The Montgomery advertiser., 1908-12-20
Colonel Taylor Takes the
 Stand.
REVIEWS AWFUL EXPERIENCE
Describes His ThriIIing Escape
 from Night Riders.
A. Times coieseI Tsyior's Emotions Masterea Him saa He sobbed
 Audisly as He Relatsa
 Details to Jury.

Union City, Isuu.s 0eS- ing his caution to the press yesterday aot "a print the testimony in the night r,aar cases. Judge Jones today eau tioned the ministers of the local churches not to refer to the cases m their sermons Sunday. since the jurors might be present.
 He took no further action with re- gard to the press. although hs con ferred personally with the corEespon- dents of several of the State papers. a,npressing upon them the necessity <or carrying out the courts orders.
 The nrst witness of the day was Colonel R. z. Taylor, the companion pL rsntaln oueuton Rankin on the night N tha murder, Colonel Taylor IS SS vsara old. veteran of the ConLeder- ate army and a, wealthy man Ae .s taii erect and soldierly in spite ot ms vearn wears gray beard ne&tly trAxn- med and does not show his age. Plekc- ink blue eyes shining out from oeneatn sfaaggy eyebrows give nln ssern ap- psnirlv went to Reelfoot Lake to lease sorne land to Carpenter. They drove over the proposed property known as Szrannv Island. returned to the hotel on fha pfwht of october 19 and loft orders Sor horees for another trip the day xol- lowing. Then they retired.
 Colonel Taylor was aWakened oy wards call and the same instant year vvfndow of his room was raised. sgyro .x,vifsag, Runs were ehrust in, follow ed by two black masked heads. But ,ot d word was spoken until the leader nf tra band entered the room by tne aaoT.E The night riders separated Tay- snrs from Rankin and Taylor did not aae Rankin from the time they letL their room until he saw Rsnktn mur- dered They told Taylor kney nfo- noaea to Kin him- When fne nig1t ssaars reached fhe xnrhea Aah tree nn ti,~ hank of biio siough they aalfed Taylor and marched aanhln 70 the loot a ,ae Yhe g trnn. Tho rope was A0an&k@1 ana thrown over the fork. thea some night rider 1aldi
 s'cIve him tina- 10 pray.
 fl have attended to thats was Kan- A'a ? ' Renlrsas's BHuaiad AppeaE.
 some one oG the maslxea band asetzen 4,s rope and drew Rankin ups The fe&e was ineiined a triae and they saised fhe body only until the toes seareeiy touched the ground. From the lips of theSewaying figure came the mu1led appeal:
 HtKuu are CUOEAu& 4k1Gs IG 9AA%ANt-ApAssg pray you to let me down. Please. gen. tienlen. let me down"
 Then one of the riders fired . shot into the body oe Rankin, even as ne nieaAed for his Hfe. Inatantly a tusi- iade cazne. Most of the riders. how sver sllot into the air. Taylor turned 10 his captors and said;
 T am tired, gentlemen, let me sit aown.n He crouched to his knees. nd Y3ntfI he fhourht the guns wore empty, then when the firing stopped he jumped tn- h inc waters of the slough. Instantly the firing was renewed. Taylor dived ont ,r,t heard the outlets striking the water. He swan under water to a big log. He did not know whether the log was fast-sor not. He knew. if It were loose that when he grasped is for support it would splash and his life would be 3orfaited But he was ex- hausted fainting and had to take the risk. From the bank came cries, yells and shots Silently he swam to the Iok. reached for 1t and 1t was fast in the slough. He was safe. The bullets struck the log like hall in storm but gradually they ceased. For two hours, thts aged veteran of hundred battles lAy in the water, grasping the log and when all sounds had ceasedS he swara to the opposite side and took to the woods.
 He wandered all day, followed course marked by the moss which he Knew was heaviest on the north sides of the trees. His eyesight began to fail and he suffered fearfully from thirst. Then he imagined that he saw raAslxed men in every thicket
 Taylor realized that he was suffering from delusIons but his experiences had been so frfghtful that he could not control himself of digpel the hallucl- nations. He hid/in the canebrake un- til Wednesday when thirst drove him out and Into the arms of his friends.
 Just before the night riders killed Rapken, Taylor said:
 sGentlemen, am an old man; cam not expect to live many years more. By Killing me, you will not be cheat ing me of much. But Captain Ranken is young man, with many years be- fore him. Do not kin him.
 The leader. whom Taylor believes was Garrett Johnson one of the de- fendants. curtly replied;
 %Shut upg'
 The aged witness made most pro- found impression.
 At times his emotions mastered him, and he half turned, dropped his head into his. hands and sObbed audibly as the scen9e of that awful night nassed again before his eyes. The old gentle man was asked only one question on cross-examination Did he recognize any of the riders positively the night of the crime. He did not,
 Lack of Memory.
 one Of the witnesses of the morning, D MacWray. who lives within ear shot Of "Tid's Burton, one of the de- fenaansss displayed remarkable lack of memory when called for the state. Finally, Attorney General Caldwell asked him if. since he testified before the grand jury, he had been threatened with death if he testified at the trial.
 The defense objected unless the threats were made by the defendants. The state admitted that they were not and the court ruled out the question. It Appears, however. to have had an effect upon the jury One of the im- uorkant witnesses was Charles H. Russell. son of J. H. Russell, the first 4,fer chosen. and vgh ho was excused be- aauae of the relationship. Charles