Atlanta tri-weekly journal. [volume] (Atlanta, Ga.) 1920-19??, 1922-08-17
MRS. BYFIELD SUES
BLACKMA|L ACCUSER
FOR 100000 BALM
if Mrs, ByfieId Was Injured,
Terrific Beating by HuS-
band Was Responsible,
p Gambler Says in Reply

morning with a suit for damages in
the sum of 100000, against Mr.
Gambler, alleging personal injuries
| and humiliation as result of an
attack upon her in her stateroom
on the steamship Berengaria, the
night of July 16.
| Mrs. Byfield's suit is filed in the
DeKalb superior court. Most OF
the text of the petition corresponds
closely with the statement made
Tuesday by Mr.. Byfield, setting out
the relations Of the Byfields and the
Gamblers, and the manner in which
Mr.. and Mrs. Byfield came to join
Mr.. Gambler and his young daugh-
! tiers in the trip to France.
Mrs. Byfield's petition says that
as a consequence Of the experience
alleged on the night of July 16 she
suffered a nervous collapse and was
| forced to keep to her bed most of
the short time the party remained
| in France, and much of the time
since her return, her condition fl
| nally /necessitating an operation
this having been performed Monday.
On being acquainted with the al
legations of the petition of Mrs.
| Byfield, Mr.. Gambler said:
81 have already stated everything
that took place in my petition to
cancel the note. L never touched
Mrs. Byfield, and nothing of an
improper nature occurred. This suit
is utterly unfounded and is in line
with Mr.. Byfield's past perform
ances to get money out of me, and it
will be answered at the proper
time"
eff Mrs. Byfield suffered any in
juries on the ship, it was from the
terrific beating which her husband
gave her, which bloodied her face
and caused her to stay locked up in
her stateroom all the next day. l
never touched her"
Mrs. ByfieId Restless
At the Byfield apartment Wed
uesday morning B. p. Gillespie, Mrs.
Byfield's father, said she was mot
doing so we'll"
my daughter seemed resting well
early last night" he said, "but to-
ward morning she became restless
and very uncomfortable"
With regard to the suit filed by
Mrs. Byfield through Luther Z. Ros-
ser, attorney for her and for her
husband, Mr.. Gillespie said:
Before we get through we are
going to make Walter Gambler
ashamed of himself. We are just
starting"
He added that dozens of Allan
ta's most prominent business men"
had called the Byfields up to "con-
graduate them. on the stand they
had taken
Clyde K. Byfield, accused Monday
IN 80 cr
by blackmail $4,000 from TIE mil.
lionaire Atlanta banker, broke his
silence Tuesday in a sudden and
dramatic fashion, after retaining
Luther u. Rosser as his attorney.
thus pitting against one another
! those famous associates in many a
hard-fought case-Reuben Arnold
and Mr.. Rosser, as Mr.. Gambler had
retained Mr.. Arnold and his brother,
Lowry Arnold, as counsel.
Mr.. Byfield appeared at The Jour-
nal office with :. typewriter state
meht, signed in ink, in which he
charged Mr.. Gambler with being a
false friend, of finding him attempt
: ing an attack on Mrs. Byfield in the
| Byfields' stateroom on the steamship
Berengaria the night Of July Is, and
later on coming to him bringing
and cowardly," and offering him
$4,000 for the "injury to his bust
ness" by reason Of the affair. 0
Mr.. Byfield admitted signing let
ter generating Mr.. Gambler, for
which act he upbraided himself,
| pleading need of money in France,
lack of friends and fear of Mr..
Gambler and men he had with him
when the letter, which he says was
already prepared, was presented to
him for his signature three days
after the scene in the stateroom.
Mr.. Gamblers Reply
After reading Mr.. Byfield's state
ment in an early edition of The Jour-
nal, Mr.. Gambler made this comment:
"The statement that Byf1eld
found me in any struggle with
his wife is untrue. Nothing
whatever occurred, except as
stated in my petition to cancel
this note. The door not only
was unlocked, but was open
when Byfield came into the
room.
"Many glaring Measurements
occur in Byfield's card, but as
this case is to be tried in court,
1 will make no further state
ment."
In bringing his statement to The
Journal office Mr.. Byfeld said:
"Here is what L have to say now
to the petition filed by Mr.. Gambler
to have the note cancelled. l have
nothing to add to this at present"
Following is the text of the By
| field statement:
Mr.. ByfieId's Letter
Editor The Journal,
Atlanta, Ga.
"Dear Sir: Your publication
of the suit of Walter T. Can
Ter against myself demands that
the truth be told, no matter who
is thereby hurt.
"My wife and myself had been,
as we thought and ha3 every
reason to think, the warm per-
sonal friends of Walter Gambler
and his wife before their recent
separation, and of Gambler him
self since that time. We visited
and took meals at his home, and
were shown the greatest kind
ness and highest respect by him,
his wife and their children. We
thought if we had any true
! friends, the Gambler family
were among them.
after the separation Gambler
wanted to take a trip to Europe
and take with him his two girls,
one eleven years old and the
other nine years old He urged
my wife and myself to also 60.
He wanted us to go, not only
for our own pleasure, but also
for the help Mrs. Byfield would
give in looking after and caring
for his two girls. We finally
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