The Birmingham age-herald., 1911-03-07
LAWYERS CONFER
 ABOUT B|G SUITS Knight Y ancey Creditors
 Seek to Recover CASE UP NEXT MONTH Louisville ard Nashville and South ern Attorneys in Conference
 Here Forming Plans for
 the Defense
CASE UP NEXT MONTH

To prepare for the civil suits, for approximately s2,5OO,oO0, begun by the creditors of the bankrupt firm of Knight, Yancey & Co.,. against the Louisville and Nashville and Southern railway, attorneys for the lines held an extended conference here yesterday. with the evidence possessed by the two lines and outline a plan of com batting the evidence to be offered by Percy. Benners & Burr, attorneys for the creditors, at the hearing in Hunts vile next month.
 The suits against the railroads charg- ing connivance in the alleged pratices of Knight, Yancey & Co.,, in falsifyins bills of lading, were filed in Decatur several weeks ago They were at hrst filed in the state civil court but were subsequently transferred by the de- fendants to the United States court al Huntsville. They are set for tfial Tn April and the railroads are busy get ting affairs in shape to defend them selves from the largest claims ever filed against common carriers in Ala bama.
 Those who met here yesterday ln- cluded Judge E. B. Almon, speaker or the house of representative and at torney for the Southern railway Gen eral Solicitor Brandies of the Louls- vile and Nashville of Louisville; Judge q. c. Eyster of Decatur, district at torney for the Louisville and Nashville; Col. w H. Jeffries of the Southern railway legal department at Selma, and others.
 The attorneys yesterday would not discuss the conference, nor would any one of them indicate what course Will be followed in defending their com panies from the attacks of the brltlsh and German creditors, who comprise the principal losers through the cele- brated cotton failure.
 The meeting is the first step Whlch has been taken recently in what will nrobably result in the most celebrated case ever tried in Alabama courts lhe failure of Knight, Yancey Co., TOT over S5.0O0,000, the subsequent sehsa- tional exposures which were made as to forged bills of lading, the strange actions seemingly surrounding the principals in the case, the indictment of John w. Knight. head of the nrm' bv the United States courts on several charges of using the mails to defraud, and the civil suits for several million
 O of unusual public interest, -,. t aiItfis stated frankly by the railroad interests that they have anticipated the present move of the creditors It IS said the railroad attorneys knew Ill reason that they would be sued and had scores of their detectives search- ing every nook and corner of the glooe, trying to secure evidence with which to counteract the attacks of the cred itors
 In addition to the civil case, which will come up next month, and which called for the meeting of attorneys here. it is announced that John w. Knight will be placed on trial in Huntsville next month for the alleged misuse of the United States mails.
 The attorneys for the two railroads left here yesterday for their homes Speaker Almon. of the house, went to Montgomery. and the other attorneys to their places of residence.
 It was stated yesterday that Ca ruthers Ewing, the attorney for the Southern in Memphis, who handles the companys suits in the Decatur dis trict, had been freed from trying the Knight Yancey & Co.,, case and would not be engaged in it.