The Birmingham age-herald., 1919-03-16
FLORENCE

Florence, March .-(Special.) .)-Yester- day the Lauderdale county courtroom ir Florence was crowded to capacity tc hear the second days proceedings of the case in which the will of the late Mrs
 Henry B. Lee was being contested by certain relatives who did not receive a division of the large estate.
 Attorneys for both sides made able ad- dresses to the jury,~ and many promi-
 nent men and women of Florence gave testimony in the case relative to the sanity of the deceased at the time of executing her will.
 Mrs. Florence Fonville, a sister of the deceased, endeavored to break the will of her sister on the ground of her not being perfectly sane at the time of mak- ing the will, in which Mrs. Fonville was not to participate in the division of the estate. Mrs. Henry B. Lee made over her property to her husbands nephew. Frank Lee, and a letter was introduced by his attorneys indicating that Mrs.
 Fonville offered compensation to some of the witnesses of the will to testify that her sister was not entirely sane at the time of executing the will. A let ter to this effect was read to the jury. The jury was out only about 15 min- utes after they took the case yesterday l until verdict was rendered in favor of | Frank Lee, indicating their belief that the deceased was sane at the time of l making the will.
 | The criminal docket was taken up ir | the circuit court in Florence yesterday i afternoon, and the first case to be tried | is that of Lester Staggs, charged with | the murder of E. H. Gentry in East Flor | ence a few months ago. A special jury was drawn to try this case. A large number of witnesses have been sum- | moned.
 Howard Kenzier, aged is. is the con l fessed slayer of the late E. H. Gentry l However, watch of the deceased was found in the possession of Lester Staggs and certain evidence introduced at the preliminary hearing caused the state so- licitor to recommend that Staggs also be held in connection with the murder of Gentry. The trial of Howard Kenzier will be taken up after the completion of the trial of Lester Staggs.
 Greater Florence that is to be is fore told by the flourishing aspect of today | The town has at it's very doors the great nitrate plants constructed by the govern ment, and the construction of the huge dam across the Tennessee river is pro gressing satisfactorily.
 | The growth of the town itself during the past year has been rapid and sub stantial in all sections of the city, and l the future is bright with promise for 3 city of metropolitan proportions.
 | The advance movement in Florence the past year has been wonderful. To com pare conditions one year ago and to- day will disclose condition in the high | est degree encouraging. Tennessee stree ! has probably witnessed the greatest ex l tension of improvement Court street ha: also made distinct progress, while ovel the city the forward movement is dis i tinctly in evidence. Tennessee street l: rapidly filling up. The large Reeder ho tel fills a big gap, and the new opers l house will add to it's strength as busi ness section On Court street the i'm provement is equally noticeable, the hand some bank building adding splendidlS | to the appearance of the street. On thi street several business houses have gon' up, and many others have been improved and enlarged to correspond with the gen eral spirit of the advance movement On South Court street and Seminar, street large buildings have been and art
 being erected, while west of Court [ \ large number of attra ctive residences have been built Hawthorne heights hal been revolutionzed with it's new build | ings and it's improved streets The mos l important work of the year, now in prog ress is probably the solid improvement | of Court street from the O'Neal man sion to the river bridge. When com peted this street win change the whole aspect of the central part of the city change from the old to the new tha | vii. be a revelation.
 Taken altogether, Florence has mad
 substantial improvement in practicall! l every section of the city. This improve
 ment can be properly appraised by thu
 mental comparison of things as they eN
 isted a year ago. and as they now ap
 pear And when the dam construction gets more fully under way, and the i'm
 mense nitrate plant is at work, as IS nov definitely foreshadowed, there is no tell 1 ing what is in the immediate future 10 the, city Every condition points to tn fact that it will be great things. l