pursuit witness had shaken hands
with him and said "Old boy, I'm with
YOU"
Two pages of the testimony of Sergt.
Proctor before the court of inquiry
were read and admitted.
Remembered the shade.
Private Stump Stamps was next call
cd He told about the order to fall
in by Sergt. Proctor acting under or
der of Lieut.. Griner. The next time
he saw the defendant was at the de-
not. The witness was not very clear
as to sequence of time. He told about
Lieut.. Nell being under the shade of
a tree while the men were lined up In
the sun in a tone which showed that
he still envied the officer that cool
spot.
tell what he knew of the movements
of Lieut. Griner. Within thirty min
utes after he had been relieved wit
ness saw Lieut.. Griner in civilians
clothes on the street.
Mr. William N. Hall of Statesboro
testified that he saw Lieut.. Grner
onlv once. Two men apparently had
him under arrest not far from the
court House. He expostulated with
the men and warned them that they
with fhp government.