The Birmingham age-herald., 1909-12-18
SILENCE BROKEN
 IN SNEAD CASE Victims Mother Declares Ocsy Snead Killed Herself NO NEW FACTS ARE FOUND Mrs. Martin Declares That Her Dsugh- ter Suffered From Suicidal Mania and Came to Death By Her
 Own Hand.
NO NEW FACTS ARE FOUND

New York, December H.--Mrs. Caroline W Martin raised her heavy veils today and suddenly became spokeswoman for the three silent sisters in the Tombs, who must explain to the courts of New Jer- sey the death of Ocey snead
 Mrs Martin, who Is the victims mother. has proved far more communicative than either Virginia wardlaw the aunt at East Orange. or Mrs. Mary snead. an- other aunt, each of whom Is charged with murder.
 'I am here" volunteered Mrs Martin today, "as the result of conspiracy on the part of milionaires who want what little property have left. Every news paper in New York is subsidized by these millionaires who are prosecuting me. The shock and injustice of my arrest have enfeebled very old woman If that is what my enemies want, they need go no further.
 My daughter. Ocey. came to her death by her own hand. did not see her do it. l did not know that it was done until Virginia was arrested, but I was not sur prised."
 Suicidal mania" by Ocey Snead is ap- parently the defense relied upon by the three sisters of the Wardlaw family ar rested in connection with her mysterious death.
 Despite the fact that prison bars now hold all the women members of the raIn- fly in which the bath tub victim lived e1,o oit eli ylu 1at self to death over the disappearance of her husband, as Mrs. Caroline B. Martin. her mother insists, or was being sys- tematically starved and mentally infiu- enced into state of helplessness, as soms of the police believe. the mystery of ths affair seemed today little nearer .sf,lutian than when the first discoveries wsas made.
 We starve herr" exclaimed Mrs. Mar tin, Ocey Snead's mother, in comment ing on the police suggestion. We all loved her more than our lives. That was one of the ways in which she intended to do away with herself if no other fashion offered"
 Mrs. Martin. who was arrested and yes terday held to await extradition to New Jersey, insists that the suicide notes found in her hotel room were all written by Oeey while the latter was grieving over the disappearance of Fletcher Snead. Ocey's husband. Ocey had to be con- stantly watched to prevent her taking her own life, and the thought of suicide became mania with the girl. her mother asserts.
 The comment that daily developing facts throw no light on the bath tub mystery without illuminating it seems to hold good in connection with Mrs. Martins re- ported assertion that Virginia Wardlaw. aunt of the victim, and the first person apprehended in the case, knew that the niece intended self-destruction, and that aunt fingered in the lower part of the East Orange house where the tragedy oc- cured. fearing a gruesome discovery upon going upstairs.
 In direct contradiction of Mrs Martini s description of her daughter Ocey. as a pining girl, lapsing heplessly into fatal melancholy, Mrs. Clarence Burns. a we'll known club woman and charity worker, said today:
 T knew Ocey Snead year ago as a young woman working for her living. I was greatly impressed by her beauty and her magnificent head of fair hair She did not seem to be Respondent and spoke quite cheerfuly of the future.'' | Franklin Fort. Jr., counsel for Vfr- ginia Wardlaw. said tonight that he has advised New York counsel for Mrs Mary Snead and Mrs. Martin not to fight extra dition, because such action would only mean longer confinement for them.