Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1908-09-14
CAPT. COOK IS TRIED
Court-MartiaI Adjourns at
Barracks Today.
ITS VERDICT KEPT SECRET
Can a Man Have a Sunstroke at
Midnight?
CAPT. HARRIS THINKS NOT
Witness Says the Accused "Whoop-
ed and Hollered" in Alexandria
Car Last Month.
IT. HARRIS THINKS NOT

| How can man suffer sunstroke at
| half-past midnight?
! This query was prOpounded to the colo
nels lieutenant colonels, majors and cap
tains of the regular army who comprise
| the court-martal at Washington bar
racks which today concluded the trial of
| Capt. Frank A. Cook of the subsistence
| department of the army, charged with
| conduct unbecoming an officer and a gen.
| tleman
| The query was put by Capt. P. c. Har-
ris of the general staff, who is judge ad-
| vocate of the court, and as such was
| prosecuting the charge against the officer
of Uncle Sans commissariat. The specifi-
| cations allege that Capt. Cook was drunk
| and disorderly on train of the Wash
| ington, Alexandra and Mount Vernon
| electric railway at 1890 o'clock on the
morning of August 4.
Capt Harris said the only excuse of
| the defense for Capt. Cooks conduct on
| the train was that he was affected by
| heat exhaustion and sunStroke. Capt.
! Harris secuted the idea of a man receiv-
| ing a sunstroke after midnight, long after
! the orb of day has ceased TO shlne upon
| this side of the earth.
| No inkling could be obtained today as
| to whether the court-martial found capt
Cook guilty or not guilty. 1t may be ten
| days before the verdict is known.
Capt Harris quoted from the evidence OF
| Conductor Emerson, who said when he
saw Capt. Cook dashng wildly through
| the train he yelled at him:
! Hold on, partner; where are you go
| ing?'
Captain Was "Kinder Wildish."
The conductor added that Cook Cooked
kinder of wildish,' and a struggle fol-
| hafn n
subdued by the train crew and passen-
| gers The conductor said "he kept on
| raving and called me a right smart of
| things
When the police ambulance arrived on
the scene there was a colored policeman
with it, one of the witnesses testified and
when Capt. Cook spied him he exclaimed.
THAT blanked niger; what has he got
to do with it?''
The same witness testified that Capt.
Cooks eyes were very sparkling" An
other witness had got an odor of alcohol
from Capt. Cooks breath, while others
declared he was sober as a judge. Still
another witness suggested that dope
| might have been put in his drink as
| joke by some one. Other testimony
| tended TO show that Cook was not a
| drinking man.
! Alcoholism "Probable Diagnosis
| The descriptive card placed on Capt
| Cooks cot at the Washington Asylum
had written upon it after the printed word
diagnosis the word alcoholism The
inferno on the witness stand testified
that the card meant a probable dag
! nosis.
Capt. Harris at the beginning of the
! hearing read from military and civil
| law to define what constitutes drunken
ness and disorderIy conduct, and both
| in combination. He also read from sew
eral authorities on insanity.
| THE law, Capt. Harris said, CON
siders man sane until it is proved to
| the contrary. The presumption of mill
| tary law is that person who was sane
| yesterday is sane today. The counsel
| for the defense in his closing statement
did not claim that the accused was in
| sane on the night of the occurrence.
| The word insane however, appeared
| frequently in the testimony of the wit
nesses for the defense and prosecution"
| Capt. Harris intimated that a person
who was not orderly must have been
disorderly. He said that testimony
| tending to prove disorderly conduct on
| the part of the accused will also prove
| drunkenness. He said the evidence
showed that Capt. Cook delayed the
| night" and placed the passengers in a
state of terror. He read from the testi-
mOny of the trainmen that Capt. Cook
''whooped and hollered."
Disorderly Conduct Defined.
The judge advocate explained that. ac-
cording to the books, disorderly conduct
| does not constitute any crime Known to
/ the law. 1t is only when it tends to
a breach of the peace that it constitutes
a minor offense subject to trial by police
| magistrates.
| Proceeding TO consider drunkenness
from a legal standpoint. Capt. Harris
| said there were several kinds of drunks.
| They range from simple exhilaration to
| utter Inconsistencies of acts committed.
| In some cases the mind loses its control
| and becomes frenzied, although the
| amount of drink taken may be compare
| tively' small According to the judge ad
| vocate general of the army it is .imma-
terial whether intoXication is produced
by alcoholic liquor or drugs.
| Capt Harris spoke of the unwillingness
of rxrif to L.