The Birmingham age-herald., 1912-08-04
OUTCOME OF THE
 JONES TRIAL WAS
 NOT UNEXPECTED Verdict Rendered in Mont gomery Receives Gen.
 eral Approval
CRIME ONE OF WORST
 IN ANNALS OF COUNTY
Rowan Shot Down on Train at Union Station-Wave of Revolt First Began in Jefferson-Attitude
 of Governor 0'Neal
By l.. s. BETTY

of GOvernOr U Neai
 By l.. s. BETTY
 Montgomery. August 3.-(Special)- Twelve honest. God fearing men of Mont gomery county this week condemned to death C. Walter Jones for the murder Of Sloan Rowan. a prominent merchant of Benton Lowndes county. which occurred q little over two weeks ago. Any other i2 men of Montgomery county, competent to serve as jurors, and picked at random, would probably have rendered the same verdict. The outcome of the famous trial was not unexpected
 The crime tor which Walter Jones was sentenced to hang is believed 10 have been one of the blackest in the annals of Mont somery county. Jones shot Rowan on Western of Alabama railway passenger train on the night of July Is, just as the train was leaving the union depot at Montgomery.
 Evidence produced at the trial showed that Jones had entered the passenger train by an unused entrance. had con- cealed the gun with which he did the kill ing beneath a woman's railcoat, and that he had entered the front Of the smok- Ing car In which Rowan was seated. Walking through the car, and facing his man, Jones poured into the body of his victim two loads of buckshor.
 He was immediately disarmed and was turned over to the police Eighteen hours later the Montgomery county grand jury. then in session. indicted Jones for mur- der in the first degree. Seventeen days later a montgomery county jury found him guilty of murder, and sentenced him to pay the forfeit for his crimo with his life.
 Approval on All Sides
 Probably no verdict that has ever been rendered in Montgomery county has re- ceived more generous approval than that which condemned Walter Jones to death. All comments upon the famous case have been to the effect that any other ver- dict, in the light of the evidence pro- duced at the trial, would not only have been blot upon the county, but would have left stain upon the oscutcheon of the state of Alabama.
 Citizens of Montgomery county regard the verdict in the Jones case as signiii- cant. They regard it as an awakening of public sentiment not only in tnis county but throughout the entire state
 The wave of revclt against crime and lawlessness which struck Jefferson county several months ago is believed to have marked the turning point In Alabama, is believed to have been the first sign of an awakening in the state against the crim- AI ..1 IaF al1 a.raf cla lasaf which had been taught through long years of apparent apathy and indifference on the part of officials to give little respect to the law and less to it's representa- lives.
 Revolt First in Jefferson County
 In the opinion of many of the prominent citizens in this city and county the wave of revolt first began in Jefferson county, at one time regarded as the hotbed of lawlessness and crimes. The numerous Lewisburg murders which were from time to time chronicled in the daily papers of the state served to concentrate public at tention upon Jefferson county, and it was in that county that the reformation be- gan.
 During the past few months crime has been punished in Jefferson county with swift and unerring justice. Two white men were sentenced to hang for crimes committed in Lewisburg, another white man was sentenced to life imprisonment for murder, and justice swept down upon other offenders of the law. The attention of the state was next dl- reeted to Montgomery county, and the news soon went out to the entire state and south that two white men had been sentenced to hang in this county for mur- der-Arnold Gilmer sentenced to die for the killing of white woman. and Walter Jones' Both men are now in the Mont gomery county jail, awaiting the further action of the law.
 Governor O'Neal's Altitude
 Governor O'Neal's attitude in reference to lawlessness in the state is generally known He made a personal investigation of the Lewisburg affair several months ago in which Felix J. Ellard was killed. and he followed closely the progress of the Jones trial. When the verdict in the latter case was announced the governor expressed intense satisfaction, declaring that he considered that Jones had had a fair trial and that his sentence was mer- tied.
 The friends of Governor ONeal as well as his political opponents. have com mended the executive for his aggressive spirit in calling for the immediate in- vestigation of numerous crimes which have been committed In the state dur ing the past few months and in the efforts he has put forth to create more general law-abiding sentiment than has obtained in Alabama in recent years. Tlle governor stands for a wholesome respect for the law, and his attitude on the subject has been such as to bring him into popular favor with all classes In the state.
 Jones' Trial Sensational The Jones trial was one of the most sensational that was ever heard by a Montgomery county jury. Walter Jones he'd been for several years, according to testimony before the court, regarded as a bad character At the time of the kill ing of Rowan he was under indictment in Lowndes county in connection with several arson cases, in which Jones and two other white men were charged with burning several stores in Benton last December.
 The arson cases are believed to have furnished the principal motive for the murder of Rowan. as it was declared that the Benton merchant was one of the states principal witnesses in these cases. Out of the arson charges there sprang up feud in Lowndes county-an inter necne war between two clements fin that section. which resulted in the killing of J. M. Wood of Benton and in the cir culation of numerous threats against va rious citizens of Benton and other sec tions of Lowndes county, including some well known residents of Montgomery cunty.
 The nature of these threats .assumt such proportions as t6 cause the sheriff's department of Montgomery county to station deputies at the union depot. in