The Sentinel=record., 1914-01-17
PROHlS PRESENT EVIDENCE TENDING TO SHOW PETITIONS
 NOT PROPERLY QUALIFIED.
THE END IS NOT IN SIGHT
Clifford Bell, Young Man Who Circu- lated Petitions, on Witness Stand During Very Long and Tedious Session of the County Court.

Fourteen of the petitions for the is suance of saloon license which had been circulated by Clifford Bell, a young man who did not understand much of the legal requirements in con nection with the work, and who was having his first day under the fire of d cross-eXaminatiOn. were placed in jeopardy yesterday in the county court where this young man sat as witness during most of the procedure of the day
 Bell had circulated jne petitions and had informed the signers generally that they must be white adults, and inhabitants, but when he had report ed his petitions back to the headquar- | ters of the Citizens Committee, he had not been put through the formal ! ity of taakng an oath that the law re- | quires as to the manner in which he had performed the work At the out set he was not certain that he had not | taken an oath as to the petitions. for he understood little of such matters, but when asked if he had held up his hand and been sworn before affixng his name. he stated he had not. It was Bells first experience on the witness stand, and under the fire of Att ! toTneys Sumpter and Mcdonnell, uS made very doubtful progress.
 When the decision will be reached is still very problematical Judge Mooney, before adjourning court yes. 1 terday afternoon, announced that he wanted to reach a decision by this at- ternoon, and that if the attorneys did not make more rapid progress with 1 the case he would hold night sessions
 "We are making all the progress possibe,' announced Judge Sumpter, ''but l can not see where we can get through this work in short period of time l am willing for night ses- sions to expedite the work but it is very important that it be gone through with"
 The fourteen petitions which Bell had circulated and which attorneys for the prohis claim have already been fractured sufficiently to be thrown out, contain probably an average Of 30 names to the petition, which means that probably 400 names on the peti- tions are in jeopardy.
 The aggressiveness of attorneys for the p9ohis yesterday led to the rumor late in the afternoon that the present counsel, Attorneys Davies and DavieA for the petitioners, would be helped today by other counsel, that there might still be further and hard CT fight waged on this side to get through. There is much of detail work in the case. it is said, which with ad- ded counsel. could be followed more rapidly. and thus help urge the case to a conclusion.
 Judge Mooney's rulings yesterday were the subject of much favorable comment from all sides. As the cen terpiece for all the numerous conten- tions in this case abundantly filed with technical points of law, he has handed down his decisions promptly and with a brief but sufficient comment to cause any casual followed to be con vinced that he was thoroughly post ed in the law and he was holding both sides alike to the rulings that legal procedure exact
 With young Bell on the stand yester- day, and after he had been called to the witness chair for the petitioners, and then turned over to the cross examination he later was subjected to, Judge Mooney frequently interrupted the fire of the attorneys for the re- monstrators to simplify the situation for the inexperienced witness that he might not make any mistake. Here md there when there might have been serious injury done by an answer to a ouestion. the young man did not thor oughly understand. Judge Mooney would intercept the proceedings with simple explanation of the subject matter
 When a question might be propound- ed in a form to be misunderstood by the witness. Judge Mooney would sim plify the situation by suggesting a more brief form of questioning
 Another thing which Judge Mooney made certain yesterday, and that was that Garland county was not going to foot the bills for this legal contro-