The Big Stone post. (Big Stone Gap, Va.) 1890-1892, 1892-04-15

attracted considerable attention. both in
legal and medical circles, and people of
all classes are taking SO much interest in
the preliminaries that it promises to be-
come "cause celebre" by the time trial
is reached. Considerable curiosity is ex-
pressed concerning the plea that will be
put forward on behalf of the Earl. 1t
cannot be mot guilty." because the al
legged SANDER was made public in open
court, and it is therefore thought that the
counsel for His Lordship will be com
PEELED to plead justification aud that the
alleged SANDER was true in substance and
fact. This case may result in extraordi-
nary developments. The cause of the suit
had its origin during the recent trial OF
the case brought by Countess Russell
against the Earl for separation on the
ground of cruelty and outrageous habits
and conduct, and which suit was decided
in the Earl's favor.
In the course of the case, upon. cross
examination by opposing counsel, he was
forced to admit that in his younger days
he had seduced Miss Williams, who was
employed as q hOusemaid in the family OF
his parents, and that he had paid to her
parents large sum Of money in full set
Element of the damage done to them by
reason of such relationship. Now Miss
Williams comes forward with the declara-
ton that this evidence was false i'll sub
stance and in fact, and that no improper
relations had ever existed between herself
and the Earl, or for that matter between
herself and any other individual OF the
male gender, and that as a matter OF fact
she is as much "vergine in tacte" as upon
the day she was born. TO make matters
more interesting, her statement is con-
firmed by several medical men, to whom
she has submitted for examination.
Her parents also deny that any such
negotiations as those narrated by the
Earl upon the witness stand ever trans
pired between him and them, and that
this, despite the fact that the affair was
common talk in the village where they
resided at the time of the alleged settle
mcnt, and that the fact Of Miss Williams
having fallen victim to the impetuous
ardor of the Earl has always been ac-
CcpLeu Ill LndI ucIS uuoiHOou 40 SOoPSi
truth. The Earl, it is claimed by his
friends, has abundant evidence to back
up the story that was forced from MIN on
the witness stand; the young woman, OH
the other hand, has abundant evidence in
the form of the statements of the medical
men that she is still, without question
virgin.
In the articles on Modern Babylon,
published in the Pail Mall Gazette some
years ago, by Editor Stead, and which
cost him several months of Imprisonment,
there was chapter specifically devoted
to certain women who, it was claimed,
made it a business to restore young girls
who had fallen victims to aristocratic
profligates to their prestne condition. 1t
is not specifically declared that such an
explanation as this will account for the
conflicting stories Of Earl Russell and
Annie Williams, but it is said that detec-
tives have been employed upon this
branch of the case and medical evidence
that such condition of affairs would be
possible can be produced in abundance.
At any rate the trial promises to he pro-
life of prurient developments, both real
and hypothetical,