The Montgomery advertiser., 1905-01-15
LAWRENCE ON STAND
DEPENDANT TELLS OF THE KILL
 ING OF H. LEHMAN.
widow and Daughter of the Dead Mer- chant Also Give Evidence in Behalf of the Accused
 Man,
Advertiser Bureau,
 Selma. Jan, 14.

Selma, Jan. 14.
 All the evidence in the preliminary hearing of w. S. Lawrence, charged with the murder of H. Beiman, is in, and at 6:3O o'clock this evening the defense closed its case.
 The case will be argued by both sides probably Monday afternoon. The date and time of the arguments will be set by Mayor Atkins at 9 o'clock Monday morning.
 The Lawrence preliminary has at- tracted more attention than any in re- cent years in this city and throughout yesterday and today the court room was thronged with interested specta- tors The State rested yesterday af- ternoon and the defense had hardly time to commence examination of wit nesses before court was adjourned over night.
 The advisability of hearing the arr guments and completing every phase of the preliminary tonight, on account of the convening of the City Court Monday, was argued at length, but on an agreement between the counsel of both sides and the court the main arr gument was postponed.
 only about half the witnesses sum- moned by both sides were examined the greater time of the two days ses- sion being taken up in arguing tech nicalities of law and the relevance or irrelevance of testimony.
 There were two witnesses examined today whose testimony was important to the defense. Mrs. H. Beiman, the widow of the dead merchant, and her daughter, Ruth Beiman.
 In the afternoon Lawrence went on the stand and after examination told in detail of the alleged accidental killing of Beiman. The news that the defendant would be placed on the stant was quickly spread throughout the city and there was hardly standing room in the court.
 The evidence of Mrs. Beiman and her daughter was in direct refutation of the accusation that Lawrence had been improperly intimate with the former which the State endeavored to prove, and both witnesses emphatically denied that there had been a quarrel or al- tercation between Lawrence and Bei- man prior to the tragedy. In his mar ration the defendant experimented with the pistol that was discharged Sunday and demonstrated to the court how the killing occurred.
 The counsel for the prosecution cross-questioned Lawrence on every
 
 apparently that would strengthen the States case.
 The two pistols, the late Mir. Bei- mans hat. the pieces of paper lying on the floor of the store office on which blood was spattered md other articles were offered as evidence by the prose- cution. The notes and accounts that it Is said Lawrence was to collect, the oil can, brush, rag and stick that he said he used in cleaning the pistol, and the defendants discharge from the United States army. were offered as evidence by the defense. To nearly every article objection was raised and its admissibility was stubbornly con- tested by counsel for State.
 The defense was unable to make much progress in this mornings ses- sion on account of objection by the opposition which brought on collo- quies between counsel. These argu- ments on points and technicaIIties of law consumed more than half the morning and only nine witnesses were called, all of whom were summoned by the defense.
 Ernest Lamar was the first witness placed on the stand by the defense. He testited that he had seen both Beiman and Lawrence the Friday before Bei- mans death. that they were apparent ly on friendly terms. He thought he knew the defendants character to be good. The witness had not heard that Lawrence enlisted in the United States army in the Philippines to escape in- dictment for embezzlement nor had he