Fort Worth daily gazette. (Fort Worth, Tex.) 1882-1891, 1889-01-25
AFAM0US CASE.
Trial of Mrs. Rawson for Shooting
Lawer Whitney in Chicago.
The Lady is Put on the Stand and Gives an
Outline OF Her Own History-Rer Matri-
monial yentures-The Shooting.

CHICAGO, Ill, Jan. 24.-The trial of
Mrs. Meckie L. Rawson for shooting Law
yer Whitney few months ago. was con-
tinued to-day. Mrs. Rawson was cross ex-
amined by Mr.. Elliott as attorney for
the state. She controlled herself as a
rule, but occasionally, when she thought
unnecessary questions were being in
sisted upon she gave the attorney piece
! of her mind in a short way, with the re-
suit that the inquiry was abandoned.
The lady gave, IN response to questions,
a running account OF her life, telling
how at the age of thirteen years
| she became a teacher in New
| Orleans, of which city her father was an
old resident. AT fifteen years she was
married to John Slaymaker, a Red river
| pilot, TO whom she had been engaged
| since she was eleven years old. Stay
maker, who was engaged in the cotton
trade, was paid $500 per month The
witness described him as q generous,
good hearted, worthless man, who spent
most of his money for drink She lived
with him six years.
At this point the court interrupted this
line of questioning, and Mr.. Elliott took
Mrs. Rawson s experience with Charles
G Lee, her second husband. She said
he was q wealthy young man, of good
family. She married him at the age of
| twenty three years She said she lived
with him very happily part of the time,
as he was the only man
SHE EVER LOVED,
buf he was diSSiDate0 and OOpa had de-
lirium tremens. He was very high tenn
pered, and once on railroad train fired
revolver bullet through the door of
sleeper because it did not open
readily when he wanted to get into it,
he having left her there, going forward
to the smoker, after a row with the con-
ductor growing out of the fact that that
official had complied with her request for
drink of water. This incident was
magnified into great, shooting affair,
involving question Of the witness chaS-
tity.
After living with Lee year and half
she secured a divorce from him. Her
next matrimonial venture was with
Banker RawsOn of Chicago. She said
she was not desperately in love with him,
but tried to make him happy.
The examination continued: 'fDo
you think Mr.. Rawson loved you?''
81 don It think so. If he mad he never
would have
PREFERRED A SERVANT
to his wife. He never would have told
me to go while n servant stayed One
trouble between us was the question of
religion. am sorry am not Christian,
but 1 am no hypOcrite. Mr.. Rawson
wanted me TO teach a Sunday chool
7
not do it. He used to pay his son Fred
10 cents hymn for reading to him -
q You said yesterday, Mrs. Rawson,
that you would attend to Mat Hogan
later. What did you mean by that?''
ON tell you what L meant, Mr.. Ell
lot, l intended to have Matt Hogan,
Mrs. Hamilton and L. ii Bishee arrest
ed for conspiracy IN going before
the grand jury and swearing
as they did, for it was a con-
spiracy You win have the pleasure of
prosecuting them, Mr.. Elliott.
These are persons who testified against
Mrs. Rawson, and whose evidence before
that body was read in court on the day
before yesterday.
Mrs. RawsOn declared that at one time,
while married to Mr.. Rawson she became
so desperate that she had determined to
Witness
SHOWED HER BLOOD
when the cross-eXamination reached the /
shooting of Banker Rawson by her son.
She said she knew her son had q pistol
before the shooting, and felt that he
would shoot Rawson-that no boy could
avoid doing so.
81 love the boy for what he did and
honor him for it. am proud of that
boy -
NOW, Mrs. Rawson - broke in Mr. |
Crews, ''you are getting excited and
losing your head. Be quiet.
'Don t get excited, said Judge Tut
hill,
II can It help it, judge, said the
witness, wringing her hands. ''I am all
unstrung. For three years / have had |
no rest.
At this point recess was taken
During the latter part of the cross
examination of Mrs Rawson there ap-
peared at the window letting into the
courtroom from an upper gallery the face
of Bridget QuigleY, whom Mrs. Rawson
testified was
HER VICTORIOUS RIVAL
for the affection of Banker Rawson. |
But if Bridget Quigley expected to see |
the discontinue of Mrs. Rawson a second |
time, she was disappointed, for the |
witness bore herself with remarkable self |
possession throughout her long tussle |
with the state prosecutor. The rowing |
eyes of little "Dot, - the daughter of |
Mrs. Rawson, first espied Bridget, and |
the mischievous little girl made fool of |
her Bridget s hot face was almost con- |
cealed by white veil and a handker- /
chief she held to her mouth. She left |
soon after her discovery while the I'M
pleasant scrutiny of many eyes was
turned on her.