Richmond planet. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1883-1938, 1917-05-12

MRS. Vawter was asked IL she had
any knowledge of the letter of juno
10, in which the husband asked Heth
to remain away from home and to
never be In her company when she
was alone. She said she did, Heth
having told her about It., and he
promised to show /! to her bnt he
never did.
DRAWN IN TWO PARTS
She was unyielding. giving all for
her children, daring all to save her
husband perhaps from the grim chair
with the straps and metal cap. In.
lour snort hours she was the heroine
or two dramas that have had few
parallels outside the pages of fiction.
one OF the dramas was played out I'm
court room packed to suffocation
with people who had come from near
by cities and swarmed In from tho
country miles around. The other
drama the public did not see. It was
behind closed doors, but Il was none
the less a drama, recurring the full
measure Of woman.
That one which the public did not
witness took place at a family confer
ence after her husbands lawyers had
made an eleventh-hour switch from a
plea Of self-defense and justifiarle
homicide to plea of temporary In
sanity, due to alcoholic excuses and
madness over the belief that Heth had
robbed him of his wife. The evidence
OF the doctors called to prove the in
sanity plea was undermined by the
rapierlike cross-eXamination Of Jack
Lee, counsel for the prosecution.
Then came the conference There
were present Attorneys Hairless, Cal
noun and Jordan. for the defense:
commemorative Attorney Roop, Of
montgomery county: Commonwealth
Attorney Tyler, Of RadforG: Mr.. Lee
vi Mrs. Vawter and her h,,eha"
Professor Vawter and her husband.
INSISTS ON TEsTIFYING.
All that took place at that confer
ence Is not known. But it was learn
ed On good authority that there was a
proposition to the effect that tho
prosecution would accept q plea OF
insanity, the commitment of Vawter
TO an insane asylum and agree to his
release whenever the asylum physi-
clans should decide, if even, that he
was fit subject for discharge. It Is
understood that counsel for the de-
Tense advised this course. Mrs. Vaw-
ter said: NO." it is stated. az won't
let him go to an asylum. will go
Oh the witness stand"
She came into court and fought It
out. 1t was fight that held the
spectators breathless. And there was
In oil the crowd that pressed around
her not one woman into whose face,
even though 1t may have been O
strange face, she could look for q
faint message Of sympathy and sister
ship. Men damned the aisles, men
sat In the widnows on the ratings,
on the floor. Repeatedly Judge Moi
felt had to order the sheriff TO drive
back the men from around her.
Mrs. Vawter Is Of slight build, but
she is 1.-the and strong, and though
the crossexam. nation ordeal w6
ioils hiu terrible ana Hlea mar 70 the
utmost, she never once asked for
mercy. Alternately her face paled with
shame. She bit her lips and wrung
her hands, but she survived
Mrs. Vawter was examined direct
by Attorney Jordan She was first
asked to tell of her marriage and her |
il,
married life had been a happy one. |
She said she is thirty-one years old. |
My married life had been happy, |
very happy" she declared. |
SAT- UP ALL NIGHT.
Mr.. Jordan then questioned her ,
about woman guest in their home. !
Professor Vawter's testimony had
gravoly reflected on the guests con-
duct. She gave her version OF how
Heth had paid attention to the guest, |
one night sitting up all night with |
her, and incidents that caused Pro- |
lessor Vawter to insist that the guest
take her departure as soon as posi- |
bic, and to tell Heth, who drove the (
guest to the railway station, that i'll
he missed the train not to bring her |
bacl: there. Mrs. Vawter said she
, acqu1esced in her husbands decision
10 speed the parting guest because
she did not want her there any longer.
This was in November OF 1916.
Mrs. Vawter then narrated in de- |
| tail TIE happenings Oh Christmas Eve
| or last year. Professor Vawtcr had |
gone to the basement to attend to |
the furnace, leaving her sitting OH
! the parlor sofa with Heth. She said
when Professor Vawter came up Heth |
hal his hands OH her trying to kiss
her. and that she was resisting. She |
| tcld OF her and Heth following Pro |
fessor Vawter into the kitchen and of |
| how he cursed Heth, calling him n |
Id libertin and robber OF homes. |
0sichmond Evening Journal.)