The Topeka state journal. [volume] (Topeka, Kansas) 1892-1980, 1916-10-25
Court Room Filled With Friends
of Both Parties.
The Day Is Taken Up in Oh
tanning a Jury.
THE DEFENDANT IS WEALTHY
He Is Charged With an Attempt
at Assault.
Plaintiff Was a Teacher in the
WaveIand School.

Most of the population of the Wave
land neighborhood is in the court
room of the first division of the dis
trict court today awaiting develop
ments in the case Of the state against
Alfred Vawter, the young farmer
charged with an attempted assault
upon Miss Bertha Curran, the Wave
land school teacher.
There will be no thrills for the
visitors today. 1t will take all day
TO get a jury in the case. In order TO
qualify as a juror in the NaWter case
a man must know absolutely nothing
about the facts, must know none OF
the Vawters. none of Bertha Curran
friends and none of the attorneys on
either side of the case. That Is 1ndl-
Gated by the questions put to each
juror by the attorneys. He must pc
gin listening to the evidence with his
mind as nearly a blank as possible.
There was a litter over the court
room today when it was discovered
that, thru an error in making up the
transcript Vawter was charged by
Bertha Curran with petty larceny. The
official making up the transcript had
pasted on the wrong copy John
Schenck, attorney for Vawter, fused
considerably over the change and it
was necessary to put Hugh Fisher,
judge of the court of Topeka, and
Douglas Graham, clerk of the same
court on the stand to verify the fact
that Vawter was bound over to the
district court on the charge of at
tempt assault
Vawters Are Wealthy.
Vawter, a former Washburn stu
dent, with his aged mother and a
large number of their friends occupy
one side of the room. The Nawters
are among the most wealthy farmers
of "a Mrs WtPr is
said to own many quarter sections of
valuable farming land. John Schenck,
alone. is handling their defense.
On the other side of the table sit
W. E. Atchison, county attorney; Rob
ert Carver and Rad NJ. Lee, aSSista nts,
and Ed Rooney, special counsel en-
ployed by friends of Bertha Curran.
The country school teacher sits just
behind her counsel, thanked by num-
erous friends from the Waveland dis
trict.
The stage is all set for the trial of
the case which has stirred south
Shawnee county to it's depths-a case
which has drawn a line thru the
neighborhood causing one neighbor to
meet another on the rond without
speaking. The cha raCter of the ques-
tions put to the jurors indicates that it
is to go on record as the hardest
fought case tried in the local district
court for many years.
Miss (HrriuS Story.
Bertha Curran charges that la st
spring, before her school closed, she
was attacked in an outbuilding at the
school house; that after she stepped
inside a man dressed in old clothing,
his face covered with Il veil and his
hands covered with gloves, pushed his
way in and attempted to assault her.
She stated at the preliminary hearing
that no sound was uttered by the man
while she struggled with him; that she
bit his thumb and ATTEMPTED TO tear
the veil from his face but failed.
She stated that little girl, one of
her pupils. heard the commOtion in
the outbuilding and came to the door
ami called her. Then. she said her
assailant ran out the door. She stated
that she and the little girl stood and
watched him until he passed out of
sight. She reported the attack inn
mediately and the neighborhood
armed itself and went searching for a
man fitting the description Albert
Meyer. farm hand. was captured and
brought to Topeka for safe keeping in
the county Jail.
Miss Curran looked Meyer over lat
er and declared he was not the man.
A Few Gays later she swore to the COM
plant charging Nawter with being her
assailant. She did not explain at the
preliminary why she failed 10 charge
Vawter with the assault at the time