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2 = ; —; 1 — Accused Womans Lawyers Try to Keep Notes Husband Says She Wrote Out of Evidence BITTER FIGHT IS WAGED OVER GRACE “DEATH LETTERS 1 ' Prosecution Trying to Show Woman Had Notes Written to Cast Suspicion on Fictitious Friend—Typewriter Experts Called. Continued From Page One discussing the admissibility of thi*s> letters. Solicitor Dorsey contended that the letters were not communica tions between husband and wife, be cause Eugene Grace had had no hand In their preparation—save possibly a mechanical one—that the preparation and the mailing was done by Mrs. Grace. Mr. Rosser said that the state would have to prove this more clearly before the letters could be admitted—that the burden of proof was upon the state and not the defense. Woman s Lawyer Escapes Grilling. Mrs. Daisy Grace achieved an impor. tant victory when her chief attorney, Luther Rosser, placed upon the stand by the prosecution, was upheld tn de clining to answer any questions con cerning his knowledge of the type writer at the Grace home upon which was said to have been written the mys- | terious and sensational “alibi” letters. Solicitor General Hugh M. Dorsey sought to question Mr. Rosser in an evident effort to prove that there was a typewriter in the Grace homo, and that Mrs. Grace might have written upoh it the letters signed by Grace which told of their happiness and of Grace's departure and of the "bum” that he took home from the station after seeing her away. The obvious inference was to connect Mrs. Grace with these letteris through her use of the typewriter. Rosser said: ”i decline to answer any question concerning the typewriter because it would be a violation of confidence with im client.” The judge upheld the lawyer, and the prosecution, balked once more, again delayed its promised production ol the sensational 'alibi” letters which, It says, were forged. While the trial went on. Eugene (trace • fumed at the Piedmont sanitarium. The superintendent said ho was no worse this morning than when he came to Atlanta from Newnan two days ago. and was perfectly able to be taken to court. He was kept in the .sanitarium await ing word from bis counsel to attend the trial again The prosecution will probably close its case today. The defense will be very brief. The case will reach the jury either tonight or each tomorrow, and the verdict should be know n before to morrow t vening. Mrs. Grace May Take Stand Today. As large a crowd as usual was in the court room today when the case opened. More women than on former days were present, expecting to hear Mrs Grace tell her own story on the stand. Whether or not they will be dis appointed remains to be seen, for coun sel for the defense refused to state when the case opened whether they would introduce Mrs. Grace or any wit nesses whatever. They have kept the state’s counsel absolutely in the dark as to the line of defense. That the defense has made prepara tions to introduce witnesses In ease they deem it necessary is indicated by the fact that Mis. Martha t'lrleh. moth, vr of Mrs. Grace, lias been put "under the rule'* and excluded from I lie court room during the proceedings Mrs. ll rlch and Mrs. Louise Wilson, trained nurse of Mrs. Grace, sit in an ante room near the court chamber all dav. Grace Better, Says Lawyer. Lamar Hill, Grace * personal counsel, said today that Eugene was better to day. and was expected to return to court. At the opening of court today. Solici tor Dorsey asked the court to make re newed effort to secure the presence of Clarence Bell, subpenaed by the state a witness, who is quite ill. It being agreed that Bell was too ill to be pres ent, Mr. Dorsey asked that it appear on the records that he desired Mr. Bells presence to add a certain link to the chain of evidence Louis Wellhouse was the first wit ness called. He is in the paper busi ness. and connected with Paul A. Clem ents, a witness of yesterday. It was at his mother's suggestion that Wellhouse found out who was Mr. Clements' attorneys. Mr. Dorsey desired to swear Luther Rosser and put him on the stand. Mr. Rosser objected to being sworn, but was put on the stand, not on oath. Another Victory For Mrs. Grace. Mr Rosser declined to answer any questions. He was questioned as to whether he had a Smith Premier type writer obtained from Paul Clements, the man who