Evening journal., 1902-05-01
LAUREL STIRRED
BY WAITE ALIBI
Murder Case Has EStranged
Lifelong Friends
DISCUSSIONS ARE BITTER
Public Sentiment Divided Al TO the
Innocence Of the Husband Of The
Murdered Woman
DISCUSSIONS ARE BITTER

stan Correspondence Evening Journal.
Laurel. May THE murder of Mra
Elmer Collins. the arrest of the hus-
band. followed by the alleged confess
sion OF William Waite. or Waite Sip
pie, the negro locked up in Georgetown
Jail. besides stirring Tho community as
it never has been stirred before, has
caused many heretofore good friends
10 become at enmity. Some do not
speak, as they pass. and many have
almost come to blows. Those who be-
ieve Collins Dis guilty OF the awful
crime are in the majority, but he still
has warm friends who believe In his
innocence. and are doing all I'M their
power. not only to prove him guiltless.
btu they are exerting every effort TO
set him straight in the minds of the
people of laurel and this locality.
Nightly long arguments have been
held on the street corners, and several
clashes We're narrowly averted. Now
the holders OF the different views will
not trust themseles TO discuss the mat
ter, fearing the consequences. Some
OF those who hold that Collins is in
nocent have gone so far as to threaten
'c0tt other business people who
do not think the same as they This
has had the effect OF causing hard
words TO be said about each other. and
men who could be seen together in
friendly intercourse on the first few
days after the murder avoid each
other now.
All sorts of rumOrs are still IN cir
culatiOn. and when most OF them are
run down they prove TO be without
foundation. The gOssipers all hear
them down to the starting point Is like
trying TO find the end OF a rainbow.
The story of the alibi established for
the negro Waite, which appeared in
the Evening Journal yesterday, came
| like a thunderclap to the pariisans
here. who have boen protesting that
the negro was guilty. lt will clear
him OF the charge. and SHOW that the
work of the PinkertOn detectives
amounts TO naught
One Of the most talked of I1tmOrs yes
terday was that Mrs. George Henry had
said she visited Mrs. Collins ON the
Friday night before the murder and
noticed a bruise on her face. She was
seen at her home yesterday afternoon.
and TO a reporter said she was not at
the Collins home on THAT night. Sew
eral people say, however. that
they heard her make this statement
Joseph Kenney. a fisherman who
lives near the scene of the muir
der. said yesterday that John Henry
said TO him that he had heard a per-
son say: 81 felt Mrs. Collins would be
murdered before morning" Henry re-
fuses to give his authority for this
statement.
last evening Detective Ratledge ar
rived in laurel, and his appearance
caused a flutter among the people who
We're awake The detective refused to
discuss the case. He said he did not
know how long he would remain in
the vicinity.
Collins is still tilling the soil on his
farm as If nothing had happened. He
does not sleep in his house. however.
but at sundOwn leaves for the home of
his wife's father. The two children.
Catherine and Hazel. are at the same
house. Collins has become suspicious
of every stranger, and when he was
seen yesterday would have nothing to
say.
The people living in the sparsely
settled sections outside OF laurel are
still badly frightened, and every
stranger is closely scrutinized. IL is
generally believed in Laurel that some
Of Collins neighbors know much more
than they have told. An effort was
made to get some Of them to talk yes
terday, but they shut up as close as
clans The reason for this is that
someone told them to be careful what
they said, or they would be sent to
Jail.
The effort TO fasten the crime on the
colored man Waite has had the effect
of frightening the negro population.
Since the murder they have kept in
doors most Of the time. and now they
are in a state of terror. not knowing
who will next be accused of the crime.