Evening star., 1935-06-27
BY BLAIR BOLLES,
STAFF Correspondent OF The Star,


ALEXANDRIA, Va, June 27.-The
prospect of snakewhip justice set
Alexandria about its ears yesterday
and brought a crisis IN the orderly
pursuit of affairs of law in this his
toric center.
The judge Of the police court. the
attorney for the defense, and the
citizenry at large moved in a con-
fused aura of mystery for several
hours while this question was
threshed out:
rs it valid for the State of Vir-
ginia to order a flogging for Harry
Gregory, 81, child-beater, If he
chooses the beating in preference to
a year in Jail?"
The discussion went on heatedly
behind the locked double doors lead
ing to the rear room of the law Of
flee Of Police Court Judge James
Reece Duncan.
Hundreds Mil About.
Soon after his honor returned from
a lunch of spaghetti and tomato
salad, at about 1:10 pm, he retired
to his sanctuary with Joel Treger,
who represented Gregory before the
bar of justice.
On the other side of Fairfax street,
before the ancient red building that
serves as police headquarters, police
court, civil court and traffic bureau,
hundreds of people milled about
anxiously.
They roved restlessly from the
street to the heavy oak hitching post
in the alley to which Gregory was to
be roped while a member of the Alex
andria police force lashed his bare
back with q 7-foot blacksnake whip,
found in o water front junk shop
after an intensive search of more than
an hour.
When Judge Duncan sentenced
Gregory at noon, he set the whipping
for 2 o'clock. This hour came and
went and still no word issued from
the red-brick building where the fine
point of the legal question was being
worked out.
Newsreel Trucks Arrive.
News did filter through the crowd
that the sentence of Mrs. Gregory had
been reduced from six months to so
days, but there had been no official
announcement Of the move.
One by one four newsreel sound
trucks, three of them bearing New
York license plates, rolled into the
alley and set up their equipment. Re-
porters by the dozen ambled about
wondering what was going to happen.
The pretty young secretary OF
Judge Duncan stood in the doorway.
out of the sun, and watched the
crowd. She lodged reportorial ques-
tions as her eyes opened wide at the
sight of so many newspaper men.
you all sure hear about these
things fast, don't you?" she exclaimed
in amazement.
ct certainly hope they don't beat
the man. Oh, golly, it would be
awful"
Phones for Advice.
Twenty feet away, behind the
frosted glass door, the Judge, her boss,
was telephoning lawyers all over the
commonwealth Of Virginia to deter
mine whether he could proceed with
the f1ogging.
Children from far and near were
drawn to the whipping alley. Capt.
Arnold Of the police force came out
of the headquarters building.
"You children, get away, over to
the playground. This doesn't con-
Germ you"
Time stretched out. The hundreds
of onlookers stood idly and patiently
in the sun. One young mother,
chewing gum, held tiny baby In
her arms.
Finally, shortly before 3 O'Clock,
| the Judge appeared on the street.
He strobe firmly and silently to his
court on the second floor Of the
old red building.
Sound Of Beating Heard.
Reporters and camera men were
right on his heels. They crowded the
benches of the court room, the high
walls of which are decorated by a
picture Of a pretty girl on q grocery
| store calendar.
Judge Duncan spoke with court at
tendants. The reporters and pho
toeraphers grew restless and uneasy.
suddenly from below came the sounds
| Of q whip slashing numerically the