Richmond Palladium (Daily), Volume 35, Number 190, 16 May 1910 — Page 3

THE RICHMOND PALLADIUM AND SUN-TELEGRAM, MONDAY, MAY 16, 1910. PAGE THREE

SCIENTISTS WILL SPY ON FLIRTING

Will Rudely Rubber When HalIsy's Comet Calls Upon Miss Earth. BATTERY OF TELESCOPES WILL AID THE WISE MEN IN THEIR PEEPING STUNT—ROW ON AS TO WHAT HEAVENLY VISITOR IS LIKE. Washington, May 16.—Halley's comet will be greeted Wednesday on its closest approach to the earth by a bristling battery of telescopes, flanked by rapid fire lenses in the celestial cameras of the naval observatory, the only . national observatory in the United States. The government observer prepared for the" great star rushing through space, ' and elaborate calculations have been made as to the minute and second the flying comet will be at given places in the heavens where it will be observed and photographed. Among the scentlsts there is some difference of opinion as to the effect the great star will have upon the earth but the differences are minor. Prof. Asaph Hall of the naval observatory would not be surprised if there were a shower of meteorites. Naulty Takes Issue. Edwin P. Naulty of New York who has been at the observatory making telescopic and spectroscopic observations takes issue with Prof. Hall, and contends that the tail of the comet is composed of neither gaa nor meteoric bodies and that such a shower as Prof. Hell deems possible could not follow: "The tall of Halley'a comet to all intents and purposes is a celestial search light," said Mr. Naulty today. "It is nothing more than sunlight condensed from radiant solar energy and processed through the solar system precisely as a lens focuses condenses and transmits light." The changing spectrum of Halley's comet, according to Mr. Naulty'a theory is due to the fact that as the comet's great tall of light sweeps through various parte of the aolar system. It lights up different layers of gases, conveying the Impression that the tail Itself Is gaseous. Dees Cauae Disturbance. "The aweeplng of this cometary cone of solar force does cause disturbance In the aolar system," said Mr. Naulty. "The earth and all the planets are affected, not only when they come within the actual cone, as the eart will do on Wednesday, but also by the etheral waves set In motion by the comet's tail. It la the constant attempt of the earth'a mass and its atmosphere to adjust themselves to this disturbancs that has caused the prevalent earth tremors, storms and other phenomenon. "The climax will be reached this week. There will no collision of the earth and comet, nor will earth be enveloped in poisonous gases. "The effect of the passage may cause great condensation of atmospheric vapors, so that automatically the earth will be provided with a sort of shield which will act like a lead screen used to protect X-ray operatoirs." . Moon "Butting In." The comet has monopolized all celestial attention of late, but when It approaches nearest the earth on May 18. It will find the moon has so changed her movements as to be full and the conflict of her rays will make observations of the comet more difficult than would be the case If there were no opposition. At the. naval observatory the scientists have been watching . the comet through the powreful telescopes every morning when it is brightest The observers each day can note the broadening of the tail and the enlargement of the head. The heavely body will Increase in apparent site and brilliancy until Wednesday, when It will begin to decrease and in a few weeks will disappear Into space, not to be seen again for nearly a century.." -. Starting Early. Mother Do you think that young man has matrimonial Intentions, my dear? Daughter I certainly do. mamma. He (Tied to convince me last sight that 1 looked prettier In that two guinea hat than in the three guinea cue. London Scraps. LettuM. ' Lettuce as a food plant has a record At being eaten by Persian kings more than 2.000 years ago. KItettve Uzzzz Cere f cr TcSerccIcsb Ttjs a serious natter whan the nines are fc(Tti. A trip away or to a sanatorium la not only tramandoualy ax penal ve, but it Involva separation from horn and friends. Soma ara tenanted; bufnona can vMt rat urn to their homes. . Bckman'a Alterative la Koctiva in curing Bronchitis. Asthma and nor serious affections of the lunsa, No leaving- home and friends Is necessary. For tnstanca: ISt II. Atlantic Ave.. Haddonfleld. N. J. Gentlemen: la the Fall or IMS. I con tr acted a very sever cold which settled on try lunss. At Inst I began to raise sputum nd my physician then told me I must so to California. Immediately. At this tun I was advised to take Bckman'a Alterative. I stayed at hom and commenced taking It tli last week in October. I be ran to Improve, and the first week In January. IMS. I resumed Rir reaular occuoatton. bavins trained 35 pounds, fully restored to health. It I now four year sine my cur Ita been trctea ana I cannot prats kck man's Alterative too blg-hiy. I have eiri mended It to others with excel len "Vlamcd W. V. TATnC Brfcman'a Alterative Is frond for all Threat and Xuna rrnbW And Is en sal kt Richmond by A. O. Luken Co. and titer urua-ariei. it can also no ooiain A at. or orocured by. your local Iruc aists. Ask for Booklet or Cured Cases r writ ror svtaenc to ine kcki

