The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1883-03-15

WILL " AleO . lAlC0 n Odlb vas OA VIZ
door stating that Wallace was absent, but
the woman went in the windows were pulled
down, and she remained about an hour. At
the end of that time the woman came
down, and the saloon-keeper, stationed across
the street, saw that the windows were thrown
up.
4. That Mrs. Cougar on a day specified,
while visiting in the country, lay down
beside a young man on a comfort spread on
the grass in the back yard, and told him a
story bordering on the lascivious, taken
from Clara Bellies letter in the Cincinnati
Enquirer. There was in this story 4 s%igniic-
ant reference to a 'hot box" and the man
testified that after she had told the story his
knee accidentally touched the person of
Mrs. Cougar, and she exclaimed, "Look out,
there is a hot box" or words to that effect.
The object of this was to prove that Mrs. G.
was Of impure mind and depraved nature,
and it was made very effective.
5. The story oil Mary Simms, Mrs. Cougars
hired girl, to the effect that while Mr.. Gou-
gar was away over night OIL the 9th of April,
1882, conveying his mother to Cincinnati,
that Captain Wallace spent the entire night
and all.of the next day until 3 P. NJ. with Mrs.
Cougar, when she (the hired girl) saw Wal
lace, from her window, come down the front
steps and go out at the front gate. This was
presented with many celebrations audSwas
made very effective.
6. That on the 25th of July, 1882, when re-
turning from the Acton camp-meeting, Mrs.
Cougar and Captain Wallace occupied the
same seat in the car, and that for n part of
the time her head rested on his hand, as it lay
on the back of the seat; also that the two got
OF at indianapolis between 10 and IL O'Clock
at night and went out of the depot together.
z. That on a day specified Mrs. Cougar,
while attending the temperance camp-meet-
ing at the Battle Ground, got out of the
buggy in which she had been seated with her
husband and took a stroll with Captain Wal
lace into the brushwood some distance off,
and that Mr.. Cougar drove away without
her.
The above were the main counts, but in
addition there was a mass of testimony going
to show that the two had been seen frequently
on trains together, and in every instance on
trains approaching Lafayette; that Wallace
had been a frequent caller at the Cougar
residence, and that Mrs. Cougar had been
seen at Wallace's Office.
THE CASE FOR THE PLAINTIFF.
These points were met by plaintiff with
the greatest frankness, and particularly of
detail. They were taken up as unmasked or
unfolded by the defense, and in so far as tes-
timony has been taken, the case for the
plaintiff stands as follows:
1. Mrs. Cougar meets the first point of the
defense by a general denial, and brings in
witnesses to account for her presence every
evening of the week, covering the possible
period OF the alleged offense. Was on Wednes-
day evening with her husband at Professor
ThompSon's lecture; ON Thursday at the lee
ture of Mrs. Scott-Siddons; on Friday, Parlor
Club met at her house; on Saturday evening
with her husband at home, preparing lecture
-on "City Government" In every case the
date is fixed by some public or notable oc-
currence, in regard to which reputable peo-
pie speak with the greatest positiveness.
o This Sc .Y,of NV FIa- fneNfY,O,u IS NJ
and Mrs. Harbert, of Evanston, and others,
who testified that Mrs. Cougar spent the
nights at the Harbert residence, sleeping in
the same room with Mrs. Belva r. Lock
wood, and the days with Mrs. Harbert, Mrs.
Lockwood, and other ladies at the woman'S
suffrage convention and the Garfield conven-
ton in Chicago. They account for every
hour of her stay, from the time when she ar
rived alone at Evanston until when Mr.. Har-
bert saw her depart on the 8 o'clock train,
evening OF June 2, for Lafayette.
3. Mrs. Cougar shows that on the day men,
toned she was engaged in canvassing with
Mrs. DR.. lugersoil; that she wore a white
dress with blue ribbons; that she never wore
a straw hat with long red ribbons in her life,
and that she was not at Wallace's office that
day. Mrs. Brown, Captain Wallace's sister.
| testified that OH the 7th of September, at the
time mentioned in the afternoon, she went
up to her brothers office to consult as to the
education of her children; that she wore a
gray dress and straw hat with long red rib
hons, and that when she went in the win
dows were closed ut her request, as she could
not sit in a draught. She paid no attention
to the card on the door, as she knew her
brother often forgot on his return to remove
the notices of his absence. The saloon-keeper
has admitted that he did not try the door,
and that ne had a very slight acquaintance
with Mrs. Cougar.
4. Miss Jackson ~testiies that Mrs. Cougar
was not laying down at all on the occasion
mentioned. and that she told no story about
a "hot box" or anything else. Miss Jackson
read Clara Bellies letter entire to the COM
pany, and Mrs. Cougar, who had been sitting
in an armchair in the shade, got up in dis
gust, and, ~remarking that it was a hot box
out there, went into the house, This is cor
roborated by another lady who was present,
and by Mrs. Cougar herself. She made nc
remark of a double entendre character, and
the young mans knee in no way touched
her, as she was not near him.
5. This is met III four or five different
ways. Two of Mrs. Cougars sisters spent
the night of the 9th with her up to 1870 OF
II o'clock, and Mrs. Shewy slept with her
that ightin the room up stairs. Wallace, on
the 9th, was with President White, of Purdue
University, in Indianapolis, and was again
with him on the morning of the 28th, when
the hired girl testified he was in the house.
President Whites testimony on both these
points is s~ubstantiated by dates and docu-
ments positively identifying the day. The
city civil engineer determined by actual
measurement that Mary Simms could not
have seen Captain Wallace go down the front
steps and out of the gate unless she could
have leaned ont of her window five feet and
eight inches. The hired girl, it should be
stated, was discharged without notice some
two weeks later for insolence. The point
that Mrs. Cougar could not keep a hired Cir
was met by citing the fact that the girl with
her previous to Mary Simms remained ter
years, and the one that came after her is still
there.
6. This is met by the testimony of a man
who, for the purpose of writing a persona
sketch of Mrs. Cougar. watched her from
the time she took the train until she left it
He stood all the time within a few feet O