occupied the house at one time occupied by Mr. and Mrs. Grace. Mr Rosser claimed immunity from testifying, as one of counsel. Mr Dorsey said be wanted to bring out the fact that the Graces had such a type writer. obtained from Clements A sharp colloquy between Dorsey and Rosser followed. Mr Rosser, in the witness < hair, argued points of law with the court. Mr. Rosser escaped questioning upon the ground that his information was confidential as between lawyer and client Paul Clements resumed the stand He was asked whether or not he de clined to give directives any Informa tion n« to the typewriter. The defense objected and v.istaim-il B 1 **• uolicltor is incorrigible, said Mr, Rosser. "He doesn't regard your honor's ruling ' A long argument, with the jury pres ent, followed. Mr. Dorsey was making a strenuous effort to prove that the Graces possessed a typewriter formerly owned by Paul Clements, and upon which two mysterious letters had been written. The context of these letters has not been made public, but they are a part of the state’s evidence to prove a carefully prepared plan to kill Grace and provide a false clew to set the po lice on the wrong trail. The witness was dismissed without the state having gained the Information desired. Lewis Hill took the stand for life third time. He said that Mrs. Grace told him at Newnan on March 5 that she wanted to spend the night al her home in West Eleventh street. She knew at the time that her husband was at St. Josephs. Sensational Letters Now Looming Up. Witness identified a letter ak one he had seen at St. Josephs on March 7, two days after the shooting, it had been in an envelope Identified by wit ness yesterday. The two typewritten letters were then shown him. He said one of them' had been In the same en velope with the note be had just Iden tified. No clew as to the real impor tance of the letters could be gained from the questioning. The seems to place tremendous importance upon these documents. Mr Rosser asked whose handwriting was on the note The state objected. Witness could only state his opinion. Defense tried to prove the note was written bj- Grace. Legal authorities were read to settle the point. Witness had identified Grace's writing yesterday. The steno graphic report was consulted, after a hot debate. The state was vigorously combatting any effort to have the writ ing on the pencilled note identified as Eugene Grace’s. Witness was permitted to testify. He admitted knowing Gtace's signature, but couldn't sav as to his writing. Rosser Accuses ' Dorsey of Tyranny. Witness couldn't swear that signa ture to letter In evidence was that of Grace. He didn't believe it was. He had never seen a letter just signed "Gene." All he had seen had been signed "E. H. Gtace." The word '■Grace' was the word by which he could identify Grace’s writing. A half hour was consumed in argu ing whether the witness could compare the letter with others known to be < Irace's Mr. Dorses protested at tlie defense's producing letters of which the state had not been informed. He claimed that the jury would be misled. The de fense would not state whether or not they intended to offer the letters in evidence. Mr. Rosser Insisted that he wanted to show the witness Grace's signature and ascertain whether or not the pen tilled note was written by Eugene Grace. The court seemed in doubt as to the proper ruling. Mr. Rosser charged that Mr Dorsey was using the title as thq "grossest tyranny" against the defense. Mr, Dorset said lie merely wanted 'he rule of the statute on evidence ap plied. He didn't want the court to be confused Defense Loses In Letter Fight. 11 came out in the discussion that one of the mysterious letters, "Exhibit B." was one wiltten by Grace to Paul Elements in reply to one written to Grace by <’leme>ts. It Is presumed that this letter is merely in evidence as a basis for comparison with a letter of real importance and Asserted to be a forgery. Mt . Rosser said he wished to offer the witness one signature of Grace to refresh his memory. He wished to make the witness prove that lie really did know Grace's signature. The court ruled against the defense and the wit ness was dismissed. ('. A. Beauchamp was the next wit ness (’alls for "Bokamp" failed to get him Neither did calls for "Beecham." He was not in the court house. The bailiff was sent to the Remiiigton Typewriter Company's