Evening star., 1926-11-26
HALL Jury FACES
DIFFICULT TASK
Must Hunt Carefully for Truth
in Mass of Conflicting
Testimony.
By DOROTHY DIX.
Special Dispatch to The Star.


good men and true. who hold the de
fendants fate in their hands, are JUST
plain, common sense farmers, who
have given much more thought ano
tudy to the temperamental vagaries OF
q setting hen than they ever have to
their fellow creatures.
But in reality. only men whose
trained minds are capable Of tracking
a subconscious thought or obscure I'M
pulse to its source in the human brain
only men who have the uncannny skill
to vivisect a soul. only men whose
hands are delicate enough to hold the
scales In which intangible values are
weighed, are fitted to deal with the
most mysterious case.
Just Question Of Belief.
For in the end, everything has come
down to a question OF belief, to Ques'
ton Of who is telling the truth, and
who is lying.
Never was there a case in which the
witnesses so fatty contradicted each
other. and In which there was 30 little
circumstantial evidence to throw
side light on their testimony. by which
it might be judged.
So, as the case draws TO Its close, II
presents itself to you IN this fashion:
Do you believe Jane Gibson. wom-
an of loose life and who was held IN
small esteem by those who knew her.
or do you believe Mrs. Hall. woman
who has nved a blamelesS Nfe, q re-
NgiOus woman, woman VINO mas
spent her time and money In gooo
deeds, and whose family for genera
tions have been the backbone OF the
community In which they lived!
Jane Gibsoai's Stories.
Which one Of Jane Gibson's many
stories do YOU believe? Do you be-
lieye she told the truth when she
said at first that she did not recog-
nize any one at the scene or the muir
der? Or when she said that in the
flash of an instant she recognized
four people whom she had never seen
before?
One time she said she was riding on
n mule IN the lane when she heard
the shots. Another time she said she
had hitched her mule to stump ana
was peekfng through the brush when
she saw the tragedy. Did she tell the
truth either time?
Jane Gibson said that the moon was
shining brightly at 10 o'clock when
she saw the struggle and heard the
screams and shots. The almanac
backed up by the professor OF astron-
omy at Princeton University. says
that the moon did not rise that night
until 1925 o'clock, and that the moon
was in the last quarter.
DO YOU believe Jane Gibson when
she said she recognized Henry Stevens
as one Of the murderers, or do you
believe the Is men and women VINO
testified that at the hour the tragedy
occurred he was fishing with them on
the beach at Lava1lette. 30 miles
away?
DO YOU believe Mrs. Demarest. who
says that while getting of of street
car she recognized Henry Stevens.
whom she has not seen for % years,
in a passing motor car. or 90 you De.
lieve these same Lavallette friends ana
neighbors who swear that at the time
Mrs. Demarest says she saw him
they were seeing him In his homer
Woman or Daughter.
DO YOU believe Mrs. Demarest or
her daughter tells the truth when the
mother says that she saw things that
the girl says she never saw when they
were out together?
Do you believe the young man who
SAYS he saw Mrs. Gibson on mule
in De Russey lane. or the girl who was
with him, who says that they did not
see her at all?
Do YOU believe the hearse driver
who says he saw scratches on Mrs.
Halls face at her husbands funeral,
or three clergymen and host Of friends
who were with her. and who declare
that she had no marks on her face
whatever.
Do you believe Mrs. Gibson's story
that she saw Henry Carpenter at the
scene OF the murder, or the testimony
OF a prominent New York business
man and his wife that Mr.. and Mrs.
Carpenter were dining with them and
playing bridge at the very time the
murder was committed?
Two fngerprint experts OF wide
reputation have declared that the
smudge on the card found at DIR.
Halls feet was made by Willie
stevens right index finer Three
other experts equally renowned have
declared that it Is not Willie Stevens
tingerprint at all. but a forgery
which do you believe?
Mrs. Hall Self.Contained.
Do you believe that a quiet, digni.
fed, peculiarly self-controlled woman.
such as Mrs. Hall Is. could ever under
any circumstances, commit a murder.
and particularly such a brutal murder
as this one was?
Do you believe that any two men.
such as Henry Stevens and Harry
carpenter are. men Of the world, men
OF affairs, men of high honor and In.
ieSr1ty, would assist any female rela-
tive i'll the commission of such a
crime?
DO you believe that a person Of the
mentality of Willie Stevens could be
Srilled by the police for hours and
croSs-eXamined by as astute a lawyer
as Senator Simpson for more hours
and tell tho same simple, coherent
story unless he were telling the truth:
Don't YOU believe that If he were
hiding 4 guilty secret he would I've
bound 20 betrav himself IN some way?
DO you believe that any woman
would Kill her husband. his affinity
and deliberately strew their love let
ters between them. or that any man
would assist at such a crime and
snudse a card with his thumb-print
and leave II at their feet?
Hard Questions for Jury.
DO you believe that any murderers
ever hung around the scene of their
crime for Ave or six hours, as Jane
Gibson says Mrs. Hall and her broth
crs and Mr.. Carpenter did?
These are the questions that the
Jury will have to answer, and they
will have TO depend upon their intui-
ton 10 separate the Ananias and Sa-
phiras from the truthful James and
verac cious James.
They will have no incontestable
facts to help them form their opinion.