The Richmond Virginian. (Richmond, Va.) 1910-1920, 1911-08-12
LAW IS soon TO PASS ON
CASE Of HENRY CLAY
bEATTIE, JR..
Continued from First page.)


hurried to the baby's crib and hush
ed its cry.
Alarm is Given.
a murder had been committed, q
fonl. dastardIy murder and there We're
things to be done. The assassin was
at large and unhuuted and the men
within the home straightwaN grew
active. There were hurried consulta-
tons. The authorities must know OF
the crime, pursuit of the murderer
must be made. hundred things
should be done.
Lights began appearing in the diff
ferent windows OF the large, square
house, yellow lights that hlinked out
at the darkness Ike great square
eyes, hurried footsteps We're heard
upstairs and downstairs, men ran
hither and thither while the women
kept quiet. sitting vigil by the stiil
form Of the woman who would move
no more.
some Of the men went in the room
where the man who had been in the
automobile lay quiet among the pill
! lows He sat up and looked around
him. then buried his face in his hands
and sat perfectly still Ills hands
were red. his face was discolored and
there was deep cut on his nose.
brown. stylishly cut suit was stained
with large dark hiojs.
Then he told them Of the murder.
A man had shot at him. as he sat
in the automobile, a man who had
appeared suddenly in the gloom and
strange qnictude of Midlothian turn
pike. a man with IA scrubhy beard
and a rough word and a long gun,
a tall man and strong man.
But the shot had gone wild, said
the man on the couch. whose nose
was cut and swollen. she shot had
not struck him, but IL had buried it
SELF in the pretty head OF tbs woman
in the automobile beside him, his
wife and the mother of his baby aud
it had killed her. I jumped out and
grappled with the fellow said the
man on the couch. whose face was
buried In his hands, but he was too
] big for me. too strong and he brought
the gun down on my nose aud knock
ed me down and ran away
( Then the men who heard the story
talked among themselves while tho
man with tho eat nose again stretched
/ himself at fun length on the couch
and buried his face in the cushions.
4 The men who talked agreed that the
murderer was not far away he had
must be caught Maybe he had in
tended robbery. maybe he had fired
/ only in drunken anger, maybe a
/ thousand things. but it still remained
( he had done murder and must be
/ caught.
! First Accounts In Papers.
So the news was flashed through
ont the countryside and across the
James TO the sleeping city, and thence
+ ii escaped to the world. flashing over
! telegraph wires TO all parts Of the
nation. brief newspaper paragra phs Of
& murder done in lonely Midlothian
turnpike, a cruel murder. but still a
crime of which the mind could scarce
/ ly conceive And in the morning
newspapers Of Richmond was told the
story Of the killing as it had been
/ told by the man who had been In
! the automobile and later lay ON the
couch.
] Mrs. Henry Clay Beattie, Jr., for
F nnerly Miss Louise Wexford owen, a
society girl ard beauty Of South Rich
mond. bride bat year and the
mother OF lye-weeks- son. had
! been shot and instantly killed as she
| sat beside her young husband in his
| automobile in Midlothian turnpike late
al night.
! ger at the brutal murder OF his Wife.
/ had leaped from tbs. machine and
grappled with the assaiiaut, who had
/ dubbed the gun and feIled the young
| husband with a blow on the nose.
| Dazed by the blow, Beattie had been
unconscious for q second or more, and
when he staggered TO his feet the as
I sasSin had fed. Realizing pursuit
/ would be futile, the young husband
/ had re-entered the automobile and
started back 10 the home Of Thomas
/ J. owen, uncle Of the woman who
had been killed
! but before leaving the scene of the
murder Beattte had found the shot
gun used by the murderer and thrown
1t In the tonneau OF the car Sup
porting the llfeless form of his wife
in one arm and driving with the free
, hand, Heattie had driven the autonao-
/ bile at high speed back along Mid
lothian turnpike to the byroad lead
Ing e the E,Wens hssnaes, +. IL. r, ,,-s.a..
Richmond Is Startled.
! All Richmond gasped at the start
I ling story OF the horrible crime, and
II read eagerly how posses had been
I formed and We're securing the section
! with bioodhounds. trying to find a
/ trace of the murderer. Some said the
man would be lynched IL found. but
others said there was little likelihood
OF the murderer receiving summary
Justice. Everybody In town read Of
the brutal killing and the crime was
on every lip.
Since the morning Of July 10. when
the story OF the murder was told In
the newspapers, there has been no
other subject in Richmond which re-
|ceiNed more discussion, and instead
! OF decreasing the case is steadily in
creasing in interest, With probably
a Few exceptions, every man. woman
and child in the city and contiguous
territory is familiar with all the facts
so far'revealed through the press, and
until the trial little can be told tina.
has not already been narrated
Three hours after Eaattie reached
the owen home with the body Of his
bride in the machine with him, the
country for miles around was aroused
80 activity. Bloodhounds arrived al
the owen home from the State peni-
Tertiary under two ~caretakers. who
covered the distance on special train
Mr.. Luther L. Scherer, special claim
agent for the Chesapeake and Ohio
1 Railroad, and chief of it's secret SER
vice department. who was a close
friend Of the Owen family, reached
the scene Of the murder before day
break.
f Detective Sergeant Wren was the
first city detective TO arrive at the
owen home. Wren had just retired
to his room at the First Police Sta
tion shortly after ] o'clock Tues.