The Pensacola journal., 1917-07-08

Pensacola Journal, was then put or
the stand and asked if the Colt's au-
tomato As was not the standard
pistol used by the United States
army. That Will Blackwell Dos
sessed such a weapon, the only one
in the county, various witnesses have
testified; it was the steel iacketed
bullet from such a weapon that shot
the gun from Bud Davis hand. But
if il was the desire of the defense to
insinuate that a deserting soldier et
somebody who had secured in some
way the sidearm of a soldier, il
failed, inasmueh as witness could not
| answer according to his own knowl-
edge.
Witness vs.. Lawyer.
Several of the following witnesses
| by their original expressions, caused
| frequent titters, jury and audience
enjoying the conversational riposte,
and appreciating it equally whether
hits were scored off the lawyers for
| the defense or the prosecution.
Unwilling Witness.
J. W. Martin, an unwilling witness
for the defense, described two
/
the second Monday preceding the
murder, stopped at his house in Camp
Walton. They spoke to a stranger
on a boat. One of the men was tall
| Witness declared the first two men
said they had come from Santa Rosa
and were hunting work. Did not re-
member what they had talked about,
further than that they had asked
about old man Davis and Tom Brooks
apparently the tall man had lived
in that region at some time in the
past.
Witness answered the attorney
for the defense sharply several
| times.
! Through the Knot Hole in the Door.
B. c. Allen, who says he is patch
ing' near Millville, described how,
from II to 4 o'clock at night several
nights before the murder, two mys-
terious stranger, armed with g6ns,
fingered about his house, apparently
! hesitating whether to come in the
yard or not. Allen lives alone and
he told how he watched them through
the knot hole in his door, his hand on
gun, ready to open fire if their pur-
| pose seemed hostile. The next morn
ing he noted their footsteps leading
off down an old trail leading to the
west in the direction of the Davis
home.
! G.. G.. Atwell Talks.
4 G.. G. Atwell testified that his sis
ter-in-law, Eliza Atwell, had told him
on the Sunday succeeding the nur-
der, that VIII Blackwell was at her
house the night of the crime and ate
supper there, and that Fannie and
the boarder, Babcock, would say the
same.
Mrs. AtwelI made such q state
ment, it may be said, before She
coroner's jury, and so did Fannie
but now repudiates it, saying they
bore false testimony because Of fear.
The boarder Babcock did not see viii
Blackwell until the morning after
the crime, and does not know that
! he was at the Atwell house the night
in question, but only heard mans
voice which he thinks might have
been Wills. No cross examination
by the state.
y Alibi For Will?
Mrs. Erin Settles, of Crestview, by
her very original sayings, kept the
room vibrating with amusement
Judge Campbell several times had to
call for order. Witness made a strong
alibi for Will Blackwell, asserting
positively the accused was at her
house the night of March 24, the
night Of the murder, where he drank
some liquor. The time was between
and s p m, Mrs. Settles said-she
knew that was the hour because a
) rain had set in which "cut me out of