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Wife. Long Bearing Accusations of Her Wounded Husband in Tears, at Last Turns His Accuser
GRACE CASE FULL OF DRAMATIC INCIDENTS FROM ITS BEGINNING
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Xccused Woman Is De
fiant as Day of Trial
Approaches.
Here is the story of the Grace af
fair, the most mysterious and
strangest criminal case which has
ever come before the Fulton coun
ty courts. It is told as it devel
oped. from that first startling tele
phone message from the wounded
man. to the release of Mrs. Grace
from the Tower and her retire
ment to a, suburban home to await
her trial:
CHAPTER VI.
Grace Tells the Police by Tele
phone, “I Am Shot and Dy
ing. Send Help!”
It had been an unusually quiet day
at the Decatur street police station.
• The arrests had been so few that only
the names of a couple of petty negro
offenders soiled the blotter, and back
behind the turnkey even the drunken
prisoner who had earlier polluted the
atmosphere with his demented curses
had lapsed into inebriate silence. Desk
Sergeant Lindsay was indolently ex
plaining to Call Officer Wood that the
city of Atlanta should really provide
lounges for its inside police force on
such a peaceful day, when the telephone
bell tinkled at his side. Lindsay, smil
ing at his own jest, pulled the receiver
toward his ear.
"Somebody probably wants to know
how long he can sleep before the base
ball season opens.” he began in an
aside to the chuckling emergency po
liceman—but the tone of the tense,
choking voice at the other end of the
wire stopped him in the middle of his
sentence.
“I’m Grace,” the voice said in agon
ized accents, "I’m E. H. Grace, at 29
West Eleventh street. I’m shot. I’m
dying here alone. Send me help!”
Heard a Body Fall.
The sergeant at the telephone heard
the receiver at the other end drop and
sway against its hook and faintly
over the same wire came the sound of
a thud as though a body had fallen
heavily upon a floor. Then he turned
to Call Officer Wood and said:
“You take that other man and shoot
out to 29 West Eleventh street. Man
"ho says his name is Grace is out
there—says he’s been shot and thinks
he’s dying. I think I heard him fall
on the floor after he told me on the
Phone. You get up there quick and
Phone me what is the matter.
Wood, with two other policemen at
his heels, reached the house at 29 West
Eleventh street in ten minutes. As
’h'.v reached the front door an ambu
lance from St. Josephs hospital, or
dered out by telephone from police
a ] sc , came flashing up.
W ood’s hectic banging at the door
"as answered by a colored servant
"ho, questioned in the hallway, said
stupidly that he knew nothing of any
‘ 1 ' being shot in the house.
I he policemen dashed on to the sec
°nd floor. They found the rooms that
I ' v passed through in a state of some
mder, but all the doors were open
’ 1 admit of easy ingress, until they
< ime to the southeast corner. That
'b'or wag locked. Wood rapped once
u Pon it; then put his shoulder to the
Pan<‘| s and sprawled inside as the oaken
barrier gave way.
•'t the further end of the room he
a tall man clad in night clothes
Cng sprawled horribly over the side
a bed. His head hung downward
n the edge and one leg doubled be
■’"ath his twisted body as though he
>.id collapsed in a final lurch to throw
•i 'is,.if up,, n thp he()
“Shot While Asleep.”
foe mar, was only half conscious;
gasped Pitifully for every breath.
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Here are the principal characters in the strange case of Mrs., Grace, accused of shooting her husband, and who will he tried
next week. At the left, above, is Mrs. Martha Ulrich, the aged mother of the defendant, who is on her way from Philadel
phia to share with her daughter the ordeal of the court. Next is John W. Moore, leading counsel for the defense. At the
right is Eugene 11. Grace, the wounded husband. The central picture is that of Mrs. Grifee. while below, at the left, is Lamar
Hill, a cousin to Grace; and one of his counsel assisting the state in the prosecution. The little picture at the lower right is Web
ster Oiiie, Jr., the tiny blind son of Mrs. Grace and her first husband. The child is in school near Philadelphia and ignorant of
his mother’s troubles.
But as the policemen straightened him
out upon the bed he managed to tell
them:
"I’ve been shot in my back while I
was asleep in bed. I'm Eugene Grace.
