Richmond times-dispatch. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1914-current, 1915-08-15
HEARING MAY COME
TO SPEEDY FINISH
Neither Chichester nor Powell
Supporters Will Be Surprised
at Early Termination.
MUCH TESTIMONY EXCLUDED
Even Men Closest to Accuser
DO Not Expect Him to
Win Case.
my a SIAN Correspondent

i'y q STAFF Correspondent
ffEDERlckSBuRG. VA. August II.
An carry termination of the investi-
eation nE the special COMMITTEES of the
! iouSe of Delegates of the charges
against Judge X. II. l.. Chichester. of
the flft"cnth judicial Circuit. Will
cause surprise neither 10 tho friends
OF tn" accused judge nor the followers
ana those who's" sympathics are with
Delegate Samuel y. Powell.
MT Powell ana his supporters will
suHer Keen disappoint ntment in the event
that Judge Chichester is given a clean
Dill of health 10y the investigators
But some of the men closes, TO him
believe and admit that Mr.. Powell will
not present evidence sui!icien, to sat-
isfy the probers that Judge Chichester
Is guilty. Thoy do earnestly aver
however. that Delegate Powell Will lose
none or his following in Spotsylvania
County or Fredericksburg should the
committee give the Judge n clean bill
of health after hearing all the evidence
offered or bring the inquiry to an
abrupt end before the close OF the com
| ing week by peremptorily dismissing
! the charges as unworthy of further
consideration.
FfEDERiCkSDtRG EXPECTS
EINDICATION FOR JUDGE
1t is difficult TO find any one among
the 1000 Inhabitants OF this CITY who
expects the hearing to result other
wise than In vindication for Judge
chichester. II is more difficult to find
one who is not more or less familiar
with the celebrated case. The popular
| belief is that the evidence will he
closed
| ton and the defense concluded and the
case submitted to the investigating
committee within ten days, If, indeed.
/ week does not suffice
Rulings OF the committee this week
VIII exclude great volume OF the
testimony Powell expected TO offer
Practically every ruling of the body TO
this time on contested questions is
against Powell. The ruling by which
the report on the investigation of the
alleged shortage OF j. II. p. Crismond,
former court clerk OF Spotsylvania, who
was indicted for embezzlng several
thousand dollars of the county's funds
after he had fed to Mexico, was ex-
cluded from tho record as evidence was
I the first staggering blow the prosccu-
tion received. Powell offered this re-
port in evidence to show that Judge
Chichester committed msfeasance when
he appointed rs clerk of the court A. III.
Crismond, son of the man who fed
when the alleged shortage was dis
covered, and whose relatives and
friends subsequently raised the amount
OF the alleged embezzlcment and re-
imbursed the county When the al
legged embezzlement occurred, a. H.
Crismond was his fathers deputy.
When another vacancy in the Office was
made by the death OF the clerk elected
by the people to succeed J. II. Girls
mond. and II was learned that Judge
Chichester contemplated appointing TO
the clerkship y. II. Crismond, n meet
ing of citizens was held and com
mittee was sent TO the Judge to protest
against the appointment. Powell told
the investigators that he would en-
deavor to prove that young Crismond
knew of the shortage in his fathers
accounts while he was serving as
deputy in the elder Crismond's Office,
and that he expected to show that
Judge Chichester knew when he ap-
pointed young Crsmond that the latter
had that knowledge, an allegation
which counsel for the judge denied
positively before the committee ruled
out the whole Crismond affair.
POWELL HAS ANOTHER
SERIOUS SETRACK
The next serious setback Powell en-
countercd came the day after Senator
Noel withdrew from the case. 1t was
the ruling by the committee which ex-
cluded all evidence bearing upon the
general reputation OF Judge Chichester
in Spotsylvania County for making ap-
pointments with an eye single to the
| interests OF the bparty ring" to
which he was alleged to belong. The
boss" of the ring, the Powell adj
herents assert, is Judge Alvin IT. EN-
brcy, who with the equally able and
scholarly ST. George r. Fitzhugh, is
defending Judge Chichester before the
probers.
The demeanor Of Delegate Powell
since tho departure OF Senator J. c.
Noel. the lawyer employed by Powell
sympathizers In Spotsylvania to assist
him in the prosecution, indicates that
he is disheartened. Despite the plucki-
ness he has displayed in proceeding
single handed with the fight as mapped
out by Mr.. Noel and himself, the de-
preston that has come upon him was
so apparent at the last sitting of the
committee that II excited comment. and
among his adherents caused anxiety
His quick resentment at that session
OF what he interpreted as an insulting
remark made by Mr.. Fitzhugh, n vet
eran lawyer, with whom courtliness OF
speech and manner is characteristic,
leads to the apprehensions expressed
by some Of Mr.. Powelrs intimates, who
fear that Judge Embrey. always cool.
calm and collected himself. and whose
faculty for heckling an opponent in
an argument in court has won him
many an advantage, Will provoke tho
spirited Powell to indiscretions in the
argumentative clashes that must in
evitably mark the progress Of the pro-
ceedings during the coming week.
The committee has been in construc-
tive session since o'clock on Friday.
Continued on Second Page)
Delightful Overnight Sail to Baltimore.