Martinsburg herald. [volume] (Martinsburg, W. Va.) 1881-1920, 1913-06-07
COL. ROOSEVELT'S
SUBJECT OF
Notable List Of WitnessesSum
moned For Action Against
Michigan Publisher.

4 w-@ EW recent actions at law have
/ - attracted more attention than
4 q the libel suit of former Presi-
+ dent Roosevelt against George
1 II. Newett. publisher OF a Michigan
1 trade journal And rarely has more
I notable list of witnesses been sum-
I moned than appeared ar Marquette to
l testify for Colonel Roosevelt
4 Among tie defenders OF the bull
I moose leader were James II. Garfield
/ former secretary of the interior; Rob
/ ert Bacon, former secretary of state;
/ Jacob Ris, Governor Hadley of Mis-
1 souri,. Frank Tyree. United States Mar
( shal Of the West Virginia district;
/ John Calan OLoughlin, former assis-
/ tant secretary of state. and Truman
4 II. Newberry, former secretary Of the
4 navy.
Men of all political faiths were
/ among the witnesses called for Colonel
/ Roosevelt. Cowboys and soldiers who
4 knew him in the west and during the
I Spanish American war volunteered TO
testify in reputation of Newett's charge
that their former comrade and leader
I is addicted to the excessive use of al
cohol
DR.. John b. Murphy and DIR. Arthur
/ Dean Bevan, who examined and at
tended Colonel Roosevelt at Mercy hos
/ pital in Chicago after he had been shot
at Milwaukee during the presidential
campaign last fall. testified for their
! former patient In dispositions taken
prior to the opening of the case they
asserted that Newett's charge was not
borne out by anything revealed during
/ Colonel Rooseyelt's convalescence from
| the effects of the bullet wound.
On the way from New York to Mar.
| quette, Colonel Roosevelt let 1t be
known by newspaper men that he in
tended TO have his whole life barred at
the trial, If necessary in order to prove
the sfalsity of Newett's charges.
How Trouble Started.
While the last campaign was at its
height Newett's publication. Iron Ore,
contained an article in which it was
asserted that Colonel Roosevelt was
drunk frequently and that all his init
mates knew it."
The bull moose candidate. being
very busy at the time. ordered suit
filed and went on with the campaign
1t was supposed that he had forgotten
about the incident and that he would
not press the suit for $4,000 damages,
but he recently dispelled such suppose
lions by announcing he would fight the
thing out and settle the rumors about
intoxication once and for all.
1T is time ] did something" said
Colonel Roosevelt Not even YER
dict against me would spread this be-
lief about my habits any wider than
it has been spread already"
Friends of Colonel Roosevelt say the
rumor that he was addicted to alco-
holic liquors was very widely circu
lated. especially in the west. and that
many westerners got the impression
the leader of the Progressives was in
toXicated most of the time.
Newett did not appear to be greatly
disturbed when informed that he must
actually fight the case out in court
iiC 10 4uCNth 60 nHNAAAH Seiih liitil hc
could prove his. charge and that he fell
confident of winning the suit.
About the time Colonel Roosevelt
reached Marquette his friends received
q telegram from Denver announcing
that one of Newett's Representatives
was in Colorado presumably investi.
eating Colonel Roosevet's conduct in
Colorado during the last campaign and
trying TO get evidence to be used al
the trial.
While the suit in form was directed
against Newett, its aim, according to
Colonel Roosevelts friends. was the
thorough airing OF scandal that had
spread to all sections of the country.
A Duty to the People.
81 regret" said one of Colonel Roose.
velt's friends et Marquette. that this
trouble has arisen but Colonel Roose,
welt has been forced to take cognizance
of the charges against him.
1T was, in measure, his duty. He
has been a president of the United
States. He is looked up to and believed
in by thousands of Americans, who
have taught their children to regard
him as a model.
His record will be a part of Ameri
can history, and his fame, good or bad
is legacy that he will leave to his
countrymen. He cannot afford to lea ve
it covered with mud"
In making up a list of witnesses for |
the prosecution Colonel Roosevelt's at /
torneys included the names of General