Brownsville herald. [volume] (Brownsville, Tex.) 1910-current, 1931-09-24

slightly changed the essential. and
conflicting, points:
One group OF fishermen. accord
ing to Commonwealth Attorney
Roland ID. Cooke, watched two per-
sons struggling in the water. land
when n of them was down you
couldn't hear anything and when
both of them were above the water
you could hear screams"
Other fishermen who watched
from about a quarter Of a mile and
partly support Prof. Kane. say the
man pulled the woman to the beach,
laid her down twice and shouted
and waved as though trying to at
tract attention.
Kane's own story Is that he was
swimming about 200 yards away
when his wife dived in shallow
wRter and called for help. He says
he found her in eight feet OF wat
er and tried to revive he.. The
prosecutor says the water along the
edge of the rocks was only about
three feet deep, scarcely a depth
for diving.
All say that he placed his wife
in an auto and rushed hf to a
hospital.
The case revolyed on such testi-
mony as to the physical facts until
Coroner George K. Vanderslice, in
opposing bail for Prof. Kane, play
ed his trump card. He produced
an endearing letter which he said
had been written to Prof. Kane on
Sept. ! by a New York woman
signing herself as &c. II. d." and
declared that there was another
letter from the same woman which
said "a little nerve and a very lit
tie time" were all he needed TO
"get rid" OF his wife.
A few hours later the coroner re-
turned a verdict OF "premeditated
murder" citing the love letters as
the motive.
The youthful 'llege professor.
who has for two years headed the
romance languages department at
the University OF Tenness. \. Knox
Vile, arrived here the day before
the tragedy. His wife had been
here with her parents, Mr.. and
Mrs. w. G. Graham of Hilton Vii
lage, since June 1. He had taught
In summer school at Knoxville an
tifvtate in August and then gone to
Foft Bragg. N. c., 10 attend camp
as a major in the reserve corps.
Prof. Kane's own case is hardly
less interesting than the story of
his family, for his Pennsylvania
forebears for several generations
have figured in colorful dramas.
They we're pioneers In the vicinity
Of what is now the enterprising
little mountain town OF Kane. Pa.
His grcat-uncle, for whom he was
named. was Elisha Kent Kane. the
arctic explorer whose adventures in
the Far North-the discovery of
Grinnell Land Of the Humboldt
Glacier, the relief expedition in
search of Sir John Franklin's Ill
fated English expedition. the plant
ing Of the Amt fcan flag. in the
then most northern lands Of the
day-are history.
Ills ETdllQlAl44Clf a 0lOtAtCA VI
this sturdy explorer, was General
Thomas Leiper Kane OF Civil War
fame who laid out the town OF Kane
IN the wilds Of northwestern Penn
svlvania. In April. 1861. he raised
4 regiment Of HI 1ters and loggers
known as the Pennsylvania Buck
tails. who fought in some Of the
hardest battles Of the war.
.Hrcktailr Kane was a ~fire-eating
q Inter whose Pennsylvania back
woodsmen were as daring as he.
Absent on sick leave at the begin
Mig OF the Battle of Gettysburg.
he FASTENED to washington for or
ders. took to General Meade in
formation that the federal tele-
graphic code was known to the
Confederates. joined his brigade
and entered the fray.
An example of the pluck OF the
Kanes is found in his early life. AS
4 voung American military attache
in Paris, he fought a duel with a
Frenchman. He never knew the
meaning OF the word fear.
The old generals son~-Prof.
Kane's father Is 71-year-old DR..
Evan O'Neill Kane. the first u r
reon in history to remove his own
appendix. He did this at his own
hospital at Kane Summit. Pa. 10