The Columbus dispatch. (Columbus, Miss.) 1905-1908, 1907-01-31
THE LONGSTREET
NEGROES INDICTED
GRAND JURY RETURNED TRUE
BILLS AGAINST THE THREE
NEGROES WHO KILLED
COND. HARRISON.
Finger Brothers Lose Suit Against
Donoghue IL Dee-Other Cases
Disposed of During First
Week of Circuit Court.


term of the Circuit Court ended yes
terday, and Notwithstanding the fact
that the proceedings of the court
have on several occasions been inter
rupted by political speakers, quite a
lot of important business has been
transacted.
One of the first official acts of the
grand jury was to return indictments
against Nose, Sam and "Hatchett"
Longstreet, the three negroes who
killed Conductor Harrison, of the
Mobile & Ohio Railroad, at Crawford
on last Christmas morning. AS the
readers of The Dispatch will proba-
bly, remember, these three negroes
were captured near Hattiesburg about
two weeks subsequent to the killing,
and were taken to Jackson for safe
keeping. AS soon as the Lowndes
couny grand jury returned indict-
ments against the negroes, Judge
Cochran gave to Deputy Sheriff B..
d. Erwin an order on Sheriff Ramsey
of Kinds county, instructing him to
turn the three negroes over to the
Lowndes county official. Armed with
this order and accompanied by Con-
stable Lofts, Deputy Sheriff Erwin
left for Jackson Wednesday, and the
two officers returned to Columbus on
the following day, having in custody
the three men charged with the
crime. The three negroes were ar
raigned before Judge Cochran on
attorney, Mr.. l. d. Landrum, plead
not guilty to the charge of murder.
The hearing of the case is set for
tomorrow.
Quite a lot of the courts time last
week was consumed in the trial of
the case of Donoghue & Dee VS.. Fin
ger Brothers. The plaintiffs last
July closed up the Handy Kitchen"
an establishment operated by Fin
ger Brothers, on an attachment for
s20273, which amount was due them
for goods furnished, and the defend
ants, in resisting the attachment, fill
ed a cross-bill claiming punitive dam
ages in the sum of $4,000. The suit
was filed last summer, and was to
have been heard at the September
term, but was continued until the
present term. Messrs. Donoghue &
Dee were represented by Col. T. j.
O'Neill and Messrs. Cayce and Find
ley, while Messrs. Orr and Harris
appeared for Finger Brothers. After
hearing the evidence and listening
to argument by the attorneys on both
sides, the jury returned a verdict
granting Messrs.. Donoghue & Dee
the full amount sued for and refus-
ing to award the damages prayed for
by Finger Brothers.
The other cases which attracted
public interest that were heard last
Friday were those of Messrs. F. NJ.
Jacob and D. S. McClanahan VS.. the
Columbus Underwear Company, Mr.
Jacob having sued for $269.70, while
the amount of Mr.. McClanahan's
claim was $500.10. The plaintiffs in
both cases were represented by Hon.
J. T. Harrison, while the three local
banks, which as claimants of the
property resisted the suit, were rep
resented ~ their regular attorneys,
Col. VIM. Baldwin having appeared
for the First State Bank, Gen. E. T.
Sykes for the Columbus Insurance e
Banking Company, and Messrs. Belts
and Sturidvant for the Merchants &
Farmers Bank. In both cases the
plaintiffs were victorious, each hav-
ing been awarded judgment for the
amount claimed.
The grand jury, which has been
in session since Monday, took a re-
cess Friday afternoon, and will re-
convene Monday morning. The body
inquired into the case of Will Lee, a
negro who was in jail on the charge
of having killed Sid Neville, who was
found dead in front of his house on
the Pickensyille road several months
ago, but could not find sufficient evil
dence on which to base an indict-
ment. Lee was accordingly released
from prison.
During the time that the grand
jury has been in session fourteen
true bills have been returned.
In the court proceedings publish |
ed in The Dispatch last Wednesday |
1t was stated that the case of Martha
Ann Matilda Beatty vs. the Southern
Continued on Page Eight