office for him. Mrs. Grace Weeps At Sight of Letter. The pencilled letter, which the state Is trying to discredit, Is a note written and signed by Eugene Grace to his wife, saying he was sorry for certain things he had done and expressing his love for her. The state Is trying to keep the defense from proving the sig nature to ba Grace's The brief typewritten letter, "Exhibit A," Is also signed by Grace and is said to be a message of similar nature. The fi r ft trace of tears In Mrs Grace's eyes were noticed when the pencilled letter was handed to the wit ness. though It was not read. They welled in the great brown eyes of the accused woman and began to trickie down her cheeks. She wiped them away with a lace handkerchief and bent low over the table, in a few mo ments she had recovered herself and resumed her conversation with (’. W. Burke, a private detective who has sat by her side at every moment of th, trial. A recess was taken while the bailiff searched for the missing witness. (' A. Beauchamp took the stand and ■ ti Remington typewriter wax placed on a table before him. i Witm - claimed to bi a typewritci THE ATLANTA GEORGIAN AND NEWS. WEDX7SDA Y. .TTLY 31. 1912. | MRS. GRACE AND HER MOTHER ///Bm * * //B L,. ■ . SB • mMO iMBKa ” I - BRW 'HS ' I Bi 'i,. ' I * __ ga oo Ails. Daisy Opie Grace, on left, and her mother, Mrs. Martha 1 Irich, on their way to court. expert. He had judged typewritten documents only from a salesman’s standpoint. Ho handled three ma chines— Smith Premier. Monarch and Remington. He was shown the type written letters, Exhibits A and B. Ho said ho hail been shown the letters be fore' Witness bad examined letters under a microscope. He testified thht thetv.o letters were written on the same ma i chine, because the letter "D” was light er on one side than on the other, and ; there were other marks to prove the ■ statement. There were no two used machines alike, any more than any two grains of popcorn are alike. Witness said "B” was written first. , They were both written on a Smith , Premier, model 2 or model 4. «>n cross-examination witness said he believed the two Were written on . the same machine. No, lie couldn’t swear positively. Mr. Rosser offered him a document and asked whether it had been done on a Smith Premier. ' Witness couldn't say. The testimony i was much the same as that of H. M. Ashe on the previous day. Witness admitted he couldn’t tell which was written (list. The ribbon might have been changed. He was dis , missed. ; Says Grace Has ' Not Improved. > Dr. Willis Jones, one of Grace’s sur geons, was called to the stand. Dr. Jones examined Grace yesterday, i He was asked Grace's condition. De -1 sense objected. His condition today was irrelevant. The objection was over, ruled. > Grace was absolutely paralyzed yes- ■ terday from his waist down. He has lost ground srinve March 5. A pistol > wound was responsible for his condi » tlon. The bullet was stiil'in the man’s 1 both Dr. Jones was dismissed. 1 The state tendered in evidence a le gal document. .The defense objected 1 and the jury was ordered out. It was . a lease signed by Grace anti Mrs. John t Kiser. Mr Rosser held it was not rel evant. Mr Dorsi x contended that the signature of Grace hud been proved, f Mr. Rosser denied this. Mr. Dorsey couldn't remember which witness had I proven the signature. Defense insisted tt the lease was not in order. Mr. Dor sey insisted that It was, because it had t stipulations us to the cute of furniture and because it appears to have been written on January 9, 1912. and two days after this, at least, Mrs. Grace knew she was going to occupy 29 West Eleventh street. He wanted to prove that Mrs. Grace was responsible for the furniture and that she expressed more solicitude for its ilamage than she had for her wounded husband. Dorsey Says She Thought Out Plans. Mr. Dorsey insisted that the woman was so mercenary that she had thought out all her plans for shooting Grace even before she left the Boulevard home, where the typewriter was at hand. He asserted that she had used the typewriter even then, long before the shooting, to forward her plans. He argued that her worry over her hus band’s financial welfare and the dam age to the furniture was a matter of evidence in the chain against Mrs. Grace. He held that her use of doubled sheets, her oilcloth on the bed. was a mercenary care for the furniture far above her love for her husband. "This woman showed 100 times the solicitude for the furniture and property that she did for her wounded husband," de clared the solicitor." The court ruled out the lease. Marriage Certificate Offered in Evidence. The state tendered a marriage cer tificate. The defense said it could not be offered as evidence, but offered n’o objection to the certificate being ten dered. It was dated at New Orleans on May 10. 