Evening star., 1926-11-06
SECRET: PACKAGES
STIR TRIAL CROWD
Prosecutor Expected to Re-
veal Material in Own Time.
Defense Aroused.
BY FRANCES MOVES HART.
GnACial nionofo1, %~, rfvS.1

Special Dispatch to The Star.
COURTHOUSE. SOMERvILLE. N
j., November 6.-The third day of the
Hall-Mills murder trial was q tran,
gull affair compared to it's predeces
sors-a tranquil affair, that is, for all
save Jimmie Mills. It was his day
distinctly. The other four witnesses
divided scant hour or so between
them.
Mr.. Vanderver, the photographer,
recalled from the previous day, con.
unued to identify various landmarks
on his collection Of photographs made
10 days after the murder-photo-
graphs Of the now-vanished crab.
apple tree. of the fields of goldenrod
and asters through which scut the two
lanes to the Philips farm, Of the De.
Russey lane of those days, hedged
close with leafy trees; of the bench
which DIR. Hall is said to have shared
with Eleanor Mills in Buccleuch Park.
Mr.. Major, warden Of Somerset
-. County Jail in 1922, who appeared
more briefly than any one in the case
SO far, testified that he had received
certain articles found at the scene of
the crime. He enumerated the articles,
eyeglasses, pennies. letters. handker-
chiefs, cartridges, and testified that
was dismissed in less time than it
takes to tell it.
Police Officer on Stand.
Capt John Lamb, officer in the New
Jersey police force, then took the
stand. A blond. f1orid, slightly pudgy
young man. He identified Is little
packets, supposedly containing the
articles enumerated by Major. that he
had himself handed over to Prosecu-
tor Bergen in 1922. The articles are
of the defense, outraged. principally,
it appears, because the contents Of the
packages remain a secret between
the prosecutor and Capt. Lamb. There
is mention made of "a handkerchief
taken from Mrs. Halls pocket" 1t
was thus described I'm Mr.. Majors
list, but now no one seems to know
to what handkerchief 1t refers. It is
not likely, however, that we have
heard the last of that handkerchief.
The annoyed defense hints broadly
at the fact that Capt. Lamb is inter.
ested in the activities Of the Daily
Mirror, activities which certainly have
not been inoonspicuous, and asks
with deep meaning if that is not a
Hearst papers. We will have to ac-
Quire our information on that score
from some other source, however, be-
cause Capt. Lambs reply is strangled
at birth by some of the prosecutors
rare objections.
The prosecutor, on his feet at a
bound, is anxious to know whether
this Is a trial of the Hall-Mills muir
der or Of William Randolph Hearst
The court assures him that the trial
IS for the Hall-Mills murder. Capt.
Lamb is dismissed.
Fourth Witness Is Woman.
The fourth witness, a portly lady
called DemareSt, who appeared briefly
but histrionically at the tail end of
the afternoon, will be dealt with later
by this observer. Suffice it to say
that she seemed lowering in some
strange borderland between laughter
and tears after she had testified that
her cousin, Minna Clark, and Ralph
Gorsline were spying on DR.. Hall and
Mrs. Mills. She glanced, fiOunced and
hriStled under cross examination, and
the defense seemed happier than it
has been in a long time.
Save for the hour or so doled out to
these four, the day belonged to James
Mills, the husband of the murdered
woman. He was examined by the
prosecutor for an hour in the morn
ing and for over two hours by Mr.. Nc
Carter in the afternoon. A portion of
the two hours seemed as long to the
spectators as 1t did to Jimmy Mills
Minute after minute went by while
defense looked up previous testimony,
repeated the self-same questions in
the self-same words as well, with
minor variations, and at regular in
tervalS went into anxious and pro-
tracted pow-wowS. To some in the
courtroom it seemed that Jimmy
Mills story might have cracked lit
tie wider under vigorous and relent-
less croSs-eXamination. Those who
thought thus stirred restlessly in their
seats from time to time.
One of the real fascinations of a
great criminal trial is that it gratif1es
the Unsuitable curiosity that many of
us have as to what other people really
do-how they live and breathe and
have their being. 1t is as though sud-
denly the side of a house were re-
moved and one could watch the in.
hab1tantS going about their business.
View of Mills Home.
There's very real and crude en-.
chantment about this performance.
Let US watch Mr.. James Mills take
off the side of his house.
James Mills. Jimmy, as even the
dignitied Mr.. McCarter calls him, is
small, neat, colorless person, clad