The Washington times. [volume] (Washington [D.C.]) 1902-1939, 1924-09-22
1 =
With The
.AIibi Artists
"a Cross Section of the
Daily Grind in Judge
McMahOn's Traffic
Court.
Read EN- and Weep.
BY DONALD MeDoUGAL.
d. = ~ 3 F = A '+ .
Liter

seventeenth and b Str e ct
southwest, your honor, when the
defendant came around the cor:
ner and ran about fifty feet up
Seventeenth street on two
wheels. AS soon as the other
two came down he opened up
right, and I hoped the running
board Of Ford coupe and told
the driver to- cut loose.
About opposite Continental
Hall the defendant had to slow
up for an ambulance that was
rushing a patient to Emergency
Hospital, and / halted him: He
said his house was afire. It
was an emergency case, your
honor, so / told him to- 60
ahead, but meet me in court
today and answer charges Of
speeding, failing. to show per-
NIT, and no registration card.
He was here this morning be-
fore I was"
Defendant: 81 got a phone
message at the office that two
gallons of gasoline had i ex-
ploded in the kitchen Of our
home, your honor, where my
wife was. My coat was hang
ing on the back of my chair.
and.I grabbed it and ran. Half
way. down stairs | met a man
coming up, and he went back
with me. His foot got caught
IN my mouth on the way down,
and i let go Of my coat. to help
get it out. I reached the ground
floor just as we finished. ana
hurried out to my car.
I recalled that my permit and
registration, card were IN the
coat, but / didn't feel that /
could afford the time to 20
back after them. Just about
the time / realized that, INV
keys were there too, l saw a
Buick roadster at the curb with
the engine running.
u Jumped in and turned every.
thing loose. At first / didn't
notice the lady who was sitting
there, or / would have asked
her permission. She screamed,
What do you mean by this
fam lila ity! / told her,
Madame, my wife is dead
She seemed to be more col
lected by that time and re-
marked, Well, you'll be, too,
when my husband catches you.
There he is coming out of that
building now 1t was the man
had met on the stairs. I
didn't stop to explain things to
him. He didn't seem to be in
a reasonable mood.
Watching traffic, signalling
turns, sounding the horn, turn
ing corners, and trying to- ex-
plain to the lady the trouble l
was in kept me busy until the
officer stopped US on Seven
teenth street. He was very
kind, and told me not only that
I could go ahead, but that he'd
go with me, and if everything
wasn't just as l had said, he'd
bring me back, too."
Next witness: ut was about
8 o'clock, your honor, when l
heard a crash out in the kitchen
and the maid screamed: 'Lawsy,
lawsy! De gasoline can done
'splodicated.' When l got out
there the room was like fur
mace and / shrieked Stop thief!
Murder!' / was too excited to
realize what was saying. There
were some plasterers working
on the floor below and / heard
one of them dumping up the
stairs. The door was locked and
when / tried to reach it my
dress caught fire.
shrieked again and saw the
wood around the lock break into
splinters and the plasterer walked
in. He had a cigaret in his
mouth. It's strange how. you
notice such little things at
times like that, but, / couldn't
help wondering how that man
could break through such a
heavy door and not loose his
cigaret.
He must have seen me look
ing at it. because he said, "Do
you object to smoke, lady?' and
threw it away. Grabbing me
with one hand, he pulled the
table cloth from under the dishes
with the other, wrapped me up
like a mummy, and put me out
in the entry way, calling out,
oh, Bill! Fetch up a coupla them
hundred-pound sacks O. sand.
They'se gasoline burnin' up
here
II could hear Miranda glib