THE TRAGEDY OF TWO SISTERS.

Rangitikei Advocate and Manawatu Argus, Volume XXXIV, Issue 9402, 24 March 1909, Page 7

THE TRAGEDY OF TWO SISTERS.

A WOMAN'S BITTER ORDEAL. The trial of two beautiful women, , - Mra Florence JErb and her sister, Mrs'Beisel, on a charge of murdering - Oaptain Olay ton Erl), a wealthy and prominent politician of Pennsylvania, was watched by the entire an interest "even more intense * than that excited by the Hains oasei Oaptain Erb was shot dead, in his magnificent residence near Philadelphia. The authorship • of the terrible deed was immediately admitted by Mrs Beisel, but the police insisted that she was endeavouring to shield her sister, who is now accused with her ot murdering the politician* to whom she was united in an unhappy ™? r " riage. The story told by the chief witness for’ the prosecution (Coroner White), on the contrary, disproved that theory in striking fashion. Mr White informed the Court that as soon as he (arrived at the mansion the widow' admitted that she had had a violent quarrel with her husband. The captain, she said, called her vile names, and, incensed beyona ■ measure, she picked up a vase and broke it bn his face. Then, terrified, she ran to her bedroom and telephoned to her sister, who arrived in a few moments. Mrs Erb told the witness that the captain confronted the two women, pistol in hand. Mrs Beisel grappled with him, wrestled the weapon from him, and shot him. The trial reached its climax when Mrs Erb. the widow, went into the witness-box and gave evidence on her own behalf. For seven hoars she thrilled the jury and the crowded Court with a harrowing story of her ..wrongs. Her tragic, recital was frequently interrupted by uncontrollable outbursts of weeping. She was clad in deep black. \She described in detail how her husband, who was universally regarded in the Quaker city as a prince of good fellows, repeatedly thrashed and her in the privacy of their magnificent country residence, the Red Gables. On several occasions, she said, the captain threw her out of the house on bitterly cold nights when the ground was covered with snow. He threatened her with'a revolver repeatedly, and when she hid the weapon dragged her by the ha* l around the library, kicking her mercilessly until she returned the revolver. The incidents of the night °* the tragedy, as related by Mrs Erb, tallied exactly with the narrative told to the coroner. When her husband attacked her she threw a glats vase in his face and rushed to her bedroom and telephoned for her sister. ‘/he captain entered and pointed a pistol at me, exclaiming: ‘l’ve got yon now.’ I screamed and my sister flew at my husband. I heard the shuffling of feet, then a shot, followed by more shots. When I recovered I saw my hnsoand lying on his face, and my sister unconscious on the floor beside him. I ran wildly downstairs; calling for help.” At the end of seven hours of this ordeal in Court Mrs Erb Was seized with a fit ot hysterical weeping. Mrs Erb was followed on witness stand by her sister, wh owhen called upon to speak, leapt from her chair and held the Court under a spell as she rehearsed her struggle with the man in his country mansion. “I was at the Village Green Hotel,” she said, “when Florence telephoned to me, saying the captain was in a terrible humour, and had beaten her savagely. I threw a coat over my shoulders and hurried to tbe house. I found my sister pacing the porch. We went upstairs, she entering tbe bathrobm and I a bedroom. Presently I heard her scream. I stepped to the door and saw a sight that paralysed me. The oaptain, pointing a revolver at hia wife, said : ‘Now, I’ll kill yon.’ Then he saw me. 'What, yon here, too? he yelled. “By heaven, I’ll get rid of yon, too.’ I ran at him and caught him like this. I seized his pistol—like this. I tore it from his grasp. He slipped and fell against the door, and then ran after me. I tamed. There was a roar'of shots. I don’t know how many shots I fired, I don’t know whether I emptied the revolver or not. Everything got dark. I knew nothing until a crowd of people was all round me. I did it to save my poor sister. HoW horribly she was treated by that man! He would have shot her and me too if I had not been too quick for him.” , , The witness stood with her face upturned, and as she ended her recital stretched tier hands appealingly towards the jury. Then, placing them over her face, she burst into tears and sank back in her chair. The Judge had risen from bis seat

daring this remarkable scene, and / the counsel both' for and against thp prisoners stepped towards the witnass as though fascinated. Most of the 600 spectators in the Courtroom had also risen and listened intently. When it was over there was not a sound tor several minutes. The jury acquitted Mrs Erb.