The Birmingham age-herald., 1920-05-09
DEFENDANTS TAKE STAND IN COTTON
 CASE AT ANN|STON
Riddle Gives His Connection With Savage Company In Prepared State
 ment

1 Anniston, May S.-(Special. .)-Reversing
 putting up of the defendants themselves, | D. Henry Riddle, one of the seyen de- | fendants now on trial in the federal court under a charges of conspiracy and { using the mails to defraud, went on the stand after noon Friday in his own be-
 half and read at length from a prepared
 statement which gave his side of his con-
 nection with the Savage Cotton Company from it's organization in 1917.
 l Mir Riddle, who is one of the leading l lawyers in the state, was careful to give | his testimony in such manner that the
 two court reporters followed it's reading
 on the witness stand, and the document
 prepared by MT. Riddle contained some
 interesting and favorable data to him
 self. The Taladega attorney was cross questioned closely by District Attorney | Erie Pettus, remaining on the stand in his own behalf two hours or more. l Mir Riddle explained in his statement | that his only connection with the opera | tion of the Savage Cotton Company after I
 that he held $20o in stock in the company. | and that that came to him as fee for | legal services.
 The three attorneys for MT. Riddle, | Ross Blackmon of Annston, Hugo Black
 of Birmingham and L. H. Ellis of Co., l lumbiana, are still following their watch | ful waiting policy. and the same method 1 is being pursued by Judge $. w.. Tate, attorney for T. A. St. John, all of whom
 seem to be satisfied that the government | las failed to connect their clients with | the alleged operations with which the ! seven men stand indicted.
 | SAVAGE ON STAND | w. A. Savage, former general manager l of the Savage Cotton Company, followed | Mir. Riddle on the stand during the aft | ernoon session of Friday and for several | hours his story of the operations of bis | company held the attention of the court. | jury and spectators. At the instance of | Mr. Matthews, attorney for the witness, ! MT. Savage cited figures to show that 1 the gross amount of business done dur | ing the 1917-191S season by his company | ranged just under $l ,0OO, 900, and MT. Say age swore that the gross profits of his l company amounted to about $64000, the | bulk of that amount being used in the payment of expenses of operation, sal l aries and matters of that kind.
 | Questioned consistently by the district attorney as to the operations of the Saw
 age Cotton Company, and the subsequent | organization of the heading mill plant
 later bought in at bankruptcy proceedings | by D. H. Riddle MT. Savage often TO. | ferred to his books and papers on the | twin corporations with which he had l been connected.
 | Attorneys for the various defendants
 had their usual number of questions for | the witness the stand, and many phase of the two operations were
 brought out by opposing attorneys. ! MT. Savage testified Saturday morning, l in answer to questions propounded by | Hugo Black, attorney for D. H. Riddle. l that Postoffice Inspector Keys had prom 1 ised Ito make it light on him if he would
 turn states evidence and give testimony against D. H. Riddle and others and l that he had made the statement at the
 time that MT. Riddle and the other mem 1 bers of the indicted party were not in 1 terested in any alleged crooked transaC- | tions.
 l During the Saturday morning session | Mir Savage told the story of how his
 brother had gone to Birmingham, drawn | St, 900 from bank in that city, and gave | it to him in Taladega, and in that con-
 nection denied that any part of that money had gone to MT Riddle. He ex- plained on the witness stand that an | item of $500 paid to w. c. Hardy, co-de- fendant in the trial, had been made as a loan and not for his part in any trans- | action, and also explained that an entry of s2,500 to T. A. St John had been in | payment of a lot of cotton bought from him.
 Prospects that the trial of the defen- dants will extend into the last of next week were pronounced during the Satur- day session. The five other defendants are yet to be examined before the intro duction of other evidence for the defen dants is introduced, Mir. Riddle having testified in his own behalf Friday after nOOn