I’m dying. Get a doctor.”
Wood sought to question the wound
ed man but he seemed too far gone.
But when the ambulance attendants
came up and lifted him upon a stretch
er to carry him to the waiting wagon
the policeman saw two big blots of
dry blood upon the bedclothing and
another blot of blood, also quite dry, on
the nightshirt of the wounded man.
The ambulance surgeon raised the
garment.
“He’s been shot through the side,”
he said. "The bullet did not come out.
It’s lodged in his spine. I guess. He
may live until we get him to the hos
pital. But he’s mortally shot.”
They carried the wounded Grace
downstairs to the ambulance and
rushed him to the hospital.
On the floor of a room on the first
floor Wood stumbled over a pistol ly
ing there. When he examined the
weapon he saw that it was Grace’s
own. and that one chamber in it had
been fired. Policeman Wood put the
prstol in his pocket, noting mentally
that he had found it more than 39 feet
away from where the man had been
wounded, and that the door of the
wounded man’s room nad been locked.
CHAPTER 11.
Grace, liecovering Consciousness,
Accuses Wife, Who Is Ar
rested, Protesting In
nocence.
Meanwhile, on a railroad* train
Grace’s wife of less than a year was
speeding to the home of his own people
in Nc.wnan. She had left the home in
West Eleventh street at noofi to make
sure that she wotild not miss the train.
At Newnan she was embracing Graces
mother and telling her that she had
hurried there because her husband was
leaving on a business trip to Philadel
phia that same day—when the tele
phone bell rang and a voice from po
lice headquarters in Atlanta told
Grace’s mother that her son had been
shot through the spine and was prob
ably dying at S' Josephs hospital.
Young Mrs. Grace evinced tremen-
THE ATLANTA GEORGIAN AND NEWS.
dous surprise and pitiful grief at this
sudden, tragic news. When both wom
en had recovered from the shock a bit
the wife agreed eagerly with the sug
gestion that both of them hurry back
at once to the side of the wounded man.
The telephone message Grace’s mother
had received had told her of the nature
of the wound and its probable fatality,
but it did not tell her then that Grace,
once more recovered consciousness in
the hospital, had declared that his own
wife had shot him.
The mother and the wife rushed back
to Atlanta by 'the next train, consoling
each other and both wondering who
could have committed the crime.
But on the arrival in Atlanta came
another shock to both.
Grace, lying in the hospital, had
made an ante-mortem statement when
the doctors told him that he could not
live 48 hours.
Statement Accusing Wife.
“My wife, Daisy Opie Grace, shot me
while I slept in bed early in the morn
ing of the sth of March," he said. “She
must have drugged me so that I did
not hear the shot nor feel the pain of
the bullet in my spine. She shot me
because she was tired of me and be
cause she thought that by killing nte
that way she could get the $27,000 In
insurance policies I have taken on my
life and made over to her name. The
night before she shot me we had been
to the Forsyth theater. That night,
afterward, at home, while my mind was
not clear, she made me sign a letter
that would revoke the power of attor
ney she had given me to dispose of her
property in Philadelphia. These are
the reasons why she shot me.”
The arrest of Daisy Grace followed
immediately and she was locked up at
police headquarters charged with as
sault with intent to kill.
She denied the charge vehemently.
"I do not believe my husband ever
said that,” she declared. “He knows I
had no reason to shoot him. A negro
burglar shot him after I had gone from
the house and was on my way to his
mother at Newnan. It is all a terr’ble
mistake.”
Sensation followed sensation rapidly.
Declaring that she wished to nurse her
husband back to life, Mrs. Grace main
tained her protestations of innocence,
even to the point of confronting her
wounded husband in the hospital.
CHAPTER 111.
‘‘You Can Not Live,” Grace Is
Told.
The second day after the shooting
Mrs. Grace was released from the Tow.
er after her bail had been furnished by
two professional bondsmen of the city.
During that night and for many,
many nights following Eugene Grace
seemed just at the point of death. He
held his consciousness, it is true, but
the bullet seemed to have reached a
vital spot with telling effect.
