Testimony Unshaken. Hide ‘That Inspector Acted la Self Defénce-Evidence Of Smith Contradicted By Local Doctors — Spracklin’s hi “Windsor, Nov. 8.—Rev. J. O. L. Spracklin, special License Inspector of »x county, was justified in the shooting of Beverly Trumble of the Chap- House here last Saturday morning. , “A Coroner's jury, after brief deliberation, and a onetne pointed ad- F résses from Coroner J. S. Labelle and Crown Attorney J. (H. Rodd, found that Rev. Mr. Spracklin had shot in self-defense. “The verdict reads: ie sa “We, the Coroner's jury, find that Beverly Trumble came to his death ' grom a bullet wound frém an automatic pistol fired by J. O. L. Spracklin, ing , in self-defense, at about 3.30 a.m., November 6, 1920, at — Chap- House in the town of Sandwich.” ' Spracklin Su When the jury, composed of twelve men, deviating from the unusual policy of having but eight men empaneled, returned to the courtroom, ‘the ‘fighting parson,” who had watched every move keenly since he first entered “othe thronged assembly when the inquest assembled, glanced sharply in turn at each of the jurymen, evidently decided they had brought back a finding against him, shrugged his shoulders, set his jaw determinedly, and muttered: 4 “I guess its unjustifiable homicide.” When R. M. Morton, foreman of the twelve good men and true, read off the decision, tears welled up in the fighting parson’s eyes, and he turned immediately to his father, who was sitting behind him, hugged him fierce- ly, and stroked the silvery head, while the older man sobbed and whispered: “It's all right, my boy, it’s all right.’ Crown Attorney Rodd then order- ed the court room cleared and in- structed the police to clear the streets below to prevent any possible vio- lence. : Under Heavy Guard. Just what Spracklin will do is un- determined. His associates hinted to- night that raids would still be prose- cuted, even with renewed vigor, a- gainst rum runners, and even treat- ed as reasonable the suggestion that a campaign be instituted tonight. It is thought probable, however, that Spracklin will be placed under heavy guard by the crown to prevent any violence against him, for a few days at least, until the crown-attorney has made up his mind what further action will be taken, if any. In summing up the evidence Cor- oner Labelle stated that the question before the jury was if it could justi- fy the shooting. He referred, how- ever, to the conditions now existing in Essex county, which he declared left a stigma on the county and bord- er cities, “There is no doubt,” he said, ‘‘that we have a stigma cast against Essex county, and I, for one, feel that this ~has been brought about by the boot- -leggers and conditipns now existing in the community. Whether Rev. Mr. Spracklin is right or wrong is for you to say. /He deserves a grea , deal of credit for the fight he is _putting up against evil forces. We have been remiss in our duty in not assisting the license officers.more in carrying out their duty.” Crown Attorney Rodd, before deal- ing with the legal aspects of the ‘case, agreed with the Coroner. He pointed out that the jury was to de- cide the question before it without ' feeling and prejudice. “You must say by what means Mr. Trumble came to his death, irre- spective of ten thousand people if you plead. You must dissociate yourselves from the outside world. You cannot pay heed to what those about you think. This may not be an easy task in view of the contra- dictory evidence given here tonight,” said Mr. ‘Rodd. ' o Search Warrant uired. rh thing I want you to disabuse your minds of, and that is that law officers in the enforcement of the Ontario Temperance Act do not re- quire a search warrant to enter the house at that hour. If it were néces- sary for him to rush to a Magistrate to get a warrant every time he made a raid those breaking the laws would be gone before he returned.” Mr. Rodd clearly defined murder, manslaughter and shooting when a man believes his life to be in danger. What Carried Weight With Jury. It was the evidence of Drs. J. S. Beasley and V. C. Mills, who flatly contradicted Edgar Smith, a friend of Beverly Trumble, and Rev. Mr. Spracklin, who was called to the stand again by William Furlong, counsel for Mrs. Trumble, along with the charges of Coroner Labelle and Mr. Rodd, that carried weight with the jury. Smith was the witness of the tragedy who was missing after the shooting. He made a poor im- pression on the stand to-night, and was followed by Drs. Beasley and Mills, who declared that he had told them that Beverly Trumble