Historical Newspapers of South Carolina

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'W.b rtajo~e fr~o sraing ' Judg tlnletod. the jury ho woi)l. ot look them ij) fo the nilghi,(bas *SMed 'then ,against dia:ausshi3 th~e Sese =orheoyhit dt dieeussed T . faw that the prossentidn en. tered a niolle frosequi .itii oe -ese againtst Zimmerman for 1aroeniflihd breaclh of trust is taken to -indicate that Zilnrmnnwill lhimself be used ~as a witness; agpinst Gibson: in this case in .whielh4ibsoin is chttrged witih eeiviRig stolen property. Thiere is, ho.wever, still another indictment against th'e two men join.tly, wvhich has not yet been taken up at all. If it is pressed 'the attorneys for. Zim merman will make the same point that was made against the first in d (ictment~charging forgery. Mr. Zimmerman Shows Strain, Mr. Zimmerman as he stood in the dock showed' very plainly the strair he has been 'under since this serious accusation was brought against him about two years ago. .His muanly young son stood by him and others of his family were in the court room. He lleft the room as soon as ho had signed the plea. A similar pont can- be made in the other indictment, charging larceny and receiving stolen property, and it is expected that this point will be raised when these other cases are call i 1. -The attoipeys for the defendant evidently feel very aure of their ground, for if they fail in the su preme court they have risked the sen tence of at least one year for Mr. Zimmerma in this case alone, there being two other cases pending. In each of these other two cases he is acenssed of larceny of bonds, and the S indictment is brought under the fol lowing section: aSection 147. The stealing or tak ing by robbery of any bonds, warrant, bill or promissory note for the pay ment or securing the payment of any money, being the property of any oth er persons or of any corporation, not withstanding any of the sid partic ulars are termed in law a chose in action, shall be deemed and construed a felony if or above the value of $20, and a misdemeanor if below the 'value of $20; and such offender shall suffer such punishment as if le had stolen other goods of the like value with the moneys due on such bond wvarrant, bill or note, respectively, or secured thereby and remaining un satisfied." It will lie seen that the language of this section is even stronger for the position of the defendants than the section against forgery, whie the section, No. 154, which defnes breach of trust with fradulent intent, states that any of the persons guilty of this offence shall be deemed guilty of lar J eny H. MR. ZIMMERMAN CONFESSES: He Tells How He Took Bends rrom Treasurer's Office-A tiful Scene. Ne wst and Courier. Columbia, February 2.-Daniel Zimmerman took the stand today ir the trial of T. J. Gibson, and confess ed fully and freely how hle had ab stracted from the state treasurer's office the bonds of the state. It was a pitiful scene. The witness said he was over 66 years old and the he fendant is over 76. Standing each of them on the brink of eternity, Zini merman stood upon the witness stand and confessed his sins, accusing the still older man of being his tempter. Mr. Zimmerman, on questions from the 'prosecuting attorney, recounted the transactions and seemed to bc holding nothing back. WVhen Zimmerman was offered as ra witness, the counsel for Gibson, Mr. Andrew Crawvford, objected on the ground that lie had within less than twenty-four hours pleaded guilty to the charge of forgery and conspiracy. Judge Crawford was asked by Judge Pr'ince to produce his authorities and he did so, reading from Greenleaf, on evidence, and from a decision of the late Chief Justice Melver, to shioiv that such a plea would bar a witness as incomp)etent. The judig overruled the objection, saying that K'-the rule is that a witness who~has been s.convictod or pleaded guilty is V.1competent until sentence has been Spassed upon him, and sentence has h ~ ot yet passed on Zimmerman. The plea of gilty\might affect the wit 3 ness' credibility, but not his compe tee to testify. ~L, Mr. Zimmetman in response to Mr. "4~ htu'mond 's questions told of hds en terirg the treasurer'& office during the ,admlnistration of Dr. Bates, contin1 nug therein during, the administra tion of Dr. Timwmernian and for one year under Capt. Jehningis. He went over the books to show how the bonde were recorded whet eent back for qrieelaltizo for etchange for or s bNtifleas.He ws. rer t6- the ai ok nd pointe4- : her~ oiid Nos. 744'and 746 - b Veeeived W 1895a14re4or iMthe Mk.