The New York herald., 1922-10-25
HENRY STEVENS PROVES
FAR FROM SAVAGE HERMIT
Continued from First Page.

Continued from First Page.
ting moments peace. Well. you tell
| your editor that anybody that goes
bothering Henry Stevens about this
business Is a plain darned fool. And
that's the way this town feels about 1t.
Am ] right"
| Lavallette is one of The least of the
| communities strung along the New Jer-
sey shore, but its beach Is as good as
any. IL has a boardwalk. 1t Is much
! like the town of Ocean Beach on Fire
Island. with Barnegat Bay on one side
and the ocean on the other, but with
hard dirt roads.
1t is on the long. fiat peninsula known
| as Manasqian Beach. shortened TO
"Squan.' and is nine miles south OF
Point Pleasant, where Mr., Hall and some
of his parishioners camped last summer.
lit is eighteen miles south OF Asbury
Park Most of the houses are boarded
up now. Henry Stevens's house Is or
the ocean front. At high tide he could
fish from his bedroom K h. wished.
The house is a New England Colonial
frame building, with twelve rooms, two
baths (supplied by driven well and
| temperamental gasoline engine). and
big screened porch.
Driftwood burns .,opperishly In open
| fireplaces. The correspondent was re-
ceived in a large living room. There
| were good prints on the walls. one
observed four brass student lamps,
seldom seen nowadays. Mr.. Stevens
was not at home. FIe had been
shooting since Sunday on the preserve
which he owns. Cormorant' Point, about
two and a half miles across Barnegat
Bay With him are Edwin Carpenter
and Max Chadwick. Edwin Carpenter
is first cousin Of Henry Stevens and
Mrs. Hall. He has a green Cadillac and
has received some attention. because on
the Saturday before Mr.. Halls funeral
he. 1t Is said. called at the church for
the purpose. he explained OF getting the
rector's vestments, in which he was to
be buried.
Was Athlete In College.
Mr. Carpenter came to Lavallette last
Sunday and expects to return to New
Brunswick tomorrow. Stanwick is a
local hunter and lives on houseboat
Mr. Stevens and his guests go to the
marshes In his power boat and eat and
sleep on a houseboat which he keeps
at Cormorant Point. They stay out
nights because the shooting is best late
in the afternoon and in the very early
morning. The impression here is that
Mr.. Stevens wants to get In all the
sport he can before winter comes. but
has left word at home that IL the au-
thorities want to question him further
he Is at their service at any time. He
is SO years old, five feet eight inches
tall. solidly built. ruddy OF face. has
graying curly hair. lots Of Il. and a
black mustache. He was an athlete
when in Rutgers College and all his life
has been an outdoor man. His face
Is pleasing and his hazel eyes never
evade the Questioners glance.
His wife Is a handsome woman and,
one may venture. an unusually intelli-
gent one. with an appreciation OF subtle
ties. They have no children. Mrs.
Stevens's mother and her sister. Miss
Griffin, live with>them. Mrs. Stevens
led the correspondent into her husbands
"gun ROOM" off the living room. and
talked with apparent frankness.- No
guns were visible. Mrs. Stevens took
one out of a closet to show IT, 1t was
heavy No. Parker single barreled
shotgun, at least sixty years old. 1t Is
fired off In lieu of a family cannon on
Independence Day.
The wall was sportsman's gallery Of
fine old Autographs. over the fireplace
was a picture Of Mr.. Stevens's grand
father, Henry r. stevens.
Taught sharpshooting.
Mrs. Stevens gave the family
genealogy Her people were Bostonlans,
and generations lie in the Copps Hill
burying ground His father was Francis
s. Stevens. Henry Stevens was born In
Poughkeepsie and schooled at st. Johns
Military Academy at Ossining and Rut-
l. st<AS NJ
the Delta Phi fraternity.
He went into engineering, worked Tor
bridge company In Trenton and then
turned to the arms and ammunition
business. He was with the Union Me-
talIic Cartridge Company in Bridgeport
about twelve years and later With the
| DUPONT de Nemours Powder Company.
| He was ION the road" He demon
strated the Remington shotgun ard he
| had a shooting school on the Million
Dollar Pier at Atlantic City. When
| America entered the war, DR.. Stevens
taught enlisted men how to be sharp
shooters. Hes a poor rifle shot except
with a twenty-five" Mrs Stevens said.
| with that. ne beats Buffalo Bill all to
pieces. With a pistol or revolver, in
Guiding the automatic, he Is joke. He
never owned any kind of a pistol or re-
volver. The collection you have heard
of consists OF shotguns and rifles. He
was New Jerseys shot gun champion at
one time, but wren he went into the
business professionally he had to with
draw from amateur competition. OF
course"
Defense Of Willie.
Mrs. Stevens digressed a moment &c
speak of Henry's younger brother. Will
| lam, or Willie, who Is in New Bruins
wick with his sister. Mrs. Hall, and
whose oddities often have been noted
She, said that William should be cred
tied with real intelligence despite his
occasional irrevelant remarks. She
termed him generous. kind and truth
ful. incapable of telling a lie" She
said: "I'd bank on what he says with
out question" She herself has ques
toned his story of his visit with Mrs
Hall to the church. when Mr.. Hall die
not come home on the night OF Septem'
Der ~. He has not varied hairs
breadth from the narrative as giver
the public prosecutors. and Mrs. Steven,
says II can be accepted as truthful II
every detail.
| Mrs. Stevens continued There Is the
published story that Henry Stevens and
his sister were estranged. That he die