had first drawn a revolver on Rev. Mr. Sprack- lin Mr. Spracklin's Testimony Unshaken. Rev. Mr. Spracklin repeated with- out the slightest deviation his testi- mony of Saturday night. Mr. Fur- long did not question the doctors who had been called to attend Mr. Trumble, but endeavored to break Rev, Mr. Spracklin’s testimony. He sought to know if Rev. Mr. Sprack- lin knew if Trumble’s revolver was cocked when it was pointed at his stomach, “Do you think for one moment that if a gun is pointed at my stom- ach and that a man is threatening to shoot me I look to see if his finger is on the trigger?" replied Rev. Mr. Spracklin. His reply brought a ripple of comment from the gather- ing which jammed the courtroom. Fellow Ministers Express Their Faith In Rey. Spracklin, Who Shot Hotelman Saturday NO LIKELIHOOD OF HIS BEING FORCED TO RESIGN 'FROM MIN- ISTRY—BE MORE POWERFUL IN FUTURE, SAYS T. AIBERT MOORE. Commend His Fearlessness. At a meeting in All Saints’ Scholroom on Monday of the Border States Ministerial Associa- tion the following resclution was moved by Rey. H. M. Paulin, pastor of St. Andrew's Presbyterian Church, and seconded by the Rev. O. C. Gray,! pastor of Bruce Avenue Baptist | Church, and unanimously carried | by a standing vote “This association desires to place; on record its appreciation of the) efforts made by Mr. Spracklin to | eheck the lawlessness that has pre- vailed in this county. “As a special License Inspector we believe he has rendered valuable service, and we commend him for his fearlessness in performance of: ei the good name of our Province; and his duty. “We further express our confi- dence in him as a man, and would: at this time extend to him and his. wife our sincere and prayful sym-, pathies Not to be Expelled ‘fom Ministry. Rev. Dr. H. W. Crews, pastor of Central Methodist Church, Windsor, declared emphatically that there was no truth in the report that Mr.’ Spracklin was to be expelled from the Methodist ministry. Dr. Crews stated that it was simply one of the wild rumors that had been current ever since the occurence became known publicly. London, Ont., Nov. 8.—London ehurch cirches~are deeply interested in the shooting of Beverly Trumble, the Sandwich hotelman, by Rev. J. O. L. Spracklin. /Mr. Spracklin is a member of the London Methodist Conference, and the local Methodist Ministerial Association to-day passed “the following resolution, which will “be forwarded to the Windsor min- | dist Ministerial Association at its reg- f “That we, the members of the Methodist Ministerial Association ‘qnd brother ministers of J. L. Spracklin, while deploring the un- fortunate tragedy at Sandwich Sat- urday morning, wish to place on re- cord our warmest commendation of the active and effective campaign conducted by this brave and fearless officer against rum-running on the Essex border, We would affirm our faith in the high, splendid and Christian character of our brother, and would call the attention of our people to the splendid courage dis-' played by him again and again, even | at the peril of his own life, and we) would express the hope that a thor-| ough investigation will speedily ex- onerate Mr. Spracklin from. all | blame in this regrettable affair, and that he will be permitted to continue his noble work, and while appreciat- ing the splendid work of our Attor- ney-General’s Department, we would call upon our Ontario Government to inaugurate an even more effective) campaign and drastic measures in! stamping out this most disgraceful fllicit traffic, which has debauched we urge that every good citizen will loyally support any person who is actively engaged in working fo this end.’ Toronto, Nov. 8.—Toronto Metho- ular meeting yesterday discussed the | | : along the Detroit River 1 (A Photograph Direct from the War-Stricken Area) Millions of war orphans Thousands of them are and small-pox. in Central Europe are growing up undernourished and stunted. dying of typhus, tuberculosis per Month Preserves the Life of One Child There is almost a complete lack of the nourishing foods growing children need, of clothing, of doctors, nurses and medical supplies. { ‘ ” aie , children is pitiable in the extreme. the world. The British Empire War Relief Fund will be adminis- lered in Europe by the British Red Cross in co-operation with the League of Red Cross Societies. Send your con- tribution care of : The condition of the Upon this coming generation depends largely whether these nations will be healthy and right-minded or a hot-bed of anarchy and degeneracy—a menace to It has been found by