The Monroe journal., 1910-08-23

lUuklu U4AS Ac SNdicu lud& MS SUI
Rushing, Ed Little and himself stop
ped at the home Of y. G. Thomas on
leaving the burying ground. They
stayed there about Is minutes and
then left, he and his small son a lit
tie in advance of Walter Curran,
Rushing and Little, all Of whom
we're in buggy together. Just as
he reached the county line he saw
the Thomas boys and Ed Traywick
coming down the road, their mule at
a gallop. He turned out to the side
Of the road and stopped and just as
they passed him one OF the Thomas
boys hal!owed out that they were as
game as hell, and We will kill the
d-n son Of a b-h. Just as they
passed they stopped their buggy and
jumped to the ground and he left
his buggy on the opposite side from
them as he was afraid they would
shoot him. The place where the
Il
buggy. in which were the Thomas
boys and Traywick, stopped was
right near the buggy his son, Rush
ing and Little were in. The men in
both buggies jumped out and Cliff
ford Thomas and Brady Rushing
passed some blows; he advanced
some three or four steps toward
them and stopped, yet some distance
of, when Clifford Thomas left Rush
ing and ran to him and hit him on
the head with brass knucks; he
backed on down the road, Clifford
Thomas following. until he was
knocked down by Thomas, who then
jumped astride of his body. The
witness then said that he got his
knife out of his pocket and opened
it on his hip and commenced to use
lit. AT first he declared he did not
cut to kill Thomas, who was all the
time striking him with the knucks,
and only gashed up his face In ex-
planning how the fatal stab was in
hicted, he declared that he struck at
Thomas arm to cut the muscle, so
as to disable him, and missed the
arm and plunged the knife in his
chest. The cut in Thomas back he
explained by saying that he cut at
the face of his antagonist and that
he lodged and the blade struck in
his back. After the cut in the breast
was inflicted the witness said that
Thomas fell to one side and that he
turned him over, and with the aid Of
his son, Walter, got to his feet. He
denied that Walter reached him un-
til after the fatal wound had been
given, and that Walter at any time
touched Thomas.
Walter Curran and Rushing gave
about the same account Of the trag-
edy as did the elder Curran. Walter
| Curran denied that he had a knife
and said that he did not at any time
cut Thomas.
Ed Little, who is a brother n-law
of Rushing, told about the same
story as the other witnesses for the
defendants. Walter Curran did not
reach his father and Clifford Thomas
until he saw Thomas fall over. He
also stated that Thomas knocked
Curran down and was on him all
the time until he saw him fall to one
side. Little also testified to picking
up a pistol in the road and unbreach-
ing it and throwing it in the road.
He said that Randolph Thomas
reached for the pistol just as he did
and asked him for it.
The attorneys for the defendants,
after Little testified, stated that they
had no more evidence to offer.
], Judge Biggs wanted to know if
Ed Traywick, the young man who
was in the buggy with the Thomas
boys, was not in court; that he want
ed to hear the testimony Of one dis
interested witness, as those who had
been examined were either parties to
the trouble or kin to them.
Traywick then went on the stand,
and it appeared from questions put
to him by the Judge that if he was
any kin to the parties involved in
the tragedy it was distant. His tes-
timony differed from that Of the de-
PENDANTS in two important particu-
lars. He said that Wilson Curran
ran up while Clifford Thomas and
Rushing were knockinga and took part
in the fight. Curran, it will be re-
membered, testified that Thomas ad-
vanced on him and struck him with
!, brass knucks. Traywick also testi-
, fled that Walter Curran reached
|, where Thomas had his father down
before Thomas fell over and appear
ed to be reaching for Thomas.
Thomas, he said, was on top Of Cur
ran. He took pair Of knucks of
Of Thomas right hand after he was
!. Had