The news & observer. [volume] (Raleigh, N.C.) 1894-current, 1905-01-29
B, L. Dukes Story of Alice
Webb
Continued From Page Nine

| ttODL1nueQ rom rage ANlnS.D
should have finally regained his lib
erty, Mr.. Duke owes almost entirely
TO the prompt and effective action Of
| his Secretary Mr.. w. G.. Bramhanl.
who was at the time in Durham. The
| first information Mr.. Bramham had of
the facts was the reports published
| in the newspapers. Not Il line did he
| have from Mr.. Duke or any of his rel
atives He diagnosed the situation us
| one that called for action of quick
| sort and he left for New York at once.
| Arrived there his first step was to
go tonce TO Flushing and demand dn
| interview with his employer. 1t was
| denied him. That Mr.. Duke was in
the sanitarium within a cell in fact
within a few feet of where he talked
with the doctor in charge was the
! only information that he could obtain.
Mr.. Bramham asked if he might write
a letter. He could not said the doctor,
1t was the order of Mr.. Lawrence Duke
that no one should see or commune
cate with his father except at his au-
thorfzation. Mr.. Bramham is a man
who looks action and determination.
He showed it in this instance.
Il am going out he told DR..
Brown, land post letter to Mr.. Duke
ana get a certificate of the postmaster
| that it has been mailed. Mr.. Duke
must get that letter or you deal With
the United States government"
I Mr.. Bramham did as he had said:
and Mr.. Duke received the letter
which he sent.
THAT letter." said Mr. Branhan TO
me today, was positively the 1irst
news or information that AR. DUB
had received from the outside world.
He was ignorant of everything that
had happened, of the charges against
him or the cause of his arrest, or the
reason of his confinement. He stated
to me afterwards that it was the first
ray of light he had inaf situation that
was enough to drive a man to In
sanity
A Legal Race.
Returning to the city MIR, Bramham
and his counsel worked desperately to
prepare the papers for a writ of ha-
beas corpus. The writ was granted
by Judge Gaynor. Anticipating this
move and knowing of Mr.. Bramhams
presence, the plaintiff Lawrence DUE
and his attorneys we've moving with
equal haste to procure an order Tor
his appearance before another iudg".
The lapers Wer' pre- pared Il scr ed
amos simultaneously t'y the two
sides to the battle uvHr the possession
{ . ! mar. Who q { mia. ted .itt
unfortunate marriage. The bearers
of the summons arrived at the SANTA
rum almost at me same time: III.
Bramham's writ of habeas corpus
won, however, as it We're, "by q neck"
1t was served at the sanitarjum only
three minutes before the write CT
Lawrence Duke arrived.
Judge -Gaynor Indignant.
Mr.. Bramham is enthusiastic about
Judge Gaynor. The hearing before
of
tors We're not called upon to testify;
no witnesses were put on the stand.
The Judge contented himself With
talking with the prisoner. He declar-
ed him sane of his own volition. The
American tobacco attorneys were
present in court and offered to agree
to the enlargement of the prisoner
pending the hearing of the matter of
his competency to manage his own af-
fairs. Mr.. Bramham chuckles at the
recollection OF the courts reply:
"You will agree to nothing!" shout
ed the Judge. This man is as sane
as anybody in this room. He will be
freed by the order of the court
you ought to have heard him!" ex-
lambast the whole crowd. He rose
up and l tell YOU he poured it in!
You drink. don't YOU he asked, and
smoke and chew, and you're from the
South? This court don't hold Peep c |
for insanity who come from the South |
ana are guilty of those things!"
The Record of Miss Webb.
But free as he was, Mr.. Duke WIS |
not out of the woods. nor is he yet. |
His personal liberty is secure, the |
matter of his competency to do with |
his own as he likes is yet to be pass |
ed on by the courts. And in the very !
hour of his liberation, there was wait
ing for him another shock. In the |
glare Of the lime-lght Of publicity, |
Mrs. Webb-Duke's character could |
not stand the strain. Locked in his |
cell, Mr. Duke had heard nothing of |
the developments coming from all |
quarters concerning her past life.
When his attorneys intimated the |
facts he flew into natural rage. Inc |
man was ready to fight as the average |
proved his sincerity; it could not hold |
his faith in the woman he had wed. |
Proof tumbled over proof into a mind |
that had already been strained and |
shocked with appalling events. 1t APP
Deared that Miss Webb was under m
1ictYnent in a Texas court by having
put up as collateral bogus stock III
] company purporting to own me very
options in which Mr.. Duke had be-
come Interested. 1t was learned that
he has been intimately associated
with Madame Despanes" the keep
81 of one of the most notorious re-
sorts in the city of New York that
her sister was one of the demi-monde;
that she herself was VIGOROUSLY dis
equitable woman who had been illigiti
mateIy associated with q score Of dit
ferent men. These facts came out con-
cfusively leaving no room for Gouot.
Mr.. Duke at once stated that he would
have nothing more to do With the Wo-
man, unless she could disproye The
charges against her.
Only once since his arrest has Mr..
Duke seen his wife. That was iii the
office of his attorney. She asked the
of seeing him; he denied it;
she wanted to know whether she miSht
white him; he denied that. Mrs. Duke
Webb left the office with one word
from the man she had trapped, NO.
What Means This Pcrsistcncy:
1t will be recalled that the basis OF
the original action taken rs to Mr..
Duke has all along been claimed to
DC his salvation from the woman who
he had married Tn1D1ofiioti.lx, I11lon