Abbeville progress. (Abbeville, Vermilion Parish, La.) 1913-1944, 1916-12-23


case mad impressed him, and while /
he set no especial value on it, yet 1t
WAS against this that he begun his
assault.
ne recalled Mrs. Mason To the
stand and made her repeat her for
iner testimony of having entered the
GATE of Roses birth in the family
Bible.
Mrs. Mason" went on Davenport,
you nave testified that you wrote
tIlis entry in the Bible, and that you
dld so within three weeks after Rose
MASON was born. How did IL hap
pen mat her father did not write itF'
He was not at home" said Mrs.
Mason. He was In Europe. He had
gone TO Moscow on legal business for
I the government He was absent from
this country for ten months. He did
not return until Rose was nearly four
months old"
Il see. We will go into that later,
Mrs Mason, DO you know the law re-
qulreS that a record be made of every
birth, marriage or death?
Il did not know"
DO you know that there is absO-
lutely no record in the board of health
archives of Rose Masons birth?'
NO"
There is not. / examined the ar
chives while l was preparing this
case. There is no record there OF her
birth. Yet you have said she was
born in this city on September 3,
1898"
Your honor" spoke up the district
attorney, that is readily explained.
Mrs. Mason has said she knew OF no
such law. Senator Mason was absent
from home"
IF your honor pleases," said Daven-
port. that is no excuse. The law
does not require the parents to make
such entry. 1t is the province Of the
attending physician. Mrs. Mason"
he resumed, turning again to the wit
ness, what physician was in attend
ance when your daughter, Rose, was
bornP'
Il don't remember" faltered Mrs.
Mason.
you don't remember the physician
who attended you when your only
child was bOrnT" exclaimed Daven-
port astonished.
"NO."
"Then what nurse did you have?"
Sarah Walters" said Mrs. Mason.
"She was with me from the year Of
my marriage until five years ago"
81 know the Walters woman" an
swered Davenport, "she is now acting
as housekeeper in my sisters family.
With the courts permission l shall
send for her to"
"Now interviewed Mrs. Mason fur
riedly. "NOw that l come to think OF
1t, Sarah was not with me when Rose
was born. remember now. She was
threatened with consumption-tuber
culosis-and 1 sent her to Saranac fol
nearly year. She returned to Us
Just before Senator Mason got bach
from Europe"
"Then who did act as your nurse
at that timer"
IL don't recall"
Mrs. MasonI" exclaimed Daven
port. edo you mean to tell the cour
that any mother can forget such i'm
portant circumstances attending tn
birth of her only child? You cannO
remember the name of the doctor o.
the nurse? Who is your family physi
cianr
Doctor Colfax."
How long has he attended you
family?"
II don't know. Since my mar
riage, I think"
, Then he must have attended yol
when Rose was born and he mus
have some record of her birth, ever
) though he seems to have neglected
to make mention of it in the way pre-
scribed by law. / will ask leave Il
call Doctor Colfax. He is"
"Nov again broke in Mrs. Mason
/ with visibly increasing nervousness
. 81 remember now that he was not II
attendance"
"Your honor" cried the district at
tOrney. noting Mrs. Mason's aspect O
. panic terror, II have listened patient
ly to this line Of irrelevant, incompe
tent and immaterial questioning, De
cause 1 know my learned opponen
has a hopeless case. But the time O
the court is being tempered with.
, request to know what the name o
any physician has to do with the rae
/ that Thomas Fletcher is guilty OF alb
/ ductiOn, and"
Thomas Fletcher has not yet beef
proven guilty Of abduction, you
! honor" contradicted Davenport. Ih'
, whole question Of his possible gun
hinges on Rose MasOn's being les
= than eighteen years old. There Is M
| court record of her age. The dat
must be established by contemporar!
5 witnesses and by similar testimony
The only known witness is woman
who apparently recalls no detail o
her child's birth except that she say
=. she, three weeks later, made an ehtr!
: in a family Bible. The Bible, you
honor, is a sacred and uninpeachanl!
, truthful book. But its sacred unim
: peachabillty does not include the rec
ords that are placed in it by fallibi'
:, mortals. Especially, by woman
whose memory has proven so eccen
trically defective as this witness.
;. crave permissiOn to go on WIN III