Orange County observer. [volume] (Hillsborough, N.C.) 1880-1918, 1884-03-08
IA ERRING WIFE,S DESPAIR.
Enable to Regain Her Place In Her Hus~
lands Heart ste kils AerDcaf.

IA ERRING WIFE'S DESPAIR.
Enable TO Regain Her Place In Her Hus-
bands Heart kAAs Herseaf.
MI. johnson, Of Indianapolis. Ind. re-
lated to a reporter the particulars Of the
6nal interview he had with his wife on
Hhs night she oonmitteA saicida ]
I "~Isrehu1ded her." he seeid.ssof hers
often-repeated entreaties to see me, and
| assured her / would Eecelye any sugges-
ton she could make Shs said that In
| the whole matter she had but one condi-
ton to offer, that she should come pack
absolutely to my heart and arms. She
reminded me Of what she had said IN
several Of her last letters that she could:
'consent to no prospect in life without
me and that she could not agree TO ad-'
iustment with that condition left out. l
was profoundly affected, and yet it was
impossible for me to surrender absolutely
Gil my own feelings. She had just been
forthree monthsthe mistress Of another
man. She was fresh from his embraces.
Her lips were stall hot with his kisses.
The sacred bosom where my babes were
nursed 81 yet quivering from his
touch. He had invaded her heart and
his Influence still dominated every part
OF her being. so fapt was she with the
memory ofhis embraces that even tothe
last she was wholly unable to under-
saandhow she had wrOnged either meoe
her son.. Her entire soul vas pemeated
and infected as with a deadly malady. I
told her that there must first be . period
OF penitence and puridcation. Her.
paramour, with his unholy influence,
must be thoroughly purged from her
heart. Until then I could not perceive
| any place in her affections fit for me to
occupy.
81 told her that she required treat
ment for her mental and also for her
spiritual condition. I suggested that
she retire for a time to a private retreat
for mental and nervous disorders, but
most earnestly of all I urged her to turn
to religion as her surest refuge. I
begged her to go down upon her knees
and give her soul to God, who alone can
cleanse and purify the soul. I could not
receive her back to my arms, but 1 as
snred her hat the future was not with
ont hope for US all. and that penitence
and rectitude might fully atone for her
fault. | told her that we must at once
and'forever leave Indianapolis; that We
could have it announced in the papers
that the homestead had been sold and
that we had gone South for permanent
residences; that she might 60 to her relA.
tives or fix her abode wherever she
chose; that she might take anything or
/ everything she wished of the household
effects; that I would not divorce her,
but that she might still remain nv wife,
and that wherever she wentI would sup
ply ample means for her support. My
I pension, which is now ST per month,
but which will soon be increased to $24
per month, / told her should, at my
death, be hers for life, or so long as she
remained my widow. She only answered
that without me and my love, as she had
possessed it of old, all the rest was
nothing. Oh, how far was I from COM
pretending the terrible depths of her
meaning. Could l have even suspected
the purpose, so tragic and fearful, which
perhaps even then possessed her mind.
what would I not have done to remove
it? Anything! a%nythingl Oh, God,
how gladly would j have sacrificed my
self for her. She seemed calm, though
deeply distressed, and never for a mo-
ment did 1doubt that I should met her
A~kanl.until the message came that she
was dead. Her father, DR.. Griffith, who
is mentally and physically Frustrated by
the great trouble that has overtakeu
him. spends his time in calling upon his
daughter to come to him and bemoanine
her ABSENCE II
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