The Bennington evening banner. (Bennington, Vt.) 19??-1961, 1917-09-25
Jennie HsmmIngways.

sSNWiG TemHiiH9Hag
Back of the so-called Warm murder
trial, which resulted in a conviction
for manslaughter in the Franklin
county court, is material for ser
mon from every pulpit and an editor
ial in every newspaper in Vermont.
where is my wandering boy, to-
night?" has long been sung, and the
words as a text have been elaborated
into thousands of preachments, But
what of the girls. the little girls?
The tragedy which brought death
to Jennie Hemingway, child of IA
years, resulted from wandering about
the streets at night without supervis
ion. She was introduced to Warm
by another little girl. Then she went
to the movies with this stranger in
uniform. The performance over
they strolled out "by the last electric
light on the Newton road"-this child
of ii and this strapping soldier who
knew the seamy side of life. A few
nights later Mr.. Hemingway met
his daughter in company of the sol
der on the street. Hemingway took
his little girl and started for home
Warm followed them home and asked
permission to call on Jennie, and re
ceiyed it, under the promise that he
would not take her out, as he had
done.
1t might be asked right here what
| the parents knew about the man that
they allowed their little girl to asso
! ciate with.
Violating his promise, Warm tool
the child out again the next Sunday
night on the same tramp they hat
taken previously. On the last night
with the fathers permission. he wen
out with the girl, but Mr.. Hemming
way thought they we're going to cal
on some relatives of his family on
nearby street,
| Then came the dastardly crime an,
the little girls horrible death, TIL
body was found in corn field; Warn
had disappeared The child had bee
| strangled to death by choking.
| a pant Of the defense for Warn
was to the effect that he '1oyed" tn
girl and wanted to marry her, letter
to that effect which he had write
being submitted as evidence-wanr
ed to marry this child ony FEY
weeks after his wife had died in chill
birth leaving twin babies.
Warm was not convicted Of muI
der, there being reasonable doul
that in choking the girl he did not il
tend To kill her. choking the child h
loved and wanted to marry.
There are a good many Jennie Hel
mingways in the making. Girls-littl
girls-that wander around the sire,
; at night, when their parents don
know where they are, who are "inr
ducod' or in some other way becam
acquainted with men about whose a.
! tecedents and characters they kno
nothing
> Not many of the girls will me,
death by violence while no pityir
eye looks on, but the pitfalls are
their way when they wander Il
+ streets at night and make chance a
; quaintances or pick-ups.
We won't at this time point OF
the probabilities in many such case
and we won't moralize. Just consid
! this case as 1t happened. and then a!
u yourself what about the other lit
Jennie Hemmingways, some Of the
T right in your town. Whose is q
= fault if they 80 astray? IL the peop
L in their own homes or the peop
: who have authority over them woi
, keep them off the streets. wouldn't
9 be a good plan to have well-e
+ forced ouTfew law?
Think it oyer?-Brattleboro Il
: former.