Los Angeles herald., 1906-09-14
W M An
TELLS OF
CRU ELTY
Says Husband Made
Her an Abject
Slave
Iowa Wife Runs Away
Fr, m Anc.pnt
spouse
David Clarke Offers Reward for Cap
ture of Recreant One, Who in
Turn Describes Revolt
ing Conditions
REWARD

81 Offer II reward of $50 for the cap
,urc of my wife, Mrs. Carrie Clarke, who
eloped with ID. C. Stokesbcrry tuly 80
from Carlton, Iowa, and went west. III
anyone offers information resulting In
her arrest 1 will give u reward of $50.
Signed, David ClnriSe.'
Such was the offer of reward wired
west several years aSo, upon whlch
Deputy United States Marshal Bert
Franklin arrested Mrs. Carrie Clarke
and D. C. Stokesberry Wednesday
night Yesterday when they were ar
raigned in Justice Young's court the
woman fairly writhed with Indignation
when she saw the amount offered by
her ancient husband for her capture.
The charge against the woman is a
statutory one, alleging that she has
been living openly and notoriously as
Stokesberry's companion, but since
Stokes berry is a divorced man. his Of
fense cannot be more than misde-
meanor in this state and it is thought
that the prosecution will find 1t hard
to have the woman held on the fugitive
warrant and extradited for trial baCk
in Iowa.
There are always two sides to story
and the public is generally too prone
to believe the mans side. But in the
case of the arrest of Mrs. Clarke there
is much to be said in behalf of the
country girl who, when hardly OLD
enough to know the trials of married
life, was mated with a man more than
twice her age who had six children by
former marriage.
Tells Story of Cruelty
Here is the story told by the woman
to a Herald representative yesterday
as she sat in one of the cells at the
county jail and discussed her troubles:
This is the first time l have ever
been in trouble and naturally my ar
rest and confinement in this Jail have
rather unsettled my nerves." said Mrs.
Clarke, and her condition was evident.
The woman is of the same type of
thousands of simple country girls of
Iowa and Missouri. She is medium
sized and slender, with soft, light red
hair and hazel eyes. Her youth is
evident in her language.
''It was this way" continued the wo-
man. IT married Dave Clarke back in
1900. l was eighteen years old and he
was forty. He had six children by
former wife and all but one were boys.
81 didn't have much to say about
thesmarriage. We were neighbors and
Clarke, with his small farm, was con-
sidered something of catch, so we
were married.
"Then my troubles began in earnest.
| was threatened and mstreated so
that 1 very nearly died. There were
five grown boys in the family. They
never referred to me in any other way
than Red because of the color of my
hair, and they spent all their time
swearing in my presence, singing vile
,,d toll oil xr,hiI fhait
father only laughed at my embarrass-
ment and called me hard names. He
always took the boys part and 1t made
it very hard for me. In the winter the
boys and their father remained in bed
while 1 was compelled to trudge
through the snow and feed the cattle
in the early morning. was compelled
to do all the cooking, washing, ironing
and cleaning for the entire family.
Refuses to Return
But that was only a small part of
my troubles. / gave birth to four
children during my six years of mar
ried life and because of the i'll treat
ment accorded me, two of the babies
died. In each instance l was compelled
to do manual labor within three weeks
after the babies births.
FINALLY, after had endured all the
abuses / could stand, I told my hus-
DdnQ intended TO ledVe MINI. ne
laughed at me and taunted me and
dared me to leave, so during July
slipped away and went to Des Moines
There met Stokesberry, who had been
my neighbor He said that he knew
the country out west and that 1 could
make a living out here. He bought
me a ticket and told me that he was
going to Los Angeles and that 1 might
go along if would pay him the money
for the ticket after we arrived. l
promised to do so and we came here,
riding all the way in chair car.
''Since we have been here have been
working with family named Smith
on West Twenty third street. where
/ was arrested. Stokesberry has been
working at lumber yard, and l have
! only seen him occasionally. 1 defy
them TO prove any charge Of that char
acter against me, but | would rather
go TO prison than live with that man
again."