The Montgomery advertiser., 1908-12-19
Prohibits Publishing of
 Night Rider Trials.
GIVES CAUTION TO JURY
Correspondents Are Sending Out
 Details Nevertheless.
Witnesses Ten ef ths Lynehanw of cep- s.sa ausns,a Rsnisin st Reel soot Eaks and csieAsi
 raxi.r's nseabe.

Union City, Tenn. Dec. ls---At thp end of the first days testimony ~ tno trial of the eight men onarssa \ rlssn ", the night rider outrages at heeit2ot Take. inc state has made considerable - T, faa introduced testimony covering tha details of the murder of Captain Quentin Ranken, and also had snccesa- Cd in presenting evidence supporting an Identification of two of the prlson- CTS as members of the masked band which killed Captain Rankin.
 The little court room was packed to nnffocation. even the aigies being crowded while an eager throng. ans abie to obtain admission, stood all day uDon the stairway leading to the court room and filled the corftdofa The crowd ia made up almost entirely ok towns people, few or any of the Reel foot inhabitants appearing on the scene to the evident delight and relief o1 the court officials.
 The prisoners, unkempt scolotn9 ana silent, pay little attention Co Inc nroceedlnRs. only once today did thev hetray any emotion. one witness. wno had been sworn into the hand against hin vviil. testified that the only part or ! fine oath he remembered was that part sl1at provided that they would kill nina if Iae revealed anything. At this eardouic grin spread over the features of more than one of the eight prison CTS. Tom Powell, husband 0f the oniy woman witness yet to be called, was an important factor in the states behalf. Powell was dragged from hts bed the night of the Rankin murder and forced fo accompauy the band to the Walnut Log Hotel. from which Rankin and TayIor were taken.
 Powell recognized Frank Fehringer as the man who opened Rankin g valise, took out and read letter. he recognized Garrett Johnson as sae leader and Roy Ransom as the man in fhg white mask. the only one so dis- uuieed FahFinger has eanfaased and swill be used as d witns14 bx the state
 WaNx tho riders took ReweM along 4oo. he heard fhain questioning the two men as to their title tq the land in the Reelfoot district. Near the spot where Rankin was murdered. they naiFsd Powell until the murder was done.s They asked him if ne recognized any of them and when he saii mo- they. told him to tell Ward, the hotel pros prIetori to come down for the bodies of his guests.
 Powell was arrested by the soldiers. and testified before the coroner taAk he failed. to recognize the riderA but aid so because he feared for his Ire He was present when the body er ttep kin. wrapped in a sheet Was carris1 from the spot upon which he was as- sassinated, to the Walnut LsoB Hotel. ana one of the men wbo helped carry inc bloody corpse was Tom Wflsoni whom Powell recognized as one of the night riders who helped to murder Rankin the night before. Wilson has nince died in the Nashville Hospital while under indictment for the murder. He was one of the men nalnd by Feh-i ringer in his confession.
 Curba Newspapers.
 That a strict censorship of the press will be established during the night rider trials. waa indicated when court opened this morning. After caution ing the jury to confine their reading to novels and good books, Judge Jones.
 sBefore we commence the taking of testimony. ! want to make q request of the men who fepresent the ueWspapers here. As you know, there are over one hundred indictments yet to be tried. A juror whe has heard from either witness or From one VIC h4s heard from a witness what purports to be an account of what happeneds issin- competent as a juror. The Supreme Court has held that a newspaper re- port of testimony comes within the forbidden field. Hence, if the newspa- pers report thls testimony at this trial, twill make 1t impossible to secure 2 jury in the cases to come and thus 1us- tice will he defeated.
 ''This is very serious phase of the trial. The court will frat make this request in very polite and-informal way. trusting that the good sense and patriotism of those who own the pa psrs. wiIl lead them to comply with it, Of course, tf it beidisregarded, then the court win be compelled. very reluct- anfiy. to take such steps as may be necessary and legal. to protect the in- terests of the commonwealth.
 rIt. has been suggested that the rul- ing apply only to papers which circu- late in this County and that papers at e distance be exempted. ! do not be- IIeve this would be fair, hence ho ex- emption will be made.
 This statement created decided sem Sation. Quite a number of the Ten nessee daily papers have a stan of men here and these men quickly con suited. but reached no decision. Most of them. however, are sending out the testimony in detail.
 The witnesses were next called and sworn. Seventy four responded for the State and eighty-slx for the defense.
 J. r. Carpenter on stand.
 J. F. Carpenter. owner of 2 saw mill near Reelfoot Lake. was the first TRitness examined. He IS a lawyer and wrote the letter which led Captain Rankin and Colonel Taylor to gb to Walnut Log Hotel, where Rankin was Killed and Taylor escaped only by ai- most a miracle. Carpenter was ar rested and quickly demonstrated his innocence. He wished to buy from Taylor and Rankin some lumber on the Reelfoot Lake property owned by the west Tennessee Land Company, who he claimed owned most Of the Reel foot Lake district. The ground cov- cred by the Reelfoot Lake and the ad- 1oining hills was included in early land grants which the West Tennessee Land Company had purchased. The natives resented this claim to owner ship and 1t Is over this dispute that the trouble began.
 His testimony was to this efiect and to show that several of the defendants knew that Taylor and Rankin were coming to the Reelfoot district He