Year: 1878

Cincinnati Commercial Letter: In


lS45 +. Il. C.. Judson, an impecunI-


Gus young author, unknown to the


world aud fame, lived in Nashville,


and picked up a precarious liveli-


hood by Bohemianizing. Like


many another young man possessed


of genius and handsome presence,


he was poor and on that account


was looked down upon by an old


man who possessed a superfluous


amount OF this worlds goods and


lovely daughter. Judson loved the


daughter of such man, and his


love was reciprocated in the pas


sionate, devoted way that Southern


girls always do such things. An


influence such as it is very hard for


an ordinary girl to resist was


brought TO bear upon the young


lady who worshiped the gifted
young writer, and one day she was


married to a man named Henry
Poterfield, whom she declared she
could not and would not love-


Young Judson did not die; on the


contrary, he saw more CT his dulci-
ma than before her marriage took


place. This is what rumor said


Mr.. Poterfield was wealthy,
middle aged merchant of Nashville,
of good family and proud, unre-
lenting man. Rumor at last reach


ed him, and made him listen to
what she had to say. But even
then, and for a long time after,
numberless reports of his wife's
carryingon with Judson reached
his ears, he would not heed them,
trusting implicitly in his better


halfs integrity and her respect for
his honor One day IN April, 1916,
his closet friend came to him and
told him such story Of Mrs. Por-
terfield's intimacy with the Bohemi-
an that he was compelled TO believe
and in a towering rage he accused |
his wife, who at first denied, but at
terward, when his rage became ter
rible, she admitted her guilt, and |
told the man whom she had sworn |
to love, honor andsobey that she
had betrayed him and tramped |
upon his honor. Porterfield, more |
like a lunatic than a sane man,
armed himself and started out to !
search the town for the man who |
had broken up his home. Some of
Judson's friends had in the mean
time told him what had happened,
and advised him to be on his guard.


Like wild man, Porterfield went
through the quiet streets of the
town. People stood in shop doors
and looked from windows upon |
him, but none dared to approach or
interfere with him. All the morn
ing he kept on the streets, peeri2g
into stores, hotels, bar rooms and
every public place, but no sight Of
Judson relieved his awful search.
After the dinner hour the people
who kept the shops put up their
shutters and barred their doors,
and pale-faced mothers frightened
their children into not going into
the streets by telling them that a
terrible man was there whom every
body feared. 1t was a strange
thing that with all his madness and
the terrible thoughts that surged in
his breast and occupied his brain,
the injured husband never dreampt
of doing any personal violence to
the woman that had brought this
trouble upon him. After she had
admitted her guilt, she seemed TO
lose all the fear and shame that had
before characterized her actions,
and rising up in the beauty and
grandeur of a woman's wrath, she
had hurled at the head of her hus-
band the fact that she never loved
him, and that she would die for the
man whom he had threatened to
kill. So it happened that, in addl
tion to the warning that Judson re-
ceIved from his male friends, there
came one from a tall, dark, beauti
full woman, who sought him in the
place she knew she would find him,
and mingiing her tears with her
words, she told her lover of all that
had taken place, and urged him to
fly with her at once.


The day had worn away, and
few lights shone here and there
through NashvIlle's deserted streets.
There was a great superstitious
feeling upon all men. 1t was known
that Judson had not left town, and
as Porterfield had not partaken of
food or rest, was still as wild and
TO kill his foe as ever,
everybody feared that before the
morning sun again came TO tighten
up the world, great tragedy would
have been enacted. Judson, who
was preparing to leave the place
ventureu into the street when the
shades OF night began to fall, and
suddenly coming upon Porteriield
in turning a corner, he recognized
the man VINO was hunting him
down, and quick as a flash, drawing
a pistol, he shot him, and the shot
was fatal one. He (Judson) then
hurried away TO the hotel
where he was boarding while an ex-
cited crowd who had been drawn to
the place where Porterfeld fell by
hearing the report of the pistol,
stopped low over the PROSTATE
form, to catch the last family utter
ed words. Porterfield must have
been able to tell all ere he breathed
his last, for in ten minutes a mad
dened mob dashed down the old
street in the direction of Judson's
inn, and were, in voices of thunder,
demanding that he be giver mp.
Some of the party had provided
themselves with hastily arranged
torches. that flickered and sputter-
ed as few drops of rain began to
fall from the frowning heavens. All
had pistols in their hands, and
great tall Southerner, whose shirt
was open, exposing a shaggy. sun
burned breast, had just exclaimed,
"By God, wen have the cowardly
hound if we have to burn up the
old trap!" When a window was


f,1l. form, /