Atlanta semi-weekly journal. (Atlanta, Ga.) 1898-1920, 1909-02-26
COOPER BRANDED
THIEF BY COUNSEL
Prosecution Declares That it
Will Show Defendant in
Tragedy Embezzled From
Estates, Widows, Orphans.

| NASHVILLE. Tenn, Feb. 23-Not quite
such an immense throng greeted the depu-
ties this morning when they opened the
court room for the COoper-Sharp trial for
the murder of former Senator r. w, Car
mack But there were enough there TO
! I'LL the court room and furnish an audi
ence for a couple of overflow meetings.
call Colonel Duncan b. Cooper" said
General Washington. Then the central
figure i'm the now famous tragedy arose
and walked calmly to the stand.
Col. Cooper Testifies ...
Col. Cooper is short, heavy set and very
iorid. He is somewhat bald, but what
hair he has. like his moustache. is very
white. His eyes are clear and hard and
his face is free from wrinkles. AS he
began 10 talk. his two daughters leaned
| forward in their seats and drank in
every word he spoke. ..
The colonel said he was "a years old
and made his home with his daughter.
Mrs. Burch. That he had four sons and
two daughters For half an hour, Gen.
Washington had Col. Cooper detail all
his relatives, who they were, what posi-
lions they had held. and where they lived
now. He had the witness give his war
record with Forrest. The state finally
objected and was sustained.
81 met Senator Carmack years ago at
Columbia, when he was quite young. l
brought him to Nashville as editor of the
American and he remained with me until
iSe2 when he went to Memphis"
Were your relations friendly"
More than friendly. they were cordial
and close. until his race with Senator
Taylor. four years ago. Then we dis
agreed"
s.Did Carmack ever give expression to
sentiments of gratitude TO your pa
Eyes. when he went TO Memphis in
1872 he wrote an editorial thanking me-"
Editorial i'm Evidence
The defense Offered the editorial and
Judge Hart asked to see 1t. He marked
part of it and said he would permit that
portion to go to the jury. 1t was signed
/ by E. w Carmack The state next eX-
amined it and agreed to let the entire
editorial go in. The court agreed. 1t
was in the paper OF Feb. IL. 1892 and was
bc-SrH Card From f. ~ Carmack. +"
! IT was Carmack's farewell i'm which
he expressed regret at leaving the Ameri-
can and gratitude to the paper and its
| friends II closed with these words: Il
desire to express especially the regard I
, Cooper. under whose direction / entered
journalism 1t is pleasant now to be
able to say that cannot recall word
or en- incident that ever married the pleas
ure of our association"
CoOper told how Carmack moved to
Memphis and entered politics there. went
to congress and was elected to the United
States senate.
Did you. after he left, maintain friend
| " relations?"
Absolutely so. We corresponded and
the last very friendsly letter 1 had from
him was in December, 1904 Our relations
were pleasant after that. however. At
that time he was in the senate"
Have you that letter.
81 have" and witness produced IT,
Letter Read in Court
General Washington took the letter and
described its appearance for Identified
ton. Then it was passed to the states
attorneys They objected to its intro
duction in full. but consented to the
reading of the first paragraph as the
only part of it bearing upon the friend
| illness between the two men. The court
sustained the states contention. The par
agraph admitted read: g
| Dear Colonel: have been trying to get
Senator Mitchell, of Oregon, to locate
some good place for Van in connection.
with the Panama canal as he is doing
something for someone else. am inclined
I to think the best thing Van can do is
to tackle the president himself and tell
him what he wants. however, Will do
anything I can
The letter was signed: Sincerely your
/ friend
| General Washington attempted to get
in the rest of the letter but Jailed. The
Van referred to is a friend Of Colonel
Cooper.
Il notice you are referred to as Colonel
Cooper. How did you earn it?''
"In the army, If l ever earned 1t. ]
4 DC q anlOnnl into
the federal lines and raise a Confederate
battalion. Since then 1 have been called
| colonel"
what was the first note of discord be-
tween you and Senator Carmack?''
THE relations were not cordial during
the Carmack-Taylqr senatorial contest
The first offensive note appeared In the
Memphis News-Scimitar in 1908"
Taylor Caused Trouble
'who started the changed relations?"
! why. 1 supported Taylor in that con-
test and he took offense. I regretted ii
very much
when you met him after that did you
note a change in his manner"
Il did,
who did you support for GOVERNOR
Governor Patterson"
After that did you notice any further
change in Senator Carmack's manner?"
Eyes. sir. He ceased speaking TO me. -
Had you done him any wrongT
II had not"
/ What other indication of hostility did
you observe In Carmack's attitude to-
wards your
well. there were articles in the pa
per. That News-Scimitar article"
The state objected and demanded that
the article be identified. A wrangle fol-
lowed which was ended by the court or
dering that the examination proceed. The
News-Scimitar OF March 10. 1908. was
identified.
WAS that editorial written by Senator
Carmack?'
81 was so informed"
IF you do not know that Carmack
wrote the editorial. it is not competent,
said the court.
Counsel Make Speeches
Il do not know. but have reliable au-
thority for my belief that he did
The state examined the editorial care
fully and passed IL to the court. The
state objected to the entire editorial, but
the court considered part of IL competent
II proved that Carmack wrote It,
The defense argued that the editorial
went to show Col. Cooper's mental con-
dition and that whether Carmack wrote
il or not was OF no moment provided
Cooper believed that Carmack wrote il.
The opportunity 10 make a few speech
a. WAS fOo good To he overlooked auf