The Washington times., 1916-08-27
WAS SLAIN WOMAN
SUFFRAGE MARTYR?
Good Samaritan Of MarIlnton
Dead, While Her Husband
Denies Murder Charge.
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Virginia family, the Robertsons, near
Fincastle, who in the earlier days were
among the feudal barons Of the State.
The Idea of serving humanity appealed
to Miss Robertson when scarcely more
than a girl and career as q nurse, at
Narlinton, enlisted her.
Marlinton is In the West Virginia
lumber region Its people are whole
some, Woodworking and In some cases
well-to-do, The town lies in Pocahontas
county. the county claims to export
more lumber than any other east of the
Mississippi.
MarlInton welcomed to its hospital the
Virginia girl with tact for nursing the
sick and ministering to the afflicted,
no matter what their trials might be.
At the hospital and throughout the
village she became a modern Good Sa-
maritan responding cheerfully to every
call whether from rich or poor. She
was untiring In her acts of service Mar
linton has its .aristocrats, but she won
them as well as the family Of the
lumberjack.
All Took an Interest
in Hospital Romance.
Connected with the hospital was a
Canadian. DR.. oliver Arnold Howard.
who had taken his medical degree at
the University Of Maryland In 1906 and
came to West Virginia to practice. The
charm Of the lovable nurse fell upon
him as upon others. DR.. Howard. how.
ever, was Of moody. temperamental
nature and when he became enamored
of Miss Robertson II resulted In an
,mpstuSus ps 1G s,,, wCeins that soon 9S won the
of DIR. Howard and Miss Robertson
gave Marlinton a hospital romance In
which the entire community felt an In
terest.
For, a few months the two seemed
happy together. Then whispers came
that clouds had come across the path
OF the Howards. In small towns gos-
sipers are alert and domestic secrets
do not always remain so.
DIR. Howard left the hospital and es-
bors talked of his "irritability'' and
mingled with their comment were oc.
treatment Of his wife. Resentment
was felt, perhaps. but 1t was not the
business OF outsiders to interfere.
Mrs. Howard was still the visiting
angel of the village. She still ministered
to the sick. She was with mothers when
their little ones came into the world and
she kept vigil II one lay on a death bed
II sorrow sat about her own fireside she
said nothing of 1t.
Sometimes She Appeared
With Eyes Discolored.
Sometimes she appeared in public with
a discolored eye. She explained that
she had fallen down the steps, or
run into a corner OF the refrigerator.
Her explanations were accepted. but
the gossip did not cease. One day she
attributed two black eyes to "a fall
upon the railroad tracks Then she
burst into tears and the town believed
much and increased its resentment.
t, Nuh ha n h.
it's OF DR.. Howard he grew more moody:
more prone to argue over trifies and
more nervous. At times he, appeared In
the depths Of melancholia. again he
That he was a victim of the drug haDit
was feared by some Of his intimatss.
Mrs. Howard took up civic and club
activitieo This step her husband IL un-
uh said to have "a forbidden her to attend
such meetings. She was member Of
the w. c. T. Y. and other organizations
and became deeply Interested IN the
the justice Of the fight OF women for
the ballot and determined to do very.
thing in her power to aid In the uphill
struggle OF womankind,
On the afternoon OF Tuesday. August
Is, she attended a woman suffrage meet
ing and made what she called my h:st
speech" Despite the fact that she ana
DR.. Howard had an alteration on the
street during the NEUTRALITY-SUSPICIOUS.
over her suE-nge activitieg-Mrs. How
and ems~-ed from the meeting as happy
as lark and enthusiastic over the
prospects of ultimate success.
At the meeting Mrs. Howard read the
Presidents letter to the Jane Jenerson
the suffrage Issue.
Husband Followed
Her Into Apartment.
On the way home that afternoon Mrs.
Howard purchased a bit OF embroidery
for the birthday gift Of a little six-year-
old girl Of Marlinton. She was .ap-
parently in good spirit and still think
ing of others. as was her wont. she
went to her apartments ,, on the ,,t,pa lhira
and few minutes later her husband
entered the building.
Mrs Howard was not seen alive again.
Witnesses say she came home about
6 20 o'clock and her husband Is said 20
have arrived about twenty minutes later
Within ten or fifteen minutes he ran
down the steps Of the building calling
for another doctor. He asserted his
wife was unconscious from some drug
and asked for a strychnine injection to
When DR.. ]. w. Price arrived on the
scene, Mrs. Howard was dead. She lay
on an unmade bed In spare room. with
her clothing disarranged and her slip
pers beside her. Her face carried an
expression Of fear. there were marks
on the left side OF her neck and her
nose appeared bruised.
Her husband asserted he had found
her locked in the spare room, lying on
the bed. and that he believed she had
been Violently nauseated. He declared
he slapped her face In an effort to re-
vive here. and when this failed ran
for another physician.
After Mrs. Howard's funeral. COM
mittee of doctors questioned the under.
taker, z. f. Smith. He was asked II
he had seen anything strange about the
body"
"Yes. the head seems to be loose" said
the undertaken. The physicians com
mittt g decided to haVe an autopsy before