South Bend news-times., 1915-03-04
MRS. ANGLE SAYS
FLAT!RON CLEARS
HER Of MURDER
Interviewer Finds Her Ironing
on Eve of Trial and Accused
Points Out Coincidence as
Indication of Her Innocence.

I night OF June -. Wien NdiuO l.. Do'A-
lou was found dead at the foot Of the
stairway outside her apartments in
the Rippowam Building. says Emma
Bugbee writing in the New York
4 Tribune.
Don't put it in the paper that you
found me ironing" she begged. 1T
would remind people OF the flatiron
and that horrible story they invented.
You know. I was ironing that night.
still. perhaps it would not do any
harm TO mention it. If that story
had been true 1 couldn't ever bear to
look at flatiron again, could I?
! This is the best proof of my lnno-
/ cense."
1t is only a few days now before
the great Ballou mystery will be
cleared up Mrs. Angle will tell a
jury what happened on the evening
of June %. Upon her story,and hers
alone hangs her chance to clear her
self of the charge of manslaughter
connected with the death of her call
er. She will be the only witness for
/ the defense.
Very Gentle. Very Tired.
| found Mrs Angle with the flat
7 iron in the modest kitchen of the
friends who have given her home
since January. She is a very gentle,
very tired woman. Even her hair,
which was evidently abundant and
golden, dropped YEARLY over her
white brow as if the sorrow of the
last months had sapped even its vital
! ity. Her eyes were tired, too.
She is a very tall woman, and must
have been an imposing figure before
| she lost her vigor. However, she is
not the eXcitable, nervous wreck
| had been led 10 expect. She greeted
me with the smile that all we'll bred
people have for visitors. l sat IN a
rocking chair and watched her finish
the shirtwaist she was ironing. she
1 laughed and joked about Billy sun
day. the biscuits she had made for
| supper and the new spring styles.
Only when 1 mentioned the trial
/ her face clouded and frightened
/ look leaped into her eyes. Beneath
! her outward calm Is a nervous system
almost hopelessly shattered. once
she broke into tears.
Don't make me out great. big
baby" she said shamefacedly. 'Peo-
pie don't understand. They couldn't
unless they had gone through what
| have.
you know, 1 think 1 almost lost
my reason last summer. / can't re-
member anything about what hap
pened during those dreadful days.
Not Afraid OF the Trial.
81 was afraid | never should recov-
only to the goodness of God. Ec
wouldn't have let me if 1 had not
been innocent 1 can't imagine any
woman going through life with a
thing like that on her conscience.
There may be such hard creatures,
but l certainly am not one of them.
If 1 had not been innocent 1 should
| have gone really crazy.
II can look any jury in the eye
and swear 1 am innocent. That is
why 1 am not afraid OF the trial L
don't care what they do, if they only
| give me justice. / don't ask for any
( favors or any sympathy. All L ask is
simple justice.
MY friends will tell you that 1 am
the most harmless person imaginable
the last one that could have been
picked for an affliction like this.
was always ready to do anything for
anybody. The best proof that 1 was
MT the kind of woman the police tried
/ to make out is that my friends have
stuck to me through it all. There
| isn't a soul who knew me well before
this that isn't true to me today. They
have taken me into their homes and
I
couldn't be left alone for an instant.
Gricves for Her Father.
IF / had done all the things the
! police accused me of, would be a
regular Lucretia Borgia. I don't look
/ like that type, do II"
! Mrs. Angles tears fell fastest when
/ she mentioned her father.
HE is all l have in the world and
/ am all he has. Oh why did this
sorrow have TO come to him? He had
/ worked so hard and saved up money
/ for a happy old age and now II is all
spoiled. Even if / am acquitted. he
will never be able to forget these aw-
full months. They have been harder
! for him than for me, because it is all
what happened-but he, of course,
went through it all keenly alive to
every horrible detail"
All references to the trial were re-
ceived with tight shut lips and that
hunted look of terror.
"I have nothing to say" she repeat
ed again and again.
/ However. Horace y. Downs. her
/ counsel, took more liberties with the
dread substance of the testimony.
The flatiron?" he laughed when
asked about that grueson1e exhibit.
NO there was nothing In that. IL
was established at the inquest that
I the dents in AIr. BallOu's Lead and
I hat could not have been made by a
I flatirOn. The mark on the hat which
the police thought at first had been
made by someone throwing the iron
were on the front OF the rOwn. The
marks on the body were on the back
of the head. below the level Of the
hat line The stains on the flatiron
were proved 10 be not blood.
Mr.. Angle, Strange Behavior.
The only new bit of evidence we
shall introduce is the fact that the
hall was dark when Nr. Ballou left
Mrs. Angle apartment. That makes
IL obvious that he must have fallen
downstairs"
The mystery i'm the case which i'm
PEELED the coroner TO hold Mrs Angle
responsible for the death is her own
strange behavior on the night OF the
tragedy. Instead OF rushing TO the
aid OF the injured man. she locked
herself II her room and denied all
knowledge OF his fall
Afterward she gave out an inter
view in which she said that she had
dragged his body out 10 the sidewalk
10 4 -