The daily Gate City and constitution-Democrat. (Keokuk, Iowa) 1916-1922, 1919-07-29

IdleQ mOIlOu 10 ulouisS ho LAWN
ms case which was overruled.
Then Sprowls filed motion for
change of venue which also was In
stantly overruled. the court declin-
ling to hear any argument on 1t.
4, Then the case against Mrs. Hawk
| ms started trial at $3.50 o'clock after
! both lawyers had begged the court
successfully for a continuance to
/ give them chance to go home to
supper-both were married only re-
Gently and anxious wives awaited
them, they told the bachelor judge
on the bench.
I The Preliminary Barrage.
The first actual court move was q
demurrer by John S. Sprowls, attor-
ney for Mrs. Hawkins, which caused
(, City Attorney Clarence H. Dickey to
! amend the information against her
| by changing it's language.
| Three benches full of witnesses
, stood up and were sworn, men.
women, girls and very small boys
and then they were all excluded from
the court room and thus prevented
J from attending the interesting per
| Torrance.
i Maggie Wade went out with them,
and 1t required a hurried hunt by
court officers to get her, the defend
ant. back into court, but there could
! be no trial without her presence, and
| finally she was installed at the law
yer's table, where she sat in q pink
waist.
J She declined to cross-examine the
city's witnesses, and seemed unccn-
Cerned, although she had no lawyer
and had charge of her own defense.
and was constantly told she could
ask any questions she chose.
Describing the Battle.
Alberta Hawkins, an eleven yesr
old little girl in white, with purple
hair ribbons, was the first witness
and told about what happened be.
tween and o'clock Wednesday
afternoon when Maudie Wade attack
ed her, she said, and little later
Maggie Wade and Mrs. Hawkins
were both in the scrap. She said
Maggie's language could be heard
two blocks.
Mrs. John G. Hawkins next told
the same story and the same loud,
hair pulling skirmish with some adj
ditional details. She described
real scrap in the combat sector.
Mrs. Eta Watson gave parallel
history of the battle with more ges'
lures and better elocution than the
other witnesses.
Mrs. Lucy Heller began recital
LOT the tale with the meditation of
kindergarten story teller, before the
lefty attorney had time to ask her
Question She was allowed to go on
until her peroration.
| 1--WE explained that at the time"
she said, when Attorney Dickey
asked her what is the foundation Of
the community trouble.
| The Humorist Witness.
"Pm going to get my race slapped
when l go home" Mrs. Lille Corr
quoted Alberta Hawkins as telling
her on her way to the grocery, and
| that Maudie Wade was going to do
! it. Mrs Corr naturally watched the
fight and described 1t wildly.
! The first man on the stand was e.
/ Lee Watson who told about hearing
| the fight, later seeing it, and dis.
creetly keeping away from 1t.
81 just stood there and gaped," he
said, and later told Mrs. Wade:
"If 1 had children like yours, I'd
have 'em gassed.'
II saw two reels Of It, the second
and the fourth Watson testified in
the second trial of the evening, the
case against Mrs. Hawkins about the
fight. After that the lawyers re-
ferred to the stages of the fight as
reels, and found it very convenient.
Made the Man Blush.
Another man witness was Albert
Heller who missed part of that big
fight, but described the latter part
of it as he saw it from an observa-
ton post and said he went away to
avoid hearing the language used.
"Was it language shocking to
your" asked City Attorney Diclrey.
II should say it vast" replied Hell
Ter.
What was it," asked the lawyer,
unblushingly.
But Heller could not bring himself
to repeat the words used by the
Wade girl.
John G.. Hawkins was the last wit
ness for the prosecution
From the Opposite Angle.
In a white dress and her feet not
reaching the floor from the witness
chair little Maudie Wade, sister of
the defendant Maggie, was the first
witness for the defense.
She said that big fight started by
Alberta Hawkins calling her names
and Shaping her, and ended by Mag
gle knocking Mrs. Hawkins down.
The mother of the Wade children
said Maudie was FASTING dolls on
pasteboard nicely and quietly when
the Hawkins girl came by and start
ed the hostilities.
Mrs Gather, Lester Johnson, Il
small boy, Willie Small, another kid,
and Edna Gather, thirteen year
old girl, described the fight from
various angles of view, their evil
,dence tending to show that the
Hawkins girl started the scrap and
the Wade girls were forced into the
war against their will.
A Family Feud.
It was perfectly evident that the