All of the major players of the Hargis-Marcum-Cox-Callahan Feud met a death by violence. However, the death of Judge Hargis was exceptionally tragic since it came by the hands of his own son, Beech. The following is taken from the Louisville Courier-Journal. In later years Beach disappeared and his fate is not known.

Judge James Hargis Shot To Death By Drunken First-Born In Jackson

Louisville Courier-Journal

Jackson, Kentucky, February 6, 1908

Former Judge James Hargis was shot and almost instantly killed by his son, Beech Hargis, a few minutes before three o'clock this afternoon.

The murder was as deliberate and cold-blooded as was ever committed. The tragedy occurred about 2:45 o'clock this afternoon, and was witnessed by several of the clerks and a number of customers, who were making purchases at the time.

The news soon spread over town, and in a quarter of an hour the streets were filled with the excited and horror-stricken people, who stood around in groups discussing the awful deed.

Killed With His Own Pistol

Judge Hargis was killed with his own pistol, a Colt's 45, which Beech stole yesterday from a drawer in the store, where it was usually kept. A few minutes before the murder, Judge Hargis was walking around in the store chatting pleasantly with his customers, while at the time his son, Beech, was in a poolroom, a block away down the street, playing pool.

Miss Mary Coffy, a clerk in charge of the women's dress goods department, says she noticed Beech Hargis come into the front door of the store, where she was waiting on a customer, and take a seat directly in front, facing the door. She noticed that he had been drinking, and that in a very few minutes he arose and walked over next to the counter. At that time she and the woman she was waiting on walked on through the archway into the other store, leaving Judge Hargis, James Brophy, another clerk, a customer whom Brophy was waiting on, and Beech Hargis in the drygoods department. She had scarcely reached the other room until the firing began.

Blinded Father

The others who witnessed the shooting say that Judge Hargis walked toward his son and said something to him, and the boy at once drew the pistol and began firing, emptying the contents into his father's body. After he drew his gun and began shooting, Judge Hargis caught hold of him; and in an effort to disarm him the young desperado threw his coat over his father's face and thus blinding him pumped the contents of the revolver into his father's body, one of the five shots taking effect below the left nipple, three in the abdomen and one in the leg.

"Mercy I Am Killed"

June Jett was at the desk making an entry. When he heard the report he rushed in, reaching the wounded man in time to catch him just as he slid down by the counter to the floor. Judge Hargis said to him to a deathly whisper, "Mercy, I am killed," and called for aid. These were the only words he spoke. Dr. Kash arrived and directed removal of the wounded man to his home. He expired as they were carrying him in, less than ten minutes after the shooting.

Deputy Marshal Govan Smith and Grover Blanton, who arrived on the scene immediately after the shooting arrested young Hargis and took him to jail. He fought like a maniac on his way and had to be taken by sheer force.

Does Not Remember Killing

County Judge S. S. Taulbee immediately issued orders to the jailer to admit no one to the jail and after repeated attempts, you correspondent was forced to abandon his efforts to interview the prisoner. He did learn, however, from a prisoner that the young man said that he did not recollect killing his father. He is still under the influence of his debauch.

Ran Customers Out of Drugstore

Just before he murdered his father, Beech Hargis drew his pistol in the drugstore of his brother-in-law, Dr. Hogg, and jabbed it against Harland Rice, and frightened the customers out of the store. Dr. Hogg remonstrated with him. He put up his pistol and went immediately to his father's store.

When he entered, his father was talking to Squire Brown, one of the men who had run out of Dr. Hogg's store, and who was relating the incident to Judge Hargis, who remarked that his boy had given him more trouble than everything else combined.

Last Talk Was That of Loving Father

He was telling of his efforts to reform him and this, his last conversation, was full of solicitude for his son, who three minutes later slew his father.

Only last week, young Hargis was drunk and threatening to start a roughhouse in Jackson. When Judge Hargis remonstrated with him he drew his pistol on his father. Judge Hargis thereupon knocked him down and took his pistol away from him.