1911. It was shown to the jury. This was the real marriage, the ceremony performed in New York hav ing been, it is alleged, a false and il legal ceremony. Mrs. Lewis Hill was sworn. She said Mrs. Grace told her. during the holi days. that she was going to leave her home on the Boulevard. Mr. Dorsey again desired to tender the noted letters as evidence, and again the jury was sent out while the dis cussion ensued. The papers in question were: The lease of the Eleventh street home. Two letters, A and B, and their en velopes. The letter "A” was, in brief. as fol lows: My Dear Wife Daiay: After saying good-bye to you at the station today I ran into an old friend fellow of mine from Charles ton, S. C. He was down and out. My heart went out to him. He was dead broke. It is a pitiful story. He is out of a job. I'm go ing to take him home with me. give him a bath and let him sleep all night with me. He can wear a suit of my clothes, for he is a tall fel low. I'm sorry I was delayed and missed my t"ain to Philadelphia, which will throw me a day late going and coming back You bring mother hack to Atlanta with you instead of waiting for me to come to Newnan. Hope you wrote to your mother. With all my love, GENE. This letter was hot dated and the text and signature were written on a type write r. The note in pencil was then read to the court. It said, briefly: My Own Darling Wife: After I put you on the train I got left. I shall be a day late getting back. Shall bring you something nice. Dear girl, my friend is here at the house with me now. I've been telling him how sweet you are. I'm sorry for every thing I said. I shall be as good I know how. With a billion kisses, GENE. This itute was written and signed in pencil. Declares Mrs. Grace Wrote the Letters. M . Dorsey argued, in the absence of the July, that he desired to prove that these letters, written he contended, by Mrs. Grace and not by her husband, constituted a part of her plan to shoot her husband. He maintained that the typewritten letter had been written as eat ly as January, before the Graces left their Boulevard home, on the Smith Premier machine in that house. He as.erted that this letter, in the i same envelope with the pencilled not,, were sent io N'wnan on the da> Grace was shut, addressed to Mrs, Daisy Glare They went by mistake to Mrs. Cleveland 1 >rr. Was She Betrayed By An Accident? Instead of sending them to Mi ll lie, she Sent them to Mrs. Hill I’ Atlanta and the-, wire turned over to liiig'ln Grin! at the hospital and Luck Breaking For Mrs. Grace / "If Mrs. Grace had had the benefit of the most learned counsel to guide her movements, she could not have plotted her crime more skillfully," said Lamar Hill, of counsel for the state, today. “It seems that the rules, of evidence are balking the state at every turn. Mrs. Grace is protected by them in point after point. “If we can place those letters before the jury our case will be won. There could be no more convincing evidence that she had planned a murder. “Yes, I am convinced that she shot Eugene Grace. I am convinced from what he told me and from the evidence we have obtained." DR. J. T. GORDON FINED FOR BEATING HIS WIFE ” Dr. J. T. Gordon. 48 Larkin street, arrested Sunday a.fternoon charged with beating his wife, was fined $25.75 in police court this morning. He paid. Mrs. Gordon swore her husband knocked her unconscious. Dr. Gordon declared that his wife struck him with an ice cream freezer, thiexv tomatoes and dishes in his face and cut his head. Dr. Gordon’s chauffeur testified that Mrs. Gordon hurled a churn, which n»rtowly missed the husband. thence came into the hands of the state. It is the purpose of the state to prove that Mrs. Grace wrote these letters in the hope of fixing the murder of he. husband upon this unknown friend who was, as shown in the letters, taken into his home. The failure to kill Grace and the accidental going astray of the