The Washington times., 1923-02-11

IN the morning of November 26th
u last year, Hiram Knox. son of the
- late old Colonel w. 81. Knox, multi
millionaire owner of thousands of square
miles of valuable timber land and scores
of saw mills in Texas and Wisconsin, was
found dead in his bed with big bullet
hosesin the back Of his head.
Here he lay in the masters bedroom
ofsthe million dollar mansion which he
ana-his wife had built some sixty miles
from Beaumont in the heart of the Texan
forests that were his, and had been his
fathers, greatest source of wealth.
I'm his right hand was clutched an auto
matte revolver containing one empty and
enc full shell. In his pockets were found
two letters, each limiting broadly of con-
templated suicide And later on there
Wis also found a deed of gift, made by
MIN five days before his death, which
tuEned over to his wife and their children
every penny's worth of property that he
ossned in the world.
On the morning Of january LIST of this
;ear, Mrs. Knox, his widow, was arrested
81 d formally charged with the murder of
her husband.
And thus were opened the first chapters
ola mystery which has since absorbed
TIE attention not only of all Texas, but of
wtnen's clubs and of organized woman
MD throughout the United States.
:Tor the widow, Lillian Marshall Knox,
7,,l earned the title. of Lady Bountiful'
Texas by her lavish generosities, her
= ilanthropies and her myriad deeds of
Is SdAess. Even more than that, she is
Rational figure among the suffragists,
!; ting been one of the most forceful
j. tiers during the days when women were
81 y battling for the vote. She had
bumped" the country for the cause and
haIs been the intimate friend of such inn
vof-ant figures as the late DR.. Anna Shaw
az Mrs. Carrie Chapman Gait, while her
.ae had long been the rendezvous of
- suffrage leaders
Is "Lady Bountiful' she had created
go her wealth the model town of East
y yield, bringing it into being within
+ s~forest wilderness much as Aladdin
tied with his magic lamp his en-
a..,ted castles in the desert. In the
20 .%l houses lived the employees of the
81 nous lumber business of which she
-:1F The actual head-since her husband
erred a sportsman's life to that OF
t,sss .oess. Every woman, every child in
III: little town loved her for the kind
Il. IS and gifts that she had showered
- them. No night was too wild, no
ho1. too late for her to go forth from the
greet house and nurse, if need be, the sick
or comfort the dying. Every Christmas
Ste stood beneath an immense tree
:!aft ed out of the Knox forests, and gave
to -: re little ones thousands of dollars
We n of Christmas gifts.
;i,la looked after not only the physical
CT. nrt of these women and children
,,.ri # course that of the men too-but
- aiso took care of their mental and
G,-..e,- ual welfare. She saw to it that the
cee;i-en got educations; and in the homes
Ga &c women she installed labor saving
,:h,i 'nisms and hygienic contrivances
tr, lid away with the usual deadening
az 4ery of the lumber jacks" wife.
Tire was treated as an equal by the
q; est railroad builders and fnanciers
oin>fle country.
'FI-nuld such a woman this cold
i~,.,.. s.edly scheme her husbands murder,
dfeIs him one night so that he would
:itr!;J soundly, then steal into his room,
III me shot that sent his soul into the
n. s., world and close his stiffening fingers
,au,i the revolver butt SO that it would
2ai aar that he himself had fired the death
.ijs.f.
,rS,zt that is what the authorities charge
VA Knox-"Lady Bountifur' and ma
tr,..1l suffrage leader-did.
f+',t is Mrs. Knox in Jail? Not at all.
SIR, was taken to the Jail at Hemphill,
tFt;sounty seat of the lumber district she
n.U. er had been served upon her. But