Evening star., 1914-10-23
RS.CARMAN UNDER
AP|T|LESS QUIZ
Defendant in Murder Trial
Cross-Examined by the
Prosecuting Attorney.
COMES NEAR TO PAINTING
WHILE FACING ORDEAL
Her Statements in Part Corrobo-
rated by Her Daughter-Colored
Maids Story Denied.

MINEOLA, n. Y, October 23.-Mrs
| Florence Conklin Carman, on trial as
the slayer of Mrs. Louise Bailey, smil-
ingly stepped into the witness stand
today for the ordeal of cross-examina-
| tion by the district attorney. She ap-
, peared cheerful and refreshed and said
I she was ready to reply to all questions
District Attorney Smith might ask her
| no matter what they were.
| She faced crowded courtroom
| Among the 200 or more spectators wh1
occupied every available bit of space
were longtime friends and neighbors
| whose faces were wreathed with hope
full smiles as she began her story.
Ranged directly opposite her chair
within the inclosure and less than a
dozen steps away, were the mother, the
daughter and the husband of the WON
an whose life the state asserts she
took.
This little group of schoolgirl, grand
mother and middle-aged man, followed
with intense eagerness every word of
her testimony.
Just before the defendant took the
chair she crossed over to her mother,
Mrs. Conklin, sitting at the counsel ta-
/, BILE, leaned over and kissed her.
| Questioned by District ATTORNEY,
Mrs. Carman," began the district at
! torney, you said you were suspicious
| of your husband. When did you get
suspicious?'
About year ago.
/ What caused her suspicion she could
not say. A woman did not cause it
Just rumors"
Were the rumors about a woman?"
NO. Just some one asking him about
his girls. Somebody told me he was a
devil with the girls"
She could not recall who told her this
At Mr. Smiths bidding she named many
men, friends of DR.. Carman, but could
not name one of them as having said
How are all your girls?''
Somebody was asking him that
question all the time" she said They
We're jesting, 1 thought at first. but
| after while I thought maybe there
might be some truth in what they
ta SAD; = They would say to me. The doc
Did you have an inclination to hear
what the doctor had to say to his
woman patients?"
I'm way. yes. Some of his pa
tients."
Did you ask him where he was
when he was out at night?"
Yes, and he told me-"
Did you believe him?"
Yes, sometimes"
Fer Suspicious Dispelled.
Did your suspicious increase with
time?"
| They increased right up to the time
| of the murder. They have all been dis
PEELED now"
l 4
frame of mind?"
| Ever since the terrible tragedy.
| What 1 heard, or rather what 1 didn't
/ hear, over the telephone instrument,
| reassured me-
| For several minutes Mrs Carman
| sought to evade a direct answer to the
| district attorneys question as to
whether she thought that her husband
| was truthful. Finally she said NO
| She explained that she had no real
reason to doubt him, however. She
was suspicious at first of the women
who called frequently at his of1ce;
| finally she was suspicious of nearly all
| of his woman callers.
| 81 got tired of hearing things" she
said.
! And the fact that woman would
come to his Office afterward was
you suspicious of your husband or the
| woman" asked Mr.. Smith.
Both" said Mrs. Carman, firmly.
| Some women, Mrs. Carman said, were
more attractive to her husband tnan
she was, she had thought. She did not
know if there were more than one, but
! she wanted to find out. II had no par
i, ticular woman in mind" she said.
| Mr. Smith asked if she thought Mrs.
| variance, the middle-aged nurse whose
| face she slapped, was more attractive
than she. Mrs. Carman smiled and
answered no"
| Pitilessly Piled With Questions.
| Under the rapid volley of the dis
trict attorneys pitiless questions Mrs.
Carman's color rose and fell. She bit
her lips; she clinched her gloved
hands. She appeared to be about to
faint, but her bottle of smelling salts
| revived her.
She was made to describe the entire
| scene with Mrs variance. She said she
! saw DIR. Carman give the nurse SIS and
saw her kiss him afterward. 1t was
the passing of the money and not the
| You did not object to another
woman kissing your husband In
| gratitude?"
| "Oh, no." replied Mrs. Carman.
! How long after the passing Of the
money was the kiss administered"
| "A few minutes. They were sitting
down alongside each other at the
time"
Mrs. Carman said she didn't rap on
the window when the kiss was given,
but waited until Mrs. variance started
| to leave the office.
You went pretty fast to get to the
door before Mrs. Varnace, didn't your
| Yes"
In reply to an inquiry Mrs. Carman
indicated that she slapped Mrs. Var
ance with the back of her hand.
Events Night Of the Murder.
Now as to the night of the shoot
ing," said Mr. Smith did you hear a
shot?"
mo. I heard some commotion."
WHAT" shouted the district attor-
ney.
well, / don't know whether / heard
a shot or not. I heard noise"
And your curiosity was aroused?"
| surely. 1t was an unusual sound.
She thought it had come from the
rear of the house, and it took her about
a minute to get downstairs. She said
AS she reached the head of the stairs
she saw two women going down the
hall, but she made no effort to hnd
out who they were. After she went
down stairs she walked into the wait
ing room and leaned against man.
telpiece for a moment. She did not
see any one downstairs and went di-
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