Evening star., 1926-11-03
TRIAL RIVALS THAW
: CASE IN THRILLS
Frailty of Woman and Thirst
for Revenge at Root Of
H. Both Murders.
BY DOROTHY DIX.


Special Dispatch to The Star.
SOMERSET COUNTY COURT
HOUSE, SOMERVILLF,, y. j., No
Veinber 3.--Eot since the Thaw case
las there been u murder trial that
promises to be so full of thrills, and
hat holds SO much that piqucs the
imagination, as does the Hall-Mills
rase, which begins today in the little
town of Somerville.
The two cases have many points IN
common. In both the defendants are
persons of great wealth and high So
.ial position, outstanding figures in
he communities in which they live.
Both murders belong to the type that
he French call "crime pasSionel." :"
Both had their roots in the frailty Of
woman and the lust of man. And
10Th were inspired by a jealousy SO
fierce that their thirst for revenge
could only be slaked in blood.
But there the analogy ceases. for
Harry Thaw slew Stanford White
amidst the glare and glitter OF Madl-
son Square Garden, with thousand
horrified eyes looking on, while the
4hotS that killed Edward Wheeler Hall
md Eleanor Mills were fired by some
unknown hand in the dark in an aban-
1oned field.
Mystery Piled on Mystery.
Mystery has been piled upon mystery
in the four years that have elapsed
since the tragedy, until today, when
he law sets itself to the task Of solv-
ng the gruesone enigma, the case
mas become 50 complicated that II
makes the most intricate plot of the
most involved detective story seem
IS simple as child's riddle.
The story OF the Staying OF Rev. Ed
Tl
Thurch of St. John the Evangelist, and
of his choir singer. Mrs. Eleanor
Mills. has been told and retold a hun
ired times, bat let us repeat its salient
points once more in order to- refresh
vour memory. As the lawyers say, and
% give this strange and dramatic tale
nj a guilty love and its horrible end
ing the proper background in your
mind.
Come with me, then. to the pleasant
and prosperous little city of New
Brunswick, y. j.. where the Stevens
and the Carpenter families live in an
almost feudal environment, for they
own, roughly speaking, half of the
town. For them the wheels of its
factories turn, for them it's real estate
brings in a golden harvest. hundreds
Of its inha bitants are its employees.
Family Proud and Dignif1ed.
An interesting family the Stevens
family. Thoroughbred as race horses.
Proud, intelligent, dignified, conserva-
tive. 1t goes back to the earliest pio-
neer American stock. 1t numbers
among it's members one who took part
in the Boston tea party, was a major
general in the New York Militia and
an aide to the Marquis de Lafayette.
There was another who was a famous
rear admiral In the United States
Navy
One cousin is president of the New
York Stock Exchange. Another is a
commander in the Navy, who sank
the first German submarine in the
Great War. He wears on his breast
he ID. S. O. medal, given him by King
George. and the ID. S. NJ, bestowed
upon him by President Wilson.
A big family with far-flunG affllia-
tions. A distinguished one and clan
nish one. A family that has married
and intermarried, cousins marrying
cousins, until family pride has become
Utmost an obceSSion with them and the
'amily tradition of loyalty a religion.
Let us stop first at the little Epis-
opal Church of st. John the Evan
gelist. 1t is half covered with vines.
and the thought comes to me that 1t
looks as If it were trying to veil its
face from the shame that has been
brought upon it.
For here, in the very house Of God,
he recreant clergyman defiled his own