Rock Island Argus. (Rock Island, Ill.) 1893-1920, 1897-08-07

NhlAL OF Mrs.. EmRAh Porter,
JS ON charge Of m1raering her
Il husband. will In aif'pfobebiity
Be taken mp at Cambridge next
week. or % soon % . Jury acceptable
TO both sides can be chosen. The
case will b bitterly fought in court.
The trial recalls . sensatiou which
stirred the people Of this section last
winter. Charles Leland Porter, pro-
prietor Of . hotel Ut Colona, died
Dec. 24th, 1886. Of what Of that time
WAS pronounced paralysis Of the
spinal chord. He had been Ill for .
long time and no suspicion existed
that his death WAS due to other than
natural causes. About the time Of
Mr.. Porter's death Miss Caroline
Dion. . young lady who had been
employed % q domestic by the Por
tiers when they were conducting q
boarding house In Chicago during the
Worlds Fair and had been almost
constantly In their employ up to that
time, left them and went to Geneseo
TO work for Mr.. and Mrs. H. r. Tsy.
lor. Mrs. Porter gave the girl an
excellent character on recommend
ing her to the Tsylors and to all
Appearances most cordial relations
existed between Mrs. Porter and Miss
Dion ut the time. Shortly after the
girl was In her new place Mrs. Tsy-
lor mentioned something derogstory
to her - coming from Mrs. Porter.
The girl responded that Mrs. Porter
better b careful how che talked
about her. - she knew something
very bad about Mrs. Porter. This
was the beginning Of the story. 90 it
10 claimed BY Mrs. Porter's friends,
told BY the Dion girl to the effect
that Mr.. Porter had died Of slow
poison administered BY Mrs. Porter,
and BY the girl herself ct Mrs Por.
ter's instigation. The story was told
with such circumstsntial minuteness
- to interest Mr.. Taylor. and he sub.
mitted the matter to Magistrate Nc
Arthur, who in turn consulted with
Attorney Graves. They questioned
the girl and she remained firm and
unshsken % to the truth of her A.
carnations. Inquiry was then set on
foot and some circumstances strongly
corroborative Of the girls story dis
covered before any publicity was
given to the affair. Enough was dis
covered to justify the arrest of Mrs.
Porter. This took place Tuesday.
Jan. 10. on which date she was. OK
amined before Magistrate Macarthur.
and committed Oh charge Of murder
to await action of the grand Jury.
At the February term Of court an
indictment was found against Mrs.
Porter for murder Of her husband,
and against the Dion girl for COM
plicity In the crime. So far - pub.
lie knowledge Of evidence of crime 10
concerned, It rests almost wholly
upon the confession of the Dion girl.
valus Of Her Story.
Opinions differ 10 to the value of
Miss Dion's story and % to her in
tellectusl brightness. but she has
stuck to her story 40 first told with
. fidelity that 10 remarkable. It 10
believed that the sheriff and states
attorney found what they considered
strong corroborative evidence before
they arrested Mrs.. Porter, and vsri-
Gus stories Of what their discoveries
are have been aaoat, but none Of
them are sufficiently authentic to ad-
NIT Of publication % facts. Mrs.
Porter gave . bond Of $4,000. her
case was continued and she has been
at her home in Colona since she was
indicted. At Colons many believe
that she 10 innocent Of the crime.
The Henry county authorities claim
they are not depending wholly on
Miss Dion's story to convict Mrs..
Porter. They claim to have other
evidence and Of . more damaging
character, which will be sub m lifted
at the proper time.