The Movement to Secure Her Pardon
MORE EVIDENCE OBTAINED
Norfolk, Va., March 18.
Referring to the dispatch under a London date concerning the movement of Mrs. King in behalf of Florence Maybrick, now undergoing a life sentence of hard labor in England for the alleged poisoning of her husband in Liverpool, it developed that the mayor of this city received, a few days ago, a letter on the subject from Mrs. King dated at the Spa, Belgium, and which reads as follows: "An American lady takes the liberty of sending you a study by two very distinguished English analysts, who examined the viscera of the late James Maybrick, of Liverpool, England, who was once a resident in your city, which proves most conclusively that Mr. James Maybrick died of gastro enteritis and was not poisoned by his wife, as Mr. Justice Stephens most unjustly decided that he was at Liverpool in 1889. I know that there was the greatest interest felt at Norfolk, Va., during the great trial of Mrs. Florence Maybrick on a false charge of poisoning her husband, Mr. Maybrick. Mrs. Maybrick was condemned before her trial, and not an English woman was terribly against her, although it was known by every one that Mr. Maybrick had been for many years in the habit of taking arsenic, even when he lived in Norfolk, Va., the four Americans generously crossed over to Liverpool to give their evidence to show that Mr. Maybrick was an arsenic eater when he lived in Norfolk, Va. Mr. Maybrick had used a face wash since 1878, as his mother has the original prescription in her possession."
Reviewing the evidence against Mrs. Maybrick, Mrs. King says: "Mrs. Maybrick could not have had anything to do with placing the arsenic about the house as she was under arrest. The principal witness for the crown was the waiter from the London hotel. Since the trial he has written a letter stating that he (the London waiter) had been made by the police to swear falsely; that he failed to identify either Mrs. Maybrick or Mr. Brierly as having been at the London hotel. The truth is that Mrs. Maybrick did not stay at the London hotel, but with a friend of the Maybrick family, Miss Baille, who has since died. The letter which that base servant, Annie Yapp, opened after it had been given to her to post, was originally written in lead pencil. The letter written in lead pencil was read and approved by Mr. James Maybrick. The letter that was produced in court so injurious to Mrs. Maybrick, was written in York and had been altered. No experts were called in court to examine the writing. I have written to you, the mayor, to beg you please to let it be known that the ladies of the United States and the friends of the Maybrick cause in England, are going to have a woman's movement over both countries and sign petitions praying the home secretary of England, Mr. Henry Matthews, to release Mrs. Florence Maybrick from prison."
New York, March 18.
A dispatch from London says: "Mrs. Evelyn H.C. King, of the United States, an American lady who has for some time past been a prominent member of the American colony of this city and at Paris, is interesting herself in the promotion of an international movement looking toward the presentation of an appeal from the women of the continent and the United States to Home Secretary Matthews for the pardon of Mrs. Maybrick. Mrs. King will shortly sail for New York and will organize a committed in that city with a view to holding meetings in Chicago, Cincinnati, Milwaukee, St. Paul, Minneapolis, Boston, Philadelphia, Baltimore and elsewhere in furtherance of the movement."
