Richmond times-dispatch. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1914-current, 1915-03-30
RAE tanner MISTAKEN
IN IDENTITY OF OSBORNE
Takes Back Everything She Said
Concerning Former Assistant
District Attorney.
SIGNS WAIVER OF IMMUNITY
Young Woman Under Examination
More Than Five Hours-District
Attorney Says Large Part of Her
Story Is "Unbelievable."

NEW YORK. March 2a.-Mtss Rae
Tanner. the milliner. who HE'D n $40
900 breach Of promise suit against
| district attorney Of New York. went
To-day to the Office OF United States
District Attorney Marshall and tool;
back everything she said recently
identifying Mir. Osborne as tEe man
wh" courted her under th- ,l:.:n. OF
Oliver Osborne.
Before Mr.. Marshall would take her
statement. he prepared a waiver of i'm
munity and she signed it.
Harold y. SpeilberG. who became con-
ncct"d with the case for the frs, time
to-day m Miss Tanzers lawyer. ac-
compani.d her TO the district attorneys
Office lie said she simply made n mis-
take In identifying James w Osborne
as Oliver Osborne. and uo one else was
10 blame The firm of Slade * Siade
the lawyers who had represented her
We're IN no way Involved. he said .
Miss Tanner came to my home Fri :
day night" Mr.. Speilberg said, with
her nephew. She was gent b.. her
brother whom | know. called Mrs
| Speilherg into the room. and sent ont
Tor some nciEhbors as witnesses They
came in and heard what she had to saw
II was a long statement. She was at
my home from 1880 o'clock in the
evening till 2 o'clock in the morning"
what Miss Tanner had TO say that
would occupy six and one-hnlf hours
was not divulged further than that
she had made a mistake
AWARE OF MISTAKE
LAST THURSDAY
Miss Tanner told Assistant District
Attorney Wood to-day she became
aware OF her mistake last Thursday
while she was In the Office of tho
United States Commissioner Houghton.
nF,,A
under strong light" for the arst time
she said.
Miss Tanner said her first impulse
was to tell Commissioner HouEhton.
but an interruption prevented She
| told her brother when she went ho,ne
and he told Speilberg. she added
| The bondsman furnishing Miss Tan
zer's bond of $4,000, 1t was learned to-
day, was the firm which employed her
| as n nilliner.
| Osborne appeared at the Office of Mr..
Marshall this afternoon
| You might as well try to get bp
ures off thistle bush as to get money
out or a lawyer" Mr. Osborne said.
1T cant be done. am glad Miss
Tanner is making this statement. 7
nave heard 1t said she has exoneratcd
Slade & Slade. This is ridiculous. She
can't.
Il gave Slade & Slade every oppor-
tunity to prove they were mistaken
| oeioie tneS drought any action, and
furnished them with all sorts OF
proofs"
Miss Tanner to-day went before Dis
| trict Attorney Marshall and swore she
had made an honest mistake" The
man she associated with. she told the
government officials. was Oliver Os-
borne. Detectives were engaged to-
night in checking up that part of Miss
ianAer's statement which Mr.. Mar
shall declared to be unbelievable"
UNDER EXAMINATION
| MORE THAN FIVE HOURS
MISS Tanner was under examination
more than five hours. Not n question
was asked her. She was allowed to
tell her story In her own way. To-
morrow she probably will be oucs-
| toned. Miss Tanner told Of some of
the things which had transpircd he
tween herself and her former counsel
Shade Il Slade. Mr.. Marshall said tina I
II now would be prcjudicial to the ends
or Justice to divulge that part of Miss
'ranzers statement Speaking tonight
o. the examination OF Miss Tanner. MIR.
! Marshall said:
| Miss Tanners statement is to the
erect that shortly after she met oliver
Osborne. with whom she went to yari-
Gus hotels, she became convinced he
was james w. Osborne She said sh,
started sending letters TO James w
| osborne at the New York Athletic
Club, In the honest belief that he and
| Oliver Osborne were one and the Same
person. The first letter addressed to
| James w. Osborne at the New York
! Athletic Club was dated October q
four days after the date upon which
she claimed she met Oliver Osborne
She said that she continued her associ-
alton with oliver Osborne from October
II TO October 81. and then November
! "a to December e.
| She claimed to have met Oliver Os-
| borne for the last time on December
"a. She admitted having written and
mailed to James w. Osborne at the
/ New York Athletic Club letters which
! James w. Osborne says he received
| from her. She admitted having written
and delivered to Oliver Osborne tho
letter which Oliver Osborne subse
quently carried to James w Osborne.
LAS for the reasons given by Miss
| Tanner for believing that James w Os-
| borne and Oliver Osborne were the
same. her statements are under investi-
| cation, and nothing further can be said
she stated for deciding that James
| w. Osborne was not the same as oliver
| Osborne, she claimed that sho believed
| that James w. Osborne was the man
until after hearing before Commissioner
i. HouEhton.
| she said she came to the conclusion
that James w. Osborne was not the man
she knew after the hearing. and when
she saw HIN at time while she was
| awaiting renewal of her bail bond
! LARGE PART OF STORY
Is "UNBELJEvABI.E''
"a large part OF Miss Tanzer's story
| is unbelievable. She stated that she
never told Oliver Osborne that she was
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