Laboratory, Phila., Pa.

Trial of "Bath Tub Murder Mystery" Opens Today At Newark, N. J--A Baffling Case

1. Ocey W. Snead, the victim. 2. Miss Virginia Wardlaw, aunt of the murdered woman and the first to be placed under arrest. 3. Fletcher W. Snead, husband of the victim, Ocey W. Snead. 4. Mrs. Caroline B. Martin, mother of the victim, and who is under arrest in connection with the crime. 5. Mrs. Mary Snead, the third Wardlaw sister, who is the mother-in-law of the victim, is also under arrest

in connection with the crime. (American News Service) Newark, N. J., May 16.—The placing on trial today in Newark, N. J., of Miss Virginia Wardlaw, Mrs. Caroline B. Martin and Mrs. Mary Snead, charged jointly with, the murder of Mrs. Ocey W. Snead, marks the beginning of another chapter in the now famous "bath tub" mystery, one of the most baffling cases in the criminal annals of the East. The curious manner in which the beautiful young woman met her death, the fact that the three defendants are sisters and members of an old Southern family, and that one is the mother, and the other two the aunts of the victim, have all combined to arouse an unusual degree of interest. To this will be added a mass of wierd and uncanny evidence that will be presented by the prosecution at the trial in attempt to show that these three old women were responsible for the death of young Mrs. Snead, and that this cold-blooded crime was committed in order that they might obtain the $32,000 insurance on the victim's life. Although the prosecution has a mass of incriminating evidence, it is purely circumstantial and the case hinges on the question of whether the suicide note found pinned to Ocey Snead's clothes on the morning her body was discovered in the bath tub, is or is not a forgery. Since their incarceration the old women have not written a letter of any kind with the exception of a note which was addressed to the Methodists, in which they appealed for aid. Their note was signed "The Wardlaw Sisters." The history of the Snead case, as it is called, bears out the old adage that "truth is stranger than fiction." It was on November 29, 1909, that Miss Virginia Wardlaw, the aged spinster aunt of Mrs. Ocey W. Snead, reported to the police of East Orange, N. J., that her niece had committed suicide by drowning herself in the bath tub of their humble home. On investigating, the authorities found the body of the beautiful young woman lying in about one foot of water in the tub, with her nostrils submerged. Pinned to her clothing, which lay at the side of the tub, was a note, signed with the victim's name, and indicating that she had taken her life on account of ill health. A search of the premises revealed a number of insurance policies, which named Miss Virginia Wardlaw as one of the benificiaries. This coupled with the statement made by Miss Wardlaw to the effect that she had been the only one in the house with her niece during the last forty-eight hours, and that she had helped prepare her bath, led to her arrest. An examination of the corpse showed that the young woman had met her death by drowning and no marks of violence were discernible on her body, although her face and form were emaciated, and her stomach showed that she had been in a half-starved condition, and also contained traces of morphine. The house itself was scantily furnished with no carpets on the floor and no food in the cupboards. Through the untiring efforts of the New York and New Jersey sleuths each day brought a string of new developments, but to each development was added another mystery. First it was learned that a mysterious looking woman, dressed in black had visited the Snead home the day before the crime was discovered. The police say that this was Mrs. Caroline B. Martin mother of the dead girl, and they immediately set a dragnet in New York and New Jersey. On December 15, Mrs. Martin was found living in a cheap hotel in New York City, and was placed under arrest and the next day Mrs. Mary Snead, the third sister and the mother of Ocey's husband was apprehended. Bit by bit the authorities began to entangle their prisoners with a web

