The Birmingham age-herald., 1916-11-30

was seated beside his wife, who patted
 his arm gently from time to time said in a low tone, but audible to the newspaper
 men:
 Well, Dave, that's all"
 It was said with a finality that was appalling To the newspaper men who were watching the defendant, the look in his eyes seemed to tell that the that's all' of Judge Allen was not enough.
 That's all, Dave" reiterated Judge
 Allen, I've given them all l had"
 WHISPERS SOMETHING Overton reached up and whispered something in Judge Aliens ear and he 1 then looked at his counsel with eyes that could not conceal their anxious desire | Judge Allen looked straight ahead for a
 moment, and then turning again to his client he said:
 No Dave, have nothing on my
 mind"
 There was another pause and then | Overton, by shake of his head, allowed
 Judge Allen to say to the court: "The defense will rest"
 1 The closing of the defense was one of | the biggest moments of the trial-also one | of the saddest.
 Aonther feature of the trial was the
 stoic mien of Mrs. David Overton, and
 of her pretty daughter, Nora. Both sat continuously near the defendant, and at
 no time did either of them display the l least sign of emotion. As Solicitor Fritz
 Thompson, in his final argument to the ] jury arraigned Overton, with acrid bitter
 ness, both his wife and daughter looked
 on intently, but as in vacant space to
 what was going on. The only sign was | the gentle batting of the hand of Mrs. | Overton upon the arm of her husband, as | if to soothe him in his hour of need The several brothers of Overton were also calm, emotionless men,
 HAD THUMBS DOWN" | As for the large crowd that attended : the trial it was admittedly one that was
 thumbs down" in regard to the defend ant. The majority were women, and while they were quiet in the courtroom they vented their feelings and opinions | outside to such an extent that one could easily gather the impression that the ma- jority of the people of Huntsville were
 against Overton. His guilt was appar- ently never questioned.
 1 It has also been stated that the prohi- bition and local option issues entered into the Overton trial They did, but in
 a spirit of friendly cooperation. Overton was generally credited with having been the local option boss of the city of Huntsville, while the late Judge Lawler was supposed to be the prohibit ton boss of Madison county. With Law lers murder, various unfriendly tongues sought to muddy the issue by asserting that it was a fight between prohibition ists and local optionists. The contrary of this was the truth.
 | In fact, the prosecution or OverIon was actively in the hands or Douglass Tay- I II 41x ney and local option leader, and the cam paign manager for Gov. Charles Tender son in Madison county. With the en- trance of Taylor, the side of the state, those who had planned to make of the Overton trial a liquor fight and po- litical capital saw their hopes go glim- mering They saw that local option lead- CTS and prohibition leaders were united in one purpose and one only-and that was to punish the murderer of Probate
 Judge Lawler-no matter where the pun ishment fell. In fact, no politics was played in Madison county over the dead body of Judge Lawler and the convic- ton of his murderer. All that was done
 was to instill into the substantial citizens of the county a healthy desire for the en- | forcement of the law.
 A PLEASING CITY Huntsville of itself is a pleasing city. It has splendid streets, an excellent light ing system, and is one of the most pro- gressive places in northern Alabama. AS for Madison county, it is a beautiful, roll nig country-one of Gods chosen spots. | But one cannot close a story of the Overton trial, or of Huntsville, without
 making casual mention of that city's pe-
 culiar manner of announcing a fire. On last Friday night the war correspond entS were called into conference by the attorneys of the state and informed that some of Overtons friends were talking of '1ynching" It was explained that this talk was inspired by a desire to create such unrest, such hysteria, that if a conviction resulted an appeal could
 be successfully made to the supreme
 court on the grounds that Overton could rot have fair trial amid such a tense atmosphere as that in Huntsville. Thus the newspaper men retired that night with thoughts of probable mob violence and it affected their dreams
 until about o'clock Saturday morning, when they were awakened by a volley of shots. There was firing in every direction and shrieks and hoarse yells from the streets, while the rush of speeding auto
 mobiles added to the tumult. What was the trouble?
 Heads bobbed from doorways in the corridor of the hotel. Solicitors Fritz Thompson and Joseph R. Tate, in paJa-
 mas were about-and suddenly the glare of fire appeared in the windows, while the shooting and yelling continued
 "They've got Overton," yelled someone
 in frightened voice. land they are com inb up here for Nails and Brooks No, they are not,'' said MT. Thomp- son, with authority. That's fire and the shooting is merely to announce the alarm. See, the county jail is dark And MT. Thompson pointed to the bas- tile which was silhouetted in the night, grim and dark.
 High Mass for Dead Emperor