Declared War On Parent

That night the young man declared to some of his companions in a dive in Jackson, that "by this time next week, either he or his father would be in the bottomless pits of hell."

Daughter Prostrated

Mrs. Evelyn Hogg, the only daughter of Judge Hargis, had only a few weeks ago married Dr. H. P Hogg, one of the active supporters of the anti-Hargis faction, and it was hoped that a final ending of the feud was accomplished. She was prostrated with the shock and clung to the dead body of her father and refused to believe that he was dead.

Wife and Mother Frantic

Mrs. Hargis is almost frantic with grief, Beech having always been her favorite, and it was she who always supplied the wants for her son when he wandered away as he frequently did; and it was she who furnished him with money to return home. Nothing is heard but profound sorrow and horror at the occurrence. There is no significance in the killing, except the trouble between son and father. It has no connection whatever with any phase of the feud that has existed here.

Clerks Ignorant of Trouble

James Brophy, the clerk in Hargis' store at the time of the killing, said: "I do not know how the trouble began. I was waiting on a customer some distance from the men. The first intimation I had was the shooting, and it was over before I could reach them I did not hear any of the conversation."

Dr. Hogg, son-in-law of the murdered man, and brother-in-law of his slayer, said that Beech Hargis had not attempted suicide, as was reported. He said that he had visited him in the jail after the tragedy and that the rumor was incorrect.

Mrs. Green Allen said: "When Beech came in the store Miss Coffy and I were in the rear of the room, and at the first intimation of a difficulty we ran into the other room. I know nothing about it."

None of the people most interested in the matter have anything to say and in fact there is very little known about the occurrence.

Masons and Red Men At Funeral

The interment probably will be delayed for several days. Judge Hargis will be buried by the Masonic fraternity, assisted by the Red Men, as he was a member of both orders.

Last week, while in Louisville buying goods, Judge Hargis purchased his coffin from the National Casket Company of Louisville. After selecting, he instructed the company to keep it in stock until his people wired for it to be shipped. On his return home he told his bookkeeper of the purchase and instructed him to wire for it immediately on his death. These instructions were carried out this afternoon.

Death Near Scene Of Three Assassinations

Judge Hargis Was Practically Free Of Troubles When End Came

Standing in the same building from which he had witnessed the killing of James B. Marcum and James Cockrill, and within 70 feet of the scenes of the assassinations of Marcum, Cockrill, and Dr. B. D. Cox, all three of which murders he was charged with having procured, was James Hargis when shot down in his store. Not only was Judge Hargis killed so near to the spots where his three alleged victims met a similar fate, but his last words of "Oh, mercy," were the same as uttered by Marcum, Cockrill, and Cox, as they fell victims to the assassins' bullets; alleged to have been fired at the instance of the feud leader, whose life was snuffed out in the twinkling of an eye.

The death of Jim Hargis occurred at a time when he was practically out of all troubles in connection with the assassinations, and it was frequently said by him of late that he was glad to be rid of all connection with the murders, even though he had paid dearly for them from a monetary standpoint, and that in the future he intended to live the simple life. Not only had Judge Hargis succeeded in getting himself freed of all of the murder indictments returned against him growing out of the assassinations of Marcum, Cockrill, and Dr. Cox, but he had only recently purchased from his brother, Alex Hargis, the latter's interest in the general store, and was sole proprietor of that mammoth establishment at the time of his death.

Brothers At War

It was because of the numerous troubles between the Hargis brothers that negotiations were opened by Jim Hargis looking to the purchase of his brother's interest, and it was only a short time ago that the deal was consummated between them in Lexington. The first difficulty between Jim and Alex Hargis was shortly after the conviction of Curtis Jett and Tom White, at Cynthiana, for the murder of Marcum, and just before Jett was to be tried for the murder of Cockrill; for which crime he was indicted at the same time the special Breathitt County grand jury returned the indictments for the murder of Marcum.