[ben, in :1901, Ma bons ~os. 959 'ind 1,45ere se i btit the books showed again th sTos. 744 apd'745 ,wez redelved, JFrala ly. the witness owned up to this ox ed entry'in his own handwriting. . iaid there were other entries of t same sort, how many he did not i member. Mr. Zimmerman in the -course his te4tirnony, said that in order tb the abstraction of the bonds shot not.be detected he' advised Gibson purchase coup6ns, which Gibson tal ed over to him, and which' he kq for son'e time, then turned them ov to 0ibson, who cashed them throu the banks. In this way the coupo were held out, and the. failure to bi ance the interest account Was not i tected in the treasurer's office. did not matter to what bonds the cc pons belonged, as there is no way ascertain this-fact when they are pi sented for payment. He was asked how lie came to col mit this wrong, and replied that f two years Mr. Gibson urged him get some bonds for him; that he ke putting him off, but finally the ten tation was too great, and he yield< He got out a bond and turned it ov to Mr. Gibson. Then he got othe Mr. Gibson got the premium on t bonds, which was about $40 on t $500 bonds each, and $80 on en $1,000 bond. - Then later Gibson I gan to demand rooney from him a he gave him small amounts from tii to time, say from $5 to $25 a week Subjected to Severe Ordeal. On cross-examination Mr. Zimmi man was subjected to a very sev( ordeal. Mr. Crawford plied him- wi question after question, worded sarcastic style and intended to shi that although Zimmerman claim Gibson to be the author of his wror doing, yet lie gave Gibson merely pittance, a small share of the pi ceeds of their conspiracy. Mr. Crawford's examination of t witness was one of the best things the kind that has been heard in t Richland court room for a long tir lie endeavored to-show. that Gibson a bond broker had no means of kno ing that the bonds lie received fr Zimmerman were stolen; that merely sold them and received I premium as a commision, while Zi merman retained the principal; tI he conducted his negotiations w Zimmerman in the office of. Gib and in public places and there was secrecy. about it. WNritness said knew Gibson had been for years bond broker and he never told i that the bonds were stolen. Gils said Zimmierman had disposed of the bonds which lie purloined cxe( one, and that one he sent to his o' nlephlew inWsigo, wosold and senit him- the proceeds less prmnium, which was the nephev commuission. His nephuew did not, said, know that the bond was stol anud thought it an honest transactil Gibson sold the other purloined bor and Mr. Crawford wanted to kn why Gibson should1( not havec thiout all the transactions honest also. Mr. C raw~ford asked Zimmiermanl le had( b)een advised to plead gui yesterday and lie said that lie I and that the suggestion met with hearty app)roval. He wvas asked if huopc had been held out to him tl lie plea0 would lessen his punishne and lhe said lie had b)eeni told it. woi be better for himz to do so. His tornecys .and his son had so Advis him, but no assurance of this sort lI b)eenl given him by the prosecuti, He dlid not knoiw he .would ik put as a witneCss against Gibson until ter his p)leai of guilty. Judge Prince Objects. Judge Prince objected to the tur~e of Mr. Crawford 's quest.ion n1 interrupted to say that if any one lI promised the witness anything in gard to the .3entence the court woi impose they had reckoned' with<~ their host; t.hat no one could sp< for the court. Mr. Crawford disclaimed any tention to reflect upon his honor, a1 dedlared lie hiad not desired to lei any such impression. Mr. Thurmond, for the prosecuti assured the court there had been agreement as to Zimmerman's plea guilty the day before. After t:he -conelusion of Mr. Zi morman 's testiinony several otl u itnesses were examined. Priva Secretary Bethea and Clerk, Mitel1 were put up to testify to the entir in, the (duplicate bond books kept the offie of the governor and see tary of state, the .records in th, books being identical with those the bond book of thQ treasurer's fee. Judge J. Fuller Lyon, present be cleric and Solicitor Tiflmieman tei fled to their converstior with Gibi ,te during the piogress of their 'iWveOti .d gation into the loss of the