The Washington times. [volume] (Washington [D.C.]) 1902-1939, 1920-11-02

curiosity seekers.
And yet, as I sat yesterday after
noon in Judge Gould's court room
there was one short moment when
almost could have sworn that I was
stAnding in the center OF a healthily
titled farm. that In the distance
could hear the cackle OF exultant
hens. and that was TAX ng long
deep breaths of good old 'ozone, unde
filed BY city dirt and city smoke.
ALL OVER IN SECOND.
For the merest flash the sensation
lasted. And then was back again
back in the crowded court room. in
haling the heavy atmosphere and
gazing at the boy who sat before me
with his eyes on the floor and mis-
head on his hand-the boy. Edgar
Randolph Perrygo. who has been
brought from the truck farm of his
father in Oxon Hill, Maryland. to
face a. charge OF murder.
! For four days. maybe Ave, I had
sat through the trial. For four days,
maybe five, had sat while the
wheels Of justice ground-ground
slowly. For all those days 1t had
seemed to me nothing more than an
ordinary murder trial. except per-
haps for the extreme youth of the
accused.
1t was not until after that one
brief second, when the atmosphere
seemed to be miraculously cleared
that realized the whole sordidness
of the thing.
The realization came while Elmer
w. Perrygo was on the stand--after
Mrs. Rose Perrygo had done all she
could do to save the life which she
had borne. and had taken her seat
beside the boy.
PERRYGO FARMER TYPE.
Elmer w. Perrygo is a typical
farmer. He has the clean eye and the
straightforward look of the man who
earns his bread by the sweat of ihs
brow. And Mrs. Perryeo is a typical
| farmers wife. She has the peacefully
resigned look and the work-worn
hands and the paradoxically alert
mind Of a woman who has known
years of heavy work-the combined
duties Of milking cows and feed ng
chickens and cooking and washing
and mending for brood of hungry
children.
Watching him as he sat there and
| testified to save his son, 1t seemed to
me for just a brief 8, jond that Elmer
w. Perrygo was as God intended man
TO be, and that throng Of men and
| women who sat there open-mouthed
listening to the words he spoke were
rather burlesques.
Elmer W. Perrygo knows little OF
the city-and Of It's lures and penal
les, II one is to judge by his
demeanor, on the witness stand. But
| he knows all about crops, and truck
| farming, and chickens. and cows, and
wood chopping and everything.
EXPLAINS RURAL TERMS.
He told the Jury q few Of the things
he knew yesterday. He explained to
them just what the busy season Ia
with a truck farmer, and what the
laying by" time IL, and how you
gather eggs for market, and how you
clear fields for cultivating. He prob
ably told that jury a lot OF things
they didn't know. For the jury ia
composed OF "city men," And Elmer
perrygo Is essentially a farmer.
| Watching him closely as he told
the story OF Edgars life, of his
babyhood and boyhood. and of his
later desire to leave the farm and
| come to the city, one almost had the
feeling that Elmer Perrygo was
| testifying in an alien court. He
| seemed to reflect 20 little Of tho
| men who are sitting In judgment or
his son, and of the men. and women
who MI the court room to hear the
evidence "for and against
wITHEslNG CROSS FIRE.
1t took severe cross questioning
on the part OF Paul Cromlin. assist
ant district attorney, to bring from
Perrygo an admission that Edgar had
confessed that he had grown tired OF
he country life, and wanted to
TRY the city" He never did admit
uneuuivocaiiy that Edgar had tired
Of the country life. Perhaps, he
aid, Il was the very small wages
he received which made the boy
dissatisfied the father said.
Elmer Perrygo has eight children
l two girls and six boys. Never before.
he says, has he had any trouble with
any Of them. The other boys are for
the most cart farmers. They have
stuck TO the coil.
CITY LURks IN BACKGROUND.
And as I sat and looked at Edgar 7
couldn't but compare him with his
father and his mother and the brother
who took the stand In his defense.