Evening star., 1935-02-09
THREE WITNESSES
|. HELP CLEAR F|SCH
Divergence of Experts Tes'
timony May Serve as
Aid to Hauptmann.
BY ANNE GORDON SUYDAM.

-Isador Fsch, nebulous little fur
rier whose name has been tossed
first vaguely and then menacingly
about this court room for these five
weeks, has been at last placed in a
definite spot on the night of March
/, and a spot far removed from the
scene OF the kidnapping. Three per-
sons rose yesterday to testify that he
had been in the house of Mr.. and
Mrs. Henry Jung from about to
1l:30 that night, whittier he had
gone at the behest of his friend
Charles Schessler, who was sick, to
pay off a debt of Schessler's to the
Jungs.
This is a strange case indeed in
which a dead man stands accused
by his accused living friend, whose
greatest strength lies in the ability
OF his counsel to prove the charge
which he has brought so elaborately
against the dead. There are other
outs for Hauptmann, of course. The
divergence of experts testimony, the
lack of conclusive proof of murder
on his part, the heSitancy of one or
II persons to condemn a man upon
circumstantial evidence alone, may
well save Hauptmann from the cleo
trio chair. But in the consciousness
of all, 1t is by the proved guilt of
Isador Fisch that Bruno Richard
Hauptmann hopes to be absolved.
All Hearsay About Fisch.
OF course, none of us knows any,
thing save by hearsay Of the char
acter and customs of this plaintive,
conSumptive little phantom. Yet with
all the aspersions which have been
cast upon him, it is difficult to pic
ture him as the arch-criminal which
Bruno and Mr.. Reilly would have
him be.
We see him as his landlady pictures
him, occupying the smallest and
cheapest room in her house, owning
"one suit nit two pair pants, and
one sheeply overcoat," and we see
him leaving her house on his last
long journey with all his worldly pos
sessions packed in two small satchels.
We see him lying sick and hopeless
in his berth on the steamer which
was bearing him home, with the
small. blue bottle by his side, while
his friend Henry Uhlig eases his last
remaining days on earth. And final
ly We see him dragging himself of
the train at Leipzig into the waiting
arms Of his sister, whose voice trem-
bled on the stand yesterday as she
told of her shock at the sight of this
emaciated creature, whom she could
scarcely believe to be her brother.
Hanna Fisch was a good witness
and a sympathetic person. Her de-
mearor was as simple and dignified
as her well-tailored dark gray suit
and becoming black felt hat She in
dulged in no hiStrionicS either fearful
or defiant. her voice was low and we'll
modulated, and she used her hands
only in rather appealing attempts
to convey her words through the in
terpreter to the court. 1t was difficult
to conceive of this quiet, direct young
woman as the sister of the supposedly
slinky, furtive Isador F1sch who has
crept darkly through this case, and
who his sister brought forth at last
yesterday into the pallid light Of
death.
Borrowed for Bad Investment.
Whatever the nature of Fisch, there
is something repugnant to the just
mind in vilifying the name of man
who can no longer defend himself.
hi fVtn wv
Uhlig. who was called by the defense
to aid their case for Hauptmann and
accordingly against FiSch, had no
worse to say of him than he had bor-
rowed money from him for a
''phoney" investment And Of all the
witnesses who have testified for the
defense. there is not one who has
been able under oath to place him in
a damning situation save the man
who hopes to build his own salvation
from the ashes of Isador's downfall
Bruno Richard Hauptmann.
Take the defenSes witnesses who
have been called to link this man with
the crime and YOU will understand how
fantastically flimsy is the case against
him. Of all who attended the farewell
party, given to Fisch before he sailed
for Germany. Hans Kloppenburg
alone was able to state that he saw
him bringing a package the size of a
shoe box into the Hauptmann home,
and even he admitted frankly that he
did not know whether Fisch had taken
1t away or not. The Sturdiest witnesses
called upon to identify his photograph
as that of a man seen carrying a
ladder near Hopewel on the night of
March /, or jumping off cemetery
wall on the night OF the ransom pay
ment, April 2, could only declare that
it bore strong resemblance" while
one witness confidently called by
Reilly yesterday declared positively
upon seeing Fisch'S photograph that
"he was not the man" whom he had
seen with ladder in Hopewell.
Case Grows Shadowy.
AS defense has produced witness
after witness who claim to have seen
both men and women with ladders in
several kinds of cars, the case against
FiSch seems to grow more Shadowy
than ever. 1t is true that the identi-
fication of Hauptmann by the octo-
genarian States witness AmanduS
Hochmuth, who says he saw him with
ladder in Lindbergh's lane, may also
seem bit haZy. but at least no one
has attempted to refute his story, as
has been convincingly done with most
Of these defense witnesses.
The testimony of Mrs. Hoff, who
claims that Isador, along with her
friend Mr. Budreau, came to her house
and attempted to leave package was
contradicted yesterday by Budreau
himself. The testimony of Lou Hard
ing, who identified Fisch's picture as
that of man carrying a ladder near
Hopewell on March /. became of little
consequence when State trooper an
nounced yesterday that Harding had