New-York tribune., 1919-03-13
Fence to Shield
Mrs. Inch's Ankles
From Jurors Gaze
Persuasive Powers of Silk
Encased Limb TO Be Lost
to Defendant in Second
Trial on Extortion Charge

Mrs. Betty Inch may wear 'em as
sheer as she pleases at her second trial
on charge of attempted eXtortion
which began yesterday in the criminal
branch of the Supreme Court She NAV
cross EN- as often as she wants to
she may even swing 'em if she feels
like it. '0'''
The threat which her prosecutor AL
fred j. Talley, was quoted as making
after her first trial that if Mrs. Betty
lnch's skirt severed relations with Mrs
Betty lnch's shoe tops, the dignity Of
the Supreme Court of the State of New
York would be invoked to compel her to
half-mast the skirt, will not be carried
out.
just Like Spite Fence"
The reason was nailed together and
put in place some time during the
night. 1t is stout fence with a
swinging gate which extends all
around the place where witness
habltually parks his feet and their
appurtenances during a trial in the
supreme Court. The fence is not Of
wire nor even OF ornamental gaspipo
construction. 1t is not that kind of a
fence. 1t is the kind of a fence that
IS erected ordinarily as a monument to
a feud between neighbors
Behind it could be packed all the
choicest pcdiments of the Beaux Arts
Ball and nobody except the lucky man
who mad happened to be foreman of
the jury would know whether they
we're silk or cotton. The foremans s
chair is right forninst the gate which
gives entrance to the paddock, and
as Is the custom with gates since pigs
rrst began to squeal under them, there
int bo
tween the bottom of the gate and the
floor.
The Designer Was Modest
Otherwise the fence is absolutely
ankle-proof. The gate could not we'll
be avoided, the only alternative being
a trap door and hauling Mrs Betty
inch up to discreet height from the
cellar. SO the designer put in gate.
he is anonymous.. In an excess of
modesty he declined to make himself
known.
He made a perfect job except for
the gate. The only ankles visible in
the criminal branch of the Supreme
Court during the Betty Inch trial will
be those Of the chairs and tables. Of
the handpaInted likeness of Clotho,
who utterly ignores the circumspect
attitudes of her sister Fates as she
spins behind the Justices chair and
perhaps of Juror No. g, if he gets
careless-and he always seems to when
his wife is week behind with his
socks.
Disagreement in First Trial
On the first trial Of Mrs Inch, sew
eral weeks ago, which resulted in a
disagreement of the jury, attention
was more than once called to the fact
that the silk-encased ankles of the
defendant lost none of their attract
lveness while she was on the stand,
and that Mrs. Inch's efforts to conceal
their beauty were, to say the least,
negligible. Assistant District Attor-
ncy Alfred J. Tallcy contended that
Mrs. Inch's ankles tended to throw the
scales Of Justice out Of balance.
Mr. Taley. however, disclaims any
knowledge Of the erection Of the ankle
proof enclosure. When asked about
1T yesterday, he smiled cryptically and
said, 81 don't know anything about it"
Judge Davis said the same thing In
fact, nobody could he found who would
admit having ordered the enclosure
built.
Mrs Inch, who, on her former trial.
talked freely with the reporters
whenever occasion arose, which was
frequently, would not discuss the fence
around the witness stand, or any
ether subject, yesterday. She referred
al questloners to her attorney, Will
IAN j. Fallon, Who also, declined to
comment on the mysterious fence
Eleven Jurors Selected
Eleven jurors were selected in the
trial yesterday. They arc Henry May
per, of 10 East Eighty seventh Street;
Gerardus Valentine, 1oe West 14ath
Street; Franklin Howard, 321 West
Eighty ninth Street; Clarence Ken
/ meth, 30 West Eighty-fifth Street;
FREDERICK A. Boyer, 147 West 145th
Street; William Price, III West nth
Street; Charles p. Pollock, 80 West
Forticth Street, Benjamin W. Wells.
5s7 West 1l3th Street; Charles G.. Cod
frey, 443 Central Park West; Claude
w. Hrockcr, 237 West 105th Street, and
Otis ]. Dorwin, 551 West l70th Street.
Five Of the jurors selected so far
are single men and six are married.
Mrs. Inch is charged with having at
tempted TO extort from Eugene p. Herr
man, president Of the Herman Motor
Truck Company, "A sum Of money un-
der threats to inform Mrs. Hermann