The Fairmont West Virginian. (Fairmont, W. Va.) 1904-1914, 1906-12-21
Visits to Washington.

the Yarious operations were DR.. Leor
and DIR. Walters. The first operation
was performed on October l. 1t was
unsuccessful. and in two weeks anoth
or was tried. A third operation was
trhl Just before Thanksgiving, ant
the last and fourth was performed at
nr. Icons Office.
Frcm the result of these operations
Mrs. Bywaters nearly died, and it wos
the fear of her sudden death ftcm
hemorrhages that impelled the girls
brothers to insist upon the Immediate
marriage for the sake of the girls
honor and good name.
In Guise Of Protector
The testimony of Mrs. Gaines show
ed that Bywaters was a cousin of the
s:rother family 1t showed also that
the girls were left with their brother
Philip as their only protection, aud
that Bywaters came forward with
cousilly sollcitude and wanted to
share the role Of protector Of the faul'
fly. In this guise and under this intlu-
eucc he wronged Viola strother, and
having got her consent to a criminal
operation for the purpose of hiding his
crime, he tried to get the girl to con-
ceal her illness until it well.nigh prov
ed fatal to her.
When he tried to leave his bride,
who was then supposed to be dying,
he was shot by the girls brothers.
Early iu the morning the strcther
brothers, who did the shooting, and
French, the big brother, who loo1s
like Jeffrles, arrived in town and at
tracted much attention as they walk
ed the streets. 1t had been said the
day before that Mrs. Bywaters, the
widowed bride, was so Ill that her tes-
timony could not be taken before Jan
uary 12, but she could receive the visit
of the jury.
Micalah Woods Engaged.
The news made a stir in the town,
as it was hoped that this meant
speedy termination of the case one
way Of the other and thus relieve Cnl'
peper Of some Of the notoriety which,
however, 1t seemed to find not SnpleaS-
ant. Early. too, it was announced that
the Bywaters family had retained 10
assist the commonwealth attorney
Capt. Mlcajah Woods, of Charlottes'
VILE, the man who won fame by his
successful prosecution of Major Nc
Cue, who was hanged for the murder
of his wife.
When Philip strother appeared on
the street, in company With his broth
er, 1t was noticeable that he was
wounded. It was rumored that he had
received this in a struggle with his
sisters husband, but Philip said, and
his tory was borne out by others, that
his injuries came from walking on q
bridge in the dark.
Later in the day It developed that
Jim Strother, who has been practic'
Ing law at Welsh, W. Va, has been
mayor of that town for many years,
AMI only vacates the Office next spring
to take the seat in the West Virginia
Legislature, to which he was recently
elected.
1t was ii O'Clock in the morning
when the crush of officials, lawyers
AID newspaper men being so great
the inquest was shifted from the office
If the coroner to the mayors office.
Mrs. Gaines, in company with her
cousin, Mrs. George Williams, and her
husband, was waiting there. She at
once took the formal oath and began
her testimony, which, by direct and
cross.examinattoh, lasted three hours.
Mrs. Gaines and those with her were
all essed in black, and the two wo'
men were heavily yelled. At aTst
Mrs. Gaines appeared a bit nervous,
but this soon passed off She then
threw back her veil, and thereafter
told her story simply and with fine di'
rectness. The lawyers present agreed
that they had seldom seen woman
on the stand with more poise or self
possession. There were times when
the same questions were asked her at
Intervals Of over a half hour, and In
such cases her answers never varied,
and most of the time they were couch
ed in identical language.
Once or twice when the qustions
were on personal grounds or dealt
with subjects that are not usually dis
cussed in public Mrs. Williams put a
protecting arm about the witness, but
always Mrs. Gaines threw it OF, a
trlae impatiently, and nerved herself
for the ordeal.
Without particular incident the flow
Of testimony went on unlnterruptedly,