The Washington herald., 1909-08-12

Annapolis, Aug. u.-To-morrow or Fri
Gay will see the end Of the sutton in
quiry. The list Of witnesses was prac-
tically exhausted to-day, but there may
be one or two more. Then will come the
summing CD by the attorneys. an ap-
| parently useless procedure in this in
stance. and the court Will adjourn 10 pre-
pare its findings and recommendations
for transmission 10 the Navy Department.
The man who many thought would be a
most important witness turned 10 be
something of a failure to-day. This was
sergt Archie Todd, who was corporal Of
the guard at the marine barracks the
might Sutton died.
Before he left Boston for Annapolis yes
terday Todd taIke: with a newspaper re-
porter. On the stand to-day he denied in
the most sweeping fashion the inter-
view attributed 20 him.
Did Not See killing.
Todd was quoted as saying that he saw
Sutton shot that Sutton was running
away from somebody at that time. To-
day he said ne did not see the killing.
He added that IL he had been looking
at the spot where it occurred at the
time he could not have recognized the
persons involved as he was 200 yards
away.
Nobody in Annapolis suspected that
Todd knew anything Of Importance con-
cerning the affair.
Todd said to-day that the first Official
information he had that he was wanted
by the court came to him at / o'clock
yesterday afternoon A reporter, how
ever. bad beaten the official summons out
BY two hours. and had interviewed him
! al Wakefield. outside OF Boston, at II
o'clock yesterday morning
He admitted that he told the reporter
; that he had heard shots and had seen
men running. but denied fatty that ha
had distinguished one Of the figures al
that og Sutton The fact was. he said.
he had not seen Sutton that night.
The judge advocate read the alleged
interview 20 Todd, section by section.
! Todd denied practically the whole thing.
According 10 Todd's story. he was corr
poral Of the guard on the night OF Sut-
tons death. Shortly after : o'clock
Lieuts. Adams and Ostermaa came TO the
/ guard room. Adams asked him 70 give
, them pistols. saying there had been
trouble in camp and the pistols wers
; wanted for self-defense.
| Todd told the officers that the sergeant
, had the key 20 the drawer in which the
; revOlvers were locked. They went away.
4 Just before that Lieut.. Rocker had
passed by dressed in civilian clothes.
Saw Somebody Running.
In little while after Lieuts. Adams
and Osterman left" said Todd. Il heard
two shots and saw somebody running.
. The man wore a white shirt Then
heard the command TO halt given. fol-
4 lowed by the statement: You are under
arrest Then in a few minutes I heard
two more shots.
- Il went between the shots and awalS-'
; ened the sergeant Of the guard AS I
came from his room Sergt. De Hart came
into the barracks. When he heard the
first two shots De Hart went out toward
the parade ground. where the sound OF
the shots came from. The sergeant of
the guard came out q few minutes later
and ordered me TO remain where 7 was.
Presently he came back and said It was
all over.
In a little while Lieut. Rocker came
to the guard room where was and said5
Ny God Archie. have been shot
When TODD said this every military man
in TIE court room laughed, even the sar-
donic Sergt. De Hart. The amusement was
caused by Todd's description OF the IA
miliarlty with which Rocker greeted him
II laughed at Lieut.. Rocker at first.
Then I examined him. I found IN the iu-
side pocket Of his coat a book OF drill
ToT In 10
bullet took the book out and extracted
the bullet and showed IL 10 Mr.. Rocker.
Th~-e was a hole in his coat, his shirt.
"a shirt. Later, Mr.. Adams
said he had been shot IN
Further tnan these facts. Todd would
not go. He was closely examined by all
the attorneys. and some of his statements
conficted with those Of other witnesses,
but in no material points.
Explains Duel Card.
Another mystery was cleared up to-day.
when Lieut.. Allen NJ Sumner, OF tha
Marine Corps. was brought up from
| Norfolk. Va. to testify. told the story OF
/ the card which had been supposed toi
| contain evidence bearing on supposed.
/ dueling code in vogue in the Marine.
| Corps.
/ This card was laid before the court yes
/ terday by Mrs. Sutton's principal attorney.
| Henry F. Davis. but was not made public
/ Until given 10 Sumner to-day. Sumner
! identified the writing and signature It
! contained as his. The card bore the fol-
/ lowing.
! sutton I am D. fool. Consider
/ the gun business cut out.
ALLEN II. SUMNER"
/ Sumner said the card was written IN
] washington about a year before he and
/ Sutton entered the Marine Corps They
/ were at school there together. and came
/ downtown one night They had q few
/ drinks. and then went 20 the theater.
! After the theater they went 10 hotel 10
! get more drinks. Sutton was drunk. On
: the way he broke a lantern that was
Continued on Page 3, Column 4.
arouTaHr-- Cent ~ V~nnf