Weekly journal-miner., 1917-05-02

,
 witness was called by Rodriguez, who
 wanted to know where to locate
 doctor and an officer. He directed him.
 1 The wounded man had indulged in
 some vulgar" words and said some
 body ought to shoot Pitts. The court ! laughed at the boys use of the word
 vulgar"
 A Snappy Witness. ! The State rested and Russell opened
 by calling Mrs Pitts. She proved
 good witness and her testimony was
 snappy and prompt. Mir Pitts was very regular about showing up to meals and when he failed to arrive promptly after 6:30
 that evening, his wife sent their
 young son to see why. The boy re-
 turned without word of his father, and
 Mrs. Pitts hurried to the store, where she found a crowd collected around
 the smashed window. The talk led | her to believe Pitts might have suf- fered violence, and she went in, dis covered him just recovering his sen
 ses in the back room. With difficulty,
 she managed to get him out and on
 the way home.
 "Was he intoxicated?"
 Well, I should say he was"
 "You would know if he was intoxi- cated, wouldn't you?'
 T would"
 He'd know it too?" "He certainly would" 1 Mrs. Pitts never saw the gun be- fore: Pitts was not in the habit of carrying one. On cross-examination, Mitchell asked if Pitts had told her anything about the ruction, and she said he hadn't. Then you don't
 know a single fact about it:" Mrs.
 Pitts was not permitted to answer this question.
 Pitts was then called He related his side of the story in a clear voice and with rather a good humored man. ner. He admitted everything up to the time the alleged assault occurred. He had gone into the front room to check up the cash registers and had returned A clerk then poked his head into the back room and said 1t was closing time. ''I told Rodriguez we had better go, and started toward the door, Something hit me along side of the head, and I didn't remem- Der anything until I woke up in bed, six hours later"
 He admitted owning the gun, or one just like 1t, which he kept in his desk in the railed-off office in the front store room
 On cross-examination, he said he didn't remember whether Rodriguez remained in the rear room or not It wasn't the custom 10 allow anybody who couldn't be trusted as oneself in that wareroom. He and Mitchell then had tilt over what constitutes being drunk The witness admitted having taken on six or seven drinks. Thers was a series of lively questions over whether or not Rodriguez could have got out of the back room, secured the gun and returned, unobserved by clerks. Pitts finally stated positively that this could have been accomp- lished.
 Pitts then admitted sending to Rod riguez to come see him. 'I wanted to find out about this thing. I was all muddled and humiliated. and 1 thought if I was doing the boy an in- justice-I wanted to find out about it." He denied having tried to square it. A juror questioned the witness and discovered he hadn't sent for Rodriguez until after he had learned the latter had sworn out complaint against him.
 On redirect examination, Pitts ad- mitted he was so far gone in his cups that he was not at all times cognizant of circumstances, but said that he was not dead drunk.
 Frank Coffman, a cattleman and A. Sanford, the neighbor. then testified lS to their minor parts in the case, and both gave Pitts a good recom- as character witnesses. Several other character witnesses