Evening star., 1915-07-15
NEGRO ADMITS ATTACKS
. ON WASHINGTON WOMEN
John Rollins Confesses Guilt and
His Cousin. George Matthews,
Is Put on Trial.
Court Asks Jury to Avoid Any Sus-
'picion of Prejudice or Ven
geance in Trial.
Special Correspondence of The Star.


BOWLING GREEN, Va. July IL
Following a confession made by John
Lewis Rollins. one of the colored men
| indicted at special term of the circuit
, court for felonious attack early Mon
day morning on Mrs. Burnley Cole
man and her daughter. Miss Eulalia
Coleman of Washington. in their cot
tage at Kappa hammock Academy. George
Matthew. the other assailant, was
placed on trial today.
John Lewis Rollins. who is accused
OF attempted assault upon the daugh-
ter. Miss Eulalia Coleman, when ar
| ralgned before Judge r. H. L. Chi
chester. pleaded guilty, having first ap
peared before the grand jury and tes-
tilted against his cousin, George Mat
thew. otherwise known as George Rol-
Inns. who is accused of attacking the
mother Mrs. Burnleigh Coleman.
In making his charge to the grand
jury Judge Chichester said he regretted
very much that this affair had hap
pened in the county, and advised the
jury to nsider each detail of the evil
dence presented most carefully, that
there might be no suspicion of preju-
dice or vengeance in their decision.
The grand jury is composed of nine
men, and the Judge explained that a
ma jcrity could make a report The re.
port was unanimous.
Mrs. Coleman Relates Incidents.
Mrs. Coleman appeared before the
jury and related the incidents of the
attack
States Attorney W. E. Ennis ap-
peared for the prosecution and he was
icfn t,x, 10 Tr cfa |,
case of Matthews, alias Rollins, to the
jury he described it as the most helm
Gus crime ever committed in the state
of Virginia.
Both the prisoners are natives of the
county. but John Lewis Rollins has
been in Jersey City for eleven years
and returned to the county only last
fall. They were arrested by Constable
Tom Kirky Boulware.
Members of the special venire of
talesmen have been brought from dis
tant parts of the county and began ar
irving in town early today, coming in
automobiles and driving their own car
riages.
4 big crowd gathered as Sheriff T, B.
Gill brought the prisoners into town
from the Henrico county Jail in Rich
mond, where they were taken for safe
custody at the direction of the court.
There was no demonstration against
them is intense. A few of the colored
woman relatives of the prisoners made
an outcry.
The courtroom was crowded with
persons, both colored and white.
Details Of Attack
The two woman victims of the attack
| live in Washington and came to Bowl
| ing Green, their former home, because
the younger woman was run down and
! her mother thought the native air OF
their old home would build her up.
They were alone in the house early
Monday morning. The daughter wa:
awakened. and seeing the woolly, kinkl
hair of John Lewis Rollins thought it
was a dog and called to her mother
There's dog in my room" The
mother suddenly awakened, and called
back, There's a negro in my room"
| Although desperately weak from hel
| terrible ordeal with the colored assailant
| the mother after she had torn hersel
| free from her assailant, went to the res
saving her from the attempted assault
They drove the colored men from tn
house and barricaded the doors and win
| dows.
Three times the assailants attempted t.
| reach the second-story window with
ladder. but each time the women threw
it down before the attacking party coul'
| climb up.
They say that one of the men at
tempted to scale the ladder with
hatchet in his hand. The police Civ
their opinion that the men intended t
kill the women and set fire to th
house to hide their crime
One of the men threw a number o
bricks through the window where tn,
women were on guard, the brick
knocking plastering from the ceiling
and walls of the room by the force o
their impact
Dor came running to their assistance
calling out, I'm coming and this il
believed to have scared away the as
sailants. 7. H. B.