The Savannah morning news. (Savannah, Ga.) 1900-current, 1904-06-26
OLD MAN SANG
To TRIAL JURY.
"JESUS, LOVER OF MY SOUL"
SANG l.. A. WILSON WHILE BEING
TRIED ON LUNACY CHARGE.

Voice Broke and Memory FniIed,
and He Finished the Song Only
After He Had Been Prompted by
Judge McAIpin-The Weak Trem-
bling Voice, the Tumbled Gray
Hair, md the Bent Figure, Made
the Scene a Pathetic One.
Jesus. lover of my soul,
Let me to thy bosom fly"
Plaintive, weak, and quavering was
the voice as it made a pitiful effort to
sing the old hymn to a jury that was
trying the singer for lunacy in the
Court of Ordinary yesterday morning.
The singer, E. A. Wilson, an old man
Ave years past the half-century mark,
leaned for support against Judge Nc
Alpin's table.
AS he sang, the smiles which had
hung about the lips of the jury, the
court officials. and the handful of spec
tators, vanished. and in their place
stole looks of pity. The old man stood
there before them trembling with
weakness.
A strange look in the blue eyes, as
though the singer was begging for
mercy, commanded silence. The gray
hair, unkempt and disheveled fell in
picturesque confusion over the fore
head. The scene was charged with
dramatic interest. and the central fig
ure was tragic and pathetic.
Prompted by Judge McAlpin.
The first four lines of the verse were
completed without difficulty and then
memory failed.
Hide me, oh, my Saviour hide. -
prompted Judge McAlpin softly, and
the faint voice, trembling with emo
ton, again took up the air and words
that have comforted so many.
safe into the haven guide contin-
ued the singer.
A new light stole into the eyes with
the words. Then the wrinkled hand
brushed the gray hair back from the
forehead with a pitiful movement, the
voice faltered-brokN, and the singing
ceased.
i've forgotten it, Judge" said the
old man, trying vainly to smile as he
apologized. 'I'll try to do better next
time" Then, with a weary movement
he dropped back into his chair.
Jury Debated Half an Hour.
When he had resumed his seat, a
u6puLy SUGIllI, DIT d SiSIlell lIOIlI uOS
McAlpin, led the old man from the
room The court officials then retired
and the jury began to make up its
verdict. The song seemed to have
reached the heart, and despite the tes-
| timony of the witnesses, the jury
seemed disinclined to return a verde
| finding him insane.
| After thirty minutes debate, a rap
| on the door announced that an agree
ment had been reached, and an instant
later the verdict, declaring the singer
| insane, was recorded. He will be
| taken to Milledgeville for treatment.
The old mans wife and step-daugh-
ter both appeared against him, and
| told of his mental vagaries. His great
est delusion seemed to be imagining
| that he was "a great singer, he himself
! informing the court that he had been
| offered $500 a night to sing on the
operate stage When asked why he
had not accepted, he replied: Because
I couldn't bear to leave Georgia"
Imagined Himself a Singer.
He also stated that he had sung in
a chorus in Atlanta. AS the hymn
'Halleluia" was sung, said the de-
| PENDANT, cannons doomed, keeping alb
solutely correct time with the music
and seeming to emphasize the hymn of
praise. The pathos about the statement
| VI the ueIelludII CouIlleIdCleu IIle OIH-
erwise ludicrous ideas of the weak,
! disordered brain.
Rev DR.. ]. D. Jordan, pastor Of the
| First Baptist Church, testified as to
the old man trying to sing in his spe-
! cial choir during the revival meetings.
DR.. baltimore stated he had been
treating Wilson for several weeks and
in his opinion the mans mind was I'M
balanced.
A vein of insanity appears to run
through the family, a witness stating
that one brother and two sisters of
the defendant were insane.