Bisbee daily review., 1919-09-03
Special to The Review.)

DOUGLAS, Ariz., Sept 2-Tetsify ing in a voice scarcely audible to the court stenographers and frequently or the verge of complete breakdown Mrs. Nancy Thomas occupied the stand as a witness for the state dur ing the entire court sesison this aft ernoon in the joint preliminary hear ing of the 200 Bisbee and Douglas citizens charged with kidnapping for alleged participation in the depor tations that followed the l. w. w strike in the Warren district two years ago. Mrs. Thomas testimony broke down almost completely dur ing cross-examination by Attorney w. H. Burgess, chief counsel for the defense and when court was adjourn ed last night, the state appeared to have accomplished nothing other than placing a broken-hearted mother in a situation to say the least, in obvious need of considerable explan> ation.
 Son Was Killed in France.
 Mrs. Thomas was subpoenaed as a witness from her present home in Bonneterre, Missouri, by the county attorney. During the deportation and for several years previous, Mrs. Thomas was a resident of the War ren district. One of her sons was among the HOO men deported on July 12, 1917, it is charged. Later, this son was killed in France.
 Grief over her sons death appeared to have affected Mrs. Thomas. From the very start of her cross-examina- tion her testimony appeared hope lessly entangled. For more than three hours she was questioned re- garding her knowledge of the de- fendants' actions on the day of the deportations, and her answers and accusations against the 66 defendants whom she named during direct ex- animation, became more confused and hay. At the conclusion of her examination Mrs. Thomas had iden- tified less than half dozen men against whom she so bitterly testifi- ed, while many men she had known for years she did not remember when confronted by them, and the greater part of her testimony she had repeatedly contradicted.
 Testifies Against 66 Men.
 When Mrs. Thomas took the stand the county attorney, with the aid of a blanket warrant containing names of all the defendants, which had been marked by the witness, ques- toned the witness as to her knowl- edge of the actions of the men dur ing the deportations. In low, quivering voice Mrs. Thomas told of having seen each of the 66 men whose names were read. The ma jority of them, she said, had walked in front of her home in Rakersville, acting as guards, when the deported men were marched to the baseball park at Warren.
 When cross-examination was open ed Attorney Burgess questioned Mrs. Thomas about one of the defendants whom she had not named. The wit ness described his actions and how he was armed The county attorney then launched vigorous objections, claiming that the questions were un- fair inasmuch as the witness had not testified against the defendant about whom she was being questioned. Counsel for the defense cOnLcnded that the questions were perfectly fair and legal. The county attorney offered to prove that they were not. A I6CeSS was uSCldIcQ uuli1 lnC county attorney went out to look up his authorities.
 He returned with a new legal vol ume and while the witness was ex- cused, read at length from it. The argument proceeded for twenty min utes, the court finally ruling that the questions put by the defense would be permitted if put in simple form that would not allow any possibility of unfairness.
 Fails to Identify Defendants.
 Mrs. Thomas was recalled. She was asked to identify one of the men whom she had claimed to have seen on the day of the deportation and failed Time and time again tho defendants stood up and the witness could not identify them. Other de- fendants whom she pointed out she identified as men whose names she had mentioned. Bob Andreas, Bis bee miner. was twice identified as another defendant by Mrs. Thomas. The first time the witness identified him as John Hogan, Bisbee real es- tate man and the second time as George W. Huffman of the Warren