Evening star., 1923-04-08
JUDGE PICKS THREE
TO RULE XII KLUX
Simmons, Evans and Mar
shall of Municipal Court
Named as Commission.
By the Associated Press.

By the Associated Press.
ATLANTA, Ga. April After a
week OF legal chickering's between
supporters of William Joseph Sim
| mons, emperor. and II. W. Evans.
imeprial wizard. the affairs of the
| knights OF the Ku Klux Klan today
were placed in the hands of COM
mission of three men. to be admin
istered by them pending further
orders from the court.
Superior Judge L. .. Thomas. in
announcing his decision today,
named Mr.. Simmons, Mr.. Evans and
j. NJ. George, marshal OF the muni-
cipal court, as the committee to
carry on the operations of the Klan.
Sheriff James 1, Lowry, who has
been custodian under previous court
orders for the past four days, is
relieved when he receives the re-
ceipt of the commission for the
headquarters of the khan, its
moneys, records and other properties.
Drop Larceny Charges.
Following the action in Judge
Thomas court. T. J. McKinnon, chief
investigator for the Klan, and y. n.
Furney cashier for the order, were
placed on trial in Municipal Judge
T .. Hatcncock's court on charges
Of larceny after trust. Both were
dismissed for lack Of sufficient evil
dence. McKinnon was alleged to have
removed checks for approximately
$4,000 belonging to the Klan, while
Furney was charged with removing
1t now remains for the court to aca
Upon the original petition of the Sim
mons faction for temporary injuuc-
tion directed against H. w. Evans
as imperial wizard, and other officers
of the Khan, restraining them from
interfering with Col. Simmons az en-
peror and imperial wizard of the or
der he founded. This case is expected
to reach a hearing within the next
ten days, attorneys stated today.
Other Actions to Cople.
There is also pending a petition for
a receivership for the Ku 4<lux Khan,
filed by attorneys for Harry Ter
rell and others of what rs known as
the "insurgent faction,~ hearing on
which has been set for April IA.
Judge Thomas final ruling was the
second he made today on the case.
The original order he made dissolved
the temporary restraining order, ex-
cept in that DR.. Evans was restrained
from interfering with Col. Simmons
as emperor of the Klan. 1t means
that the imperial palace, or national
headquarters, were restored to DR..
Evans, and his adherents were jubf-
liant. 1t was issued by Judge Thomas
after he had declined to entertain
an amendment to the original petit
tion by counsel for the emperor
making the Ku Klux Klan as a cor
poration a plaintiff in the litigation.
Just as the judge was preparing to
sign his order, j. V. Poole, as coun-
sci for Col. Simmons. offered an
other amendment to the original Pc
tition, proposing to make the Ku
Klux Khan a defendant In the case.
Over the strenuous objection Of Paul
Etheridge, imperial klonsel of the
Klan. representing the Evans faction,
the court accepted the amendment
and announced his order placing the
affairs Of the Klan in the hands of a
three-man commission.
Conn ission Under Bond.
To prevent any change in the af-
fairs of the organization until it
is decided who is actually the legal
imperial wizard. the courts order
provided that the commission would