Fergus County argus. [volume] (Lewistown, Mont.) 1886-1946, 1905-10-27
BUTTEWOMAN'S
LIFE STORY
Mrs. Lorna Vile Hunter Walbridge.
MelviIle.Northey Against Whom
Charge Of eigamy is Pending.
FIGURED TWO ELoPEMENTs
Sent Her Father to Penitentiary for
Alleged Murder Of One Of Her
Numerous Husbands.

NV A~O-
ma Vile Hunter Walbridge- Melville
NOrthey. now in custody at Butte, in
sane, neurOtic degenerate, under a
hypnotic spell or simply a magnifl.
cent liar? These are some of the
questions puzzling the Butte authori-
ties. The woman is young, barely
10. She is petite, pretty, attractive.
She has none of the looks of the hard
ened criminal, yet she gloats openly
over the fact that she sent her father
to a felon's cell. She is charged with
completely in murder she has been
accused of forgery, Matchmaking and
finally of bigamy.
The young woman was born in Ne
braska in 1886 and travelled overland
to Montana in a prairie schooner. Yet
she tells interested listeners that she
first saw the light at Brighton -on-the-
Sea, Lancashire, England; that her
parents were aristocratic; that her
mother was Lady Bernette Severn
before her marriage; that, with her
parents. she made an extensive tour
of the continent when a mere child
and that she is heireses to a large
fortune. A favorite brother, she re-
lates, is now on the way to Butte to
prove her identity. He has plenty of
money and will smooth away all thorns
from her path. In proof of her as
sertions she exhibits cablegram, but
careful inquiry fails to reveal that any
such message was ever received in
Butte.
EIopes Twice.
In 1900 Lorna, then only IA years
of age, met and fell deeply in love
with Hiram Otis Walbridge, young
wOodchopper whose only claim to dis
tinction was the fact that his eyes
did not match in color. He returned
her interest and, as their parents did
not smile upon the proposed union be-
cause of the girls extreme youth, they
arranged an elOpement She made
her way down ladder. where her
young Lochinvar was waiting, and
they rode away upon the same horse.
But Cupids plans We're upset, and the
young lovers torn from each others
arms. Not a whit discouraged, they
took advantage of the next opportun-
ity to elope, this time with better sue
cess, and were united in the bonds
of wedlock.
weary of her boy husband and began
to plot to get rid of him. She told
her father that he was extremely I'M
kind to her; that upon occasions he
had struck and beaten her, and work
ed up a quarrel between them. One
day Hunter and Walbridge were OBJ
served to go away together. and the
young man did not return. Although
the matter created considerable COM
ment, nothing was done until two
years afterward, at which time the
subject was revived by the discovery
of number of half burned bones in
a lonely spot. Hunter was located
and landed in Jail for murder.
Tells Lurid Tale.
AT her fathers trial Lorna was
brought into the court room upon a
couch, ostensibly too weak to stand,
and startled the spectators with a lu-
rid tale. She testified that Walbridge
and her father had quarreled and,
fearing she knew not what, she fol-
lowed them into the woods. She was
Mortified to see her father take DELHI
crate aim at her husband and shoot
him in his tracks. He buried the
corpse in a shallow grave. but turn
ed and discovered that she had been
a witness of his crime. She stated
he threatened to kill her also if she
ever "squealed" on him, and she liv-
ed in such fear of her life that she
did not dare oppose him in anything,
and even submitted to his unnatural
desires and lived with him as his
wife.
Indignation ran high, and the jury
promptly brought in a verdict of gull
ty. Hunter was given 80 years in
the Deer Lodge penitentiary and is
now serving his sentence. Since Lor-
mas recent arrest he has issued a
statement declaring that her testimony
at the trial was false in every detail !;
that Walbridge is still alive and will
be heard from before long. The girl
has admitted that her impressive ILL.,
ness was feigned in order to create
sympathy in the minds Of the jurors
Forgery and Scandal.
In the meanwhile Mrs. Walbridge
had become Mrs. George Melville.
Melville was extremely sorry for the
girl, and believed her to be an in.
EOcent victim of circumstances. He
fell in love with her pretty face and
appealing manner and supported her
through the trying court room scenes
They moved to Great Falls, and