Morning journal and courier. [volume] (New Haven [Conn.]) 1848-1894, 1882-02-14

l SOA GO-uhy w dSSuuc CudA 30 III u bllA HILL
Shakespeare club meets at Walter N. Sper-
RVS to night
| The ladies of Christ church, Ansonia, are
| to give little party and reception at the
Ansonia Hotel some time the present week,
through the courtesy of the proprietors,
Messrs. Judd & Hawley.
party from here go to Bridgeport Thurs
day night to give surprise party on some
friends.
A Jealous WOman's Crime.
|
A Romance of Real Life Down i'm Geor-
= gia.
| ATLANTA Correspondence Cincinnati Commercially
| Five years ago there lived in Pickens coun-
| ty, among the mountains, as fair lass as
| such region is proverbial for producing, a
rosy checked, brown haired, blue-eyed maid
en- with the form of model and the grace
| of gazelle. She the daughter of a
well to do farmer, and her smiles were court
ed by the brave hearted young mountaineers
who engaged in honorable competition for a
monopoly of her society. Among these was
a dashing young man, handsome, of princeIy
| carriage, and whose fame for courage made
him known in all the counties around.
Dauntless in love as in all things else, he laid
| siege to the heart of this mountain belle, to
| whom she capitulated, and though but girl
| in years-17 she was-they were married.
She idolized her husband and chung to him
/ with worshipful devotion, happy only when
with him, and ready to sacrifice her life if
need be for him. And he, feeling secure in
| her love, repaid her attachment with indiffer-
1 ence, and gave more attention to another, a
former rival of his wife, than was consistent
| with his obligation as husband.
She bore this long in silence and tried to
persuade herself that there was nothing
wrong in her husbands conduct. But the
seed of jealousy was planted in her heart.
and found nourishment in the buoyancy that
once existed there. Ere many months the
bloom on her cheeks faded, the brilliancy of
her eye departed, her merry laugh was no
longer heard, and the once ight-hearted and
happy girl was changed to the disconsolate
and breeding woman. And still no complaint
of her husband. He would come back to
her, she thought. But her confidence was
misplaced and at last, when one night a
dancing party was given at her fathers
house, where she lived, and the source of
her unhappiness was among the invited, she
approached her husband, and affectionately
entwining her arms about his neck, begged
him for her sake not to dance with the wo-
man she hated. Playfully Gliding her for
her jealousy he gave her his promise that her
request should be granted. She did not en-
gage in the festivities, but pleading illness
retired, though not to sleep, however, for
she saw that her husband and her rival were
under the same roof. With weary eyes and
aching heart she watched the dancers, but
nothing occurred on the part of her husband
to excite her jealousy until midnight, when,
believing her to be asleep, he took his posi-
ton in the next quadrille with the woman he
had promised his wife to avoid as his part
ner. Stung to the heart at this exhibition of
perfdy under the roof that sheltered her
| home, she watched the dance for while, her
senses seeming to desert her, and then she
left her room and sought her father, from
whom she borrowed pocket knife under the
pretext of venting to cut a toothbrush.
Securing the knife she returned to the room
in which the dancing was going ON, reaching
it just as the last set ended, and going up to
| her rival, who moving toward a seat,
seized her by the shoulder, and frenzied with
Jealous rage, said, "You have danced enough!''
at the same time drawing the open knife
from the folds of her dress and plunging it
| deep into the woman's neck, making hor.
rible cash which penetrated nearly to the
heart, and from which the blood spurted
several feet in the air and spattered over the
| late dancers. Again the deadly blade wa
uplifted, and again it descended, plunged
into the left breast in search of the heart,
and yet again another blow, when the victim
sank to the foor-dead. So quickly and SO
quietly was the awful tragedy enacted, that
not until the woman fell and the blood from
her wounds was discovered did anyone know
what had happened.
When the discovery was made, rush was
made toward the PROSTATE form, and voices
cried: t.Where is the man that struck that
! woman ?'' To which the answer came in a
tone and an attitude of proud defiance from
the wronged wife, II am the man that did
| it," The horror stricken crowd surged
about the door, when ner husband, realizing
what his Irritation had brought about, grasp
ed his wife, and, drawing his pistol, said :
.sGentlemen, I am going to leave this house,
kzr-1 s. 4,
ing through, if I have to shoot through
The crowd gave way before him, and going
| out into the night, husband and wife disap-
peared under cover of the darkness, and for
a whole year evaded the vigilance of detec-
tives, with the incentive of $3.50 reward Of
fered by the parents of the dead woman and
$50 by the State for their apprehension.
They were finally heard of in North Carolina,
where they were arrested and brought back
1 to Pickens county and lodged in JAIL and
with them little girl baby which had be-
come member of the family since their
flight. The woman was tried for murder,
| convicted and sentenced to death, but
through the efforts of friends the Governor
was induced to commute her sentence to 10
years in the penitentiary, and on the Goth
| day of May, 1873, she passed through Attain
ia on her way to enter the service of her
sentence at a convict camp in Washington
county So famous had this girl-wife and
4
| already the theme of two continents-that
the announcement of her presence attracted
the largest throng ever assem- bled in the city,
| with the possible exception of one or more
grand special days at tho late exposition. The
| surging multitude grew wild over the desire
to get glimpse of her, while she appeared
unconscious of her surrounding, maintaining
a detected and listless air. Her husband an
| child accompanied her. a.t
The influence of universal sympathy Sc
| cured immunity from prison regulation and
she was allowed to wear her customary garb
instead of the penitentiary stripes At the
| Washington county camp she remained near
ly year, during which she was occupied in
| making clothing for the other convicts her
husband remaining with her and holding the
| position of guard over squad of prisoners
She was not restrained in her liberty, but re-
NAMED with and had the privileges of a
, member of the family of the lessee. AT the
expiration of year she fell to the lot of
| another lessee, whose camp was in Taylor
county whittier she was removed, her hua-
band following, her little girl dying during
her stay at the Washington county camp.
After II months in Taylor county, she was
. removed to Barton county, where the family
of the lessee resided, where she remained in
the capacity of domestic until last Februa-
nv, when the lessee, Col. G. B. Howard, re-
moved to Atlanta, bringing with him the
fair convict who is still retained as servant
in his household. Her husband remains
with her and acts as her escort no surveil-
lance being kept on their movements. They
attended the exposition frequently and
Il alone.
To the reader of five years ago the name
of this woman, the circumstances of her
crime the trial, conviction and death sem
tence will be familiar, for ''Kate Sothern"
| appeared in the columns of every newspaper
printed in this country and in many out of
It. The victim of her outraged love was
Narcissa Cowart, or "Cis Cowart," as she
was better known. Although only % years
old now, Mrs. Sothern bears the age traces
| of 80. Her countenance wears the shade of
deep melancholy, and her great blue eyes a
perpetual expression of sadness. A visit to
her nv vour correspondent has led to re-