The Washington times., 1922-10-19
MOROSO THINKS.
HALL TRAGEDY
WILL Be Barred
Efficient Detective Bound to
Uncover Identity Of Slayer,
Declares Author.
BY JOHN A. MOROsO.

Written for Cosmopolitan News Service
NEW BRUNSWICK. N. j.. Oct.
19.-Last highland II was pitch |
black enough for any foul deed
I endeayored to put myself In the
footsteps OF the Rev. Edward
Wheeler Hall rs he trudged from
his fine mansion to lowly neigh
borhopd for his tryst with Mrs:
Eleanor Mills, and then onward to
the remote spot where their love
ended in death.
The Hall home. one OF the opu'
lent ones OF a city OF no mean dc.
gree Of wealth, sets back from
wide, smooth avenue In spacious
grounds heavily shaded. Solemnly
taperinR fir trees giowed ike
silver In the dark.
Solemnly tapering fir trees glow
ed IKE silver in the darkness near
the driveway. Through lingering
foliage and network of bare twigs
and boughs shone the lights OF the
four. .gabled home Of Mrs. Hall, the
former Miss Stevens. wealthy from
birth, who married the then young
pastor of the Church Of Saint John
the Evangelist.
Senior Of Husband.
Considerably the senior Of her
murdered husband, and the choir
singer who died with him Mrs.
Hall, with her wealth and her family
connections, her spacious home,
servants, two automobiles and such
philanthropic activities as a woman
of her class would indulge in. seem.
ed to have everything but the one
thing most craved by high and
low, rich and poor-love. The
choir singer. the wife Of the parish
odd. Jobs man, living in the humblest
surroundings. rs minutes walk
from the mansion. judging by the
ecstacy Of her letters to the min.
lister, had 1t and paid for its illicit.
ness.
The carriageway OF the Hall
home runs from brightly lighted
Nichol avenue. between trees,
around the house to the double
garage. and then out past a rose
arbor to Redmond street. a broken.
! neglected highway behind the dor.
College. A short distance to Jones
street. and then to College street
makes a walk of about five minutes
to the UNCOVERED church.
Answering a telephone call about
1880 the night of the murder, Mr..
Hall, in all probability. used this
short cut. At 2. o'clock the next
morning the college watchman saw
Mrs. Hall return to her home by
this route, alone, as he says, al
though she declares that she was
accompanied by her brother. Willie"
Stevens, after seeking her husband
at the church.
Mrs. Mills was also called from
her home at the same time that the
minister was called from his. This
much is amply estab. ished. The
next trace OF the two. and the most
important bit OF evidence. was had
soon after on the Eastern avenue
turnpike. beyond the end Of the
trolley line. on the way to the
been such an insistent revival OF
the theory that the minister and
the singer were lured to some spot,
out Of New Brunswick, murdered,
and their bodies carried to the
Phillips farm in automobiles, that !
Immediately looked up the witness
who saw them on the turnpike, to
be sure that the Identification was
good.
No Mistake.
The witness was Mrs. l.. Harkins,
a young woman who lives with her
husband and baby in a little two
family house on Richardson street,
near the end Of the trolley. The
husband, a young man Of crisp, In.
telligent speech, spoke. for his wife.
There was no chance Of her being
mistaken, he said. She knew both
the minister and the singer; had
been a member OF their parish. She
was wheeling the baby along the
turnpike when Mrs. Mills passed.
She said how-dy-do and was an.
swered. The singer carried a small
package that might have been letters.
In little while along came Mr..
Hall, short and heavy. his priestly
garb conspicuous enough in the glare
Of an electric light on a lonely sub
urban road. They were going In the
direction Of the Phillips farm.
followed the phantoms, q long
and hard stretch of travel, inky
black, save for widely separated
blobs of light from side road electric
bulbs. The road was under repair,
and needed II. Walking with diff
Guilty at all times, I am told, because
OF his weight and lack Of structure
to carry II well, there must have
Deen SOT1l6 imperative
for the rector's journey that night
than such ardor as middle-aged Low.
ters of cumbersomeness might have
suffered. Was Mrs. Mills going to The
old farmhouse to surrender the let
ters to someone, he following. either
to protect her or to try to prevent
them changing hands? The letters
were found torn to bits between their
dead bodies.
came at about the hour they must
have arrived at the lane leading from
the turnpike to the scene Of the dou-
BILE murder The entrance Of the
lane would never be noticed by a
casual passerby, but once In II, at
night, its twists and turns Of hard.
baked clay ruts. it's banks with jut-
ting roots, all the fertile topsoil long
washed away; a starved, dead tree
here and a rock there, have a sinis-
ter ugliness. Another such lane to
the left and came out into the open
/ OF the old farm. its decay feeding the
earth, and several tall trees shroud.
ing with shadow a squat. ancient and
decrepit house.
Walked Into Ambush.
Unguarded. open to any prowler.
| this remnant of home, whose