Pine Bluff daily graphic., 1910-12-16

IudC CAo prOOI ulQ not snow to DC guilty be convicted He argued that neither he nor any of the officers nor relatives of the deceased would ask that hair in the head of the accus- ed man be harmed unless the proof warranted the court in believing that he had committed the awful crime laid at his door. MT. Nixon re- viewed at length the accusations made by the lawyers for the defense in the opening statements, at the be- ginning of this trial, in which they severely criticised the District Attor- ney and sheriff for their over-zealous- ness in this matter, and sad that since the proof is all in he had clearly shown that one of the greatest obste cles that they had encountered in the progress of the case was to keep the different lawyers from preventing the different witnesses from disclosing to the court what they knew about the details of the tragedy. His arraign- ment of B. J. Kerwin for disclosing to the attorneys for Ethridge all tho confidential communications he had been able to obtain from the negroes he said he represented, was caustic.
 MT. Nixon dwelt at length upon the testimony in the case and said that every link in the chain of evidence outlined in the confession of Doc" Ragland in Texas had been connected and welded together by the corrobor- atlng testimony of both white and col ored witnesses; that Ethridge himself made many statements to the officers which have shown by white witnesses to De untrue. He concluded his statement by saying that he had no doubt in his mind as to what the court would hold for the reason that if Ethr1dge was on final trial and His Honor was sworn juror in the trial or the case, he could conscient'ously ask him to rendere verdict of gull ty.
 The court room last might was Jammed again and when the decision of Magistrate Frazier was announced someone started handclap which was quickly "nipped in the bud'' bv the Court and the deputy sheriffs. Ethridge made no comment on the ruling.
 The Morning Session.
 Llll1e Ragland and her son, An drew Ragland, were the first witness ses put on the stand by the sta;e ,t the morning session. Their testi- mony was a corroboration of the story of Laura Ragland, the thirte all years old negro gir! who t.stif .a Wednesday,
 Ihey declared thaG on the day after the tragedy Ethridge and Mary Rag land, colored, went to the Walker place, where they were living and called Doc" Ragland to the gate. Ragland and his wife, Lillie. went out to see them and the four walked to the bayou bridge, a short distance away, where they talked of the mur- der and Finally bade each other good bye. That was the last Lille Rag land saw of Ethridge and Mary Ruth erford until they saw them at Fall Back, Miss, later The two witnes- ses also told of Ethridge remaining at their home for week previous to the killing of McVay and of the shot gun which was at their homs and Which disappeared after the killing. Llllle Ragland testified that Mary Rutherford sent them $2O to enable them to move to Fall Back, and that they left the Walker place during the night short time after receiving rhe money.
 Sheriff Edgar Brewster. who has been recalled several times by the state, was put on the stara to im-N peach the testimony of the two wit nesse, brought out on cross eAahl:na- ton, which was relative to statements made by the witnesses aftec their ar rest at Fall Back.
 pr. J. W. Scales, at whose office Ethr-dge appeared on the day after the tragedy. testified that he had seen Ethridge in his office, but that he did not think he had treated him for trouble to his eyes. He said he be- leves pr. Duckworth attended him there. He could not recall whether Ethridge had given him a $25 check