The Washington times., 1919-04-02
SONISINSANE.
FATHER TELLS
BOWL|NGJURY
Describes How Boy Slayer
Steadily Descended Ladder
of Crime for Years.

The Story Of n fathers struggle for
the regeneration OF his wayward. moth
erless boy was told the jury which must
decide whether Ralph Turner Bowling is
to go to the gallows for the murder Of
Elizabeth Beckwith. today.
Taking the stand at an early hour this
morning. the young murdereT's father
revealed his sons steady descent in
crime from petit larceny to murder.
| Left widower with five children, rang
! ing In ages from three to eleven years,
/ himself a victim Of tuberculosis. Mr..
/ Bowling told the jury Of the heart aches
| and shame his oldest son had caused him
/ for the last ten years, until the awful
news reached him in Denver that the
! boy was charged with murder.
Thinks Son Not Sane,
| With Compressed lips and an obvious
effort to keep his self control. Bowling
did his utmost to convince the jury that
the boy is irresponsible and ought never
to go to the gallows
81 struggled with him and fo.. him."
the father told the jury. but all my
efforts were Of no avail. He went from
bad to worse.
my other children never caused
me a pang, but this boy has broken
my heart. My only regret is that
did not realize ii in time TO have him
confined before he reached the stage
of murder"
Son Seems Indifferent.
The jury, all men well over forty
five. and most OF them fathers Of
boys and girls themselves. craned
forward to hear every syllable from
this other father in sue ha plight.
Only the son, who has caused his
father all this trouble, seemed indif-
ferent to the tragic story being un-
folded on the witness stand.
His little, narrow. close-set eyes,
never showed that he understood what
was being said. He sat slumped down
on the bench. like little old man. His
father declared that there Is a marked
change in him from a year ago.
HE seems to have depreciated: he
seems smaller than he used to be: he
seems smaller than when he was thir-
teen years of age" he said.
and wiser"
Tells OF Last Interview.
Mr.. Bowling told of one of the last
heart-to-hesrt talks he had with his
son. 1t was after Ralph had stolen
everything he could lay his hands
on.
81 asked him what / could do for
him." said the father. "I told him
would give him anything he wanted
4 he wouI only be a good boy. He
smiled-that sickly smile Of his that
I have come TO dread. Then he told
ne he wanted to go to the reform
school. 1 told him that was a funny
thing for a boy to wish for; and he
laughed and slapped his leg and said
that he wanted to go there anyway.
[ told him we would talk things
over again and see what could be
done"
Stole Mothers Wedding Ring.
That night he broke into a little
drawer in my little safe and stole his
dead mothers jewelry. He took her
wedding ring, which had treasured
He tried to sell IL at an L street jew
eler's in Washington. The jeweler was
suspicious, told the boy 10 let him see
the ring and then he notified the po-
lice"
THAT was Ralph's second trip to the
Juvenile Court and they sent him 70
tha reform school. The next ] knew
he had escaped. We could find no
trace Of him from that time until he
was apprchended for murder
Mr.. Bowling told OF tho m"lancholla
suffered by his wife, and how, al the
age OF forty-two, seven years ago, she
ended her life by drinking CarbOlic
acid. Her mother. ho said. died In
At Hope retreat. near baltimore,
after several years Of mental de-
rangement.
Seemed Void OF Emotions.
/ Bowling said that at no time did he
1 ever sec his son display any emotions
Of sorrow regret or gratitude. He
said Ralph forged his name on sew
eraI checks on the Federal National
Bank. sucCeeded in getting $l2 on
one. and was refused payment on an
/ other for S2s. When the forgery was
discovered and Bowling talked to the
boy about IT, he simply smiled "in
: sneaky way"
/ AS far back as IN" spring Of 1917.
4 the father said, he began TO believe
the boy demented lie called the
4, family physician. DR.. Ferguson, on
the telephone, and the doctor told
him Il would be necessary TO send
the boy to St Elizabeth's Hospital
for a couple OF weeks for obscTva-
tion.
! That seemed horrible thing 10
| do, and l kept putting it on" MT.
! Bowling said. 1T looks now as
though I made a great mistake at
that time.
Father is TubeTCuIaF.
Mr.. Bowling only returned from
! Denver two weeks ago. Because Of
his tubercuIar condition and the
change Of altitude prOstrated him.
As soon as he was able he went to the
| jan 10 see his boy.
Ralph showed no signs Of emotion,
| simply looked AT him and bowed his
head. The father took him an entire
rev OUTFIT Of clothing, but the boy
showed no appreciation.
Miss Sarah +. White, principal of
! Gales School, First and G streets
northwest, described the accused
boy as being utterly unlike other
boys of his age In the seventh and
eighth grades. She said he received
very poor marks in all his studies
and especially I'm anything which re
quired any mental effort, like arith
metic.