On the trial of Jett and White for the Marcum murder they were defended by attorneys employed by Jim Hargis and Ed Callahan, both of whom remained by the side of the prisoners throughout the trial. Later when Jett was to be tried for the Cockrill killing, Judge Hargis was reported to have said to his brother that it was his duty to defend Jett for the Cockrill murder, to which Alex Hargis is said to have objected. This refusal on the part of Alex Hargis is said to have resulted in a personal difficulty between the brothers, and was followed later by suit being filed in the Breathitt Circuit Court by Alex Hargis seeking to have the partnership existing between them dissolved. This suit never came to trial, and it was said the differences existing between the brothers had been patched up, but this report was followed by rumors of other disagreements between them, and for more than two years before the final settlement no word of any kind passed between them in either a business or social way.

On Damage Suit Pending

While Judge Hargis had been indicted for the killings of Marcum, Cockrill, and Dr. Cox he had been tried and acquitted of all three charges and at the time of his death no criminal charge of any kind was pending against him. A suit for $100,000 damages for the alleged killing of Dr. Cox is pending in the Fayette Circuit Court at Lexington in which he was one of the defendants. This suit was only recently filed by the guardian of the minor children of the late Dr. Cox, and is on the docket of the Fayette Court, and was to have been tried some time this month.

The killing of Judge Hargis, it was learned last night, will in no way interfere with the trial of this suit as his executor will be made a party to the petition and the case proceeded with when called for trial. Judge Hargis was also a defendant in a damage suit now pending the the Bourbon Circuit Court on a change of venue from the Clark Circuit Court, the suit having been filed by Sam Jett, of Winchester, for $10,000, after the latter had been acquitted of a charge of burning his own home, which indictment was alleged to have been procured by Jim and Alex Hargis. This suit, however, is said to have reached the point where a compromise was about to be effected and it is not likely it would have ever gone to trial had Hargis lived.

Final Payment To Mrs. Marcum

It was less than two weeks ago that Judge Hargis made the final payment to Mrs. Abrelia Marcum of the damages assessed against him by a Clark County jury for the death of Marcum. This suit was tried in December 1904, and resulted in revealing for the first time all of the plots alleged to have been formed by the Hargises and Callahan and B. F. French against the lives of the three men who met death in Jackson. These plots had been hinted at in the criminal trials of Jett and White, but at no time and any of the witnesses revealed under oath the alleged plots and it was at the close of this sensational damage suit trial that the evidence, thus collected, was referred to several Breathitt County grand juries until wholesale indictments were finally returned against the alleged feud leaders. Mrs. Marcum was awarded a verdict of $8,000 against Jim Hargis and Ed Callahan, and because of the time consumed by the defendants in fighting the case through the Court of Appeals the interest and other cost brought the amount up to $12,000, all of which has been paid to the widow of the attorney who was shot down in the courthouse door at Jackson.

The Crimes Laid At The Door Of Hargis

The death of Jim Hargis removes, perhaps, the most picturesque man in the mountains of Eastern Kentucky, and while the reputation gained by him during the past few years was unenviable, he was nevertheless better known because of that reputation than any other man within the borders of the commonwealth. While the thought of Judge Hargis meeting death at the hands of his own son never entered the minds of anyone, his taking off, however, fulfilled the prediction of hundreds of citizens of Jackson and Breathitt County that he would sooner or later die with his "boots on." Hargis first came into the limelight in 1904, immediately following the assassination of James B. Marcum, and while he was known previous to that by the Democratic politicians of the state, his methods did not become public until unearthed by the attorneys engaged in the prosecution of the men charged with the assassination of Marcum.

Previous to this killing, Hargis had, for years, been supreme in the control of affairs in Jackson and Breathitt County, being at the time county judge of the county and having supervision over all of the other city and county offices; and besides this supremacy within the confines of his own county he was the accredited Democratic leader of the mountains and held the fate of the Tenth Congressional District in the palms of his hand. He was for eight years the member of the Democratic State Central Committee from the tenth district, which position he only recently resigned because of the war made on him by the press of the state.