of circumstantial evidence, by piecing together the story of their actions as it came from several sections of the country. With Mrs. Mary Snead at the time of her arrest, was the mother of the three prisoners, Mrs. Martha Wardlaw, a woman eighty-three years old. She was the widow of a Methodist clergyman, and the family was originally from Chrtstianburg, Va. It was after the war that Mrs. Caroline B. Martin came north with her husband, who held a responsible position with a big tobacco firm. On his death he left a fortune of $20,000 to their daughter, Ocey Martin. Later on Mrs. Martin got in straitened circumstances and began teaching school in New York, but sent her daughter to Murfreesboro, Tenn., where she entered Soule College, which was run by Miss Virginia Wardlaw, her spinster aunt. Mrs. Snead had two sons, and the youngest, Fletcher, on being divorced from his first wife, wooed and won his beautiful cousin Ocey Martin. Mrs. Martin, the girl's mother, then came south and took a hand in the affairs of Soule College, and she is blamed for the failure of that institution. From the southern neighbors of this queer family, it was learned how completely Ocey and Fletcher were dominated by the wills of the three older people, and at times they seemed to wield sort of a hypnotic influence over the young girl and her lover. After their marriage in 1907, Ocey and Fletcher came to New York, where he secured a position in the lumber business. The young couple were followed by Mrs. Martin, Miss Wardlaw, Mrs. Snead and the old grandmother; the entire party making their home at the Manhattan hotel. As their financial condition became worse, they moved from place to place and finally, in the spring of 1909 Mrs. Snead and Mrs. Martin rented a house in the Flatlands, a section of Brooklyn. To this house they brought Ocey Snead, who was apparently in poor health and expecting the birth of a child and were later joined by Miss Wardlaw and her aged mother. Shortly afterwards, Fletcher Snead lost his position and disappeared abandoning his young wife. Following the young woman's death, the authorities made a wide search for him, but his mother, Mrs. Snead, stated that he had died some time ago. On the arrest of Mrs. Martin, however, they found a number of letters written by Mrs. Ocey Snead to her husband, which had never been mailed, and also a number written by him to his wife, which apparently had never reached her. Through the missives the young man was located in St. Catherine's, Ont., where he had been working in a hotel kitchen. He refused, however, to return to the United States, unless requested to do so by his mother and aunts, saying that he was wanted in Tennessee to testify in a suit brought against his former employer, and did not care to do so. But to return to the spring of 1909: It was at this house in the Flatlands that many mysterious events occurred and on account of its dark and forbidding appearance, the neighbors named it the "house of mystery." ' In August of the same year, Ocey Snead's baby was born, and the three old women immediately took the child from its mother's arms and placed it in an orphan asylum, despite the advice of Dr. Pettit, the attending physician. After the death of the young woman, the physician came forth with some startling testimony. He said that the young girl had been shamefully neglected, that his prescriptions were not filled, and that she was literally halfstarved for lack of food and proper nourishment. He also said that he was never once permitted to speak to his patient alone, although she desired him to do so many times. Then came the first intimation that

the old woman exercised a hypnotic

control over the young girl. A lawyer stated that he had been called to the house to make changes in the sick woman's will. When the old women were out of the room, she pleaded with him to remain by her as she feared her relatives, he said that the old women seemed to control her absolutely and in the will Miss Virginia Wardlaw was made the beneficiary of the estate instead of her grandmother, while the baby came in for a meager $500. It was in the fall of the year that Miss Virginia Wardlaw made a trip to East Orange, where she hired the house in which the tragedy occurred. According to the police, she made particular inquiries about the size of the bath tub before renting the place. A few weeks later the other members of this strange family came over to Jer-

