The Hartford herald. [volume] (Hartford, Ky.) 1875-1926, 1914-06-10
German Women Follow a
French Custom.
PUT UNfMTHFUl OUT OF WAY
Much Indignation Is Aroused
Over the Light Sen.
fences Imposed.
"CRuMEs OF PASSION" GALORE

| French nave called crimes Oh pas
SION" and to have extended their
range far beyond the French exam
pie. A series of recent murders and
attempted murders of men by wom-
EN- have been so lightly punished
that the entire Berlin press is criti-
cizing criminal authorities and jul
ries esvrely.
A conspicuous case of some
months ago aroused the press to
protest. A young woman, informed
by her lover that he did not care for
! her any more, invited him to fare
well walk in the Tiergarten and shot
him in the back of the head, killing
J him instantly. She was brought to
! trial not on a charge of murder, but
of manslaughter. and the public
prosecutor admitted the existence
of the mitigating circumstances,
which under a paragraph of the pc
nal code are present, when the de-
PENDANT at the time of the commits
sion of the action was in such a. con-
dition that he did not realize what
he was doing, or suffering under a
pathologic disturbance of the senses
| through which his power of decision
was made impossible
This condition, the State admit
ted. was present, due to the young
woman's anger at being deserted.
The sentence was for a year and a
half to the penitentiary.
The most striking of the whole
series of crimes of passion" was
the most recent The woman in the
case lived in an aristocratic quarter
of Greater Berlin, in apartments
paid for by an admirer. The man
began to show "A GOODNESS toward
her, and finally informed her that
he intended to sever relations with
her. She demanded the payment of
a considerable sum, which was re-
fused. Thereupon, she invited him
to restaurant for a farewell sup
per In a corner of the room. be-
hind a screen, she drew a revolver
from her muff and shot him four
times. He was in hospital for
weeks. and still carries one bullet
in his body.
In this case. too, the woman was
charged with attempted manslaugh-
ter, which involves a much lighter
penalty than attempted murder. 1t
was proved at he rtrial that she had
told her servant girl that she in
tended to shoot the man, and that
no woman is punished any more in
Berlin for killing a recreant lover.
She had also written in similar
vein to relatives and friends, and,
after shooting. she boosted to her
servant that she had sent four bull
lets into her victim.
The jury acquitted her, and the
spectators in the courtroom APP
plauded so long and so loudly that
the Judge ordered the room cleared
and threatened fines for contempt
of court.
The Kruezzeitung. fairly repre-
senting the views of the entire press,
comments
1T is utterly past understanding
how. such person could win such
sympathy that her acquittal should
be greeted with frenetic applause.
II is perfectly plain that
such verdicts, which we have seen
repeatedly in the recent past, signi-
empire"
In administering the oath to a
jury which began work this week,
Berlin Judge referred to the recent
crimes by women. and warned the
jurors against permitting sympathy
In such cases to warp their judg-
ment.
Notwithstanding the great in
crease of the army and the enor-
nous military taxation voted by the
Reichstag only last year, the Ger
man Defense Society is not yet salts
fed that enough has been done to
protect the empire from its foes. At
its annual meeting. just held at Po-
sen, resolutions were adopted, call
ing for universal military service.
and pointing to the fact that even
after the increased recruitage of Oc-
tober, 1913. as provided for by the
new law, there was surplus OF 49,
600 able-bodied young men left
over. The society also calls for a
systematic preparation of boys for
Military duty. and such changes in
the system of one-year volunteer