The Washington times., 1909-08-13
MAKES FINAL PLEA
FOR SUTTON NAME
Attorney Davis for Mother
and Sister Scores First
Inquiry.
CONTINUED from First Page)

their same seats, their backs 10 the
audience Mrs. Sutton and Mrs. Parker
faced the part sympathetic and part
unfriendly listeners, for opinion in
Annapolis IS divided
After the Sutton attorney warmed up
lie paid his respects, without gloves TO
Inc manner in which the first inVestiga-
ton had been held. declaring il 10 be an
exhibition Of most indecent haste
Mr.. Davis began by saying that the
course Of the judge advocate yesterday
IN advancing no argument or hypothesis
with regard 10 the case left that duty
upon him, with the case open between
Mrs. sutton and the parties aligned as
defendants a
A moment later he had taken 6 the
thread of Jimmie" Sutton's undoing.
picturing. IN chronological order. the
events beginning with his advent into
the Marine Corps up to the time that ne
was buried in uncOnsecrated ground
an alleged suicide.
Women Break Down.
While the mother tried in vain to
check her tears. and the sister of the
dead lieutenant sat biting her lips to
hide her emotion. Mr.. Davis told the
court of that mothers offering of her
son TO her country service. From his
letters ne read of the boys hopes and
aspirations He depicted the events of
the Hateful October L. 1901 a day, he
SAID, that Sutton had shown in so many
ways how happy ne was and how
glorious the prospects IF the future. The
scene IN the Carvel Hall Hotel. the last
night Sutton spent on earth, when he
was With Miss Stewart and Professor
Nolemans the midnight adieus, the
promise that all would dine together
tomGrrow; the tribute Jimmie had
paid his mother as he sat in CONVEX
sa1ion-all were told over again with
an artists skill
"And yet they tell US" said Mr.. Da-
Wis, that this boy, who left his COM
panions under these circumstances, lay
within an hour dead the victim of
violent death by his own hand"
Shifting from the pathOs of IT all to
singing criticism, Attorney Davis next
asked the court to consider the work of
that first board Of inquest that declared
Sutton a suicide. 1t had been held, he
declared. with most indecent haste. the
same morning upon which Sutton,
dying, was removed from the campus.
There had been no notice to his family,
no testimony on oath.
Mr.. Davis dramatically emphasized
the few witnesses heard, the incomplete
ness Of the recOrd-sOme thiTty-seven
typewrs tten pages-as compared 10 the
present inquiry record Of l.400, and con-
ftinued:
Brand of Suicide.
After it was all over they placed
upon this dead man the brand of sui
eide, Of : self-murderer. They denied
him Christian burial. according TO the
family faith. they laid him in uncOnse-
Grated ground, stripping his parents of
the hope of the reunion In the life that
IS 10 come, sending him down the dark
tide of what would be utter uothinEnsss,
but that II is eternal punishment
Can You wonder that this mother is
here2. Can you wonder that for two
years. In the face Of these facts. she
has struggled against odds 10 prove
t. the world that the finding Of that
board was false?
The sister came to Annapolis. What
DID she near? Utiey's brutal assertion
o1 hatred; the same from Adams,
whom she asked for help only to re-
move the stigma Of suicide; rebuffs.
suspicious murmuEings and advice that
she should not look upon the body Of
condition"
Mr.. Davis then reviewed the fight Of
MIS- sutton and Mrs. Parker, extend
ing over a period OF twenty trying
months, The mothers letters 10 the de-
partment and To- every one who would
OFFER her advice, aid or encouragement
suspicion was growing with delay
exclaimed the attorney. and this was
intensified by disappointmentss II was
turned into conviction and found its
expression in some OF the denuuciatiOns
that you have heard read here. Is
this a strange, IS this an unnatural at
titude for a mother TO assume under
tragic circumstances like these The
only recourse was the inquiry In which
We are ar last engaged today
Cannot Understand.
understand exactly the reasons for the
different attitudes Mrs. Sutton had been
forced TO assume during this inyestiga-