San Marcos free press. [volume] (San Marcos, Tex.) 1877-1892, 1878-07-13
KATE sornERN.

A Matter.Of.Ea Account or
tho Crime for which she is
Suffering.
Columbus (Ga.) Enquirer. June lS.
We give in this paper the evidence
elicted in the much. .talked-of trial Of
Kate Sothern. It differs as much as
light and darkness from the sensation.
al accounts we have been reading in
certain correspondence. There is moth.
ing in the scenes. the surroundings,
nor in the incidents to CLEAN 1.-THE of
romance. The whole was a fight be.
tween two women. while the gallant
Bob Sothern and the rest looked on.
They were all very ignorant people.
Kate and her sister both GEN.
tered on Sis Cowart. There is no
evidence that tho men present tried
to part the combatauts, nor does thero
appear to have been suoh scene az
the sentimental writers picture of Bob,
with pistol in hand. forcing Kate's
way through the crowd. All that was
the imagination Of fancy sketcher.
Kate Sothern is not pretty even. She
is Of medium height. about twenty
years fage. and has dark brown hair.
and the twang Of a North Georgia
cracker. She is very ignorant, can
hardly read or write, and Bob is worse
educated than she. Kate is paasahly
good looking and wears imitation
jet. She says the witnesses swore lies
against her; that she acted in selfde-
fense that she cannot dance, and that
night at her fathers was the "fust
time she ever seed . reel rum" She
is now on the plantation of Colonel
Smith, in Washington County. and
will be employed in the household,
cooking and washing foa the convicts
who work on the plantation. The
six. months baby" is sick-teethiug
and that now requires most Of her
time. She says no money has been
sent her from the North. Her health
is bad.
Her sixteen-year.old sister, sem
tenced to two years a. an accessory to
Kate's crime, has been in Col. Smiths
house as q servant. She is handsome,
and has been taught to read and write
by her kind mistress. On her fathers
farm she worked in the field and
drove an OK to the plow. Her sentence
has proved blessing.
Bob Sothern is nothing but a strong
good-looking animal-a common ig-
norant boor. He is now q guard to
convicts on the same plantation. The
woman Kate killed was on . par with
the rest.
On reading this evidence one feels
utterly disgusted at the amount of sen.
timeptal twaddle that has been expend-
ed on the case. Not scintilla can be
obtained to excite single expression of
admiration. Why, the parties surren-
dered themselves to get the reward,
and the understanding was that Kate's
mother was to get $50 of the money.
Where even fertile fancy could ex-
tract anything ofa romance from an
atrocious crime crime we cannot i'm
agine.
We do not believe there is q single
woman, no matter how warm aud SYM
pathetic her heart may be, who. after
reading this sworn testimony. will sign
. petition for Kate Sothern's pardon.
Governor Colquitt did right. He
weighed the evidence carefully, and
displayed both justice and humanity
10 his jicision, A crime has been
committed. a woman killed another in
Der fathers house, after she had been
received kindly by her parents-and
then to demand OF the authorities that
she shall go free is preposterous. If
such an act were psrdoned. the doing
so would be q mockery Of the law.
Crime already has too much license
because the statutes are not enforced.