Putnam patriot., 1920-10-08
'POMFRET ELECTS WOMEN JURORS
Mrs. Overlook and Miss Bea- erice Stevens Chosen For
 Office In Town Elections
Duties Are to Seek Out Crime and
 Bring Offenders to Punishment

I Women have been admitted to the bar; have even acted as judges and sat on juries. In tales of the early west they have acted as sheriffs and in | the "thrillers" in moving pictures have captured desperate criminals. Women probation officers are an es- tablished part of many courts. A wo- man took her seat not long ago in the national house of representative and another in the English house of par lament. The women have the vote and they are wedging their way into , the public affairs of the country, state. city and rural communities.
 Pomfret, the beautiful town of hills and dales, always in the fore ground as the home of the wolf that Israel Putnam killed. as the scene of many historic events, is nevertheless at times stirred by'petty crimes. The town, quiet and peaceful as 1t is, comes under the same laws that gov ern the larger municipalities and one of these laws Is that each two years grand jurors must be elected, And Pomfret. following the custom of the ages, elected it's quota of grand jur- ors on that beautiful day last Monday when the annual town election was held.
 The duties of the grand juror are diverse. Under the statute he tor shel is required "dilligently to inquire after and make due complaint of all crimes and misdemeanors that shall come to their knowledge; said com plaint shall be made to the court hav- ing cognizance of the offence, or to some justice of the peace where such crime was committed
 Grand jurors, therefore. act the same in the smaller towns IS do pro scouting and states attorneys in the higher courts. Now comes the old New England town of Pomfret, fa- nous and renowned as aforesaid, and takes once more unique position In the county, yes, in the state and the United States, by electing two women as grand jurors.
 The new town officials are Mrs. s. B. Overlook and Miss Beatrice Stev- ems. While 1t might be criticised that two ladies living in such close proxim- ity one to the other should not have been chosen. the fact tkat they were denotes their popularity,
 Just how soon these officials wll qualify and begin to inquire into the crimes and misdemeanors being com mitted in their jurisdiction is not known. They have no precedent to follow, as they are probably the first women grand jurors in the country. Perhaps this carries with it a heavier burden, as they have q precedent to establish.
 The male justices of the peace are eongratuIating themselves on being elected in view of the possibility of having women come te their courts to prosecute Perhaps the legal frater. nity, members of which are occasion- ally called upon to defend the Crirn- inals in the justice courts, will not take kindly to the new incumbents of office, possibly believing that they, the attorneys, will be. Handicapped to start. realizing the outside persuasive powers of the ladies on the opposite side, upholding the laws of the state On the other hand they may feel that the tender feminine heart may be reached through human interest ar gument-and sob stories.
 Like all new ventures the working out of the new situation will be watch. ed with interest and the investigations to be begun, into the crimes and mis. demeanors of the town, will fall where they may. The guilty have cause for uneasiness and alarm. Women have long wished an opportunity to demon. strate how efficient they may be in public office Here comes brand new field of endeavor open to them at least to two of them, in the town of Pomfret.
 Mrs. Overlook is the wife of the chief surgeon of the Day KimbaT Hospital and is prominent in work fo, the hospital and the Red Cross. Miss Stevens is an artist of national repu. tation who has made her home 1T , D.. e C..