The Washington times. [volume] (Washington [D.C.]) 1902-1939, 1927-05-16

,
head keeper at the prison,
minute profusion the whole his.
tory or her heredity and Of her.
self. She went into every angle
OF the murder, every hour of her
association with Snyder and with
Gray. She wasn't stingy. She
refused to answer no question. be
1t intimate. touchy or blunt.
She explained the gas-hose in
cidents. the mercury tablets. the
cause and progress of her illicit
iaison, the psychology Of all her
relations, the hair-split conflicts
in testimony; what she thought
Of her judge, her jury, her law
yers, the prosecutors and justice
as Whole-and justice as it dis
eliminated between the sexes.
She scoffed at the bromide about
women beating" murder charges.
For the clincher of her argument
she pointed a finger, protruding
dramatically but almost grotesque.
ly from the bizarre overhanging
sweater cuff. at her own breast,
and added-still with a smile
IF you don't think so-here
am"
or Course She Loves Him
When we first spoke of Gray,
the lines about her mouth jerked
downward for moment. She held
her breath in.
do you still care for him." /
asked. Anything left Of that
wild desperate. blaz-"
She shook her head-up and
down. She wasn't smiling now.
She shook it several times. She
slowly shut her eyes. She shook
her head again.
YES" she breathed, and it came
from far down deep.
1t didn't shut her inner eyes to
what he was and what he had
been, what he had done and what
he wouldn't do, what he had cost
her and what he had helped make
of her. She went through all that,
at times almost accidentally.
But her eyes were still closed
and that sag was still bringing
down her mouth and during it she
was not smiling.
Simply Can't Help 1t
II love him. can't help 1t.
He could have done anything to
me and with mel guess he did,
almost everything. | try to hate
him. But ] can't. try even to
be cross with him. But / can't. /
forgive him-OlI, don't admire
him any more. and | yield nothing
of what said on the stand. But
he has a power over me that fights
through all Of it. Pm helpless
against it,"
She has a childlike trust in her
lawyers, but down deep in her
heart she has the conviction that
even they are up against it" to
save her. That they will delay
the last vengeance of society, she
knows; but she cannot hope for
more and make herself believe it.
She says if she were sure that
there would be no reversal, no
communication, she would march to
the grim chair tomorrow, her head
up, her eyes front. like sport"
Not Afraid To Die
"I'm not afraid to die" she
said, and that came clearly and
with the ring Of metal. 'T'm
not afraid of anything. never
was. I'm not even afraid of
mouse. have a mouse net
here. The hard-bOiled matrOns
lean on tables when it scurries
over the cement floor. But I
keep stale bread for it-see? No
when they put that little steel
plate on Ruthie'S marble brow,
they won't hear a whine, a sGuawk
nor a sob. Take It from me,
brother. I've gone through worse
and nobody ever heard me whim-
per. I've tainted. I've passed
out cold. That was because /
was gassed by what ] held in.
But nobody can say nor ever
will say that Ruth Brown lat
that moment she was Ruth Brown
again to HERSELF ever showed the
white feather.
"And it isn't my hope OF
heaven. either. that sustains me.
MY views toward religion ! will
tell the world in a message that
will make It listen and hold
its breath. ] am no atheist.
That II wicked life. / have
my religion. "A Christian re.
Iigion. II isn't all clear and
perfected vet. But I can't dare
to place my faith in q heavenly
reward So far away. And. by
the same token. 7 don't fear
the birthstone burning in fiery,
roaring hell. either-yet.
That and much more, she told
me. until my pulses pounded and
my temples tingled. She never
hesitated. she never stumbled, she
tever equivocated or quibbled.
Her answers came staccato and
forte There was a certain dra-
matte music in them after a while,
for she has melodious voice,
though it is devoid of cello tones.
left. her after the dusk had
settled over Queens and the dingy
dab of sun through the netting
of the lone striped window had
faded into murly black. She
arose to usher me outlook me
to the head of that third flight
of narrow stairs-purposeIy made
steep and narrow so no stam-
pede of prisoners might nego.
tiat@ it--and she put out her
hand: that right hand which a
Judge and Jury and the State of
New York has said brought down
q Tnurderous sashWeiglat upon the