let ters sent to Mrs. Grace by herself, as the state claims, exposed the plot. Here’s the Plot As State Sees It. These letters constitute the most sig nificant testimony yet offered by the prosecution. It will be the purpose of the state to show that the letters were prepared by Mrs. Grace; that "the man, Grace's friend,” was brought into the letters so that suspicion would fall upon him (“Grace's friend”) when Grace's body was found. It is the claim of the prosecution that these letters were mailed by Mrs. Grace, went to Newnan and were sent back to Atlanta by Mrs. Cleveland Orr, of Newnan, and fell into the hands of Mrs. Hill. The letters reached Newnan the day Grace was shot, the postmark of receipt being 7:30 p. m. Mr. Rosser in objecting to the let -1 ters as evidence claimed that no evi dence had been introduced which showed directly or by circumstance that Mrs. Grace wrote or supervised the writing of the letters. Mr. Rosser contended .that the letters would show that they had been mailed after Mrs. Grace left Atlanta, which ruled out the possibility of her having mailed the letters. Mrs. Cleveland Orr Reported Missing. Examined on the face, said Mr. Ros ser, the letters were clearly written by Grace and not Mrs. Grace. “There is no evidence as to Newnan carier of this letter except this,” and Mr. Rosser referred to the mere post mark. How Mrs. Orr got the letter and what became of it in Newnan did not appear, he said. It next appeared in Atlanta at the Marion hotel. The substance of Mr. Rosser's objection was that the letters could not be connected with Mrs. Grace by any evidence pre sented. The letters were sealed and ■ sent under the authority of Grace and were, therefore, his letters under the law. To substantiate his claim, Mr. Rosser quoted the “Georgia Reports,” citing three cases to prove his point. It will be remembered that Mrs. (’leveland Orr. who received the let ters, has disappeared and can not be located by the state, which summoned her as a witness. Grace Suffers From a Chill. When the afternoon session opened today it was seen that fully half the crowd had kept their seats throughout the hour of recess. going without luncheon or eating from packages they had brought with them. A trio of young girls in front seats had been there since shortly after dawn, never leaving their seats for an instant, through fear of losing the precious places. The men are quickly tired out. but the women are immune to heat and suffocating atmosphere. Some of them, in the rear, stood in their chairs throughout the long session to gain an occasional glimpse of Mrs. Grace. Grace had not been brought into the court room. His negro servant told reporters that Mr. Grace had suffered from a chill since being brought to the building. When the afternoon session was re sumed Colonel Rosser again took up his argument seeking to exclude the letters as evidence. Mrs. Grace Wears An Old Costume. Mrs. Grace's costume, when she put in iter appearance at court this morn ing. was the same she wore the after noon she returned to Atlanta from Philadelphia. She wore, on that memorable occa sion. a brown coat suit, brown slippers anil stockings and a new brown hat which she purchased in the Quaker city. When she removed her coat this morning, the women in the audience gave a gasp. A marvel In the shall ot a peek-a-boo lace shirtwaist was ex posed. The lace work was intricate jn its creation. She wore a simple locket about her neck and diamond t at t ing- Ashe Makes Study Os Typed Letters H. M. Ashe, the typewriter agent-ex pert, who went on the stand for the prosecution in the Grace case yester day and testified that two letters whit promise to figure sensationally in t case were struck off by the same ma chine' said today that he could not on 1 have told they’ were written by t',. same machine, but by the same person if he’d had his glasses. "A typewritten letter displays just much the individuality of its author : a letter written with a pen,” said Ashe "I didn’t have my glasses on y(-s --terday when I testified. But even with out them I could tell that those tea letters were struck off on a Smith Pre mier. One of them had been written about three weeks before the other I Could tell that from the blur of the letters’ imprint, which showed how the ribbon had been worn and cut by oth ers pounding on it in the meantime. Then I could see