experience that the cost of caring for a waif child is approximately three dollars per month; that of the supplies that are required by imports about one dollar is needed; and therefore the dollar that we provide, together with the local support of local‘governments, local munici- palities, local charities and local services practically preserves the life of one child. The Canadian Red Cross | | ( cheque Enclosed find ? money order for $ ( cash ee ee ee ee ee ee er ee ee ee 2 Ty as my contribution to the Canadian Red Cross Society for European Relief. Address eet, Toronto. x Please send your contribution to the local Red Cross Branch or to The Canadian Red Cross, 410 ween had laid charges regarding the con-| dition of affairs in Sandwich and! front the! Department of Evangelism and So- cial Service of the Methodist Church in Canada sent a field secretary to Sandwich to investigate. As a re- sult we gave special assurance of confidence in Mr. Spracklin. “Since \the unfortunate affair in Sandwich ' ‘early Saturday morning, we have sent assurance to Rev. Mr. ‘Spracklin of our absolute confidence) in his integrity. The whole tragedy is a serious comment upon the atti- tude of the persons determined to amass wealth even though they do so by illegal methods and contrary to the expressed conviction of the large majority of the people. It is our sin- were hope that this unfortunate affair will not be to lessen the vigil on the part of those in Ontario in that vicin- ity.” Detroit, Nov. 8.—Can the Church of God ever condone the slaying of man by his fellow-man in anger? De- troit ministers, in meetings held this morning, say ‘‘Yes.” The Detroit Pas- tors’ Union, representing all minis- ters in the city, met in the Y.M.C.A. and discussed the Killing of Beverly Trumble by Rev. J. O. L. Spracklin. The meeting unanimously adopted a resolution extending sympathy to all affected by the killing, and especially ease of Rev. J. O. Leslie Spracklin and the temperance situation in On-| faith in the courts, and pledged the The ministers pres-| support of the union to officers on lves as fully con-| both sides of the border charged with vinced of the integrity of Mr. Bprack-| breaking up the tario generally. © s lin. A committee was appointed to inquire into temperance matters in the Province. Rev. . . Speer is the convener of the committee. In regard to the statement made in the Press to the effect that Mr. Spracklin would be forced to resign from the ministry on the ground of having killed a man, Rev. Dr, T. Al- bert Moore declared that this could happen only if the Inspector were proven guilty. Dr. Moore said he did not see any reason why Mr. Spracklin should re- sign. He thought he would be a more powerful minister in the future. ‘to Spracklin himself. It expressed liquor traffic. Wingham Advance—From a Wind- sor paper we take the following joke which a Chinaman cracked on Mr. George Tees, son of Mrs. A. M. Fra- lek of Wingham. George is very popular in Wingham and we repro- duce the following to give his Wing- ham friends a good laugh: “What time next train go to Chat- ham?” a travelling Chinese asked George Tees at the C. P. R: office. ‘ “Two-two” replied the official. “You no understandee” replied the “The Methodist Church stands for the enforcement of the law.”’ he stated. “After Rev. Mr. Spracklin Celestial. “I know the train go too | too. I no ask how he go; I ask when} he go.” Our Quebec Letter (By Arthur Penny, Union Press Bur- eau Special) Quebec, Nov. 10.—Although the course of events has not been partic- ularly happy in conducing toward the restoration of more amicable rela- tions between the sister provinces of Ontario and Quebec, there is no doubt that patriotic public men on bot sides of the Ottawa River are earn- estly striving to create a greater measure of “Bonne Entente’’ be- tween the two races. Though the recent course of Canadian politics has! i certainly left its mark of estrange- ment, such events as the Irish em- broglio and the death of Terence Mac- Swiney serve to aggravate the sit- uation, there is a very noticeable de- sire on the part of the leaders in this Province to cement'our national un- ity. The address that Hon. L. A. David, made recently in Toronto, wherein he condemned racial preju- dice, is very typical. There is cer- tainly an increasing disposition to study the English language here, and the display of British flags, as well as the patriotic tone of the addresses should make it clear that Quebec real- izes her portions of Canada, and is anxious, granted a fair and equal footing, to