Fought For Henchmen To The End

While Judge Hargis had many bitter enemies in Jackson and Breathitt County for years, it was never possible for any concerted action to be taken to removed him from the dictatorship of affairs because of the iron hand with which he ruled; and only for the firm stand taken by Attorney A. Floyd Byrd, who was prosecuting attorney of the Breathitt district at the time of the Marcum killing, it is likely he would still be on top.

The undoing of Hargis dates back and directly to the killing of Marcum, and for the past four years he had been engaged in the defense of himself and brothers, Alex and Elbert Hargis, and other alleged Hargis henchmen for the numerous assassinations, and due to the sensational evidence revealed at the various trials he became known as the leader of the Hargis faction in the Hargis-Cockrill feud.

The feud had its beginning in February 1902, when Ben Hargis, the youngest of the Hargis brothers, was shot and killed by Tom Cockrill. This killing was followed by the assassination of Dr. B. D. Cox on April 13, 1902, he having been fired upon by several men concealed under a shed in the rear of the Hargis store.

Murder Follows Murder

Three months later, on July 21, 1902, Jim Cockrill, a brother of Tom Cockrill and town marshal of Jackson, was shot from the circuit courtroom of the Breathitt County courthouse, just as he was starting to the depot to leave Jackson forever.

Dr. Cox was the guardian of the Cockrill boys and was active in the defense of Tom Cockrill for the killing of Ben Hargis, and while no word or charge was made against Judge Hargis at the time of being in any way implicated in the death of either Dr. Cox or Jim Cockrill, he was later directly charged with the plots to have them assassinated. the last of the killings which shocked the community was that of Marcum, who was shot on May 4, 1903, while standing in the front door of the courthouse talking to B. J. Ewen, and immediately following this crime so much pressure was brought to bear on the governor of the state that troops were sent to Jackson and the town placed under martial law while a special grand jury was empaneled to investigate the Marcum murder.

Citizens Aroused

The killing of Marcum aroused the citizens of Jackson as they and never been aroused before, and while no indictments were returned at that time others than those against Jett and White, the people began to talk in whispers that other higher up were connected with the plots; and the testimony developed at the trial of Jett and White resulted in Attorney Bryd and Mrs. Marcum, the widow of the murdered attorney, taking steps to ascertain the nature of the alleged plots hinted at by the witnesses on the trial of Jett and White. For two years the investigation was conducted before sufficient evidence had been secured to warrant an indictment.

A peculiar coincidence in connection with the murders of Cockrill and Marcum was that both of them had decided to leave Jackson to escape the assassin's bullet, they having been warned time and time again that to remain in Jackson meant certain death sooner or later. Cockrill had been away from Jackson for several weeks and had only returned to the town on the morning of the day he was shot to settle up some business matters, and this was the same with Marcum. He had been on a trip to the West, and had returned to Jackson also to settle up his business and make arrangements to leave with his family for the Indian Territory when he fell a victim to the assassin's bullet.

Startling Testimony

It was chiefly due to the testimony of Hargis and Callahan on the first trial of Jett and White that they were subjected later to the grand jury investigation. Both men, one the county judge and the other the sheriff, testified that they were sitting at a window in the Hargis store, directly across the street, and saw the assassin creep upon the helpless Marcum and shoot his down from behind, and although both were the highest peace officers of the county neither made an effort to arrest the assassin.

Saw The Killing

It also developed in the trial of Curt Jett for the killing of Cockrill that Judge Hargis was at a point in his storeroom which afforded him a good view of the killing, but no effort was made by him to secure the arrest of the assassins, although he testified that from where he was standing he could tell that the shooting was being done from a window of the courthouse. Had the killing of Dr. Cox been accomplished in the daytime instead of at night, Judge Hargis would also have been in a position to witness it; as he was standing in the yard in the rear of his home and directly across the street from where the victim fell, and within a few feet of where the assassins were standing when the shooting was done.

