The Washington herald., 1909-01-03

Media, Pa. Jan. Never before in the
history Of a Pennsylvania court has there
been reclted a tale Of abuse Of women by
man such as was told on the witness
stand here to-day by Mrs. NJ Florence
Erb. widow Of Capt J. Clayton Erb, in
her own defense for her husbands mur-
der.
It was g tale Of brutality that has SCI
dom been paraIleled. even in nction- And
It was driven home by the very manner Of
HE woman herself as she sat. shrinking
Iy responding to tIa interrogauons Of her
leading counsel. ". Cloud Alexander.
telling the things that could best be ex-
pected 10 influence the jury. while at the
same time skimming lightly over those
that might prejudice. Yet she did not
spare herself
I threw q cuspidor al my husbands 5
head" she declared, and a vase thrown
By me shattered on his face, but he had
been beating ne and I was in fear OF my
own lie"
Mrs. Erb scored heavily IN the defense
Of herself and her sister. Mrs. Beisel. IN
dicted Jointly for the murder OF the man
Who vas IN life the intimate friend and
confdant Of the members OF the Quaker
CITY Republican political machine Her
narrative carried sense OF horror that
cannot have failed 70 impress the jury.
Told Jury Her story.
she was very pale. and her peculiar
style Of beauty was we'll set OF By the
mourning garb she wore. She related
70 the jury clrcUmsJantiaI events Of
many alleged assaults upon her, OK beat
Ings win canes, articles OF furniture.
and bare fists. and culrinafed the entire
story with an accoant OF a night OF hor-
ror. when according 10 her. she lay
half fasnung on a couch while the man
who had made her his wife threatened
TO kin. From the instant that she went
10 Red Gables. she swore. the captain
subjected her 70 indlgnit,es OF the most
brutal kind.
He wanted 70 get rid Of me-" she
pIaintiveIy said. and when I would not
consent 10 a divorce he treated me as
though I was not human.
When he drove me out OF the house
and took refuge from his brUtalides
in the cupola he came up and dragged
me down the stairs by the hair on my
head
Friends OF capt Erb tonight declare
that the widows story is untrue. They
declare that none Of the scenes she de-
scribed could actually have happened,
and insist that her tale was devised for
jury consumption. On the other hand,
the defense promises 70 have every word
Of Il corroborated by her brother. her
sister, and the servants OF the Erb house
hold
Afraid TO Face Mother.
Mrs Erb admitted that she had lived
with Capt Erb at Red Gables from May,
1915. until November. l9J7.
But I stayed al Red Gables and I
married Mr. Erb. because I was ashamed
to leave him. she protested in a sob
bing voice. 7 could not face my mother
and admit my disgrace. he had told the
world that I was his wife. he had told
his sisters and al his friends that he
had married me and so stood his cruelty
and abuse"
But the most dramatic story Of the day
was the recital Of the events that imme-
diately followed the shooting. She had
told how Erb had beaten and abused
her on the night Of the shooting
Seemingly unmoved mentally. although
her slight figure was occasionally. shaken
by scbs, she had recited the early events
of the tragic night when she had been
beaten by Erb. run away from him in
terror after she had beaten him in
frantic struggle with the electric hand
light. thrown the CUspidOr at his head.
broken a vase filed with flowers in his
face, and told Of his final struggle with
her sister while the revolver was in his
hand But when the lawyer asked her
about the events that followed she SEEM
ingly lost all Of her self-ControL
4 Dramatic Moment.
7 saw his face the instant I came out
VI LllE Nl-ls SIX oDDUCkA. dIQ II Was
not until that instant that realized taat
he had been hurt. Il was awful. awful
and i Here speech left her. and she
seemed about 10 fall from the oaken
chair in which she was sitting. There
was not a dry eye in the courtroom. but
the witness, seeming to realize that every
effort was necessary. rallied her failing
nerves, pushed herself backward into
the chair. and. thrOugD eyes deeplv
infsmed with emotion stared at her
lawyer, her white-haired mother and her
now sympathetic, weeping sister, con-
Jointly in the shadow Of the gallows with
her. and continued
But I did not then realize Just what
had happened. I did not know that he
was dead or dying I just ran down
stairs 10 get help.
She told OF bringing the maid I'D stairs
with her, Of calling in vain for a doctor
over the telephone, Of seeing her sister
lying IN such faint that she thought
her dead. and Of trying to revive her.
Prosecutor McDade conducted the cross
examination. Going into the early his
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