Atlanta tri-weekly journal. [volume] (Atlanta, Ga.) 1920-19??, 1920-08-14
Mrs. BradStreet Freed Of
EmbexxIement Charges,
Faces Trial in e. s. Court
Verdict Acquiring Young
Woman Not Unpopular
With Faifburn People,
May Work in Atlanta
By WARD GREENE

(Stah Correspondent OF The Journal)
FAIRBURN, Ga, Aug. 1S.-The
two words, mot guilty." falling
from the lips Of Baptist preacher
on the ears Of an eager crowd that
packed the Campbell county court
house to the breaking point. ended at
1913 o'clock last night the most
sensational case in Fairburn's his
tory.
They ended, too, long months Of
grief and heartache Of the twenty
year-old girl who has been the OBJ
ject Of more tea-table gossip in the
past year than any woman in the
state, the girl who went from a farm
to fortune, and from the fortune
was flung into whirlpool Of trou-
BILE that stripped her as bare Of hon
or as 1t did Of automobiles. fur coats
and diamonds.
Mrs. Katherine Queen Bradstreet
acquitted Of the charge of embezzle-
ment, will not serve a Jail sentence
or pay a fine. But does she deserve
any penalty greater than she has
paid already? Even those people of
Fairburn who were hardest against
her. this morning are willing to say
mo"
Mrs. Bradstreet is at home today
with her father and mother, Mr.. and
Mrs. A. P. Queen. who live near De-
catur, and with her husband, Clar-
ence, who. by advice Of her attor-
neys, did not attend the trial for
fear his presence would do her more
harm than good
She|will rest while, she told her
attorneys last night, for she has
been genuinely Ill. Her open nausea
In the courtroom yesterday proved
that. Then, she says, she will go
on short trip, and after that
don't know" she said, but am COM
Ing back to Atlanta. I may get me
Job. Do you suppose a. woman
can ever come back% I'm going to
try, anyway, right where 1t all hap
pened, too"
Not Unpopular Verdict
The acquittal Of Mrs. Bradstreet
was not An. unpopular verdict AS
a matter of fact, opinion was free1y
expressed throughout Fairburn that,
50 Tar as the charge of embeEzle-
ment was concerned, there was little
evidence against her.
AS Judge Ben Hill, her chief coun-
sci, put 1t to the jury, "It isn't
question Of whether this woman Is
good woman or a bad woman. You
are not asked to pass On other pos
sible sins. The only question before
you is-did she embezzle?"
There are three ways in which
ENFORCEMENT may be proved. An
embezzler may be the principal-that
Is, did Mrs. Bradstreet actually go
to Fairburn and, with Green, take
money that belonged to the bank?
Her testimony was, II never was in
through in an automobile on the way
to Liberty loan meeting at Pal
metto." There was no other evil
dence to disprove this statement.
Second, 1t may be proved that an
fact" To establish this, the state
would have had to show that Mrs.
Bradstreet induced Green to take the
money and then participated in the
loot. Colonel Napier, the, prosecut-
letters from kitty to "Bill' show
ed she must have known the bank
was being ruined. But, as Judge
Hill pointed out, in a correspond
ence SO So intimate tim wouldn't tn state tate.
made if Mrs. Bradstreet knew all
that was going on? She thought
Green millionaire. argued the de-
Tense, and it was Green's cue to
keep up the deception.
All Fairburn There
The only other chance Of the state
was to prove that Mrs. Bradstreet
was accessory after the fact" that
she knew Green was stealing when
he gave her money and bought her
a silver chest and a home, that she
ed, but helped him conceal and cover
I'D the embezzlement. The manner
in which Mrs. Bradstreet paraded her
fur coats and openly accepted jew
elry from Green in stores where he
put it around her neck and her
declared Judge Hill.
So they freed kitty" Bradstreet.
The case went to the jury after two
days of sensation that Kept Fairburn
on edge. Only two people in the
county, it seemed, failed to attend
were a couple of old men seated at
a checker-board under an awning on
Main street. While the whole town
was talking about the love letters,
they were dead to the world"
with a garage full of love and
million kisses to every Ford!"
quoted a bystander rapturously.
Your move, Jim," said one Of the
checker-players.
Doubtless the checker-players still
were at it when the verdict came in
last night, but most Of the rest Of
Fairburn was at the courthouse on
the hill, two blocks away.
when the jury filed out, speculation
had been rife. Mrs. Bradstreet,
droopy and weary after the long day,
had kissed her parents good-by. They
had to catch the last car into town,
the dummy" running between Fair
burn and College Park. One of her
brothers stayed with her. Her law
yers, Judge Hill and Fred Harrison,
also stuck.
Verdict Received
The courtroom, dimly lit by cleo
trio bulbs, was stuffy with the ac-
cumulated smells of the day, Judge
Hutchinson nodded on the bench. Men
and women moved rest1essly on the
benches, whispering and laughing.
The mass of men in the aisle stared
at Mrs. Bradstreet's back where she
sat with her attorneys at table
under the judges stand.
The jury, failing to agree in the
first few minutes, had gone to sup
per and returned.
"Reckon they had to read them let
ters," remarked one old farmer.
At o'clock they had reconvened,
and at $50 deadlock had been re-
ported Suddenly there was a rap
on the door of the jury room. The
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