Evening star., 1926-12-04
TOUCHING SCENE AS
HALL Jury SPEAKS
Great Tension of Families
Snaps When Trio Are
Cleared of Crime.
BY DOROTHY DIX.
Special Dispatch to The Star.
SOMERVILLE, n. j., Dec

special Dispatch to The Star.
SOMERVILLE, n. j., December 4
1t was five hours that the jury wal
out in the Hall-Mills case, but Il
seemed five days, weeks, years. tha,
We sat there in the little courtroom
with our eyes fixed upon the dooi
through which IL commonplace mer
had vanished who would come bacl
Us gods, holding life and death i,
heir hands
What we're they doing? What wert
hey thinking? What were they say
ing? They had sent back for a micro
scope, and again for the pictures OF
De Russey's lane and the place wher'
the murdered bodies of Mr. Hall ant
Mrs. Mills were found. What did thi'
portend?
Nobody knew. Vague and unau
thentic whispers and rumors fhew
about the courtroom, and we sat anG
waited and waited while afternoon
wore on to evening and evening dark
ened into night.
The three defendants and their law
yers had gone-Mrs. Hail TO the jai
10 bear her brothers company while
they went through their hour of Geth
semane. In the courtroom the vari
Gus members OF the carpenter famil!
sat, game to the last. trying to make
conversation. Mrs. Henry Stevens
white and tense still, gave up all pre-
tense of being anything but what she
was-a devoted wife. whose heart wa'
torn in two with anxiety for her be
loved husband.
Through the whole trial she ha:
been the one most appealing figure
She was the only one who was tor
tured through her love. Mrs. Hall and
Willie Stevens stand alone, with ne
one to whom their welfare means
much. But Mr. ard Mrs. Henry Stevens
are a peculiarly devoted couple, and
he spectacle ot her sitting behind her
husband day after day in the trial
growing visibly thinner and more
worn and nerve-wracked, has touched
every one in the courtroom.
Charlotte Didn't Care.
Back in the rear of the courtroom
sat Charlotte Mills, the daughter oi
the murdered woman, a frail, pale
little creature, who said:
Il have suffered so much that
have no hard feeling left. and l don't
care whether ANYBODY is ever pun
ished for the crime or not"
But Mrs. Mills sister said vindic
lively. II would like to pull the rope
that hangs them al"
At last thee IS a stir, a sudden
furry. a scramble for seats. as it is
announced that the jury has reached
a verdict. The counsel hurry in. Mrs
Stevens moves down close to the pit
where her husband sits and ralliet
her gallant spirit for last ordeal
The Judge comes In in his black robes
and then the jury are marshaled ir
and stand I'm SomiCircle before the
bar.
No other scene in the world Is as
dramatic as this, no moment so tense
and when the clerk asks the formal
question. Gentlemen Of the jury,
have you agreed upon a verdict?" and
The foreman responds, 1--WE have,
and when the clerk asks, What Is
your verdict?" every heart skips a
beat.
Not guilty
Henry Stevens ruddy face, that
has blanched, gets back its color.
Willie beams genially. as though he
could have toid one all along how 1t
would be. and Mrs. Halls tired face
hardly changes its expression. She
looks numb, as IF the strain under
which she has kept herself had para
iyzed every feeling.
justice lnAf1kS Jury
Then the jury is asked individually:
"What say you Of Henry StevenS?"
And they respond. Not guilty"
What say you Of Willie Stevens?"
Not guilty"
What say you Of Mrs. Hall?''
Not guilty
Gentlemen Of the jury" said Jus
tlce Parker, II thank you for your
verdict. Il is a true verdict.
Then the tension broke. Henry
stevens turned and shook hands with
his brother and opened his arms and
mis- wife fled into them, and in mo-
nent more they disappeared through
the door that leads to the judges
chambers. Mrs. Hall was hustled
through the same door by one Of her
awyers but before Willie followed
hem ne shook hands cordially with
ne jud @es-klndly, genial and ami
tnle TO the last.
SO ends the Hall Mills case, which
mas been moro talked about, more
written about. more gOSSipped about,
and that las brought about more
acrimonious discussions than probably
any other murder case in the world
ever has. And at its close we know
no more about who killed Eleanor
Mills and Mr.. Hall than we did at the
beginning.
Il has cost the State a fortune to
prosecute the case. II has cost Mrs.
Hail and her brothers a fortune. in
addition 10 the suffering and hunilia-
tion they have undergone. and no light
has been shed whatever upon the myS-
tery of the crime.
But at least tho atmosphere has
oeen cleared The enVious can no
longer claim that there IS one law for
The poor and another for the rich, and
hat those with money can commit
murder with impunity. Sinister ru
nlors have been confronted with the
truth and turned into nothingness,
ike punctured balloons. and the idle
gossip that has devastated this coun-
tryside for the past four years Is
Slenced.
Murders still Mystery.
For Senator Simpson made the best
Of q very weak case There was never
n reality one Scintilla Cf evidence to
connect Mrs. Hall and her brothers
with the murder. The only reason
hat suspicion fastened on them was
because she had reason To be jealous
If the woman who had taken away
uer husband. Mr.. Mills had the same
tausc for jealousy that she had, but
he was not suspected because he is a
weak. white rabbit kind of a man.
chough even that sort of a man is
quite as likely to murder his rival as
- staid, disniiied. utterly mid-Vic-
ortan middle aged woman who is
acted for her self-control and her re-
preston.
In his summation Senator Simpson
repeated over and over again that
Mrs. Hall was driven by her jealousy
kill Mrs. Mills and cut her throat.
But he had nothing but a theory to
offer the jury. with no proof OF It
whatever. Nor could he even prove
hat Mrs. Hall had ever known OF her
husbands infatuation for Mrs. Mills.
The Judges charge was wonderfully
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