The weekly tribune and the Cape County herald. (Cape Girardeau, Mo.) 1914-1918, 1915-08-13
DRAINAGE MAN
ATTACKS CHUM'S
WIFE in HOTEL
E. NJ. Robinson Arrested
in St. Louis For Assault On
Mrs. E. I'll. Baker.
ENTERED HER ROOM
AT RIVERVIEW HOTEL
Brides Life Was Threatened, She
Tells Husband Seagraves
To Bring Him Back.

When threats upon her life enioined
her to secrecy, Mrs. May Baker 20
year-old wife of f. H. Baker. eIectri-
clan working on the big ditch below
! Cape Girardeau, and daughter of a St.
Louis detective, yesterday waited pa
tiently FOR more than eight hours be-
fore she divulged that she had been
assaulted in her room at the River
view Hotel yesterday morning.
The man who made the assault,
sealed her lips with a promise that
he would kill her and her husband if
she gave an alarm. Five hours after
ward he caught 4 Frisco train to st.
Louis and was arrested by St. Louis
police as he stepped from the train
there.
A warrant was issued late last night
by Justice W. H. Willer, when her
husband returned from work and Mrs.
Baker informed him of what had hap
pened to her.
The warrant names f. NJ. Robinson.
of st. Louis, an electrician, who had
been working on the drainage ditch
with Mrs. Bakers husband. According
to Baker, Robinson is married and
lives on Emerson avenue in Walnut
Park in St. Louis. His wife, Mrs.
Adolphine Robinson, is living there
with Robinson's mother.
Baker and his wife had been mar
ried only three months, when they came
to Cape Girardeau last Sunday morn
ing. Baker and Robinson, along with
two other men, had positions on the
drainage ditch as electricians. Baker
was the only man in the company who
had money sufficient to pay board and
lodging for week. He paid for all
in advance.
He registered with his wife at the
Riverview Hotel so that he could be
close to the telegraph office, he said,
because he and his wife were expect
ing a telegram any moment announc-
ing the death of Mrs Bakers sister
who is i'll with tuberculosis.
Baker would leave his wife in the
Cape when he went south of town to
work on the drainage ditch Friday
Robinson, became i'll, Baker said, and
gave up his job.
Baker last night refused to allow
anyone to see his wife owing to nerv-
Gus shock which she suffered. He told
Justice WilIer and a reporter for The
Tribune the story of the assault as
his wife had given it to him between
sobs when he arrived in the Cape.
"About 1890 o'clock this morning."
Baker related last night, "aftcr l had
gone to work, my wife was startled
by a rap on the door. She had been
slightly i'll and still was abed.
'She went to the door to see who it
was and when she opened it and saw
Robinson, she told me that she told
him to wait a moment and she would
put something on, if he wished to see
her.
my wife put on a kimona and then
threw open the door for him to come
in. He was one Of the boys and we
had been accustomed to visiting con-
down here where we knew no
one else.
"He walked in and remarked: I'm
going to leave today and am going
back to st. Louis
"T know your wife will be glad to
see you when you get back my wife
said to him and as he sat down on the
edge of the bed, she took the chair
over by the window
'He then told her to tell me good
bye and picking up his hat rose and
started to the door. Instead of leav-
ing, he slamed the door shut and
turned on my wife, cupped her chin
in his hand and forced her head far
back
"'What does this mean? What are
you trying to do?' she exclaimed. He
then seized both of her wrists and be-
gan twisting them. She screamed and
he twisted harder than before, kissing
in her ear that if she yelled he would |
break every bone in her body.
"In second more, he struck her
in the stomach with his knee and |
threw her on the bed. He closed her
mouth with one hand and kept her
from screaming and they fought for
about a half hour.
"He finally rose and grabbing his
hat, started for the door, AS he left,
he told her that if she opened her
mouth before he got away, he would
break every bone in her body and he |
declared he had a gun waiting for