The Topeka state journal. [volume] (Topeka, Kansas) 1892-1980, 1914-06-05
HODGES TELLS
HIS own STORY
Governor of Kansas on Witness
Stand in Defense.
Vivid Portrayal of Scene of the
Alleged Attack.
VISIT TO HIS private OFFICE
The State Executive Appeared
Cool and Deliberative.
No Formality Connected With
Woman's Entrance.
THEIR BODIES DIDN'T TOUCH
Governor Said He Didn't
Wrench Her Hand or Wrist.
No Intention or Chance OF DO.
ing Any Violence.
The State Executive Appeared
Cool and Deliberat1ve.
No Formally Connected With
WOman's Entrance.
THEIR BODIES DIDN'T TOUCH
Governor Said He Didn't
Wrench Her Hand or Wrist.
No Intention or Chance OF DO.
ing Any Violence.

Ing ANY VAOAO
IT is believed by attorneys on Doth
sh7e.s of the Hodges-West SUIT tnis
afternoon that the case will go 70 .he
iurv Saturday afternoon. Allowihe
time for rebuttal and arguments II Is
f;gured that another five hours Oh
court work should complete the pro-
ceedings.
The defense rested at 8 O'Clock this
afternoon, The plaintiffs rebutfal
testimony began Immediately. All evi-
dence was completed this afternoon.
At s:35 this afternOn the plaintiff
~o,upIeted all rebuttal evidence ana
the attorneys went into consultation
over plans for argument and the re-
t,eiving of instructions.
At $40 O'Clock this afternoon Judge
Dana excused the jury until O'Clock
TOMORROW morning. 1t was agreed
upon in conference with attorneys that
three hours would be given TO eacn
side for arguments. One half hour
will be used for instructions to the
iury. This means that the case will
go to the jury tomorrow afternoon at
O'Clock
Cool. deliberate and self possessed
at all times, Governor Hodges today.
told to a Jury in Judge Dana's court
the story of the visit Of Mrs. Luella
West and Mrs. Laura Buckwalter to
his office april 8, the day Mrs. West
alleges to have been attacked by the
executive. The governor was on the
witness stand a few minutes less than
two hours. He gave vivid portray
al Of the scene in his ONCE when
the two women called upon him and
carried away copies of private cor
respondence. He denied that he
struck Mrs. West or that at any time
his body came in contact with that OF
the plaintiff.
For an hour and a quarter Otis
Hungate of plaintiffs counsel tried to
break down the governors story.
Several times the governor answered
his questions by declaring. Il have
answered that question:. Closing his
cross examination, Hungate asked the
governor if he was not a fighting man.
Then he asked regarding the en-
counter in the state treasurer's Office
in 1911 when Governor Hodges and
Senator Ganse of Lyon county were
members of the state senate. Gov
ernor Hodges admitted that he struck
Ganse with his open hand after Ganse
during a committee meeting.
Governor Drew a Laugh.
The crowd in the court room and the
Jurors laughed as the governor declared
that the Ganse encounter was not a
fight. Governor Hodges voluntarily
told the jury that he had knocked
Ganse down with his op' hand. The
encounter was one of the sensations
of the 1911 legislative session.
PovioWipU the iNCff7ontS in hio office
when Mrs. West and Mrs. Buckwaltel
called upon him, The governor stated
that he was not angry, although some
of the remarks by Mrs. Buckwalter were
insulting. Answering questions by the
lawyers, Governor Hodges walked to
the counsers table and demonstrated
the relative positions of himself. Mrs.
West and Mrs. Buckwalter. Both Mrs.
West and himself were using both
hands in holding the copies Of the
Dobbs letters, the governor testified.
AS Mrs. West raised the letters from
the table to about the waist line and
stepped four or five feet from the table.
the governor declared that he released
his hold on the papers. Not once did the
bodies of the two people touch or did
his hand touch that of the plaintiff,
was the governors emphatic statement.
Under cross-examination, Governor
Hodges said there was no malice in his
>.
1t would have been impossible to have
committed any act Of violence, since he
did not touch the plaintiff, he said.
Stories Were Alike.
In almost every material detail, the
governors story Of the alleged en-
counter dove-tailed the testimony of
Adjutant General Charles 1. Martin and
2. G. Hopkins. who told of the scene
as witnesses for the defense. The
stories, however, are directly at issue
and contra dictory to those told by Mrs.
West and her companion, Mrs. Buck
walter.
AS Governor Hodges sat in the wit
ness chair today, the jurors leaned for
ward in their chairs to catch every
word of his testimony. Answering Ques-
tions. the governor usually turned to-
ward the men in the jury box and in
slow, evenly modulated tones told his
story. Only on one or two occasions
when Hungate fired questions at the
witness without apparently giving due
time for answer, did Governor Hodges
display feeling or raise his voice
above the ordinary conversational
tones. Answering Hungate's repeated
interrogations. Governor Hodges de-
clared that he did not regard the par
don files in his Office as public prop
erty and did not consider that the
women had any right to copies OF the
Dobbs letters. Seaton gave the women