The Washington times., 1920-11-11
W|FE'SFR|END
FACES ARREST.
Aged Victim Declares He Recog-
nized His AssaiIant
During Attack.
STRUCK DOWN FROM BEHIND
Found Wife in Room With Door
Barred After Miraculous
Escape.


BENJAMIN Franklin Mathiot, sixty
five years old, former United States
Secret Service agent, was thrown
into we'll on his farm near sunny
side, Prince Georges county, Nd,
Tuesday afternoon, narrowly es-
Gaping death by drowning in twelve
feet Of water.
ARREST EXPECTED.
Identity of the man who 10 al
legged to have attempted to kill the
former Secret Service agent. 10 said
TO be known to the police, and his ar
rest is expected today by Constable
Thomas v. Garrison.
Mathiot considers his escape from
death as miraculous. He claims that
after having been thrown into the
well, his head struck the bottom
Upon reaching the surface of the
water about ten feet below the wells
top. he managed to brace MIS- back and
feet In sncii way that he conld
'crab" his WY to the top.
! .asIt was . htEArdous strugsla~ sa54
'Mathiot. Zach Tins moved ] feazs,
cd I would lose my balance and fan
back into the water. realised )
was facing death, that the only thing
that would save me was to retain my
presence OF mind. Little by little 1.
moved to the top and God knows
felt relieved when ! crawled over tho
top of the WELL"
Hurrying to his farm house, Mr..
Mathio said he went to his wtfe's
room. He said she had . chair against
the door and that when she saw hin.
wet and bedraEEled, she shrank hack
with fear. declaring, "BenJamiu, you
look like . ghost"
IT imagined did look like a ghost.
At any rate I would have been one
had I not succeeded in getting out OF
the WELL" he said.
Mrs. Gertrude Fowler Ballard
Mathiot, the farmers wife, is em-
ployed in the Reclamation Service Of
the Department OF Interior.
She denied to Constable Garrison
that she had any knowledge Of the
attempt made on her husbands life,
and declared she did not see anyone
on the farm on the day that Mathiot
was thrown into the well.
THINKS WIFE KNOWS.
T am sure my wife knows whS
threw me into the WELL" said Mathlst.
amy assailant has attempted to break
mp my home. and he wanted to get
me out OF the way 20 he could get my
property. Ny wife now holds sew
eraI notes on which he has obtained
money from her.
my wife and I were separated for
several years on account of this man.
and I only took her back when she
pleaded that she was sorry for what
she had done"
In telling how he was attacked.
Mathiot said:
ct had been to Hyattsville during
the afternoon. and when / drove my
horse to the barn, was just about
to open the door when l was sud-
denly struck a stunning blow on tho
head.
"a moment later nv asasfInut
picked me mp in his arms and carr
ried me to the well. I pleaded wlthi
Aim not to Kill me-not to throw me
into the well, but he mumbled n curse
and threw me into the water.-
ut certainly was a thrilling eX-
perience. When a man Is facing dcLsN,
heclings In his desperation to any
thing. II was lucky that I thought
OF propping my body against the wall ,
Of the we'll 1t was the only way
could have saved my life.
RABBIT GOT IN MOUTH.
"rhe Arst thing I encoantered when
coming 20 the surface of the water
was n rabbit which got Into my
mouth. when. 7. was. easping. for
breath. pushed II out.
After throwing me into the we'll
my assailant covered the top with tree
branches. No doubt he thought I
would be drowned and that II would
not be Known for months that I had
disappeared. In the meantime, he
could have ned the country
The Mathiot farm Is about twenty
miles from Hyattsville, being reached
through long strip OF woodland. The
only farmhouse within miles of the
Mathiot home is that occupied, he
said, by the farmer VINO threw him
into the we'll
Although living In the same house,
Mathiot declared that he and his
wife have spoken but slightly to
each other. He said that after re-
turning to her home from her work
In Washington, Mrs. Mathiot always
retired to her room.
at have not beeu permitted 90 ca
ter her ROOM because my wife smokes
cigarettes" declared Wstklot. 'T
have 70 make M my own he'd sns
practically 10 my own cookinn.-