do her part toward the na- tion building of the Dominion. The Menace to Unity Considerable discussion has been caused here by the significant state- ments made at the last luncheon of the Board of Trade of the City of Quebec, at which addresses were de- livered by the Premier, Hon. ‘Taschereau, and the Lieutenant-Gov- ernor, Sir Charles Fitzpatrick. Those who heard them were particularly struck with the utterances of the latter. His Honor insisted that there was more danger to British connec- tion from the presence of so many settlers of foreign and American origin in Western Canada than from any Nationalist proclivities on the part of French-Canadians in Quebec. It is a common saying that “trade follows the fiag,”” but Sir Charles sounded the waning that it was also * possible for the flag to follow trade; to prevent which it was important to establish closer trade relations be- tween East and West. It was with such an end:+in view that the Na- tional Transcontinental Railway had been built by the Laurier Ministry, of whicllf6 was then a member, and he strongly urged that that railway should now be used for the move- ment of Western grain crops for ex- port through Canadian ports on the Atlantic coast, instead of permitting them to be diverted by way of the United States to American ports, a8 ‘ | s at present the case. Quebec Gives Money Quebec, like other cities of the Do- minion, is being subjected to a suc- cession of financial drives. A cam- paign to raise a million dollars for Laval Universijy has just Deen con- cluded with marked success, over a million and a quarter having been subscribed, apart from the Provincial Government's contribution of a mil- lion dollars. At the present time an effort is being made to attain the leeal objective of $50,000 in the na- ‘oMal campaign ofq4the Navy League ol Canada, which will be followed by Dr. Grenfell’s appeal for a perma- nent endowmént of his Labrador Mission. A local. branch of the Mc- Gill Graduates’ Society has just been formed, with Brigadier-General J. P. ndry as its president, and Sif Ar- thur Currie is expected to visit Que- bec in the near future, when it is al- most certain that some kind of mat- erial support will be invoked on be- half of McGill University. Practical Joker at Work— Walkerton Times—tThe sign ‘‘No Fishing Allowed’’ which was hung over a big pond of water deposited by the recent rains on the street in front of the Court House Square here was not only a humorous ‘take-off on the inadequacy of our sewerage sys- tem, but was a gentle rebuke to those fish hogs who stick signs up around every bit of moisture where a trout might be suspected of concealing it- self while lying in wait for a worm. Tractor Plowing. Equals Racing Baseball, horse-racing and Billy Sunday will have to ‘take a back seat if tractor plowing takes the gate money in the near future. Last week Mr. Sport Promotor went to the In- ternational Plowing Match at Ham- ilton expecting to see one bunch of rubes with straws in their mouths watching another bunch of rubes with straws in their mouths musing some earth about. What he did see was 12,000 well dressed men and smart women taking an enthusiastic interest in the most technical and highly skilled contests the world can provide. The only spectators who chewed straws and wore their hair over their collars were a few horses musing on a mot- orized future. Although there were no pari-mut- uels and few evidence of side-betting, yet there was nearly as much excite- ment in seeing L. A. Kennedy ride a perfect finish on a Fordson in the Open to Farmers’ Plate, with R. Brown second on Cletrac and J. J. Lewis a close ‘third on another Ford- son Stable Choice, as there was in seeing Man O'War beat Sir Barton. When Clark Young, Bert Kennedy and his brother J. W. won straight, place and show in the Open For All on three more Fordson mounts, Mr. Sport Promotor threw his hat in the air for he had picked ‘the winners and considered himself an expert. Ever since Saturday Mr. Sport Pro- motor has made himself a nuisance to his wife and business associates. He talks nothing but Power Farming from his breakfast egg to his first turn in bed. His only lament is that he cannot breed Fordsons, Anyhow he intends to keep a string of them and is aiming to bring up his four year-old as a tractor plowman. He has also approached Mr. Raney on legislation to turn race courses into plowing arenas. The Attorney-Gen- eral’s reply is expected shortly. The employee who wastes half his time shaking his mane back out of his eyes wants full pay nevertheless.