Daily globe. [volume] (St. Paul, Minn.) 1878-1884, 1878-05-12
WILL SHE BE HANGED?


Sentence.
They are in the habit Of hanging women
down in Georgia. Susan Eberhart was
hanged in that State year or two ago. Gov.
Smith was piled with great pressure to grant
her pardon, and he refused to do it. So
Susan was launched into eternity in the
presence of crowd of ten or twelve thou
sand people-as many as could crowd in
sight of the CHASTITY spectacle. Another
Georgia woman is now under sentence of
death, and Gov. Colquitt will have the case
to wrestle with for some months. This case
has still stronger interest to press upon
the pardoning power than that of poor Su-
san Eberhart,and is now creating intense eA
element all over the State. The women Of
Georgia are unanimous for the condemned,
and will leave nothing undone that they can
do to accomplish their design of saving the
woman from the rope. The feeling they
exhibit does their sex credit.
The case is exceedingly dramatic from first
to last. There is family of Southerns in
Pickens, one of the mountain counties Of
northern Georgia. There were several boys
all brave, sturdy mountaineers, but Bob
Southern was the flower of the flock. lie
was the king of athletic sports among his
fellows, and the favorite of the mountain
bellies round about. Every girl appeared to
want him all to herself, and all did their best
to get him. Among these mountain families
was one named Hambright prosperous
farmers. Kate Hambright was the
acknowledged belle of the district. She
was a beautiful, tall brunette, and had a
strain of genuine Indian blood in her veins.
There is no doubt that Kate Hambright
Rob- ovl ,fo1h bal
ly as the other girls did, and there is no
doubt that he loved her better than any of
the rest: The fact is, he had his pick and
choice of all the mountain maidens, and all
the boys were in love with Kate, giving her
the same margin of selection. There was
but one boy among them all that she had
any doubt about her ability to capture and
keep all to herself, and that was Bob
Southern. His popularity had made
him ''hirt." There was but one woman
that Kate Hambright feared, and hcr name
was Mrs. Narcissa Cowart-a plump
blonde and pretty She had got q divorce
from her husband, as she afterwards said,
for the sole purpose of marrying Bob South
ern. Bob was not insensible to her beauty
and Establishments. He treated her with
marked favor whenever he met her, which
was often in the rambes among the noun
was married to Bob Southern in the latter
part of the year 1876. But even after
Bob's marriage to Kate, Narcssa would
not give him up. Neither was he cured
of his flirting propensities, and she encour-
aged his attentions more than ever. Bob
and Narcissa took solitary walks and
lonely rambles in the woods. Kate
became miserable with her prize. She ex-
postulated, coaxed, reasoned and tried to
win him wholly in vain. He laughed at her
fears of ':that woman as she called Mar
cissa, and told her how she was a little
"goose::' But Kate was desperately, wildly
in love- and she became madly jealous Hel
love was the love of a tigress nurtured in
those Southern hills. Her jealousy was sucl
a loves natural outgrowth. During the
Christmas holidays of 1876. her father gave
party at his house in honor of the young
couple. The rules of mountain hospitality
required that he should invite all his neigh
bors, and Mrs. Narcissa Cowart among
the rest. Of course she came, and Hates
pleasure was gone. She tried tt
make her husband promise not to dance Will
"that woman He leased her, and would
not promise. Kate than humbled herself b,
going to Narcissa in the dressing room be
fore the ball com n snced, and begging he
to encourage him, and not to dance with hin
if he asked her. Narcissa replied, "What i
do part man and wife-was I not divorced
for his sake? I shall dance with Mr. South
ern tonight in spite Of his wife" Littl
consolation there. Narcissa swept into tht
! ballroom, and Kate sat and thought. Whel
: the dance was about to commenc
Kate went into the ball room an
, saw her husband and Mrs. Cowar
preparing to dance as partners at tn
head of set. Kate hurried up and remind
: ed Bob that he had engaged to dance wit
I her for that set. Mrs. Cowart replied tina
!, she intended dancing that set with Nj
! Southern. The dance commenced, and til
wife walked away. She went outside an
watched them through the window until til
dance was nearly done. Kate then went
d her father, in a room adjoining the bal
room, and borrowed his pocket-knife, sayin
= that she wished to pare her nails. She ha
tened into the ballroom, and reached til
couple just as the set was over. She caugh
Y Mrs. Cowart by the arm, and saying: "Yo
4 have danced enough plunged til
! knife into her shoulder, severing a
artery. She then slashed 9Th;
! woman across the left breast, the blade Gu
4 ting through the upper portion of the hear
4 Mrs. Cowart fell dead on the floor and spoil
l no word. Kate jumped her body an
! ripped open her abdomen, and would ha,
! cut her all to pieces, if some one less terro
| stricken than the rest had not cried on
l "Who killed this woman?" Kate Southel
rose up and said: II killed that woman. al
| ought to have done it long ago. The
] one of the floor managers forbade any OF
4 to leave the room until the matter could
Y investigated. At this Bob Southern, wi
had been standing by, became ma
4 Stepping up to Kate, putting one ar
/ around her, drawing a pistol with tt
l other and pointing to the doorway block
I with people he said: ''We are going out tn
l door if l have to shoot our way through
Y And out the door the couple went unhi1
4 dered, leaving the company to take care
II the wreck of the ball room. Thus b
I Southern and his wife and his brother, wi
\ joined them at the door, darted from u
A house and shot out into the night. Tn
\ left the State in disguise and made the
way safely to Marion county, North Carolin
where they engaged in farming and iva
happily for year. Here a child was DO,
4 to them, which is now about six months oil
n At length they resolved to move Wet
and started with their effects in
4 wagon. One account says they we
4 going back to Georgia to give Their
selves up for trial; another explain
that their intention was to elude pursue
n uho had tracEad tbor, IN +ba;~ Nor+h NJ,