that they were Smith Premier letters from the clean-cut typo, and the especial curves of the 'm’s' and ‘r’s’ that no other machine made has like the old Smith Premier'No. 2 How He Tells Time. “Even without my glasses, I could swear that the same machine had been ribbon worn tiAt about enough to ac count for thiJ time that 1 had said elapsed between the two letters. I know a Smith Premier like I’d know my own baby. I’ve been operator and agent of that machine for a good many years until I took up the L. C. Smith type writer, a little time ago. I can't only take ’em apart and put ’em together, but I can make ’em. And I can tell whichever one of my stenographers wrote a letter on one—just from seeing the letter. “The lawyer for the defense got me yesterday because I said a letter he pulled from his pocket was -written on an Underwood when it hadn’t been. That was because 1 didn’t have my glasses to show the little curves and blurs and letter lines that ought to make any typewriter’s name a simple matter to an expert. When I go upon the stand today, I’M going to ask the judge to show me those two letters again. I'LL have my glasses with me then. I'll be able to see whether the person or persons that wrote those two letters hit the keys harder with their left hands or with their right hands. “I’l know’ whether the same person wrote both those letters from the way he imprints the period at the end of the sentence; and, after finding whether he hits ‘a,’ ‘s,’ ‘r’ and *e' harder or softer than he hits ‘l,’ T and 'p.' That first series of letters he strikes on thu keyboard with his left-hand fingers, and the others with his right. Also Tells by Margins. “Then I’ll r know', too. by the kind of margias the writer made on those let ters. You can tell a typist by his mar gins as well as by his 'strokes.' “I have never been In court as an expert typist, but I’ve been consulted in many cases. Lawyers have used me many times to tell them the authorship of typewritten letters, and they’ve used the opinion I've given them in proving witnesses liars. When I've got my glasses I defy anybody to fool me about the make of typewriter that was used to write the letter. 1 think that, with the same opportunity a handwriting ex pert has to study a certain piece of penmanship, I can tell the author of a typewritten letter just as well as he.” Ashe goes upon the stand again in the Grace trial today to prove his abil ity to distinguish typewriter “makes’ aixl authorship without mistake. Mrs. Grace to Take Stand Tomorrow Mrs. Daisy Grace will take the stand in her own defense as the climax of the case, probably tomorrow morning She is in mortal fear of the ordeal «'£ undergoing the terrific cross-examina tion and of facing her wounded hus band. She soon is to become a mother Mrs. Grace has suffered greatly un der the strain of the trial. She dans not permit her mind to dwell on what may be as the result of the strain on the witness-stand. A trained nurse, a physician and a table are waiting in a room across the corridor. C. W. Burke, private detective, and a strong man sit by Mrs. Grace’s side. He is ready to bear her from the court room to the waiting physician and nurse. Dr. Samuel H. Green, physician at the Tower when Mrs. Grace was a prisoner there, will testify she will be come a mother within a few months. He has been present at the court house all day, but remained outside the room during the proceedings, being kept un der the rule.” Says Grace Answered Phone. Rebecca Sams, a negro seamsti'-> who was at the Grace home the >1 -■ before the shooting, will testify as “ Mrs. Grace’s condition then. The defense will produce a will’’ it is reported, who called the <>' ! home by telephone on the day "t “ shooting, about 10 o'clock in the mor' 1 ' Ing. He will testify that Lug' Grace himself answered the phon’ that there was nothing to indicate thing Bpt of the ordinary. Grace said he was shot early In morning—about 7 o'clock, he tli” Martha Ruffin, the negro servant. !■ lied that Grace was groaning w>i’ made the fire that morning. The defense had given the ~’a' inkling of its intention to intr"- witnesses when the morning closed today, Il had been though perhaps Mrs Grace would not I" duced as a witness. The state I ei less to force her to testify, I she Is put on the stand by !>'' eounscl, the state may cross q* 1 ’ her to its heart's content.