bonds. Gib ut son had said he. had had frequent ad ddaling with persons.in the treasur ed er's iffce in, the past bejes Zim y, merman, but h had no -ecorde. of at the ti'ansacti'ons in recent years, ow at ing. to his inability to writej on ac k- count of rheumatism. g- Mr. David H. Means, clerk 'uf the le sinking fund commission for thirty. he year,. was put up to testify to cer -e- tain records of the commission which showed that at one time, a number of of years ago, Mr. Gibson, as bond brok at er, had been engaged to sell for the ld commission a number of bonds to amounting to $25,000 and that lie was n- paid the usual commission and not pt the premium on the bonds as a corh er mission. gh Pending the arrival of witnesses ns from Charleston, the court, took a re il- cost for dinner. le- Gibson t6 go on the Stand. It At the convening of court after din u- ner the state rested its case - and evi to douce for the defence was begun. Mr. .e- B. L. Abney, the attorney and counsel for-the Southerv railway, was the n- first witness. Ie stated that he had or knowi Mr. Gibson- for many years, to had done business with him as bond pt and stock broker, and had found him p- straight and reliable. His reputation d. in the community for integrity was er good. Similar testimony was given rs. by Gen. Wilie Jones, president of the he Palmetto National bank; by W. D. he Melton, attorifey at law; by W. G. ch Childs, president of the .Bank of Co ie- lumbia; by T. H. Meighan, cashier uid of the Carolina National bank, and ne others. Miss Ruth Gibson, daughter of the defendant, was the last witness for the afternoon. She stated that for the last several years her father's th health had been poor and she had done much of his writing, as he did not have the use of his hand. This is ed in answer to (le tsetiniony of the state to the effect that Gibson refus ed to produce his books showing the transactions involving the purloined bonds. Mr. Patrick Cantwell also tes he tified that he had done some writing for Gibson since Gibson had Ween dis lie abled. e r. Crawford, at 5 o'clock, asked the indulgence of tie court until to w-morrow niorning, saying the defen H dant was the only other witness, and he that he was so unwell this afternoon he )artially owilng, to the inclement m- weather, that lie did not feel that lie l hOould be piu; on the stand this af th1 ternoon. Judge Prince said that in consid eration of tle defendant's advanced he age, lie being over 75, and quite fee a ble, lie would accede to the request and im adjourn court. until morning. He then On Wairnled the jurors against discussing all the case and allowed them to go to pt their homes for tile night. It is expected that the Case will be it conclutded ItomorrowOi morning. The re lhe maining easec against Gibsoni and Zinm ,n mrman for lareeny breach ofstrust lie and receiving stolen goods will prob ably not eA Ilced at tlhis terni, as thle pros~ecut ion may desire to have t he ~.poin t ra isedi ini thle f'irst case byV Zimn me10 manu's att Iorneys. passed on by the ts-ip reme eiMrt before t his onie is tried. J. H. if -- t.y "'Everybody Works But rather." 0(d ''Everybody Works But Father'' bis .that will lie seeni at thie opera house he on March -21nd surpasses in beauty or tat seenie effects and catchiness of musi nt., cal numbers ainyt.hing that has ever ild been. seen on the local stag.e. A largze at- and clover comuipanyv with a well-drill ~ed ed chorus of prett gv irls, a ear-load ad of massive scenery and electrical af m-. fects to make the production a plea+ uip ing one and an interesting and consib If- tent play are the necessary features that recommend it highly to the thea ad re * Wood's Seeds ild Seed i,e*vy in-A Recleaned "a aLs Stocks. yve We have thousands of bushels in stock, selected from the best no crops grown in this country; all no th bestand ..otproductive of kinds.0 Burt, or 90-Day, "-r Black Tartarian, oIl Red Rust Proof, ies White and Black Spring, Vir in glnla Gray Winter, etc. Write for prices, Ws 00D'8 HEW SEED BOOK for 1907 tells all about ~odOats and all in Farm and Oao eSeeds. Mailed - iifee on request. ( nd( IT.WEWooIA8ons,8esssen,I 1 ~OH MOND, VA. 0 on &'OWL,% 4W &14 TW Us . Analytical View of the C Greatest Combination of strong Insura Complete Common Sense, Practica Ready Seller for the Agent. Peo 1. Cash Weeh4 abled by A 2. 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