A Fighter

That Judge Hargis was a fighter. He was thoroughly demonstrated during his numerous trials for the murder of the three men, and while it was believed that the evidence against him was sufficient to convict him on either one of the three indictments, he went into the legal affray backed by unlimited capital and the influence of the most prominent men in his political party; and although he faced three juries of 36 men in Fayette and Lee Counties, only two of that number voted to convict him. The last trial in which Hargis was defendant was held in Sandy Hook, Elliott County, for the murder of Dr. Cox, the case having been transferred to that remote village by Judge William Carnes, of Williamstown; who was appointed to preside in the trial at Jackson, but who became unnerved by the presence of an armed body of men in the Jackson courthouse.

Hargis did not have to face a jury for the Cox killing, however, as he was ordered acquitted by Judge Moody, who refused to grant a continuance on motion of the Commonwealth, because of absent witnesses, and who impaneled a jury and instructed for a verdict of acquittal.

Fortune Spent In Court

Just how much money has been spent by Hargis since the killing of Marcum has long been the subject of speculation among his friends as well as his enemies, and, while he always refused to discuss the question, it has been variously estimated at between $50,000 and $100,000. From the time of the arrest of Jett and White for the murder of Marcum, Judge Hargis always employed the best legal talent in the state to defend himself and co-defendants, and besides this heavy expenses he always paid all expenses of the witnesses summoned for the defense in the various trials, and while some of the expenses came from the pockets of Callahan, French, and Alex Hargis, it is known that the bulk was borne by James Hargis.

First To Be Tried

He was always the first of the indicted men to be tried, as it was the supposition of the attorneys for the commonwealth that as the evidence pointed to him as being the ringleader in the alleged plots, it would be best to dispose of his case first. His trial for the murder of Cockrill, at Lexington, resulted in a hung jury, standing ten for acquittal and two for conviction. This was followed a year later by an acquittal by a Scott County jury, and the trials of Alex and Elbert Hargis and Ed Callahan for the Cockrill killing are still pending in the Fayette court, and were only recently set for trial by Judge Parker in April.

Although every effort was made for several years by T. P. Cardwell, Jr., a brother-in-law of Dr. Cox, to bring to light some evidence which would clear up that killing,nothing developed until after the murder of Marcum which in any way threw any light on the assassination of Dr. Cox, but once the alleged henchmen of Hargis began to talk, others came forward and offered to the prosecution and friends of the murdered men evidence believed to be sufficient to warrant convictions.

Feltner Reveals Plots

The first man to reveal any of the alleged plots was Mose Feltner, who had been befriended by James B. Marcum, and who had kept Marcum warned for several months for the plots. Feltner swore that he was in the confidence of Hargis and Callahan and took part in all of the consultations relative to the plans to kill the three men, and this testimony was later corroborated by John Abner and John Smith, both of whom swore they were members of the gangs which killed Cockrill and Dr. Cox, and who were also members of a gang which waited several times along the highway for the purpose of killing Marcum had he presented himself. The fact that such plots had been formed by the Hargises and Callahan against the life of Marcum was told for the first time by Marcum himself several months before he was killed, and while this was denied by Hargis, Marcum was later killed by the same men whom Marcum accused of being in the plot with Hargis to kill him.

Because of the friendship which existed between Feltner and Marcum the latter was notified by Feltner that plots were being formed to have him assassinated, and when these rumors became persistent Marcum had Feltner make an affidavit that he was in consultation with Hargis and Callahan regarding the death of Marcum, and this affidavit together with a signed statement by Marcum was published in a Lexington paper. This publication resulted in an indictment being returned against Marcum and the paper for criminal libel, and Marcum was assassinated just one week before the date set for the trial of these indictments. No action was ever taken by Hargis to push the indictments against the paper, as the killing of Marcum resulted in all of his time being spent in his own defense and the defense of his nephew, Curtis Jett, and the others alleged to have been co-conspirators.

