Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1907-02-18

ten law of Virginia, which gives the male
relatives OF any young woman the right to
Wreak summary vengeance on any man who
may take advantage Of her.
The "Honcr Code"
The "honor code" Of the early days is still
greatly respected in the Piedmont section
Of Virginia. 1t. too, deals with the "unwrit-
ten law" but 1t says that when the man
marries the young woman the right Of ven
geance ceases he having made the amende
honorable.
Young Billy" Bywaters and the Strother
boys were born and reared in the county-in
the foothills of the Blue Ridge mountains.
The Strothers are related to the Bywaters
through their mother. The Strother boys,
with the exception Of Phil, are older than
Bywaters. Phil Strother and Bill Bywaters
cnummed together when they We're boys,
and Bywaters was a frequent visitor at
Rotherwood. the Strother home. They hunt
ed together, rode races and INDUCED in
other sports.
Miss Viola Strother was the youngest of
three sisters Of the Strothers. and was re-
garded as the prettiest. Bywaters considered
Rotherwood as much his home as any place,
and he was always Miss Viola's escort to
the social affairs of the community. They
rode after the hounds together, and before
either was twenty years old Miss Viola
Strother was desperately in love with her
daredevil cousin, who rode well, owned the
best pack Of hounds in the county, was
iioAASOAc, dCCoLupuSueU, well euuCdteu anu
rather thriftless.
Bred Horses and Dogs.
Billy Bywaters owned and trained blood
ed, high-jumping horses. He bred fox
hounds and exhibited his horses and his
dogs at the horse shows and dog shows Of
the country, getting many first prizes. He
never appeared able to settle down to max
ing money. He was the idol of his mother,
and seemed to devote himself more to her
than to any other member Of his own fam
fly
He was noted in the countryside as the
best dancer, and 1t was nothing for him
to ride twenty or twenty-five miles at night
to attend a dance He was not in any sense
a lady's man, yet more than half of the
proudest young women of Culpeper and
adjoining counties were in love with him.
While young Bywaters was enjoying life
without care and devoting himself to his
horses and hounds the Strother boys were
forging ahead in politics Their father
Col. j. r. Strother, a valorous confederate
soldier, had represented the county at the
Rich nond assembly for years, and they fol-
lowed in his footsteps in politics. The
Strother family had been prominent in the
politics of the state for nearly one hundred
years.
Lined Up With Patrician Faction.
Bywaters, who was accepted by the COM
munity as the sweetheart of Viola Strother
was affiliated in politics with the patrician
faction of the democratic party, which is
represented by the Rixey-Barbour Grim
stey combinations. The RiXeys are relatives
of Surgeon General Rixey of the United
States navy, while the Barbours are the
relatives of the former president of the
Richmond and Danville Railroad Company.
The Grimsteys are related to the Bywaters,
Bywaters' mother having been a Grimstey.
Billy Bywaters paid little attention to poll
tics, except to follow his own immediate
family, and in this way never FLASHED with
his cousins, the Strother boys. The latter
have not the social polish of the opposing
political faction, but they could get. out
the vote, and were generally successful in
electing their men to Office.
few years ago Billy BywaterS was Sc
lected by the RiXeyBarbour faction, be-
cause of his popularity. to run for the Of
fee of county treasurer. then filled by s.
r. Smith, an adherent of the Strother
faction. He ran against Smith. The cam
paign was the most heated known in that
section. Everybody wanted to vote for
Bywaters, but the Strother faction put on
Smith was compelled to spend 49, 600 to Sc
cure his election, and two weeks before
1t took place wanted to withdraw, believing
that he was hopelessly beaten. The Stroth-
ers would not hear of it.
Saloon Men Beat Bywaters.
By an arrangement with some of By
waters managers it was decided to close
the saloons the day the primaries were
held This was fatal to Bywaters, as the
saloon men and the votes they controlled
believed Bywaters was becoming too
straight-laced politically. and voted for
Smith Bywaters was beaten by less than
one hundred votes.
From that time on he was not as pop
ular with the Strother faction as he had
been He was still a welcome visitor at
Rotherwood, but the friendly feeling Of
the brothers was gone. They regarded By
waters as a dangerous political opponent.
but made no effort to win him over to their
side. The Strothers hold that if a man does
not want to follow their lead he can fol-
low anybody else he pleases, but that he
can expect no favors from them.