THE MARMON "The Easiest Riding Car In Tbe World" The Big Atlanta Victory THE MARMON is maintaining its prestige handsomely at Atlanta. It has won more than its share of the short races and carried off the big prize of the meet by winning the 200-mile race and trophy. It did the distance WITHOUT A STOP in 3:02:31.25 better than 65 miles per hour. No car of any size or price has ever shown such consistent running at high speed. This is the car you want. Backed up by one of the leading factories of the United States. Old Richmond boys from the Panic Proof City, Nordyke A Marmon Co. A visit to the factory will convines you that the Marmon Is the best.

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MOREL-BRICKER CO., Agents

418 MAIN STREET n. e. czsorffli, Eos owe m

Sergt. Matthew Doyle

Released fsn k ra mt Rke seatteaa, Jfw ,y fa Aettr Read what he says about Rheuma. the prescription Leo IL. Fine, guarantees: "Fort Porter, Buffalo. Juno 26. 0. Just about to depart for the Philippines, but want to thank you before I go for the benefits received from the use of Rheuma. Have been In the U, a Army service for nearly 30 years, and durins that time have seen much field service in Indian uprising and in Cuba and the Philippines. The result was an attack of Rheumatism which I found it Impossible to destroy until I tried Kheuma. Was in such serious condition that I had been relieved from all field duty, drills, etc Took less than three bottles, and am now performing; the reg-ular routine of duty once more." 1st Sergrt. Mathew Doyle, Co T 12th Inf. Can the statement of such a man be doubted? Is there a Rheumatic sufferer in Richmond. Ind.. who is going to continue to live in dread and agony In the face of such a letter, especially when Leo H. Fihe says: "If Rheuma doesn't do just as much for you as it did for Sergt. Doyle, you can have your money back. Only 50c a bottle. Mail orders filled by Rheuma Co., 1000 west Ave., Buriaio. w. x. eey and moved into their new home, bringing with them the poor neglected girl. Another doctor, by the name of Teeter was summoned and he stated that the girl was not seriously 111 but was suffering from lack of nourishment He stated that the house was almost bare of furniture and said that the poor girl seemed to be entirely under the control of the four mysterious old women. On Thanksgiving night, the doctor was again summoned by Miss Wardlaw, who asked him to give her a certificate of health for her niece. She came at a late hour of the night and at first the doctor refused to accompany her. saying that the following day would do. She persisted, however, and he finally consented. On arriving at the house he examined the young woman and said that she was not in a dangerous condition, except for her thinness and a slight bronchial cough. . On November 29, Miss Wardlaw reported her death to the police. According to the police the girl's mother was in East Orange the day before the murder, and left that night. When arrested. Miss Wardlaw confessed that she knew of her niece's intention to commit suicide and admitted that she had sat down stairs all during the night with the knowledge that the poor girl had dragged herself to the bath room. In the cold gray dawn of the following day, she stole to the top of the stairs and pushing open the door saw the young girl's body in the tub. Another mysterious circumstance, and one on which the prosecution bases its strongest hopes, was the discovery of three "suicide" notes in the affects of Mrs. Martin, the girl's mother, when she was placed under arrest two weeks later. . The wording of the notes is almost identical with that of the one found pinned to the girl's clothes. . Owing to the activity of the Insurance companies, numerous interesting developments have come to light. According to the authorities, the old women were paying' tneir enormous premiums on the life insurance policy of the young girl, in spite of their On Chassis 32-40 H.r. Typo of Body Optional $26.50 Licensed Undor Boldon Patent

MONDAY & TUESDAY. "Roosevelt in Africa." The feature of the season. Two wonderful reels of pictures actually taken on the African trip shows the animals in the jungle and the mighty hunter himself.

poverty. It has also been ascertained that two of the premiums would have fallen due a few weeks after her death and this is regarded as very significant.

