The evening times. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1895-1902, 1901-05-23

The police officials and Coroner hewitt
are Just beginning to awaken to the fact
that was perfectly evident to District At
toruey Gould and others from the mo-
ment that they became acquainted with
the nature Of Airs. Bouine'S statement
that the case has been badly handled.
and that 50 far from clearing up the cir
cumstauces attending the death of James
Seymour Ayers. jr.. the mystery Is deeper
than ever The authorities are now con-
WINGED that had Mrs. Bonnie been acting
under the advice of one Of the shrewdest
lawyers in the country she could not have
made a wiser move or placed herself in a
better position than by acting as she did
At first she endeavored to keep clear Of
any connection with the tragedy, but
when it became evident to her that she
could not avoid being involved. she did
what the officials believe has never been
equaled in the history of crime Mrs
Bonnie. they say, saw that each day was
but adding to the accumulation OF evil
denCe, all Of which pointed directly to her
having some connection with the case.
This evidence was summed up as far as
could be done without interfering with
the ends Of justice, the morning Of the
day of Mrs Bonine's confession as it was
called at the time As the time approa CHI
ed when she was to be placed under oath
and vigorously cross-examined before
the jury, which was sitting in inquest
over the remains of the dead man. she
recognized that it would be impossible
for her TO avoid being implicated in the
case IN some way, and she took one of
the detectives aside, and poured into his
ear story Of the crime that was Looked
upon at the time as q confession. but
which II IS now believed was an adroit
defense
By this means she avoided the examfna
ton, on the stand under oath and the en-
barrassing and trying ordeal which it in
yolved- She placed in the hands of the
Government statement that will be used
before the grand jury and that, as a mat
ter OF fact viii place before that body
the defence Of the accused She viii also
De able to place before the trial jury her
statement Of the case without going on
the stand and being subjected to the at
tacks OF the prosecuting attorney OF in
volving an examination as to any of her
past affairs
EMBARRASSING TO THE GOVERNMENT.
But by far the most important beg -E-.g
that her action had on the case was the
calling off Of the detectives and others
from the search for evidence and the
abandonment OF effort on their part and
Office appears to have been satisfied that
person had been found who could be
charged with the crime, or at least held
for the action Of the grand jury, and i'm
mediately abandoned the investigation, al
though several important witnesses had
not been examined. This resulted in
verdict - The jurors that was couched in
such language as IS already proving ex-
Uemely embarrassing 10 the Government
Mrs. BONNIE IS in the peculiar position
OF being confined III the District Jail
without any charge standing against her
When placed under arrest by Detective
Sergeant Horne and Lieutenant Moore
and lodged at the House Of Detention the
charge Of murder appeared against her
name on the records OF that institution
For want Of proper evidence before them
the CoToner's jury avoided a direct &C
cusation and simply alleged that Ayers
came to his death IN a struggle in which
Mrs Bonine was involved. Douglass &
Douglass, who have been retained as
counsel for Mrs. Bonnie, have seized upon
this weakness and propose. it is under
stood. to base their claim for a writ Of
habeas corpus upon It Attorneys who
have discussed that matter believe that
the point IS well taken and that there is
an excellent chance for her to secure her
Charles A Douglass. of Do77gIase e
Dougless, stated today, that It has not
yet been decided what action viii be ia
ken, looking to the release of the prison
eT from Jail Whatever course is pursued
MI Douglass said, no action would he IA
ken until late this afternoon NJ Dong
lass was engaged at the City Hall today.
until p. II, in the trial Of a suit he
fore Chief Justice Bingham in Circuit
Court No. L
Walter Gum, the coIored waiter who
was formerly employed at the Kenmore
Hotel, and TO whom Mrs. Bonnie stated
bhe mad given the revolver that she form
erly owned, visited Police Heado71ar+erz
about l O'Clock this afternoon and turned
the weapon over to Captain Boarsfnan.
1t is a q caIibre Of the bulldog tvDe. as
Mrs Bonnie had described.
Gum stated that he had not worked AZ
the Kenmore since March, 1900. and that
Mrs Bonnie gave him the weapon in
either January or February Of that year.
The pistol Is now in possession Of the
detectives Whatever Mrs BonfRe's con
nectiOn with the case has been the police
consider that she is one Of the most re-
z1arkable women that they have ever
Lealt with.
FRUIT FOR MRS. BONNIE.
Mrs. BouIne appears to feel more com
Portable at che Jail than while under sur
VIGILANCE and the object Of persistent
questioning by the detectives She sees
no one save members Of her family and
attorneys She retired early last night.
but her sleep was not so trauq III as it
had been the first night after 1he had
been taken 10 the jail Soon after she
arose this morning she partook of break
fast, which differed considerably from
the usual prison fare, in that it included
fruit She appeared cheerful and read
newspaper accounts Of yesterdays de-
veIopments in the case with apparent in
terest No one called until after Il
O'Clock
Then it was that the prison physician
made his rounds and Mrs. BONNIE was
the first Of the inmates Of the Jail called
upon She was apparently in good con
ditiGn- There was no evidence Of any
nervous trouble which might result IN IL
ness. The physician stated that the bruis-
Is on Mrs. Boniae's left leg were not Sc
riOUs. but that they were quite pro-
nounced- There is no abrasion on the
limb. The flesh is discoIored. however and
black and blue marks extend from the
knee along the shinbone and the calf tn
the ankle
While the physician was with Mrs. Bo-
nine in the maron's room, Mr.. Be-
nine called at the jail, and went at once