The Ogden standard. [volume] (Ogden City, Utah) 1902-1910, 1909-05-05
MRS. HAMS
KEPT LATE
HOURS
Chauffeur Tells Of Leaving
Her With Annis at One
in the Morning

Flushing, N Y, May 4.-Mrs. Vir-
glnie Hams, the aged mother of Cap
tain Peter C.. Hams. Jr., came to
Flushing today to be at hand II called
to testify in her sons behalf at Cap
tain Hams trial here. for the killing
OF William E. Annis. Mrs. Hams is
in feeble health.
Efforts to show that Captain Hams
had, prior to the shooting OF Annis,
acted irrationally, was continued by
the defense at today's session. Dr.
Hugh A Rodden, formerly connected
with the Queens county hospital, said
that he considered the captains man
ner and says that at times it was ir-
| rational.
Emile Hess, an automobile sales
man, who formerly had garage In
| Brooklyn, testified that Captain
| Hains was at his garage In June last,
| and asked him what he knew about
Mrs. Hams and Annis. The witness
said he told the captain that Mrs.
Hasns had called up the garage one
morning at | o'clock and asked him
to come to Nineteenth street and
Fourth avenue, Brooklyn, with her car.
He found her there with Annis, took
them back to the garage and offered
to take Mrs. Hains to her home at
| Fort Hamilton. Mrs. Hams is alleged
to have said;
you don't think i am fool enough
to go home at this hour in the morn
ing, do you?" and she and Annis left
the garage together the witness said
| Hess said he told Captain Hams that
| Annis and Claudia Hams had left the
| garage in the Hams car on several diff
| ferent occasions. The captain acted
irrationally while he was relating
these things 10 him. the witness said
Mrs. Hams. appearing quite feeble,
was assisted finally to the witness
stand. Mrs. Hams glanced at Captain
Hains, as she passed by him In the
court room, but there was no sign of
recognition in the defendants face.
Mrs Hams hair is almost white.
She spoke distinctly, but appeared a
| little nervous when she began her tes-
| timony.
Mrs. Hams says she had been sub
| ject to dizzy spells for several years
previous to her sons birth. She told
how Captain Hams suffered from
| nightmare when he was two and three
years old. He would spring up in bed
and cry out, she said, and it was diff
| ficult to restrain him HE suffered
and oeammered in his speech until he
was ten years DID," she said.
Mrs Hams. related the story" of the
accident when her son, at the age Of
nine years. fell down the hatchway
| of the lighthouse tender Pharos. She
said her son suffered from severe
| headaches for long time afterward,
The mothers voice trembled and
| tears came into her eyes as she spoke
Of this accident. and she turned and
| looked at Justice Garretson. You
! are doing very we'll" he said reassur-
| ingly.
Coming down to June, 1908, Mr.. Nc
| Intyre asked the witness to tell the
! jury how her son looked and acted
when he visited her home in Washing
| ton.
| Il cannot. You must know / have
| had an awful shock, and | cannot re-
member anything as in other days."
replied Mrs. Hams.
The court encouraged her to do her
best and sobbing quietly, she said:
"He looked so worn and tired and
| haggard when he first came into the
house, and dazed, as If he did not
| know where he was. He did not pay
| any attention to me until | threw my
arms around his neck. Then he said,
Isn't it awful? Wife and home and
my little children are all ruined
bat ale CO. at fhat
time?" asked Mr.. Mcintyre.
| He had some insane Idea Of us
breaking up our home and caring for
his children. He said. we could board
with them, and when | told him we
were too old to break up our home
and did not have money enough to
board, he shouted, Stop that, stop
that, stop that!
Mrs. Hains persisted in injecting ir
relevant Impressions into her testi-
mony and Judge Garretson cautioned
her not to do so, Turning to him, she
said: "Oh. can't l do that?"
| Under crosS-eXaminatlon by Mr..
Dewitt. Mrs. Hams broke down com
pletely. and had TO be excused from
the stand. She was led sobbing from
| the court room as Justice Garretson
| ordered a short recess
Mrs. Virginia Jenkins Hams, mother
| Of the defendant, concluded her testi-
mony this afternoon, after a trying
and pathetic ordeal in an effort to
| save her son, Peter G. Hams, Jr., on
trial for the murder of William E An
mis-.
Now that father, mother and two
| brothers of Captain HainS have teSu-
fed, the trial will soon reach the
"alienist stage"
The defense has but two more lay
witnesses to examine and this will
be done tomorrow, the five alienists
retained TO show that the young army
officer Is insane will probably testify
| on Thursday.
The testimony OF Mrs Hams, who
is 60 years old. made the most dra-
matte incident of the trial so far She
sobbed throughout her direct eXamina-
! tion by John F. Mcintyre, chief coun-
sci for the defense. and when District
| Attorney Dewitt started his cross
examination the strain proved too
| much for her.
The hypothetical question in regard
to Captain Hams sanity, which will
be submitted to the alienistS, contains
| ten thousand words
A number of witnesses were called
today before Mrs. Hams took the
stand. The purpose of their testi-
mony was to show the alleged IRA
tionality of the defendant.
FORMER FREIGHT AGENT