Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: MONDAY, June 12, 1995                   TAG: 9506120102
SECTION: VIRGINIA                    PAGE: C-3   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: 
DATELINE:                                 LENGTH: Medium

WHO WAS FIRST?

They were the first women members of the Virginia General Assembly.

A news story May 24 incorrectly stated that Kathryn H. Stone was the first woman elected to the state legislature. This, in turn, spurred several local historians to offer up the correct answer.

A Martinsville reader said Sallie Booker of Martinsville was the first woman to serve in the House of Delegates. She was, in fact, the third, according to an article in the Winter 1981 Virginia Cavalcade.

The magazine, and the correct answer, were offered by Del. Clifton "Chip" Woodrum.

Fain, representing Norfolk, and Henderson, representing Russell and Buchanan counties, took their seats in the House of Delegates in January 1924 - less than four years after women gained the right to vote.

Fain served three terms, but decided not to seek re-election in 1929. Henderson died in July 1925.

In 1930, Fain ran for Congress, but lost to an incumbent in the Democratic primary.

Snake on the stairs

Laverna Grubb flipped the light on in her basement Thursday afternoon, descended four steps and froze.

Lying at the end of the staircase on a square of cool concrete was a copperhead snake.

After years of hiking the Appalachian Trail, Grubb said she recognized the physical characteristics typical of these deadly animals - diamond-shaped markings on the back, a flat triangular head and copper coloring.

``When they're in the woods, it's their turf and I can leave, but when it's in my house...'' Grubb said

Grubb, who lives with her husband in the suburban North Lakes subdivision, kept one eye on the motionless snake and backed up the stairs to dial 911. She asked the Roanoke County dispatcher to tell her how to get the snake out of her house, but the dispatcher opted to have an officer capture it.

An officer, who told Grubb this was his first snake call, captured the snake using tongs and a cage. The snake later was killed, police said.

The 18- to 24-inch snake was ``about as big around as a Magic Marker,'' Grubb said, and never moved in the 15 minutes before it was captured.

The snake "was not very big, but even a pencil-sized one can kill you,'' she said.

O.J. trial would be over by now

Justice is swift in Franklin County.

While the O.J. Simpson trial drags on into another month, the county finished its most recent murder case last week.

It took one day.

As a matter of fact, the last county murder trial to extend into two days happened in 1992.

There have been a handful of one-day murder trials since.

With many murder cases, just seating a jury is a problem. In Franklin County, the jury usually is chosen in 10 to 15 minutes.

In other words, if you're on your way to a Franklin County murder trial, and you stop to get coffee, you might miss opening arguments.

And there's a running joke among lawyers and prosecutors about whether a deliberating jury will hold out long enough to be fed supper at the county's expense.

That hasn't happened in a while.

Said a defense attorney involved in the county's most recent murder trial:

"O.J. might get two days scheduled in Franklin County."