The Montgomery advertiser., 1909-03-20
Vigorous 4. Dream State DistrustS 4 e. -
 Story. DIFFERENT NARRATIVES
 SHOOTING HI f Man Who Thought VII
 Burglar Testifies.
  Declares He Did Not Murder, Isss .,fe But Shot Her in a Vision All Evidence Is Tn. 
DIFFERENT NARRATIVES
 SHOOTING HI
Man Who Thought Wi
 Burglar Testifies.
tBY CHARLES l.. HAROLD.

Wetumpka, Mar. 19.-(SpeciaL)- Novel and sensational in the extreme were the developments on the first day of the trial of Alfred Allen, charg- ed with the murder of his wife. The State rested its case early in the fore noon after offering only three wit nesses whose testimony sought to break down the defenses dream" theory. Attorney Fy W. Lull, who is acting solicitor during the illness of D. D. Ask CIV. fought vigorously in his at- tack on the defense's theory. He has had the jury informed of more than one tale told by Allen about the shoot ing of his wife. Once he told I. J, Wood, an uncle of Mattie Lou Allen. that he fired at her with his shot gun ] because on that February night-a strange noise had aroused him. He leaped from his bed, grabbed his shot gun and, on the silence of his wife when he challenged the "fguye at the door," fired one load of buck shot into her left side. By the narrative, given to MT. Wood, after the death of his niece. Allen was conscious and re- sponsible man but frightened. He had discussed trouble and flre-art' with his wife before they went to bed that night. This must have made him very nervous.
 Another VessiOn
 Quite different was the story told by Allen when, a few minutes after the shooting. Grover Meeks. a young neighbor, ran into the defendants yard in answer to repeated cries from the husband of the dying woman Young Meeks said on the witness stand that he met Allen in the front yard. He excitedly asked Alleu:
 Whats the matter?'
 "Why, I've shot my wife,
 Then the witness said the defendant told him that he had shot his wife or purpose.
 After we had gone in the house, related the young witness, MT. Aller told men that he had shot his wife fir a dream. He said he dreamed she was burglar"
 More similar to the story told MT Wood than any person seems to have 7 been the explanation that Allen gave himself when he took the stand thii afternoon late in his own behalf. Al len had sat stolid through the dragging morning of the trial and, with the ex' $ ception of sweat beads that formed e intervals during the giving of testi mony, he remained apparently disin terested. He was much bleache ed b, confinement in the county jail wher' he was lodged when the indictmen was had charging him with the uxor eide. His hair was pompadour. shor crops of moustache and a rather stylish goatee adorned the youthful face. Th' rest of the man was attired in the com mon farmers dress, a tight-fitti sui without crease and a blue blouse shirt He Is a distinct blond.
 By the side of the defendant sat hi mother, who was taken by the stran ger as a sister rather than a mother She was dressed in black and betrayed less signs of emotion than her son Yet she remained by his side durini all the first days of the trial.
 Of pathetic appearance was the seen adjoining and nearer the jury. Ther just inside the railing sat MT. and Mrs James Cask. the father-in-law am mother -in-law of the dead wife of Al len. They distrust strongly tn dream" story of their son-in-law an distrusted it from the beginning. Nil Cask has taken an aggressive interes