The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1911-11-18
TRIAL OF CAP'N HIRAM EATON
An PORT " UtSHTNGTON TOIkS
uIRE INTERESTED
many NJ Them Testified 8. - Ills >hoot-
Ing Of a polack Tramp Mhilc lie Was
Acting a. Waterman AUTOS al Ills
Scr,Irr when the Trial was over.

dewey except that his Taco IL oven ruddl'r,
who always wears a blue suit. a blue cap
with a patent leather visor, dropping
white must ache and n black string craNat
f,ittering upon his aft shirt, has been
known to the little maritm" village ot
Port Washington. ON Cow Bay, Just be-
yond Huntington. I. | . for the last thirty
years as Old Cap. Hiram Eaton hnuwu
and highly respected During pre-
vious thirty years ot the Cap'u'S three
score and Ten hr had sailed the seas, I've
ginning as "A little tad IN IT," days when
we really had merchant marine and tn"
waters hcreahouts wcr" misty with the
clouds Of canvas on the clipper ships
from all the world When hc left ia" sea
thirty years ago II" WAS master Of the
good ship l. K. Simpson.
During these /. II thirty v''rs the
"mll!lonairNs" of the = nd Point section
Of Port w shlnctun. ~" trad"smcn IN
the town. ,vrrybody hrtc thought a
hesp Of the C.p'u and Tie Mrs Capn.
who is on lnv2ld end of TIA" Cap'u's sons
and daughters The day hrfor" vest T.
day the Cap'n started IN ON his ooyontl"th
birthd1v as the dctrndaut IN very srri-
Gus trial Tt Mn"ol.. th" county seat of
Nassau For the first tim" IN IN" history
Of the honor.hl' C.p'u w. VS. Il prisoner.
bcr'usn ON July II 'n-t hv hld shot -
m7n through N" h"art
The most dlmnipg Witness FOR the
Prosecution during IN" trid. which ended
late last night was AddI.pu Miner the
architect. brother of Wilson Miner. who
has had a cottage a. Port Washington
during the past summer AdtI" NLl-
ner. a~ Broadway know him. ~wur" To-
the general effect that he had heard two.
perhaps three shots hrcI by the tgp'n
when tn" Cap'n had trioi to run a PnIak,
suhse luouty ideut fed aS Benedict
Opulski, out of the Sand, Point road.
Miner testified that tn" tir'n had had
words with the Polak tramp, and the jury
already knew that the Cap'u for some
years had been Il special deputy sheriff
and watchman over tn" costly estates in
the Sands Point nelGhbornoud
But whereas the Cap'u and h's friends
had testified that the Capn had shot
hlindly only after the tramp had as
saulted him and when the Cap'n'~ face
was covered with blood and h" had SUI
fered a conclusion of tina brian. Miner
went on 10 say that the Capn had shot
the PoaCk IN the back while the tramp
was running away and that therefore
tone inferred from the points brought
out 10y The prosecution the Capn hadn't
killed in self defence and 80 was guilty
at leas, of manslauEhter in the first de
gree. which was the indictment agaiu,,
the Cap'n
On the other hand all day yesterday
and the day before Charles w Sloane.
the real estate lawyer Of Manhattan and
b. E,I
&. Byron Sloane. Miss Nellie Scheffcr.
who i niece of Charles y. Nelson, james
Ialdlaw ~ Sand Point and Manhattan.
John Scott Browning of the firm of Brown
ing. Hing 4 Co.. and Ralph Thomas, the
Manhattan sugar man. all set out the
sessions with the Cap'n. Until 8:t5
O'Clock last night Judge James p Me-
mann charged the jury in the glStening
white court room of the Mineoll court
house Miner had gone home. but the
"millionaires" of Sand Poin; stucl, right
in the court room or wandered about the
circular lobby in their automobile tog.
while their machines winkcd IN the dark
ness outside dinneress until a.iJ O'Clock
last night, when the jury came i'm to tell
the verdict
When the jury filed out the Cap'n
lawyer. tewi- }. Smith looked about a
bit uncertainty and walked right ont of
the court room into the lobby Nobody
stopped him. He evidently hadu' t thought
ofthat. Neither had the two hlueclad court
officers present He walked aimlrS.ly
around the balcony overlooking tho ro-
tunda of the little court nous" for IA mo-
men, Mrs Sloan AID Miss ScheIrr
grabbed his hands and told the old Capn
that they believed in him. Mr.. Sloan
had tears IN her eyes
Sarah Jgne Wilkinson end Grace Mer-
ritt. the Capn's daughters. followed him
slowly ontp the haIcony. Sarah Jane
dropped int a chair overlooking the
portico of the court house and b.yan t.
cry. The old Capn walked over {, her
and patted her shoulder. GrGce Merritt
started in riSp to SOOth her sister but
suddenly thought of something more
practical - do. GrGce Merritt l.ft the
Cap'n and Sarah James husband, Robert.
and the Capn's brother. Henry, and the
Csp'n's son his wife could not be present
because Of her illness and the Sluanes
and Miss Scheffer to quiet Sarah Jane.
whom, the Cepn said. is a good daughter
But for more than an hour she sobbed and
sobbed in her window corner.
Grace Merritt had gone out some place
After the Judges charge the jury had
retired for about fifteen minutes. Then
they filed past the Cap n and his daughters
and his friends down the steps to go TO
little frame hotel across the road for
dinner, All of which looked ominous
some Of them evidently were "sot" as the
Cap'n's maritime friends said.
For an hour and quarter they dined
and then IN" lively" men in greatcoats
and led 10y Charley IIInd filed into the
court houS" and NJ the stairs past tL.
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