Shenandoah herald. [volume] (Woodstock, Va.) 1865-1974, 1886-12-17


he could state; but that he consult
ed two friends and members OF hlS
family as to what he should do;
that they told him as he could not
recall being down town on the
night of the 18th and could only
recollect being down there on the
10Th his testimony would be OF no
avail, and that therefore hc had
better not mix up in the case; that
he has always kept quiet about 1t
except to those friends whom he
consulted. lie tried to keep from
getting mixed up in the affair aud
saws that he cannot now rccO'lect
being down town on the night of
the 18th; that while he cannot
absolutely swear that IL was not
the 18th yet to the best Of hls
knowledge and belief it was on the
night of the 18th he met the lady /;
that he does not know that 1t was
Miss Madison, and would never
afterwards have thought 1t WAS her
but for the conversation he had
with her, and from the statement
of the witness Tyler, that Miss
Madison returned to the hotel
about s o'clock with a man.
THE OLD MANS STATEMENT.
Mr.. Chiles wrote ont statement
shortly after he met the lady. lie
had been in the habit of keeping a
diary and perhaps it might have
been the force of habit that led him
to indite these lines, which he gave
to a state reporter this afternoon
"To the best of my knowledge
and belief | met a lady on Bank
street somewhere between Tenth
and Eleventh streets between the
hours of 6 and o'clock p. NJ, on
the 10Th day of March, 1880. She
stopped me and said 'Will You be
kind enough, sir, to tell me where
the American Hotel is 2 | said to
her certainly l will 1t is not very
far from here; | Will 90 with you it
you wish me to do so. She SAID, |
will he very glad if you would do
so. | remember she had u small
travelling bag in her hand, and !
said to her, Give me your satchel
and ] will take it; to which she
readily consented. asked her WAS
she acquainted IN the city. Her
reply was, Only slightly. She was
acquainted with Mrs. or Miss Curtis
on Church Hill. She also stated
TO me that she was a school teacher,
and that she was from Roanoke
She also excused herself to me by
saying she expected a friend or
friends to meet her on her arrival
in the city and by some means they
failed TO meet her at the train. /
did not ask her name nor neither
did she give it to me. She was a
chunky-looking woman and looked
tired from travelling, &c. / went
with her to the american Hotel. at
Main street ladies' entrance went
mp the steps to the par'or. She
went up To the heating register and
warmed her hands and rs ! thought
struck the bell, as porter cr boy
soon came in the door Of the pari0r,
and | understood her to say Size
wished to 90 to her room. She told
me on the way to the hotel thai she
had been there before, but n was
in the daytime, and she had DIM.
Guilty in finding the hotel 40 night :;
and from the way she acted al the
hotel | had every reason TO believe
what she SAID to be true. Il WAS
quite cold on that night. The boy
took her satchel upstairs to her
room, as ] thought. | babe her
good night. She thanked me very
kindly for my trouble, and ] came
ont of the hotel, went home and
told my wife about 1t. After we
read in the papers Sunday morning
about finding the body ! mentioned
my meeting the lady to several OF
my friends, and none Of them
thought it would help the case one
way or the other, so ! have never
thought much more about the mat
ter. | will further state that ! did
not know her, though from her ap-
pearancc | thought she was u
stranger in the city.
"W. II. CHLEs."
THE WRONG NIGHT.
Mr.. Cbiles having stated that 10
was on the night OF the Eth ot
March that he escorted a lady to
the American Hotel, from the fact
that it was on the night Of the day
he was paid off, and the night he
paid two bills, inquiries have been
made by the officers to-day to see
if it was not the 18th instead Of the
10Th that he was paid off by the
Chesapeake and Ohio Railway Co.
It was ascertained that it was the
10Th as he had stated, and not the
18th. Inquiries were then made
as to when he paid the two bills.
The one he owed NashOn X Son was
settled on the 18th, and so was The
other which he owed to the Bright
hope Railway Co.. The books OF
the Brighthope Railway Company
shows that a ton OF coal was order
ed for Mr.. Chiles on the Eth of
March. 1885. This fact was made
known to him to-day, but he was
still of the opinion that 1t was on
the night Of the 10Th instead OF the
18th. AS to the load of coal order
ed on the 18th, Mr.. Chlles says
that it must have been ordered
by some of his family; that he did
not order it.
HAS HE COMPOUNDED THE DAYS Z !
AS Mr.. Chiles related the CONVEX |
sation which occurred between f.
himself and the lady he escorted |
to the hotel, prior to any pnblica. /
tioa of the finding of the dead body .
of Lillian Madison in the reservoir, /
and as what he learned from the /
lady could not well have been told I
to him by any other than Lillian /
Madison, the conclusion that has |
been reached is that Mr..