Richmond Whig. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1862-1865, 1865-01-14

bonnet. Her face evidently showed forth the deep
mental agony that was upheaving her yer.
soul. She stood at the bar OF the court, MOI
exactly nthe prisoners box, but, for support lean
ed against staunch iron pillar as she gave in hel
testimony. The cbuIt was filed with L'luinOer OF
distinguished perSOnages; who had been allowed TIC
especial privilege OF being in attendance; lhotc9a
the photographic reporters of both me NorpoLS
Newspapers and 10 the gentleman connected win
the Old Doaieioh am greatly indebted Tor trans
ference of the woman's testimony. Mayor webster,
the presiding Judge, called the court to order, and
the case was at once opened / give the lestihion!
exactly as il was rendered by the woman, correct
ing all grammatical errors which person oil her
education and station in life must be supposed to
have made.
Maria Louisa Under .sworn--I am the person ac-
cused and guilty of taking trunk from Norfolk to
Baltimore containing the body,of John freeDorh-
| Question. Are you married Womahf
Answer No, SIR never was married, but kept
a common house at the corner of W OOdside lane aud
Little Water street / lived with this man Free
born, TO whom became attached, and we lived to-
gether man and wife :;
a.; Yes, sir; never knew him bsfbre> that
q. i,'NOwstaie to the Court ali you know about
Il the trunk affair. = -
j Tito Woman here became greatly affected, and
wepi bitterly, but short time comihued,her sv
4 deIce Ohm Freedom told me THAT he was tired q
/ The army and that IL would get him 10 Chicago hs
| would give me:t0ur huIidred ,donaGs- asked HIM
| how liz would be.abd to get so mncl money. lie
| said ne was going 10 Jump the bounty and ger 4
tiousdnd dolhts and then We would both 60 ~ Lan'
ada and bet married.; told INN thin would not
know how to get hiu away from hers, Tor The. Gov
ernnldnt rieu watched everything so,closely. he
| Said: 10 aud buy large trunk, ahh WIZ get th
Fit and HOn can do with Inc Just as though sas YOUR
clothing you eau check me to Baltimore, and then
eet initle cars and 90 to Chicdgo.' did'n9t like
Ito do IT, but he male me and 50 1 got thettrunki
and then he got IN it, and wewent OH 6eardthe Ball
20. by Judge :. Webster. Did he s95 anything
| about sInotherIngl = /:
l. ~ 9eS. aud he cut a'srlsll hole iir the trunk =
lIferetic trunk was shown. IL Is large and hand
some ont, about twenty 1--we inches high, l6 inobes
broad and, S2 inchas Tong. Immediately beneath
Zone of the Strapsis seenq tery small oice Through
whichtie detet SD 20 ned his breat BY means OF a
ppe-stem.. 1t would be ALMOST impossible 10 detect
the eriAce unless it was pointed out The hole-
would not atmitthe passage OF sufficient air 10 Sus>
within the trunk TO allow limited use OF tile limbs,
bu they would necessarily be contracted to such an
extent as reproduce yi6ient cTanp after person
had been subjectedto for period Of five .hoursiE:
lie did not think there would DC any difficulty! in
breatliing tlGoueh'the stem of the pipe which he
| WiftnI eot 10; fortress Monroe went up to the
trunk and licked it twice. That was the sign by
VliichI was TO know how he was getting on. He
aniYcfed it twice, so that I4new n was all right
lie had no liquor in his trpnk-nnthng but canteen
Of water, towel aud piece OF chewing tobacco.
| Whefi Il got 10 iBaltmUr ordered hacllnan 10
take me TO hltel. do mol know which one it was,
&as ,sG 9nxious TO: get there. When got to the
hotel TWent up stairs, and had tho trunk Drought
IHp'with me, aud then when We got into the room l.
locked the door Was so glad whenl got there that
III Icltd the trunk wltRa my might but r got no
answer. said, Now johnny, YOU are all right"
lie did not answer me, and l Thought he was
/ fooling me. / got the key and opened the trunk,
| and he land perfectly STILL when 1 said, "Come,
| Jack get up; YOU are in Baltimore, now,
| and no one i, about here but me-" He said noti-
| ing VIXEN 1 put my hand upon his face and he
was dead. THE woman was here overcome with
her feelings that il WIS some minutes before she
could proceedl dropped the lid of the trunk, and
| s.was crazy III my head" / saw card on the man.
tel piese Of the room, and wrote the word "Chica-
/ 70" on it, and rang immediately for a servant. He
| got me a hackman, aud | told him wanted to GO
right away TO Chicago lie said he would take me
% the Cavert Str ct Station for two dollars. told
him Mould give him that, aud handed him five
dollar bill when he gave me back three dollars. He
put the trunk behnd'the carriage, and when we got
| To the depot he asked ne if wanted il checked.
/ told him YES He said, $50 aid get your ticket
| and | will get it checked Tor you. / was scared
| almost TO death i never felt so funny before in
nv life | wanted it found out; and | hadn't the
heart to tell any went to get my ticket, and
i q
know what made me- but ] couldn't help it. r saw
apOhcaman coming down near me, and wanted to
| telLhim but / did not know how. walked the
streets all night no one said anything TO me- and
| did not say wOrd.to any one. The next morning
| hehtd some one say something about trunk,
and thanked God that it had been found out, i walk
ed through the streets during all the mCrping and,
finally felt bad that went aud told my self.
/ This was all done upon the moment. | was per-
fectly crazy after found ont that the soldier was
| dead
| This is the major part of the evidence, which l
giSe nearly as il taken down blythe reporter
There is No doubt whatever that the woman is i'll a
state OF int ense misery. Her opinion, from the mo-
en OF her hrSt examination, has been that she would
be hung. But, as matter tcourSe 1t was not case
OF murder. On the part OF the man II was volun-.
tary death; that Of the woman il aiding aud
abetting desertion. The fact Of the mans having
died does not alter the punishment which is due the
| woman. Had she have gotten even TO Chicago with
her burden and at that city the affair have been
discovered, she would have been returned TO this
city and her punishment would not have been whit
different. After the woman gave herself up in Baiti-
| more she had an examination aRd was Immediately
returned to Norfolk where she was kept for three
days after which time she received her triaas above
recorded.
Judge Web SER, after having consulted with Gen
/ eral Shepley upon the sentence returned to the
| court room and sentenced her toa fine offve hun
/ dred dollars and two years imprisonment at hard
labor. The sentence is Just one because the case
| is aggravated and demands speedy justice. And
here let say that Major Webster the Judge of the
Provost Court,,is one OF the most able men on any
bench. The number otcases disposed ofby him in
one day would actually astonish the courts in larger
cities.-Here they are just as complicated, demand
the careful oversight, but the active determine
ton Of the Major deals justice promptly and fearless
| ly.
Lieutenant General Grant is still in town, but will
| leave this morning for tlft front
Il :