Fought Hard To Retain Leadership

Even after Judge Hargis had been officially accused of conspiring to cause the assassinations of Marcum, Cockrill, and Dr. Cox, he could not be persuaded by his intimate friends to withdraw from politics, and again made the race as the Democratic candidate for county judge in the fall of 1905, but was overwhelmingly defeated by S. S. Taulbee, while the remainder of the ticket headed by Hargis also went down to defeat and turned Breathitt County into the Republican column. Even this defeat did not result in the elimination of Hargis from the political arena and a short time later he again tried to assume the dictatorship of the party in the district by forcing the congressional nomination upon Frank Hopkins and in the election which followed Hargisism was again repudiated at the polls and a Republican elected to congress in the person of John W. Langley.

The nomination of Attorney A. F. Byrd, who had been instrumental in bringing to light all of the horrible details of the Breathitt assassinations, was favored by many of the Democrats, of the district, but because of the bitter hatred of Hargis for Byrd the feud leader went to the convention at Pikeville, with contesting delegations from numerous counties and succeeded in beating Byrd.

First State Prominence

The first political activity of Hargis which attracted attention outside of his own county was in the Democratic convention at Louisville, which nominated William Goebel for governor. Hargis went to the convention at the head of a Goebel delegation from Breathitt County, and was one of the floor leaders for Goebel on the floor of the convention. He succeeded in having D. B. Redwine names as permanent chairman of the convention, and all through that bitter fight he sat directly behind the chairman and is said to have dictated every move made by the chairman and others of the Goebel leaders. It was at that convention that Hargis was made a member of the State Central Committee from the tenth district, and during all of the trials through which he passed in the past few years he is said to have had the influence of the political friends of Goebel who took part in the famous convention.

Had Scores of Friends

Although Hargis was perhaps more cordially hated by his enemies than any other man in the state he also counted his friends by the score, and he had the most convincing manner of any man in the entire mountain section of the state. He was, however, headstrong on all questions pertaining to himself, and no amount of persuasion on the part of his friends could sway him from the course he had mapped out,and it was because of this tenacity on his part that he met with ignominious defeat. Hargis was the same way in his numerous trials as in politics, and although he was at all times surrounded by the best legal talent in the state, he always insisted that the trials should be conducted upon his own ideas, and on more than one occasion his leading attorney has left the courthouse during the progress of a trial because Hargis desired him to conduct the trial and examination of witnesses in a manner that the lawyer believed was injudicious to his client.

Born In Breathitt

Judge Hargis was born on a farm in Breathitt County, one mile below Jackson, in 1862, and all of his life had been spent within a few miles of his birthplace. He was a son of John S. and Evelyn Hargis. He was married 23 years ago to Miss Day, a sister of Floyd, John, and Walter Day, leading citizens of Breathitt County, and is survived by his wife and two children; Beech Hargis and Mrs. W. P. Hogg, who before her marriage a few weeks ago was Miss Evelyn Hargis.

The son who committed the murder today is 21 years old, while the daughter has recently passed her 19th birthday. Judge Hargis is also survived by his mother, who is now about 75 years of age, and by several brothers and sisters, among them being Alex and Elbert Hargis and Mrs. Lucy South.

Two Brothers Killed In Feuds

Judge Hargis had two brothers and a brother-in-law killed in running feud fights. His brother, John "Tige" Hargis, was killed several years ago on a Lexington and Eastern train near Beattyville Junction, by Jerry Cardwell, a brother of Judge T. P. Cardwell, Jr., and also a brother-in-law of Dr. Cox. Ben Hargis was killed by Tom Cockrill, which killing was the starting of the Hargis-Cockrill feud. The killing occurred in a blind tiger in Jackson, and during the battle Cockrill was shot four times by young Hargis and other members of the crowd, but he survived his wounds. Jerry South, Hargis' brother-in-law, was waylaid and killed at night, and, so far as known, no one was ever suspected of the killing.

