The Montgomery advertiser., 1906-07-28
HEARING BnFonE WEAVER.
Arguments by Counsel for the state and the nofenne.

-7~- v - V " '
 Arguments by Counsel for the state and the Defense.
 \ brmingham, July 27.--(Special.) )- Judge samuel L. Weaver announced as the eomletion of the hearing of the case or John Williams, under sentence of death, that In view of the fact that the case was one Of such vital import
 anoe to the State and to the prison I CT, he would reserve his decision until I tomprroW morning at o'clock. The
 argument was on the motion of ques- tioning the jurisdiction of Judge
 Weayef In Issuing the writ of habeas corpus,
 During the entire afternoon the court room was packed with listeners.
 Large numbers of men remained stand ing In one position from o'clock un- tu s, as every seat was taken. The l opening argument was made by Con | gressman Bowie for the State. He 1 spoke briefly, taking only about twcn- i ty-flye minutes. He was followed py Earle Pettus of Athens, who has been l Wiliiams's attorney through the en- | tire fight for his life, and who ahs made what fs probably the most spec | tacular fight for his client in the his | tery of Alabama criminal law, MT. Pettus spoke for two hours and twen- ty-ive minutes, covering his case from
 every conceivable point of view and offering an. assortment of argument. logic. pathos and pleading that moved every nearer and which won him the
 congratulations of a number of the l spectators. his associate counsel and his opponent. Mr. Bowie.
 F D. St. John followed for the de- | feHse. speaking for about half an hour Congressman Bowie closed for the State, speaking an hour At the na.. AI ItfdOa Weaver made the announcement above quoted.
 Immediately after Judge Weaver had stated that he would adjourn court until tomorrow morning, the attorneys for the defense asked that he make an especial order to the sheriff of Jeffer-
 son county that he keep Williams in 1 his custody and return him to she court tomorrow morning, This action was taken to forestall any possible effort tonight to get Williams to Gull man on special train and execute the sentence which has been pro- nAnnced on him.
 Mir. st, John stated in his speech
 that he understood that there was speeiaa train waiting on the tracks of | the Louisville and Nashville Railroad, to convey the prisoner to Cuilman, t possible, in time to hang him before 12 o'clock tonight at which time, some site. the period of the execution of the sentence expires. N8 Only this is assured at the present time. Williams will not be hung this 27th day of July. as was directed hy the Supreme Court of Alabama, after the hearing of the case, which was appealed to them from the Circuit Court Of CullniRn county. Governor Jeilxs granted a respite of day to enable the present habeas corpus hearing to be completed
 Williams himself was under a great strain during the day. and when ask ed at the conclusion of the proceed ings what he thought of his chances he seemed hardly able to take in the question and muttered something about Feeling sick.
 Governor Jelks. who arrived in Bir- mingham this evening. gave out the following announcement In the Will Hams case at 11.30 o'clock tonight:
 Because of a writ of habeas corpus pending before the Hon. 5. L. Weaver,
 Judge of the Criminal Court of Jeffer- son County, Ala, and in order to give said judge time to determine whether
 he has jurisdiction over the subject of the writ. John Williams of cullman
 the 27th day of July for the murder of
 Robert l.. Hipp, is hereby respited ur- til Saturday, the 2sth day of July 1906.
 .,,,,, .v Wiillsm inds D. Jeiks' Governor,
 This order was given out following a
 consultation In the Governors room at the. Hfllman Hotel at which were the Governor, Congressman Sidney J. Bow ie, who represented the state at the hearing before Judge Weaver, Sheriff Q'Rear of Cullman county and one of the iatter's deputies.
 When asked whether the military would be sant to Cullman In the morn ing the Governor stated that in all probability they would, though that was a matter that would be decided in cengressiIian Bowie will be present
 ct the court early tomorrow morning. While no statement was made. It ts
 believed that arrangements will De
 made to carry the prisoner with tho
 military to Cullman on a special train.
 The Governor did not care to be quot ed interference to the case and the
 novel turn 1t had taken in Birmingham.
 Congressman Bowie was with the
 Governor, and when the Governor de-
 clined to be quote and MT. Bowie was
 asked for an opinion, he said the pro
 ceedings were out of order but that
 favorable verdict to the State would
 most likely be rendered by the judge
 will be taken la case the decision of
 Judge Weaver is that he has juris-
 diction, Is not given out, but that some thing was done in this direction at the
 conference tonight between the shr,tS Goo1 v;
 Cuilman County is firmly believed.
 Governor Jelks when asked if there
 was any other news to give out re-
 plfed in the negative and appeared to
 be interested mostly in the Williams
 case.
 been idle since the court adjourned this evening and are said to be ready for new move tomorrow.