The Wichita daily eagle., 1897-11-26

While he was chatting with her ths
speaker folded up the scrap Of Nil
dred's heart breaking philosophy and
put It carefully into an envelope with
his legal memoranda
/ When the time comes he will read
these few sentences TO the jury
The tragedy Of last Decoration day
occurred in dreary rain beside a lonely
path that led over the field to the house
Of John Wheeler, whom two wayfarers
loved.
They were going to him to let him de-
eide which one he would marry.
| The two girls were both beautiful SEN
sible and nearly the same age-21 years
After trudging along through slippery
| mud under the same umbrella to within
hundred yards Of the house where he
lived, they came abruptly to "the part
ing of the ways
Mildred Brewster, who believed herself
to be the one already discarded, found a
revolver in the folds Of her dress and
shot her rival through the head
Annie Wheeler fell upon the wet
grasses at the side of the path and lay
there perfectly STILL She was quite
dead.
Assured Of this, Mildred Brewster
placed the muzzle of the weapon at her
own temple and fired.
Days afterward, when Mildred awoke
in darkened room Of the Heaton Hos
pital, she had only interest enough in
the tragedy to sight
'I wish 1 were dead"
But Mildred recovered, and one day IN
October she was taken to the jail.
They didn't find the bullet in my
head" she said to the matron.
1T is there yet. Queer 1t didn't kill
am dizzy a great deal.
81 cannot walk across the room with a
clear head 1 cannot even read"
The bullet is still In her head.
Dizzy, staggering, almost blinded, she
was led into the court room yesterday
morning.
Crowds of idling. curious sympathetic
people, who, falling to gain admission,
had filed the streets, contented them
selves with staring at a curtained win
dow OF the jail which framed the face
OF an erstwhile fellow prisoner This
wac Mrs. Marsh, who poisoned her hus-
band, and after her arrest hung his pic
ture on one Of the homelke walls Of the
parlor cell.
After some preliminaries the trial went
over on technicality to next March.
Mildred Brewster Is a slight. graceful
young woman of brunette type. Her
hair is black and thick; her eyes big,
dark, sullen. Before that dreadful May
90 she was considered very beautiful
The attempt TO end her life left a pitiful
scar.
Her mother is dead. Mildred Brewster
is the daughter of wealthy farmer liv-
ing at Huntington.
Tired of idleness. she came 10 Mont /
pelier and found employment in fac
tory. She boarded for a time in the same |
house where John Wheeler lived
Annie Wheeler was also the daughter /
Of prosperous farmer Of East Mont |
pelier. She was living with a cousin not |
far from the house Of the dual'suitor
Though of the same name, the young !
man and the dead girl were not related. |
1t is said by the sagest gossips here 1
that Wheeler loved Miss Brewster first. |
She herself says: Jack and 1 became
engaged the night before / went 10
Northfield, and he came 10 see me nearly
every Saturday while was there"
Mildred had found more profitable en-
oloyment in Northfield. She remained
here until rumors Of Jacks disloyalty
'eached her. On her return TO Mont
oaller, she haunted Wheeler's footsteps
They say that on the night before the
ragedy she held a conference with him
n the rain outdoors.
Next day Mildred called upon Annie.
The second sweetheart declared that
he was engaged 10 marry young Wheel
Y. and had sn appointment with him for
hat very day 10 attend memorial serv-
ces
They agreed TO seek him together and
,now the truth.
Some say Mildred Brewster was in
ane. Some say she was jealous, dis
,raced, in despair. And some say Il was
murder.
John Wheeler said today: 'I don't care
-,