The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1895-07-07
WHITE HANDS IN BLOOD.
MOST ABHORRENT CRIMES CON-
MITTED BY WOMEN.

Deed Done by Bathsheba spOOner,
and the Double Tragedy Involved
in Her ExecutiOn-Five Husbands
Disposed of in Nine Years.
From the Cincinnati Enquirer.
Il wish he were dead!'
The sincerity of the remark could not
be doubted more than its wickedness, and
yet it was made by a woman who was
young. beautiful and much admired. Fur
thermore. the subject OF the wish was
the man with whom she had made an en-
gagement OF marriage. and the date for
its fulfllment was fixed.
A dashing young gentleman had recent
ly come into her life. and she fancied
her love for him superior to that she felt
for him who held her troth. At any rate,
the new love pleased her better than the
old, and it was while discussing with
him some peculiarities Of the other that
she made the startling observation above
quoted He grasped the situation like a
true man of the world and said:
rs it difficult to get rid Of him?"
NO. I've studied the whole subject"
replied the lady. "and little white powder
in a cup Of coffee will do the work. He's
very fond of coffee. and were in the habit
OF serving it with refreshments. If it can
be done as readily as it seems to me it can
in less than a month can give favorable
answer to your proposal. Are you salts
fed with that prospect" and she smiled
winningly. 1T will do" said he, and then
the subject was adroitly varied. But the
new lover never called again, and in
course Of time the lady married the man
to whom she was afTianced. he who was
the subject of her wicked wish. The pub
lie looked upon it as a proper alliance
In less than a year, however the husband
died suddenly, and in a few months there
after the lady was again bride-not OF
the man for whom she had so generously
volunteered to murder her first lover. He
was watching the progress of events and
saying nothing but after the death of
the second husband. he managed to warn
one man, apparently enamored of her
charms, against the wiles of the siren. She
was widowed five times in nine years, and
in 1854 was herself killed in a railway acct
dent. This was better than hanging, and
probably favors the conclusion that there
fore. she did not get her deserts. All
InlS ndDBEltu Al the GONGl NiS II GAdAt VI III
diana, and is well known TO half score Of
witnesses.
From the days of sacred story to the
present moment there have been desper-
ately wicked women in the world. Some
times they have illustrated the cool, calcu-
lating villainy of the poisoner and forger,
but more often the rabld, eccentric, self
destroying sinfulness Of the weak. 1t is
true that women are not so largely given
to forgery, but one of the most remarkable
forgeries in all history was committed by
a certain Lady JOY, who came near pos
sessing an entire English town through her
experiences with the pen. She produced her
deeds, fine old parchments, very clear in
their definitions and high sounding, proper
titles of Philip and Mary, and all the use
less formal. legal phraseolsgy. She claim
ed so much that the court was greatly
alarmed and the examination was unus-
ually rigid. Aided by three or four ignoble
tools, two of whom were known as Bannis-
ter and Duffett, respectively, Lady Joy
had manipulated new parchment till ii
looked like old, and by an ingenious story
of having found them in a garrett with
some genuine deeds which she produced,
came marvelously near getting the prop
erty.
The defendant, st. Pauls church. OF
Shadwell, had sharp lawyer. an anti
quarian named Bradbury. He carried the
| deeds to his home and studied them care
fully. Hah! here was an anachronism
| Philip and Mary were styled king and
queen of Naples" They had never borne
that title Jeffreys-ihe of the bloody
assizes"-was on the bench, and his de-
! light was great. He took a hand in the
cross examination of Lady JOY, who with
| stood the ordeal bravely but her poor tools
were lamentably put about Although
| there was no doubt of her guilt in any
/ mind, the lady was not punished-except
by the failure of her foray upon the de-
mesne of ST. Pauls church.
A murderess in the good old days was
| Frances, Countess of Somerset. 1t is said
! she was handsome beyond comparison
and an expert in innumerable fascination
which steal away the brains of the wisesi
men. She poisoned Sir Thomas Overbury
| in a dish of tarts she fed to the old dawG.
| Ter, as is set down in history. He had
| been her friend-some said her lover-and
| having assisted her to get rid of one hus.
band and secure another, he knew toe
much, and must be put out of the way
She was not hanged. According to the
| record she had but come into court with
| her dress of black tammel a cypress
! chaperon, cobweb ruff and cuffs, beautl-
! full as the morning, in her delicate black
| and white draperies, shed some tears
! and asked to be pardoned."
Frances, Countess of Somerset, art
thou guilty of the felony of murder OF
not guilty?" asked the clerk of the crown
Making an obeisance to the lord high
steward, the countess answered, guilty
in a low voice, trembling with fear.
| The king pardoned her, and Sir Edward
| Coke extolled the royal sagacity, saying,
The kings instructions deserve to be
! written in as unbeam."
remarkable case is found In the an
| nails of New England under date of 1888
| 1t relates to the crime OF Bathsheba
| Spooner, nee Ruggles, a brilliant. hand.
some, unmanageable woman, the favorite
daughter of old Brigadier Ruggles, rich
and great man in his way, but a stiff