The Birmingham age-herald., 1923-10-23
STOKES ON STAND IN DIVORCE CASE
Denies He Paid Agent Thou sands To Get Witnesses
 For Him

NEW YORK. Oct. 2s.--Assistant ness stand In the Stokes divorce trial, denied subordination charges of Joseph A. Thornton, a negro wit ness for w. E. D. Stokes, who testi- Isfied last week that officials of the dittrict attorneys office had induced him to contradict his evidence after the first trial. Mir. Pecora told of questioning Thornton on perjury complaint from attorneys for Mrs. Helen Elwood Stokes. after Max D. Steuer, counsel for the wealthy ht- tel owner, had abruptly closed the plaintiffs case as the twenty first Of his witnesses stepped from the stand.
 Twelve of tle 21 were negroes. many of whom contradicted them selves repeatedly and four of whom repudiated affidavits introduced In court by MT. Stokes. Joseph H. Daw- son, notary public. was the first de- fense witness. He affirmed the validity of tho documents.
 Mir. Stokes was called to the stand twice by Samuel Untermyer, counsel for Mrs. Stokes, after Mrs. Stokes had waived the right of wife to forbid testimony by a husband at the divorce trial. Supreme Court Jus tica Mahony sustained objection after objection to MT. Untermyer's s questions, however, and most of the time the plaintiff was on the stand was consumed In pickering between eounsels which was silenced only by threats from the bench after MT. Un- termyer had criticised Justice Ma honey's conduct of the case.
 Edgar T. Wallace, chief correspond ent, arrived In New York today. He may be called to testify fer Mrs. Stokes tomorrow.
 l Mir. Stokes denying for tho second time at the retrial that he had a statement from Thornton made be- fore the first trial, testified he had not paid Paul Waggoner, said to have been his Boonville agent, thou sands of dollars" for getting wit nesses. He offered to produce his l checks.
 While the last witness for Mir. Stokes, Adam Butterfield, negro, was on the stand, MT. Untermyer charged | the hotel man with playing on the superstitions of his negro witnesses, He drew from Butterfleld, who had testified to seeing Mrs. Stokes and l Wallace at Bethel. Conn.,, the state ment that Hattie Johnson, negress procurer of witnesses for Mir. Stokes had placed sign on her Harlem
 house, reading "St. Matthews church of silence"
 Were you there." asked Mir. Un- tcrmyer, "when Mir. Stokes appeared under a green light In a darkened
 room Saturday night, wound In z sheet and holding a paper labelled
 ''bill of divorce" In his hand and wher Hattie Johnson told witnesses present
 that 1t was 8 sign from heaven that Mir. Stokes was right in his case3'
 Butterfield said he was not there l Saturday night but had been presen, at "spiritualistic seances."
 Isadore Shapiro. of counsel for Mrs Stokes. read a deposition from pr. L
 M. Benton of Los Angeles, who wal mentioned in the testimony in last
 week of Horace c. Knowles, former
 United States minister in Serbia Rumania, Nicaragua and Bolivia. Mir Knowles said he had seen Mrs. Stokes in the Wallace apartment while walt. ing for Dr. Benson. whom he de. scribed as Wallace's room mate. pr
 Benson denied he had lived with Wallace. asserting he was a guest
 for several months in the fail oi 1 1914. He denied ever having seer Mrs. Stokes there.
 When Mir. Steuer suddenly closed his case, Mir. Untermyer moved dis 1 missal. The motion was denied by Justice Mahoney.