The watchman and southron. [volume] (Sumter, S.C.) 1881-1930, 1915-10-23

P"ScSuiiS NY tue state. Ine inquest
Is being held under military protec-
ton. No spectators except three
newspaper ihen and two members of
the family of the deceased are pres
ent. only attorneys and witnesses be-
ing admitted besides these. Every
person entering the building, except
soldiers i'm uniform, is searched from
scalp to heel and any article that
might be considered weapon is
taken from him by the sentries. All
the witnesses are held in segregation
under guard. An exemption from
this last requirement is made by the
coroner in the case of w. Turner
Logan, who, though he is under sum-
mons as witness, is allowed to at
tend the inquest as an attorney.
John L. Grace. mayor Of Charles
ton, arrived at the court house i'm
company with Mr. Logan and said he
was present as an attorney. He was
admitted after he had been searched.
The mayor as he handed over a re-
volver which he took from his hip
pocket turned to Col. Blythe, COM
manding the troops, and said: Il
want you to bear witness that l gave
this mp before being searched" AS
he left the building the mayor re-
gained his revolver and replaced it
In his pocket. James II. Cantwell,
chief of police, appeared with q pack
age of papers and other property
which he said had been removed
from the persons of Henry j. Brown
and Edward II. Mcdonald at the time
of their arrest last Friday. The chief
after he had been disarmed, was es-
corted by Capt. Meyer to the court
room, but when he had delivered his
parcel and an oral message to Mayor
Grace he was excluded on the ground
that he was n witness. Capt. Meyer
took the package from him and ex-
amined 1t before he would permit il
To pass into Mr.. Grace's hands, in or
der to satisfy himself it did not con-
tain a weapon.
Half a dozen pistols, mostly OF the
magazine type. with holsters were
produced by the coroner as weapons
recovered from the committee room
where Fridays affray occurred. An
other interesting exhibit was a col.
lection Of hats left behind by their
owners in the hurried wholesale exit
from the room when the shooting
commenced.
by oversight two of the principal
witnesses. the prisoners, Brown and
Mcdonald. were allowed to remain
l. the room Cor somc dino after thc
session had opened. so SOON as the
fact Of their presence was called ny;
Mr., Grace 20 the notice ot thc corp
ner, hey wore removed and piac-d
In an anteroOm under guard. 1
Seated within the bar were two
relatives of the late Sidney Cohen.
These were an uncle, Sidmund
Phillips of Charleston, and great
uncle, j. l.. jacob of Memphis. With.
them were Messrs. Smythe and
Visanski of the Charleston bar, re-
tanned as attorneys by the Cohen
family. So far these attorneys have
taken no active part beyond occa-
sionally suggesting question to coun-
sci for the State.
We have nothing TO do with the
facts before or after the death of
MIR. Cohen" said Coroner Mansfield,
upon reconvening at 11.4O o'clock
this morning the inquest which was
commenced last Friday with survey
of the premises and a view of the
body and then was adjourned to to-
day
Mr.. Grace prayed that each juror
be put upon his voir dire.
Feeling runs very high" he said
"Partisanship is strong and human
bias is an important factor. l ask
that each juror be requested to say
what his partisanship is and wheth-
er he can put that aside. know five
of the jurors are against me-"
Coroner Mansfield denied the plea
on the ground that the oath each ju-
ror had taken was n sufficient guar
tee against his being unduly swayed
by partisanship.
Solicitor Cobb agreed with tho
coroner.
A. +. Littlejohn, n reporter Of the
Charleston News and Courier. who
was among those i'm the committee
room when the shooting occurred
Friday, here inquired of the coroner
through Capt. Meyer whether or not