Murderer A Wild And Reckless Youth

Beech Hargis, the son now in jail charged with the murder of his father, has led a wild and reckless career for the past few years, and it has been the belief of all who knew him that he would sooner or later get into serious trouble because of his manner of living, but no one was prepared for the shock which came today. Young Hargis has spent very little time at home for the past two or three years, and it has been necessary several times during the past few months for his mother to got to Lexington and Cincinnati to get him out of trouble.

Only a few weeks ago Mrs. Hargis journeyed to Cincinnati and got the boy out of the Cincinnati workhouse by the payment of a large fine, he having been sentenced to the works by the police judge for vagrancy, after having been arrested in a disorderly house. The boy has always been of an unruly disposition, especially when drinking, and much of his time since the troubles of his father began to multiply has been spent in running around the country, he having gone to Mexico on one occasion. Notwithstanding these trips young Hargis always returned to Jackson and received the forgiveness of his father, but during the past few months it is said that Judge Hargis refused to longer extend forgiveness because of the waywardness of the boy, and had practically cut him off as a member of the family, refusing to give him any aid in a financial way.

Will Be Buried In Casket Of His Choice

Whether or not James Hargis, the noted Eastern Kentucky feudal chieftain and former county judge of Breathitt County, had a premonition that death was near, will of course, never be known, but two weeks ago, while in Louisville purchasing goods for his general merchandise store in Jackson, he was passing through the salesrooms of the National Casket Company and admired a solid mahogany casket, one of the finest made, and remarked to the salesman that it was the one he wanted when his time come. Yesterday afternoon the firm received a telegram from Mrs. Hargis asking them to ship at once the casket selected by Judge Hargis two weeks ago. On receipt of the message, W. H. May, manager of the firm, got into communication with the salesman who had waited upon Judge Hargis, and learned for the first time the conversation between Judge Hargis and the salesman regarding the casket, and after finding out the casket which met with the approval of Judge Hargis, it was immediately prepared for shipment and expressed to the widow at Jackson.

As the reports of the tragedy from Jackson indicate that Judge Hargis only lived a few minutes after being shot, it is supposed that he told Mrs. Hargis of the incident regarding the casket upon his return to Jackson and requested that it be ordered for is body in the event of his death occurring before that of his wife.

Slums Of City Lured The Lad To Ruin

Beech Hargis was in Cincinnati in September and October of last year, and while here was arrested and fined $50 and costs for threatening police officers. Shortly before his arrest his mother arrived here and after a long search found her son and begged him in vain to return to his mountain home.

Mrs. James Hargis came to Cincinnati September 28th and walked the streets for three days looking for her son, and on the 29th applied to the police to assist her in search. The police did not find the boy, but the mother and son met and the heartbroken woman tried in vain to get her boy to leave the city. He positively declined to go back to Kentucky. The bright lights of the city were too great an attraction for the country boy. The theaters and women, it is said, took all of his money.

Mrs. Hargis, greatly worried, returned to Kentucky. Young Hargis was arrested October 4th, in a house in Longworth Street on the charge of attacking the police with a big knife.

It was brought out during the hearing that the young man was trying to prevent the arrest of a woman in the house. He was fined $50, but the following day was released. When arrested Hargis had only 39 cents on his person. Before getting into trouble with the police the boy worked for a lumber company, claiming that he had considerable experience in the trade.

When Mrs. Hargis arrived in this city to get her wandering boy it was reported that he may have been killed as the result of the troubles his father had had with residents of Jackson. The police, though, did not take much stock in these reports.

Hargis is a sort of globetrotter. He disappeared suddenly from his home a couple of years and when his family heard from him he was in Central America.

Curt Jett Declines To Talk Of Crime

Curt Jett, convicted of two murders of which Judge James Hargis was accused as accessory and alleged to be the instrument with which Hargis settled his difficulties, was seen tonight in his cell in the penitentiary and notified of the killing of Judge Hargis. His usual stolid face changed quickly and he showed more feeling than at any time since he has been in the prison here. He said he could hardly believe the story of the killing. When pressed for a confession now that Hargis is dead, he said he had nothing to say on this subject of the murders of which he is accused.