THE CRASH OF WORLDS. A Scientific Theory Concerning the End of Our Planet. Credulous individuals who are always fearful that some of the ends of the world predicted by sensattouat prophets may prove to be true wilt Sad considerable comfort In the asser tion of Professor Lowell that there is good scientific evidence for the belief that mankind will have many years' warning of the great catastrophe that Is destined to put aa end to all things on this planet. According to Professor Lowell's statements, there is a me where within the remote coo Ones of space a grent mass of matter once a world, but now dead that is hurling itself to ward our sun. In time it is certain to reach the goal to which it is tend ing. and when the two come together the globe on which we live is destined to cease to exist. Fortunately for our peace of rulnd there is at the prcseut moment u such dead world within daugerou proximity, and yet any day it may appear. Any day the morning papers may announce that one of these dark bodies has corns within the reach of the telescope that it may readily be seen by the light of the sun reflected upon it. While it would then be certain that the eud of the world was In sight, there would still be ample time In which to prejKire for the inevitable. If the first view of the intruder was caught at the eleventh magnitudeit could scarcely come much nearer without being detected it would not be until twenty-seveu years later that It would become visible to the naked eye, and three years more would elapse before it appeared to us as equal in size to a first magnitude star. In two years and three months more It would have come as near to us a Jupiter, and by that time it would be far the brightest star in the sky. Iu fact, ita effect upon tbe world would already be felt. Our seasons would change, and the days would grow long ger. Finally. Just 15 days later, those who were still alive would witness tbe beginning of tbe end. Tbe stranger would not strike the earth, but would pass so close in Its dasb to the sun that the earth would turn aud follow until together they would drop silently into the aun. Brooklyn Eagle. J0t any rilltl TrUGl Tfc Crijterl tsd CsssUa M SUCK'S ALTED niLCl Ths Fttd-drb far AN Agts. At restaurants, hotels and lountaina. Dendous, mvigorabag and sustaining. Keep k on your sideboard at home. Don't travel without" A quick back prepared in a unite. Take no sabstitate. Ask for HORLICK'S Other are imitations. PDONE 2121

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At Local Theaters

Arcade and Palace. Roosevelt "walked the boards" at the Arcade and Palace theaters this afternoon to the applause of crowded houses. No film was ever received in Richmond with such enthusiasm. The picture "Roosevelt in Africa" is exactly what it says. Taken at camp, every detail of the great hunt la shown. Even the wild animals are photographed at home in the jungle. The Arcade has one reel and the Palace the other. See them both, Monday and Tuesday only. It's the sensation of the season. :- Manchuria. Manchuria's area la slightly than that of the combined states of Iowa. Minnesota. North Dakota. South Dakota and Nebraska, or the total area devoted annually to corn, wheat, cotton, oats and barley in the United States. V Not th Sam Thing. Mrs. Uanlea 1 anj always oatspo. ken. Mr, Kan pies And I am generaliy outtaiked. Smart Set. New tlnrray Tb&tre APPROVED VAUCSVOLLS Week ol Uay ltta EXTRAORDINARY ATTRACTION THE ASAHI TROUPE World's Greatest Resley Workers. Other Exclusive Features. Matinee, any seat, 10.. Evening per. formances, 7:45 and 9:00. Prices, 10, 15 and 20c. Loge seats, 2&c WE ARE TOE AGENTS for the famous Macy A Weiss lines of office filing appliances. NICHOLSON &D30. HOUSEHOLD CLEANING NEEDS You will find that we have anything you might need during the housecleanlng days to beautify the home, such as Jap-a-Lac, Gold and Silver Points, Enamel, Feather Dusters, Moth Bella, Etc Clem ThistlcthiTaitc Dreg Stores 8th A N. E St. 8th A S. E St. You Dove Jest Tfc2 to give your order for our matchless BABY CHIC FEED, $2.25 per 100, and our ground HORSE FEED, better and cheaper than corn or oats. You win find it a paying- Investment ' to feed your stock this quality of feed. tor G. VJtzkn Feed crd Seed SKcrc 33 SOUTH 6TH ST. PHONE 17.

$4

PALACE Hog ONE DM, Sc.