The Birmingham age-herald., 1910-12-29
Twent HV. Veefa snO

| that the Tamil uiI't through several states a trt t.atN [rs. Mar l tin holding citie 'fw ork state.
 Twent as4 sss snO
 As early as 1885 Mrss Martin suffered from mental trouble which caused discus sion and anxiety of her relatives. All of this, and a great deal more, was abundantly established in the insanity | proceedings At the same time, it must not be forgotten, in considering her ca | reer, that she was a woman of extraor- dinary mental capacity and will power, | truly a brilliant woman, and that null tiplied the difficulties in controlling her Since her arrest, and during the various proceedings, including that of the in- sanity inquiry, she has been at times vio- | lent and sometimes unmanageable. The testimony of the family, 1t will be noted, was fully confirmed by that of distin- guished aliepists after careful examina- ton. The presiding judge held that little importance could be attached to the fam fly testimony, on the ground that 1t would be biased-a surprising view, to say the least, when that testimony was supple mented by medical study and examina- ton of her case.
 X Woman of 64
 In the face of this showing, it seems I 1ILle leSS lIldn luHuIIldH lllet eS NOAHol of 64 years is to be tried for murder in the New Jersey courts. One could scarce ly conceive of a chain of circumstances leading more surely to the conclusion that the woman is not and has not been for many years responsible for her acts, and one is driven to search beyond the ordi- nary sphere of motives impelling prose- cutting officers to find an explanation for the uncommon energy that those of New ark have displayed In this case.
 It Is not to be understood that the con- tention of Mrs. Martins relations that she is insane includes any admission or implication of her guilt of responsibility for the death of her daughter This thought is not entertained. Manifestly, to bring Mrs. Martin before court of justice or any tribunal to answer grave charge in her present condition of ire sponsibillty, without giving her the oppor- tunlty previously to receive medical and hospital treatment and so to test wheth- CT or not she may be restored to physi- cal and mental condition approximating normal is to degrade the administration of justice and expose her interest to prej- udice.
 Who They Are
 Mrs Martin, Mrs. Snead and the late Miss Virginia Wardlaw were the daugh- ters of the late Rev. John B. Wardlaw,
 
 loved minister of the Methodist church, a member of the Georgia conference. The family Is one of the oldest in the south ern states, and its various branches ram fly Virginia, Georgia and South Carolina The late John B. Wardlaw, Jr;, brother of these ladies, was a distinguished grad uate of Princeton university and was holding a fellowship in that institution when he was cut off in early manhood. The Rev. Albert G. Wardlaw, the mem ber of the family best known In tms state. is an A. M. graduate of Princeton and also the Princeton theological sem mary. He has been pastor of the First Presbyterian church In Laurens, or the Westminster Presbyterian church in Charleston and of First Presbyterian church in Union, having spent 20 years in South Carolina, where he is honored and loved throughout the state. The his tory of the family, from early colonial times; has contributed to the best achieve ments and accomplishments in letters. In Christian benevolences and all ennobling activities of various southern common wealths The language of Methodist Bishop writing from Texas. one among 1000 such letters to the lawyers employed for the defense from men of prominence in every southern state, that the deed at trihuted to these ladies lis unthinkable, expresses the prevailing opinion of the southern people wherever the family IS known.
 Interest in the coming trial is grow ing daily in the south, and the beliet IS that the active, though greatly needed, assistance of the friends of the family will be exerted to the end that the de- fense of the accused ladies be fully and effectively set forth.
 It should be added that, so far as Mrs. Marv w. Snead is concerned, she was not in New Jersey for two weeks before the death of her daughter-in-law, and, it Is said, was never in the state more than one time.