The Hood River glacier. (Hood River, Or.) 1889-1933, 1918-03-14
]. |. ALLEN Is AC-
Quilted By JURY

Out but Is minutes the Jury m the
Allen arson case Thursday afternoon,
on the first ballot, returned a verdict
Of not guilty.
No criminal case has ever aroused a
greater sensation in Hood River eoun-
". The defendant. Rev j. l. Allen,
was formerly for two years pastor Of
the Baptist church, the pastorate Of
which, according to Mr.. Aliens testi-
mony. he resigned last fall because of
alleged slanderous remarks of men,
bers of the church. A few days prior
to his arrest Rev. Allen filed suit in
circuit court, asking damages from
two aged members of his church, Mr..
and Mrs Marshall Hill, whom he ac-
cused in his complaint of circulating
stories that attacked his character.
Following the criminal proceedings.
Fred Everson. of Portland. withdrew
from the slander case as attorney of
record. Following the jury's verdict
Rev Allen stated that he would pro.
ceed with the civil action.
The Allen case throughout Thursday
was not without its dramatic moments.
E. II. Hartwig, associated with j. j.
Fitzgerald, of Portland, in the defense
of Allen, wept as he finished an impas-
stoned appeal, while the defendant
wife, holding in her lap one of her
three children, sobbed audibly. At
this moment the defendant held, sleep
ing in his arms, the couples baby, son.
The court house was crowded at all
times during the trial. The audience
was treated to a sensation Thursday
morning, when Rev. Allen being cross
examined by District Attorney Derby
was asked to explain statments made
during direct examination Wednesday
night. Attorney Fitzgerald, seeking
to establish. as he stated. that the de-
PENDANTS lease of the Cascade Locks
apartments, where he was accused of
having started the fire, was executed
in good faith, the defendant seeking a
quiet place for pursuing his study of
the law. had the accused man reclte
some of his former occupations. In
his story to the jury Rev. Allen stated
that he had been a silent partner in
several law firms.
Explaining to the district attorney
Rev. Allen said that his father had the
power Of attorney in one of the largest
estates in California. In his recital
he declared that one julius Friedman.
an old bachelor and Russian jew,
mad died leaving an estate valued at
$40, 600, 600. While not of record, Mr..
Allen stated that he had worked on
this case for law firms of New York
city, Washington, ID. c., and Oakland
and San Francisco, Calf. Attorney
Derby then asked him specifically to
name the San Francisco law firm. Mr..
Allen replied that he did not know the
name.
When asked for the name of the
Washington firm. he replied that it
was the Russian ambassador. He ex-
planned that certain formalities in the
case required the consideration and APP
proval of both the American and Rus
sian ambassadors. He stated that
Friedman left 20 heirs and that at
times as many as l25 lawyers were en-
gagged on details involving the estate.
After the trial Rev. Allen called on
newspaper men and asked that his val
uation of the estate be corrected to
S4, 600, 600.
A coincidence of the jury that tried
Rev. Allen was that four Millers sat
on the body of peers. None of them
were related. They were Warren
Miller, j l. Miller, Gus Miller and
Roscoe Miller. Other jurymen were ;
J. d. McCully, j. R. Phillips, |. T..
Beal, A. T. Geek. f. W. Hayt, c. H.
Clymer, l.. {. Sonneman and W. A.
Copeland