Omaha daily bee., 1902-02-09

good at that work. to Judge from her acting
on the stand.
"she got them all going right away from
the minute she opened her mouth. She
told OF how she had stood for long years
OF abuse on the part Of her husband. and
she wept honest-and-truly saline tears. and
lots OF them, during this part Of her mar
rative. The jurors, most Of them elderly
men, glared vengefully at her husband. and
the attorney for the prosecution looked
abashed.
Leading up to the day Of the shooting
with all sorts Of skillful little byplays and
constantly dabbing at her fine eyes with q
wadded-up lace handkerchief, she de-
scribed how she had entered the hotel room,
after a walk, how her husband had jumped
up from the couch on which he was lying,
locked the door, pulled a revolver out OF a
bureau drawer, and told her that shed
better say her prayers, as he was going "a
kill her within five minutes.
She closed on him then, she declared
making a grab for the revolver. and in the
scufie the weapon was discharged, the bull
let, as she was told after her arrest. hav-
Ing lodged In the muscles Of her brutal
husbands right shoulder.
Now, she did all this mighty well, and
1 knew when she had finished that she had
the prosecution all over the place and that
she had picked up her case and run away
with 1t. But ! also knew perfectly well
that she was lying, and lying hard. with
every movement Of her lips. Excellent
actress as she was, she wasn't able TO crowd
down the gtve-away tone-quaver Of thu
individual industriously engaged in orally
framing up a fairy tale.
The Jury returned a verdict in her favor
without leaving their seats, in spite of the
fact that the prosecution put several ex.
perts on the stspd who testified that It wal
absolutely impossible for her husband &c
have got that ball in his right shoulder II
the progress Of such a scufie as the
woman had described. When she swept
out OF the room, receiving the congratula.
tions of all hands, / had a hefty line o.
thinks as to the advantages of good looks
and a theatrical education in some con.
tinEencies.
-Four years later 1 met this woman, 6
drink wreck, here in New York. She de.
hantly told me that she had shot her hus.
band In just exactly the manner he hat
described on the stand, and she gloried II
1t. She said that she was only sorry thai
she hadn't killed him. as she had intended
doing when she aimed at him.
Woke Up in Time.
IL reported a case in Philadelphia II
which a woman was charged with having
caused the death Of her husband by secret.
administering strychnine to him. She hat
been on the outs with his folks, and wheI
he died suddenly they got on to her trail
had his stomach analysed, and when tn
analysis revealed quantities Of strychnin,
they charged her with the poisoning.
II took her statement when she was ar
rested. and I knew that she had had moth
ing to do with her husbands death as sool
as she opened her mouth. Yet everything
was against her when the case came up.
"She had been virtually her husband
only companion; they had had a quarre
some years before that had brought abou
their separation for a long period; he haJ
shortly before his death taken out q larg
life insurance policy In her favor; neigh
bors had heard high words between them
day or so before his death. and SO on
was as tight a circumstantial chain a
yer i saw woven, n / was a good des
worried about the case.
"Well, on the second day of the trial
' two Philadelphia druggists, who had ar
parently been 80 sound asleep that the
hadn't heard anything about the case, cam
forward and swore that the dead man ha
been In the habit Of taking strychnine 4
Quantities for several years to their Ger
tain knowledge. and that they had ofte
sold him the stun on prescriptions. Righ
on top Of this a few more Philadelphia
woke up and came to the front with testi
mony to the effect that the deceased ha
frequently talked gloomily to them Of hi
k,.laaaa Awaits and had maintained anfoid
/ as his only way out Of the slough.
"That knocked the underpinning frol
the case against the accused wife Of th
lead man, n when It went to the jur
| q verdict was returned for her.
A Legislative Incident.
Most experienced parliamentary report
ers, too, develop this faculty of being abb
, to pin the liar to the stick, hgurativel
speaking, by the sound OF his voice. / an
the head oficlal reporter Of the legislator
of a western state. who visited me a Will
|, ago, were comparing notes on this sub1ec
and he told me an illustrative experienc
that came his way a couple OF years be
fore.
''The newspapers Of the state had openl
: charged a clique Of legislators OF bein
5 implicated In a bribery job, and when thes
accusations became pretty hot the king pi
Q Of the accused lot arose one day to q ques
: ticn of privilege and started In on a
elaborate and eloquent attempt to clear nj
skirts and those Of his pals In with hi
{ on the deal.
"sHe was ali the money the way b
q went about it, my friend the oficial re
porter told me, and 1 don't believe / eve
Q saw the yo~u-wrong-me business worke
Q with better effect. The great, big We
tears rolled down his cheeks as he tol
Q how he had been outraged and abused B
r the state press, and when he got right we
y lit up, SO to speak. on this line he was
pretty fair way to win out even the or
position, 60 telling were his words an
manner.
INIT knaw as I scribbled up my mote