Noted physicians worked and studied
over his case. An operation was con
sidered, but abandoned as an immedi
ate possibly until the location of the
bullet, which had either severed or was
pressing against his spinal cord, could
be determined. X-ray examinations
were held —the approximate position of
the bullet was located, but still no op
eration. The doctors shook their heads.
Grace's Death Sentence.
One day all of them gathered in the
little room at St. Josephs hospital and
the wounded man could see that some
thing foreboding was. in the air.
"You can not live.” said Dr. J. W.
Goldsmith, and turned away. Dr. Wil.
Us Jones, by a nod of the head, con
firmed this. Mrs. S. L. Hill, Grace's
mother, wept softly, but Grace never
turned a hair.
Meanwhile, Solicitor General Hugh
Dorsey had been considering the ad
visability of Mrs. Grace's remaining on
bond. Reports from the hospital were
that death to Grace was a matter of a
few hours. This urged him to a de
cision and he accordingly ordered Mrs.
Grace arrested again, as her bondsmen
were men In the business of regularly
bonding people.
At her temporary home in the Kim
ball house she was visited a second
time by the officers of the law and
taken to the Tower. She was writing
to her mother at the time. Her last
words on the sheet of paper were: “I
am innocent.”
CHAPTER IV.
Mrs. Grace Makes Bond and Hur
riedly Departs For Old Home.
Mrs. Grace in the Tower sun 'uhded
iby felons and petty thieves and ' bugs''
FRIDAY. JULY 26, 1912.
—thought of her husband, prayed in
termittently, and read feverishly In the
attempt to throw from her mind the
dreadful nightmare of the previous
days.
Eugene Grace —in his room at St.
Josephs hospital—swore vindictively
whenever the name of his wife was
mentioned.
“She shot me.” he snapped. “She
knows she shot me. She was tired
of me—-she wanted my insurance. I
was beginning to wake up to the fact
that I had been stung—that my married
life was a farce, that I had been the
victim of a virago, a frequenter of cases
and other popular resorts.”
He stormed at his nurses, he was
fretful and unpleasant. In a moment
of sudden anger he ordered that his
mustache be shaved off because SHE
had liked it.
Mrs. Grace shook her head slowly
as she read the newspaper accounts of
Grace’s conduct.
“I Still Love Him, Anyway.”
“I don’t believe he said these things,”
she declared sadly, “but even if Eugene
doesn’t love me any more, I still love
him. and will be faithful to him.”
The days tossed on. Minor sensa
tions sprung up and were exploded.
Letters purporting to be from women
who said they knew who shot Grace
were received, but created small notice.
Grace grew neither better nor worse.
Ills physicians continued to declare
that his death was only a matter of
time. The charges against his wife he
reiterated and amplified from time to
time.
He was still bitter. She was still
sad. but firm In the declaration of her
own Innocence.
One night her lawyers managed to
negotiate her bond. An attempt was
made to carry it through secretly, but
with little success.
Throng Follows Her to Station,
When Mrs. Grace left the Tower in
the company of her lawyers the night
of March 19. a mob of the curious and
a young army of newspaper men sur«
rounded her. She was placed quickly
in a cab and the driver ordered to whip
up bls horses.
To the Terminal station he galloped,
followed by honking newspaper auto
mobiles and hundreds of the curious
running beside the machines.
Attorney John Moore made a quick
purchase at the ticket window. Three
newspaper men crowded onto the same
train, and the memorable trip to Phila
delphia was begun.
“That's the last we’ll see of Mrs.
Eugene Grace," said Attorney Reuben
Arnold when apprised of the flight.
"She has skipped.”
CHAPTER V.
Mrs. Grace, Hardened by Accu
sations, Turns Accuser —
Grace Taken Home to Die.
Pi lor to her Philadelphia trip the
mental attitude of Mrs. Daisy Grace
was one of meekness and resignation.
Each accusation by her husband was
like a lash across her face, but she
bowed a head of acceptance.
A subtle change came over her as she
sped northward. Repeated statements
condemning her came from the bedside
of the wounded man. One day she fin
ished reading and crushed the paper in
her hand.
"Why does he say that?" she cried
then a hard look crept into her eyes
and she almost hissed the next words.
