The Norfolk weekly news-journal. (Norfolk, Neb.) 1900-19??, 1907-12-13
SENATOR ALIENS ESCAPE
MADISON is STIRRED UP OVER
WHAT MIGHT HAVE BEEN.
NETHAWAY HATED ATTORNEY
For No Other Reason Than That He
Was Representing Mrs. Nethaway
in the Case for Divoree--Trasedy
Mioht Have Been Worse.


Might Have Been Worse.
Madison, Neb., Dec. 8. - From a
STAFF correspondent Madison much
more clearly than Norfolk realizes the
narrow margin that kept the Netha.
way tragedy in Norfolk and limited its
victims to Mr. and Mrs. Nethaway.
In Madison details of the Nethaway
affair were as much sought after as
In Norfolk and copies of The News
were at premium .H. ...
Up to few minutes before the
tragedy Thursday afternoon even
Nethaway himself, although deter
mined on murder and suicide, had not
determined just where the scene
should be laid. A few minutes before
he had stepped onto the Madison train
he stopped at the Krantz livery barn
and inquired the price of a livery
team to Madison. "Ill let you know
if / need the team" he said as he
turned towards the depot. At the sta
tion Nethaway found his wife and the
chance to carry out his plans.
In Madison the Nethaway divorce
case was to have been heard on the
evening of the tragedy-and not in
the district court room but in Senator
Aliens Office. That would have been
the scene of the Nethaway shooting
if Nethaway had not found his wife
in Norfolk. With Nethaway's unreas-
oning animosity against Senator Allen
in the latter's capacity as attorney for
the wife in the divorce case 1t is not
at all improbable that Senator Allen
would have been one of the first to
have been shot in the mad ARRAY that
would have occurred in his Office.
With only Judge WEIGH, the plaintiff,
Mrs. Nethaway, and few attorneys
present, Nethaway would have sat
through the proceedings and awaited
an opportune moment.
Mrs. Nethaway never asked for
more than $500 alimony, Senator Allen
states. AS her attorney he had ad-
vised her to drop the fight for ali
mony altogether, accept the divorce
which Nethaway had agreed not to
contest and to return to the position
which she had formerly held in the
hospital at Hastings Informed again
of Nethaways threats Senator Allen
advised the wife to remain in Madison
over Wednesday night for the Thurs
day evening trial. But she disregard
ed the senator's advice and possibly
thus unconsciously saved Senator AL
lens life ....
Monday and Wednesday Nethaway
set in the district court room with a
loaded revolver waiting for his case
to be called for trial. With Netha-
ways nerve as murderer and his
known skill as a marksman Madison
people do not like to think of what
might have happened in their court
| room
Senator Allen has begun to receive
letters from away congratulating him
on escaping being one of the victims
of the Nethaway tragedy.
The fateful Nethaway divorce case
is still on the court docket. 1t will
be formally dismissed at the next
term of court. ... -.
A pretty romance was registered In
Madison last week when Miss Halle
NJ Plass, a Madison county school
| teacher, was married to Louis H. Shull,
an engineer running between Clinton
and Boone, Iowa. Visiting with her
mother at the scenes of the mother S
younger days in Iowa Miss Plass first
met Mr.. Shull, listed among the moth
er's friends of the old-time days. Mr.
Shull pressed his courtship for the
daughters hand. Last week the we'd
ding took place at the Plass home in
Madison and the bride and groom are
now living in Boone. Among the 9th
er weddings which have taken place
in the county within the fortnight are
the marriages of Ralph l.. Cain and
Miss Ida ]. Hannah at Tilden and OF
oliver i. Miller and Miss Laura M
Stocker at Battle Creek.
A public mass meeting in the inter
est of new public library is held In
Madison this evening.
Highly successful were the Madison
county teachers meetings held by
County Superintendent F. S. Perdu'
in Madison Friday and Saturday will
no less distinguished Nebraska edu
Gators than President Pile of Wayne
college and State Superintendent Nc
: Brien of Lincoln on the program. Sim
liar meetings will be held at Norfoll
in few months. ...
The G, A. r. hall was crowded Fri
day evening at the public lecture givel
by the state superintendent Speak
; ing on "Our Young People and Wha
! to Do With Them" Mr.. McBrien tool
up the contention of the Ladies HON
! journal that American pupils wer
9 worked to DEATH" Parties and lat
$ hours and not school work, Mr.. No
Brien said were the real causes @
hraoEJnun on tho mart n