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Show 'Ewn OR INNOCENCE OF BEAUTIFUL j "Si? WOMAN DIVIDES IOWA INTO FACTIONS reafl ' Kplclplila North Amorlcan. fl ,-KfkBN 0F TR0Y' bv her beauty, 65o'H started a sanguinary conflict that Ulleci H continued for twenty years; tho g 8n B beauty of Cleopatra cost Rome a hlnrr uL war, Antony his life and flnally Kaoatra her own. At this moment HPlature of Iowa Is divided Into Ktr factions over the beauty of Sa-JP Sa-JP S E Kuhn; the State, In the heat of a GoJ'E'Jc1 campaign, Is rent from center iRircumfcrcncQ by It, and Sarah Kuhn, KLgh h?r beaut)'. Is behind the bars SltQYg. iMTnicn Sarah Kuhn was 10 years old , IB. jVC(j with lier father, a merchant, ?S BTnelta, la, she was accredited with . a5d Pw th0 most beautiful littlo girl In 8. fhe became older she grew more Mnei fcioUful still. She presented a type i fc 6eidom encounters In the city and PfOp. mr more seldom in a country town. Oth combined the bloom of the Holds 1L Kj, grace and culture. 'So it Is ob- lp ty ILj that many men flliould fall In love flu Is a curious commentary upon hu-ILa hu-ILa nature that Sarah Kuhn should tt ' fc with her affections upon Charles 1 Hsltn, if lic waa tne least eligible of Btni all Sne waB at tnat time IS yeans IK and Impressionable. That may ff)unt for it. jfsmlth loved her, or made her believe li& did, It was Ills boast that he had Vm the most beautiful girl In the C ' im not soem to value her cul- f WWof ier truo am tender heart; ho ' Vwy apparently only for her deep i(itlnted cheeks and perfect teeth. fc?jjva they were his, even these at-Tons at-Tons seemed to lose their strength, to went away and left her with a Afn heart. It is here the real tra-ssJfir tra-ssJfir of Sarah Kuhn begins. 1 iiicons tho other cultors for her hand flf9 '1 W Charles Kuhn. Ho was nearly llf 1 C'H times her age, a cripple, but well-;i well-;i twio. Of all the men who asked her t fcr her hand she cared least for him. dhto, ; G4rlc; Smith was well aware of this. ty Ee knew also that Kuhn would give - pythlng he owned to have Sarah for ' '! Taunted the Girl. rS '. happened was told In court , lallh, It Is alleged, arranged with t fthn to aid him In his suit. He went '": ' bills former sweetheart and found she I ' , fertd him still Then he tweaked her ' : pidi by telling her that ho would " hut marry her, and that she might ' tiny Kuhn If she wished. He was Kucclng and realized what the effect of iiKha taunt would be. As he Intended, it flew Into a rage, vowing that to fete him she would marry Kuhn, and ; (Cie did. That was four years ago. n I Hairing was only the beginning of I : . tEerj' for Sarah Kuhn. She was not V 1 "jit 19 years of age; her husband was 1' 1 core than 50. He cared only for his y fcijnlflcent farm and blooded horses, fie did not care for these things. She vented life. So as they lived together : oohn grew rcpellant to her. UliC OlUU.ll rvuiiu uiiu nur 11U- 3 ia fend were driving liome from Delta and fizf' 'fkwas taken 111. Spasm followed spasm, - - bl as he writhed his wife drove to a t"lr. 1 'ferrahouse for help J to- VThc farmer hurried for a doctor, but ' kfore he could arrive Kuhn was dead. f la his delirium, Just before tho end, he iid, Iwted up and said: Hv' "Sarah, why did you do it?" p I -i "Oh, Charlie, how can you speak so? :: r What will the neighbors think?" was A ; reply, In tears, fai) Erah Kuhn was right. What did tho h techbors think7 Some of them wero 4 il riloug of her beauty; all knew why Si w "is married Kuhn: they realized, too, 3 J ftitBhe was not happy as his wife. So 'Inty Immediately suspected thnt she :H fmA poisoned him. '3 autopsy revealed the presenso of i5 jCf1"'0 m tnc dead man; he undOubted-IJJ undOubted-IJJ lp died from such a cause. The widow mtU 'mmedlatcly put under arresL , f'Ths trial was a memorable one In wira. The prisoner's father sold his 1 ore and mortgaged his farm to cm-TF, cm-TF, WT the most able counsel In the State. " Hard Fight for Pardon. H Just as the richest man In a town Is 1 jwst scorned when the charge that he I Is Is made, so Sarah Kuhn, admlt-1 admlt-1 Wlr the most beautiful girl In Keokuk I ranty, wa3 doubly frowned upon when I Bwrlouely accused. 