The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1888-06-14

and my friend exchange glances and a
smile as she went by the windows. Both
evidently recognized her. She was portly,
and had passed the middle age. Her hair
was tinged with gray. She was richly yet
not loudly dressed. She had once been
handsome woman, and she had been motto
rious for years. l asked who she was. II
will tell you later on" was the reply, and
subsequently he did so, beginning with the
remark: THAT was the woman in the
Fisk case " Then he told me this remarka-
BILE story in detail, which has never been
published, to my knowledge. l suppress
the present name of the woman, rs it IS that
of renowned officer of the army who was
the hero of a remarkable engineering feat
of the late war that saved the Union
cause a fleet of gunboats This woman
was his wife She was from Lexington,
KY, where she was known as Minnie White.
At a very early age she drifted into wild
life in New Orleans. She had husband
who went into the Confederate service, but
that did not deter her from marrying Gen.
b, Ct the Union forces. After the occu-
patton of New Orleans by Butler, Gen.
b WAS for long time confronted by
the Confederates under her first husband.
She frequently passed from one camp to
another, and she so managed that large
amount Of cotton was carried to New Or-
leans for her account. Gen. Butler seized
it. Her husband in the Union army sud
denly and mysteriously died She was ar
rested, charged with his taking-off. A
court martial headed by Gen. James b.
Steedman, of Ohio, tried her, but could not
prove her guilty, and she was released. But
Butler held on TO the cotton. She went to
Washington and appealed to President
Johnson to release her contraband goods,
and did not appeal in vain. But there arose
a scandal, and johnson had to fight little
shy of her for a time. She had sort OF
connection with the famous "French- arms
scandal Of Johnson's administration, and
was supposed to be the woman who nego-
tiated the sale of arms to the French gov
eminent. She came to New York, and for
a time lived with Jim Fisk, Jr., before he
met either Mansfield, Montaland or the
Morse woman.
Now for the inner history.
On the day of the shooting Of Fisk, Ed
ward S. Stokes was passing the Grand Cen
trail hotel, when Mrs Gen b beckoned
to him from the parlor window. and he
crossed the street and joined her in the pub
lie parlor. He knew nothing Of the pres
ence of friends of Fisk in the hotel, nor that
he visited the place. After some converse
ton, Mrs. B left by the entrance for la
dies, Stokes agreeing to remain until she
was fairly out of the way. AS she left the
hotel door Fisk's carriage drove up. She
stepped into the drug store, frightened at
the prospects of the two men meeting. A
moment later Fisk had entered. She ran
to the door to prevent meeting. Too late!
Stokes, at the head of the stairs, had fred.
Fisk fell on the steps Mrs. B picked
up the pistol which fell from Fisk's hand
and fed with it. Fisk's pistol never could
be found, but, pending Stokes trial, the
woman told him what she had done and Of
fered to produce the weapon and testify to
the facts for $4,000 in cash. The friend
who tells me this was friend of Stokes
and of one of his lawyers and at their re-
quest he investigated the character of the
woman. 1t was so bad that the defense did
not care to call her, even if they could have
brought themselves to the point of paving
for the woman's testimony. Gen Steedman
knew her career IN New Orleans and Wash
ington. Her cross-examination on trial
would have brought out the facts regard
ing Johnson, with whom Steedman was
friendly, and he gave the woman the worst
character he could. Thus it happened that
the woman and the pistol in the Fisk case
were never produced.
And these are facts.