The Washington times., 1901-11-17

him on the death of promising boy,
and hoped that his murderer would be
found and brought 10 justice The grief
stricken father accepted the womanly
sympathy so gently rendered him. and
braced himself up for the awful ordeal OF
the inquest.
On Saturday the coroner's inquest be-
gan. 1t was the Old horrible tale of med
ical evidence. of police reports. of terrified
women witnesses. Nothing was evolved
10 clear the mystery. on Sunday evening
4ir and Mrs. Bonine took with them to
supper detective Ned" Horne, the old
est and shrewdest of tie Washington
force. on the way home Horne grasped
,,-.-- hand and suddenly asked: Where
did you get those scars?"
The little woman said she could not rec
ollect. and then said, oh, yes; l got them
when 1 was picking lilac blossoms"
Later she said: Il could tell you some
thing. but it would hurt the dead
The detectives reply was brutal in Its
directness. You cannot injure the dead
much" he said. Next day Mrs. Bonine
made her confession.
Mrs. Bonine's Confession.
She told how she had reproved Ayres
for drinking. and had for weeks been on
bad terms with him in consequence. On
the tragic Wednesday morning she heard
a rap ON her door and found Ayres wait
ing there. It was then about 2 o'clock.
He wanted to come into my room and
talk to me. she went on. Il would not
let him Then he said he felt i'll. He
asked for medicine. l went into my little
boys room to search for quinine, but
could not find it. He begged me to come
TO his room and talk over our differences.
l agreed; slipped on black and brown
wrapper; put my feet in slippers. and
started fer his room. He opened his door
10 me. l entered and he closed it. He
shot the bolt and held revolver before
me. He had only his undershirt on. He
rfnsuted-rne and 1 tried to leave the room
by the fire-escape. He put his left hand
on my shoulder and tried to stop me. l
caught the pistol by the barre. with my
right hand and we struggled for mo-
ment. Then there was a shot 1 do not
know how many followed, but 1 felt a
flood of blood pour over my shoulder and
Mr.. Ayres sank to the fioCr."
That is in brief the explanation of the
woman. The rest of her story was of her
night journey down the fire escape,
through the second-story window, and up
again to the floor on which the murder
was committed by a stair that did not
necessitate her passing the dead mans
room Undressing herself, she crossed
the corridor 10 the bath room, washed
clean the stains and returned the wrap
per to its original form.
The coroner's jury held her to appear
before the grand jury. The grand jury
indicted her for murder
Such is the story of the tragedy OF the
nF T+ ie ha ct nf q my
terry. the story of a display of indomitabe
courage on the part of a fran little
woman faced with tke evidences Of a
crime 1t is the stcry Of a woman's
struggle for her honCr, or Of a crime
black IN its COZ, option, cruel in its execu-
tion. heartless IL its indifference to con-
Sequences.
There is nothing IN the character Of
Mrs. BoEine as it has been shown to those
who have known her best in the thirty
four years Of her lifetime tc suggest that
she would rise from her bed IN the hear
ing of the steady breathing OF her chill
dren to go murder man three rooms
away.
Her Drear Prison Life.
This little gentle woman has been a
prisoner at the ni~+-'ct Jan siace aI-y
Thea c9-.aer N-Fitt cJur1i- i-te,i L-r
q await .s 1-rion q. the zraud ary.
r1- her Hrr. .a6.-
l11 z1rfaiac. Tbs
u--g 1f he -=r'-e -8sfa
tiers -r- s-l.o and JtaJtsa -tiye
c-UillaHiaH- with the exccP.ion ri Ire
.. nave oeen IN the Min negreescs
committed for minor offences, woIneIi far
below her in mental attainment ard in
personal habits.
rT-fr, d, ,,F fov1
appearance. is y ,ated away out 5n the
Eastern branch OF the Potomac mile
and one-haIf from the Capitol. Tie creek
is little better than a fever MAJ Eh. and
the surroundings are as depressi : as con-
ditions are unhealthy The diary build
ing has as its nearest neighbOrs the Con-
gressional r 'etery, the dimshouse. the
pest hoes The w3Tkhouse-a trinity
of ior4.r1 'rs road leads to the
.5ou- Of greensward sur
nonctonous white
'er beds. no foun-
IS. or gladsoIne cries
IN. Only the silence OF !
., broken occasionally by
i1e = Of newcomers.
AIRS. BOnine's room Is in the rear OF
tae building. It is bare cave for the most
necessary articles; no carpets. no flowers
nothing but bed, little table, a chair
or two. From the windows she may gaze
out upon the murky Eastern branch; only
the sunshine bursts occasionally with ar
fectionate compassion upon her.
Yet. with all these things TO depress her.
Mrs. Bonine's courage has never deserted
her. She has shown weakness at no time.
If remorse has ever gnawed her vitaIs.
IL her conscience has ever racked her
heartstrfngs. there has been nothing In
her demeanor to indicate it.
Mrs. Bonine's Attitude.
Quietly and calmly. undismayed and
without outward evidences Of mental suf-
ferins, she has gone her way. Strangers
have not been permitted to see her; re-
porters, after the first few days. have
been denied access to the prisoner. Only
the matron and the devoted members of
her immediate family have been admitted
to her presence. Rarely has she made any
reference TO the tragedy; when she has
spoken 1t was in sorrow-sorrow that grim
necessity had called for the sacrifice of a
human life; SORROW that the inevitable
had made her the avenging instrument,
the executioner
a sort of a fatalistic obsession seems to
have Claimed her; what must be, will be.
seems 10 be her belief. II was all very
sad, all very horrible-but it was not to
be avoided. There is no self-reproach I'm
what little she says There was no help
for it, is her comment.
Mrs Marshal, the matron, is old ac-
quaintance OF the prisoner. She lived at
the Kenmore herself at one time. and
chance SO had it that she took her meals
from the very table where later sat Mrs.
Bonine and her little family. Mrs. Mar
shal ,Ilnre fhan anrnr. oIse has hncr,