The Birmingham age-herald., 1912-09-13

ently from any other prisoner. Lock him up in jail and keep him there until the arraignment"
 Chain of Condolences
 Besides the szabo tragedy there has been a chain of curious concdents link
 ing Gibsons name with cases of sudden death or disappearance of clients of the
 lawyer or of persons connected in one way or another with cases in which he was interested The first of four such condolences occurred when Mrs. Alice c. D. Kinnan, daughter of an aged woman whose property Gibson handled was mur- dered at her home in the Bronx. The murder mystery was never solved. tdb- son was held pending an investigation, but was released on a habeas corpus and subsequently brought suit for false arrest. Then, continuing the curious chain, a witness at the kinnan inquest, Michael Shlppo was found drowned iD shallow creek and George l. Malcolm, Il Wall street broker and relative of the Kinnan family, who had fought Gibson for the contraol of the estate, was drowned n Long Island Sound from steamboat.
 1 The last John Rice oNeir. British subject w,.o had conferred with Gibson
 concerning a mortgage transaction after ! winning d $i0,000 damage suit, for the 1 loss of a leg. disappeared, following his conference with Gibson more than a year ago,
 Gibson talked all the way up from New York about the case against him and outlined his defense In detail. Talks of Case
 "The name of the woman l am charged with slaying" he said, lis not Szabo It Is Ritter. Further, she is not the Vennese, Mrs. Ritter at all. She wanted to come up to Greenwood Lake, and at her invitation l accompanied her. We went rowing on the lake and there came up a thunderstorm l rowed under a boat house and Mrs. Ritter became con- fused and stepped out of the boat Into two feet of water That was the first time we came up here, but 1t convinced me that l would have to be on my guard against a repetition of the accident.
 "The next time We went rowing. seV- eral days later. on the occasion of an- other visit to Greenwood Lake. we had on our bathing suits l was In the end of the boat and Mrs. Ritter wanted to change seats. She sitting in the other end The boat was round bottomed. She got up and started towards me. hadn't stood up but was just half way out of my seat when the boat suddenly tipped and we both went into the water.
 "I don't know what fl was that made the boat tip over. We went into the water simultaneously The boat wns drifting keel mp when l came up Mrs.
 Ritter was between me and the boat end although she could swim a little. saw she was in trouble and went to aid her Now I am not a good swimmer; indeed, I can hardly swim at all. She was struggling to reach the boat appar
 enty and when l went to help her I grasped her. We went down together. She had me around the neck with her .f-V got free of her but l am quite sure that I did nothing more than break her hold.
 'T did not strike her or harm her in any way-of that l am sure. All this was under the water. When l came l., the surface I thought 1 saw Mrs. Ritter
 but 1t may have been only her bathing
 cap.
 Has Witnesses q chung to the boat when l came up and a launch picked me up. There were four persons in that launch and they know what I say is the truth "A great deal has been said about my having tried 10 pass off a fake mother
 tor my client I did nothing of the sort What happened was this: Mrs. Ritter brought a woman 10 my office and intro-
 duced her to me as her mother. Mrs
 Ritter had no reason to deceive me in so doing I don't believe sne was deceiving me, although she may 'have been-and l don't believe that the people across ! the water will be able to prove what they | claim
 There Is every reason to believe that Mrs. Menchik. Mrs. Ritter-s mother is alive I know where she lives and will produce her at the proper time She was | introduced to me and to the others by | Mrs. Ritter who told me that her mother was her only living near relative. Mrs.
 Ritter never spoke or brothers or sis ters. knew Mrs. Ritter casually for
 a period of several years. l knew her
 husband casually.
 | Has Made Two Mistakes
 two mistakes in this matter. first in fail | Ing to take 1t seriously until today and
 second in not being represented at the | autopsy. l believe that the three or
 four doctors who performed the autopsy will be fair minded. but am very much ! afraid that they will be slightly inclined to prejudice because of these other cases
 of sudden death which my name has been
 coupled with"
 1 Although Gibson gave little heed 10 | the throngs which beset him today the ! composure With which he has regarded l the previous proceedings had fled to- night He was worried and showed it ! plainly He sent for reporters with whom | he had become friendly during the case | and repeatedly told them that he would | be free soon and that no crime could | be placed at his door. But he was anxious 1