The copper era and Morenci leader., 1918-05-17

in Arizona, as is remembered their flight and the sensational man hunt which was joined in by most of the officers of the state, as well as com pany of Federal cavalry. The press of Arizona and west Texas, published columns each day of the spectacular pursuit of the outlaws, and the hard ships endured by pursuer and pursued is now past history. The capture of the fugitives across the border by squad of Federal cavalry was another headliner for a day or two. Then the conveying of the prisoners to Graham county, where they waived examina- tion, and their final transfer to the McAllister, and their arrival and in- carceration in the jail at this place has been given publicity in the press of the state.
 The defendants were arraigned be- fore the Hon. Frank B. Laine on April 18th, when their cases were placed on the calendar for May 18th, being the first to be called when Judge Laine called the docket at the beginning of the May term of the Superior Court.
 While this unpleasant duty was fwished' upon him Judge Laine pre- sided with his usual impartiality. and dispatched the litigation as rapidly as possible, considering its importance in criminal Jurisprudence of Arizona.
 The jury was chosen in one day. : Three days were required to take the testimony, another for the argument of counsel. but the jury only required thTty minutes to bring in their yer -dts- According to the information the jury was unanimous, and found ha lofo Tom Powers, guilty of murder in the first degree.
 In Arizona the jury has nothing to say regarding the extent of the punish ment. This is left to the court. The verdict was returned into court Fri day afternoon at o'clock, less than e 100 days after commission of the crime
 When questioned yesterday, after the verdict had been returned, Judge Laine stated that he would pass sem tence upon the convicted men Mon day. In Arizona the death penalty has been abolished, hence the ex- treme penalty of the law for murder is not less than twenty nor more than ninety-nine years confinement in the penitentiary.
 Immediately after the verdict was returned into open court Attorney Fielder gave notice of filing his appli- cation for new trial. The defendant is allowed ten days to file this mo- tion, and should this be denied the at- torney for the defendants stated that an appeal to the higher courts would be taken.
 The defendants received the verdict stoically, without betraying any emo tion.
 Spectacular Criminal Case.
 The third act in the most horrible tragedy that has been enacted in Ari- zona in many years has just been staged in the Superior Court of Greenlee county, where Tom Sisson, John and Tom Powers were on trial for their liberty for the principal rcie they played in this notable tragedy, which shocked the state from border to border.
 The scene was laid at on obscure canyon in the Gailuro mountains in Graham county on the 10th day of February, 1918, when the curtain went up for the first time in the first act of this memorable tragedy. Pic turesquely staged in an obscure noun tain fastness the setting takes on all weirdness that would delight the fan
 
 palmiest days of the illicit distiller in the mountain regions of the south eastern states in the seventies, when the government was engaged in stamp ing out the illicit distillation of the juice of the mountain corn. Nothing is lacking to complete the picture save the ancient still house and ever-pre- sent and essential crystal spring. This, like tragedies that have so of ten been enacted in days that are gone, the government of the United States, through it's agents, was there for the purpose of bringing to justice those who had defied the mandates of of the Federal laws. And in this par ticular the actors and performances are not unlike those on former oc- casions, when the mountaineers, standing upon an abnormal concep-, tion of the principle of individual rights, sought to defy the Federal government by force, and to carry that force to the death.
 The first act in this notable trage- dy was replete with thrills, which if handled by writer of fiction, and only facts related, would satisfy the lover of the most sensational.
 When going on their perilous mis- sion the revenue officers" as they were designated by. the 'tmoonshin- ers' of former days, the Federal au- thorities encountered no more des- perate or determined men, and the fla tai result of this enterprise was not dissimilar to the fate which many men met on earlier days. Often on these raids the revenue men were attacked from ambush and their lives snuffed out before they realized they were in the vicinity of danger.
 Such is brief preface to the first act of the tragedy of the Gailuro mountains of Arizona, when Frank