The Montgomery advertiser., 1908-12-22
Frank Fehringer on the
 Stand.
 -----s1--- UNUSUAL CAUTION ] TO PROTECT HIM 4tt - Soldiers Guard Prisoner W'has He
 Testifies. He Tells Most Remarkabis stsry sa the Heartless Crimvs In 7snnss- see. and of the KsiHins ef
 captaln ouenten
 Rankin.

 State practically completed it's caeo today against the eight alleged night riders sn trial for the murder of Cap tain Rankin when it drew from Frank Fehringer. 6 member of the band. q detailed statement. not only of the ted 1t but of a score or more of other outrages.
 And then, just to add the finishing touches 1t called to the stand Mrs. Emma Thurman Johnson. one of the two women. known to have been whip ped by the band. sad had her tell her story. 1t was . dramatic close to day of sepsationat developments It was dusk when Mrs. Johnson was called. The startling testimony of confessor Prank Fehrtnger involving the men on trial as actnaA partici- pants in the eoldest biooded murder ever committed in Tennessee given with an exactttude Of detail thet was amazing, had whetted the appsfitae cf the throng of people that packed the court room. The atmosphere of the room did not affect them any as Mrn. Johnson's name was called murunur of satisfaction ran through the room. whipped but aside from the grand iu- ry and pfoseeutfng officers no one had heard her story. 4 tall slender young woman Attired in black and heavily yelled walked rapidsy to the stand. shS removed the veil reluq- tantly on the judges instructiofss that she might be heard by the jury.
 Mrs. Johnson had married Joe John son, a man much older than che Wa1. she lived with him four years and m chIla was born Last August she sued him for divorce. charging cruelty and aaking naintonancel Early In 6eptarl- bor the riders visited her fathers home and Jeff word that ahe must wfthdrnw tha asait. sue reTmNAd t3 AD 60 and on Aeeond visit her father waa whipped.
 on both oecaslons, she was ht her have realised this fer on septeEnber 30 about Il o'clock at night they went fo the sisfer's house. Mrs. Johnson awoIke from a sound slesp bssics her babe to find her bedroom filled with maaked and armed men. A single lamp. turned low. threw Che Enastiy figures into shadows here and there. She knew the purport of tho yisit A man whom she recognized as Fred Pinion, one of the defendaats was standing so close that she could souch him.
 we have come 10 tell you for the last time that you must dismiss that divorce suit" said pinion. whom she had known four years and who lived |, scarcely "a mile away.
 q will not withdraw itt she replied.
 you will before we get through with you.' replied Plnton. If you dia~ miss 1t now we will see that he sup- touch his property
 Bandits Hela cenanltasion.
 Mrs. Johnson obstinafely insisted that she would press the case. Then the bandits filed out into the yard to consult. In a few moments they returned, Pinion atepped ever to the young womansa bed and said:
 sCome with ua."
 Two others of the band selsad the girl. dragged her roughly from the bed in her night clothes and out into the night They hurried her about 7s0 yards away. They threw her on log in the woods and one of the men beat her across, the shoulders with the strap. After the llrst beating they asksd her if she would dismiss the suit. She said no; then she was whipped again. This time her igintf ing spirit was broken and che aok bingly said she woulS give in Co thek demands.
 Let's give her another" said ons of the band.
 NO" replied Pinion. "shs has had enough"
 In bed with the young mother when the riders dragged her out into the forest iri her night robe. was her 2 year-old baby. Mrs. Johnson told her story under strong objections from the defense. She broke down as aho described how she was torn from her baby by the black masked men she pressed her case and won her suit.
 Judge Jones' seemingly impressed by the strength Of the case made out by the State. sent out the jury be- fore the court adjourned and said:
 There are eight defendants here charged with capital ofEenae. Thsy are not handcufRed and are under guard of only two deputies. There fore, I order the sheriff 10 handcuH these men and ask the military to detail ten armed men to serve as guards"
 The defense offered vigorous objec- ton and the attorney general declared that this objection proved to him that the Drecantion vas necessary. Later Attorney General Caldwell said:
 '-The order was made advisedly upon the Information which reached Che of- hcers of the court which Information was serious enough Co justify us in taking every possible and legal pre- Il