"He knows who shot him! He KNOWS
WHO SHOT HIM. Why-—” turning to
the newspaper correspondents, “I could
clear myself in three minutes before
any jury in the world. I could tell
things which would show clearly how
this thing happened. He—”
Lawyer Sealed Her Lips.
She was interrupted by her lawyer,
J. A. Branch. He put his hand on her
arm. “You mustn't talk too much,” he
said quickly. She sighed and turned
away. The newspaper men cursed and
went to a nickel show.
In Philadelphia friends of Mrs, Grace
and Mrs. Grace's family testified bit
terly to the effect that Eugene had
never been much —had always lived on
his wife’s money. Indubitable evidence
that she owned property was shown.
"Why should I kill him for his insur
ance?” she asked querulously, holding
up a handful of stock in a well known
corporation.
Grace’s condition in his hospital pris
on continued to ebb and flow. His
condition one day was pronounced much
better. Then it turned and steadily
grew worse. His physicians had aban
doned entirely the idea of an operation.
He was going to die.
His parents then put in a request.
Let him die at home —at Newnan. This
was agreed to by the physicians.
In an express car his cot was placed.
On the trip down to the Coweta county
seat he once more declared his wife
guilty of having shot him. His removal
took place Saturday afternoon, March
29 The next afternoon Mrs. Grace
returned to Atlanta.
The public, meanwhile, had been
✓' I
Wounded Man, Recov
ering, Renews Con
demnation of Wife.
fanned into a frenzy of curiosity of
minute reports of what Mrs. Grace had
been doing in Philadelphia. The in
coming train was delayed several hours,
but in spite of that the Terminal sta
tion was blocked and crowded with
waiting men and women anxious for
one glimpse of the woman.
It was a repetition of the night of her
departure, only on a larger scale. She
was rushed Into a taxicab and carried
rapidly up the street. Ten, fifteen,
twenty automobiles followed. The first
and only stop was made at the Kimball
hOUSe.
She was taken to a room—ln which
she locked herself, and with no coin*
p.iny save that of a nurse remained for
more than a week.
CAPTER VI.
Mrs. Grace Held For Trial.
Grace Operated on Success
fully—All Ready For Trial.
Things moved slowly now in the
Grace case.
At Newnan, Grace lived from day to
ilay in spite of saturnine predictions on
the part of Atlanta surgeons. A new
physician was now in charge and he
refused to believe that Grace couldn’t
live.
As the days wore on and public curi
osity in the case began to wane, Mrs.
Grace moved from her Kimball house
room to the home of Mrs. Louise Wil
son tn West End.
Meanwhile certain letters had come
to light —letters from Eugene to Daisy
before their marriage, before she was
divorced by death from Webster Opie.
In these letters he confessed to having
lived a wild life. He also declared his
love in passionate terms. The letters
revived Interest in th'e case.
Other documentary evidence brought
to light revealed the fact that the
Graces had been married twice—the
first marriage at the Little Church
Around the Corner in New York was
no marriage at all. A second ceremony
had been performed in New Orleans.
Mrs. Grace Bound Over.
The preliminary trial, held before
Justice Ridley, in which only the evi
dence of the prosecution was heard, re
sulted in Mrs. Grace being bound over
to the grand jury. An Indictment was
returned later.
For a third time Mrs. Grace was re
manded to jail, but after about two
weeks Incarceration was again bonded.
Now, at her home in West End, she
awaits her trial.
A few days ago an operation was
performed on Eugene Grace. The bul
let was located and the pressure
against his spine removed. For a while
it looked as if he might return to a full
possession of his faculties. That he
might live indefinitely, in any event,
was established beyond a doubt. He
will not be able to attend the trial of
his wife. He says, however, that what
ever its result he will divorce her as
soon as he can, as he still is convinced
of her guilt.
The last act in the drama begins
Monday.
•
Mr. Buslnes Man or Woman: Aren’t
you on a sharp lookout for competent help
of all kinds? You know that it is good
business policy to get live wires with you.
Let us call your attention to the "Situa
tions Wanted" columns of The Georgian
Here is where you have a chance to select
the best help that can be had on the mar
ket. These people that advertise cat
furnish you the best of references. So
from now on read the "Situation Wanted'
columns of The Georgia and get the help
that will be of the must service to you.
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