'Through all she maintained her Inno-pace. Inno-pace. She proved that her husband u Ul and that he made frequent use K arsenic He was well aware, she set ut, that 8ho did not love him. Thcre-she Thcre-she tried to establish, he commlt-i commlt-i suicide. His last words, her law-ers law-ers construed as being reproach upon L&t eMnS him the cause. When Sarah Kuhn's "lovje for Smith " fas admitted, the prejudice against her Pew, until she was found guilty of I Barder In tho first degree. iBut no sooner had the Jail bars closed 1 the beautiful prisoner and the peo-He peo-He taken time to think than opinion reversed. Lawyer declared tho nearly of Sarah Kuhn had turned the urragainst her; the evidence was not poygft, they said Public subscriptions ' 'ere taken and an nppeal to tho Su-ftrtriie Su-ftrtriie court of tne state Wftg made I "ve Justices were on the bench. Four pvm ' tho trJal wnQ regular. The thenrtoid01" lhG Jur' Qnd not for r0n'r,Weaver dissented from the SerTff 0"t J the lowcr court. Al-W Al-W lhu Ju(ige was fair, he found the fc"'33,"01 sucient to convict men a cutIohb crusade began. Pho- tS5a5hi? 5 Sarah. Ku" scuing Sut ..inn 0 Was convlcted by her beauty Th?usftnfin0 SrGnt lhrouehout the lute. TBkincr ?C perTson9 eKned petitions free. Wa LS'slature to set her. be?e,I?rtehhT4 SCWl0n openGd evcr' mem-SSwfin mem-SSwfin nn? Scnat0 wa In the possession of her photograph. Indeed fS the prlncipalPbueiness or WnrV1 t0 aCt UPn this CUSC. harden Hunter and Matron Young of nravnlfonUKary' addre'ng both Ses Ph 1 r he.r Part3on, on the ground that she was innocent. The Pardon committee of the lower houae reported In her favor, and the en- clerk approved, and the Governor was ready to afllx his signature. lost by Two Votes. Mwulon by th0 Senate was deferred un-o?nn5innst un-o?nn5innst day" The cileries on that occasion were crowded with hundreds Tho applauded when Senator Geneva arose and made an Impassioned spoech. irJiifn dcrlbcd the beauty of Sarah Kuhn, and set out how it had influenced the world against her. He told of tho bargain by which, he said, she had been sold. .."lt1was the most remarkable transaction transac-tion in the history of the State," the Senator went on. "Charles Kuhn. crippled crip-pled and aged, more than twice her age was in love with Sarah Kuhn and wanted want-ed her for his wife. He had monv. Smith entered Into a contract to induce this beautiful girl to marry him. Both men knew it waa a nefarious transaction. transac-tion. Sarah Kuhn was too innocent, too trusting, to realize. "There is reason, no doubt, to suspect that she murdered Kuhn. But there are five reasons to believe he committed suicide. He knew that he did not have her love and never could acquire It. There was nothing loft for which to live. So he took the arsenic which sent his wife to Jail. "As wo are men." he concluded, "we must right this wrong and set the prisoner pris-oner free." Men tossed their hats Into the air and shouted, and women waved their handkerchiefs; hand-kerchiefs; they believed the cause to be won. Senator Saunders arose. "Gentlemen of thc Senate." he said solemnly, "we have a young and beautiful beau-tiful woman asking for a pardon. It is a crying pity that her life has been so blasted. But shall we as Senator vote to pardon her simply because she is young and beautiful? Shall we allow ourselves to become enthused by speeches when a Jury of twelve men has said that she slew the husband she swore to love? "I appeal to the Senators to remember that this body is known as the dignified body of the Legislature. I beg you not ce moved." As chairman of the Committee on Pardons, Senator Saunders is possessed of great influence. Sarab. Kuhn lost her battlp hv iwn vntoa i But the battle is not to stop even now. It Is being carried into every election district. So aroused are the people that a number of the Senators who voted against a pardon will hardly be returned. re-turned. It is almost certain when the Legislature meets again Sarah Kuhn will be set at liberty. |