The Birmingham age-herald., 1905-08-10


 on. (She with various rumors delighted to fill the peoples ears and utter facts and fictions indifferently She fills mighty cities with dismay as she moved obsti- nately bent on falsehood and iniquity than on repeating truth)"
 Virgil. years old, was yesterday fined the limit of the law by Judge Feagin for circulating or spreading false reports regarding yell low fever in Gate City.
 Williams was arrested by Policeman Nix for telling Dave Ovens that he had heard that there was case of yellow fever in Gate City. When he was ar rested he made bond to appear yester- day.
 The evidence in court was that Will Hams had told Ovens that some one told him that there was a case of yellow i fever in Gate City. Judge Feagin held that this was a violation of the city ordinance in that it intended to frighten the people of Birmingham and to disturb the peace of the community.
 The fine was $50. which is the limit un- der the ordinance. The case was appealed and Williams made bond to the amount of s15O. Extensive arguments were made by Attorneys Vaughan and Bullard for the defendant and by City Attorney Smith for the city.
 Arguments of Defense.
 The attorneys for the defense argued that Gate City was out of the police jurisdiction of Birmingham. and that therefore the law was not effective. They also argued that the law said 'con- tageous, infectious or epidemic diseases" and that yellow fever was not any one of the three, as modern science claimed that it was spread by mosquitoes.
 The defense claimed that the ordinance was not valid for those two reasons They also stated that man might be arrested in New Orleans under a similar ordinance for saying that there was yellow fever in Birmingham, or that one might be ar- rested in Birmingham for saying that there is yellow fever in New Orleans. They claimed lack of Jurisdiction.
 The defense also argued that the city had no right to pass this ordinance as no power to make such a law was given in the city charter which gave the city the power to protect it's health. They ar gued that this was not a matter of health and had nothing to do with the health conditions of the city.
 City Attorney Smith argued that the city had the right to pass any ordinance fo ;,, the city. He stated that this ordinance was adopted for the express purpose of preventing any disorder which might arise out of a panic, and that panic within itself was a disorder to some extent, and that the spreading of such a report tended to cause a panic and therefore a disorder.
 city's Position. He also argued that this ordinance held good in this instance, although Williams was talking about Gate City. He said that it was a similar thing to defamation of woman's character. He said that a man in Alabama might be arrested for defaming the character of woman in Mississippi, and that the Jurisdiction of the officers or courts in Alabama would 
 cover the case.
 In rendering his decision, Judge Feagin stated that he considered that yellow fever was infectious and epidemic, and that therefore the ordinance was valid. He looked up the definitions of the three words infectious, epidemic and courageous before rendering his decision. In regard to the jurisdiction of the off, ficers and court he held that the offense was the act of speaking the words that tended to convey or spread false re- port, and that it was an offense because those words were uttered in Birmingham and therefore within the police jurisdic- tion as defined in the charter of Birmng- ham, He also held that such 8 report tended to arouse the people and to cause unrest and disorder