Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1896-11-23

be broken. His relatives had warned hizn
that Il he continued to Ifve with his wife
his life would be in danger, but although
he knew Of her relations with Matthews. he
hoped Tor the best but the worst came On
hehaA Of the st~te. IL viii be ciaiassd thai
about the time that the members Of the
Irwin family were driving over the road
iron, from Cedar Point to Alien Fresh. George
Matthews was making his way to the same
place In q boat from Cobb Neck. 1t will
probably ha cf1tDea that he reached Alien
Fresh before his alleged victim. and that he
waited near the hossoe asftA he shy Irwin
| enter and until he got q signal that all
/ was well before he entered.
The Wife's Story.
( Mrs. Irwin claims that she was in bed
beside her husband and was dreaming Of
| the sad death Of the young man who was
drowned, when q muffied sound aroused
her. She had left q Hight IN the room. she
says. bat when she was awakened the light
had been extin9uished and all was in dark
ness This claim Will be disputed by the
prosecution, for the gun shot had blown
I on the top Of the victims skull and had
spattefed his brains and blood all over
the room. Had she been In bed IL Is
claimed. she would have been saturated
from head to foot and some stray shot
may have entered her. But such was not
was no impression In the bed or pillow to
show that more than one person had eccu-
pied it.
The person who had actually fred the
shot lad entered the house through the
| side window. which opens into the dining
room Beneath the window was box or
which the person had stepped to climb in
| the window and a tobacco stick founsf
holding up the window had been taken
| from the front yard. 4 table. on which
| dishes were piled. stood next to the WIN
dow. and IN getting in the murderer had
stepped on this pile of chinaware.
Matthew Seen.
Now it will be commended that George
Matthews had just ,ut time enough to
get to Allen Fresh. commit the crime and
get home about daybreak. the tine he
was seen making haste to reach home i'll
his boat. He was seen on the river and his
movements. 1t will be argued. showed that
he had some other thai, a legitimate mo-
tive In mind at the time.
The gun found in his house the day after
his ARE st, the wads in 1t and the gun wad
and shot taken from the head of the dead
nan, as well as the letters which passed
between Matthews and Mrs. Irwin, will play
Important parts in the prosecution. In the
first place the gun did not belong to the
prisoner, but he had borrowed fl from Mr..
Hayden, he told the coroner's jury. for
protection" and Mr.. JEFF Robertson. a
member of the coroner's jury. told him he
would have wanted gatlng gun If he had
written letters IN such endearing terms to
another mans wife. Counsel for the state
will make an effort to show that the piece
OF gun wad taken from the head Of the
dead man WAS q piece of a populist paper
as was that taken from the gun. One bar
rel of the gun had the appearance of hav-
ing been discharged and reloaded in a hu--
ry Then the mixed shot taken from the
mead corresponded with those used in re-
loading the gun, we'll as With a box of
shot found in Matthew'S cabin. Besides
these circumstances the clothes found in
recently washed. and it may possibly be
con tended that there had been blood stains
washed from them. All this. 1t is claim
Cd In addition to other circumstantial evil
dence, will be put forward by the state and
upon which the jury viii be asked for a
verdict Of guilty.
In the Jail.
Since Matthews return to the JAIL week
ago. after an absence of month. he has
been guarded by two special deputies Con-
stable George Howard and Eugene Murphy.
who spend all their time in the jail Mat
thews is occupying cell on the upper floor
while MRS. Irwin spends her time the
ground floor between her cell and the
kitchen. She has gained fully thirty pounds
since she has been in the little prison and
the return of the man a week ago seemed
to have depressing effect upon her His
sudden and unannounced departure from
tne Jail i've weeks ago seemed to delight
her. for she had not much to fear so long
as ne Kept out of the way, but she knew
when he returned that it meant her going
in court either witness or defendant
and all along she has feared facine. an
audience, although during her stay in iail
she mas not shown dislike to talking to
visitors. States Attorney Posey has had
at least one interview with her and this ia
known by Matthews, who has shown that
he was fearful lest she should appear in
the role OF an fnformer. If such is the in
tehtlon or the woman. and 1t is the inten-
ton OF the state to accept her Testimony
the man has certainly done all in his mower
10 ntimldate her. for he has talked on the
nd ff,,o IL.
hear him. and has led her to believe that
he understands what is going on I'm forms
calculated to brighten her. She was com
pleteIy unnerved when he returned and
sne learned that he was again in the prison
AS already stated. the prisoner was a
Fugitive from jail for four weeks, and most
or ms time was spent in the vicinity of his
nome. Before his departure without the
knowledge of Washington Burch tho nrisn,,
keeper, Matthews had expressed a desire
to see his child, the mother of whom, VIC
the wire OF ST Mary's county fisherman.
This child. boy eight years old. is Uyine
with family down near the river So far
~ this desire Is concerned it was fnIfiIled
number OF times. for the fugitive went
ABOUT among his friends. and seemed per
fectfy at ease until he learned that q re-
ward OF $3.50 had been offered for his ar.
rest. dead or alive. He had been forced To
IVe in the woods great part of the time
,or ne was IN constant fear of being ar
rested. and one day. when he learned
through the papers, that the reward had
been offered. he then realized that he was
IN danger. more than ever and felt that
he could no longer trust his friends A hui.
let sent through him in order to kill him
and get the reward was what he exnected
ana he felt certain that if he ATTEMPTED to
ieaTe the county he would not be permitted
TO live long. so he returned and called At
the jail about o'clock Sunday mornnr
when he was admitted, without any cues
tions being asked. HUeS
| when he left Rock Point to return no
mad bucket of oysters which he had in
| TENDED to give the colored jafler but on
ms way through the woods hunger over
| look MIN and he cooked and ate then,
| Then he told Of how he managed to es.
| cape. He was in a cell to which there was
| defective lock, and he experienced no
| almculty in getting out and leaving while
| Mrs. irwin and colored female prisoner
| watched him. When he reached the swamp
! only snort distance from the village he
| remained there until after dark and while
! there he saw several of the men and bows
| who were searching for him. One of them
| shot at him. but he soon got out OF sight
| and hid until dark. Then he was lost and
did not know which way to go until the
| evening train came along. He heard the
whistle and saw the light. so that he was
| able to reach the railroad track 1t was
| about o'clock in the evening when he