Arizona republican., 1913-09-15
Another Effort to Be Made to Secure Pardon for Mrs. Kate Edwards, Long Under Sentence of Death In Pennsylvania.
REFORMED BY
 PRISON LIFE
From Uncivilized, Almost Brutish Creature, She Has Become Woman of Fair Education and Certain De gree of Refinement.
Especial to The Republican,

 READING. Sept. 14.-Another eff ort is to be made this week to free Mrs Kate Edwards, who has been in the Berks county jail for twelve years under sentence of death for the mur- der of her husband, John Edwards. The case was quite unusual and at iracted considerable attention through out the country at the time. Every where a great deal of sympathy was manifested for the woman and mum erous efforts have been made in the past to bring about the granting of pardon for her Four governors have failed to set day for her exc cution and as a result Mrs. Edwards has spent twelve years in prison, probably longer than any other wom an ever sentenced to death in this country
 She was sentenced in 1901 during the term of Governor Stone, who left the case for Governor Pennypacker, wto in turn left the fixing of the date of the execution to Governor Stuart. The latter passed it along to Govern or Tener, who never has made move in the matter The case has been through all the state courts and several times has come up before the board of pardOns without success. New lawyers have drawn up a peti- ton which will be presented to the board of pardons when it meets next Wednesday.
 There are many remarkable feat ures to the case of Mrs. Edwards, not the least remarkable being her transformation from an uncivilized almost brutish creature into woman of fair school education and even certain refinement and culture. She came to the prison vicious to the last degree. a drunkard. unkempt desper ate and untractable, almost like wild beast. Good women, patient ministers and humane prison officials worked for years to civilize and re- form her and have accomplished won ders. They nave awakened her con science. taught her something of re- ligion and have changed the whole course of her life. She learned to read and to write and something of other branches of a common school education and during the many years under the shadow of the gallows she acquired a knowledge of sewing, knitting, embroidering and other fem mine occupations and became a good
 
 The life history of Mrs. Edwards Goes not make cheerful reading. Born in squalor and extreme poverty. she became an orphan at the age of seven years. At the age of seventeen she was married to John Edwards. drunken and ignorant quarryman. She was absolutely without education like her husband. and soon she developed into a tirunkard like Edwards. Ed wards used to beat her and choke her and made her his beast of bur ten. Five children were born tO them and the family lived like animals in q small hut near the quarry where Edwards worked when he was not too drunk. Their only associates in their drunken debauches were negroes who were working in the quarry, for the white neighbors would have nothing to do with them. One of their mosJ intimate companions was a negro named Samuel Greason.
 On the morning of July 4 1901, John Edwards was found dead in the of his home with his skull crushed by some blunt weapon, prob ably a stone. Kate Edwards, his wife, his daughter Mary, aged four
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