Evening star., 1935-01-12
DEFENSE TO PLACE
BLAME ON F|SCH| |
Will Say Dead Man Wrote
Notes and Collected
Ransom.
(Continued From First Page)

(COntlHueQ tTOHl ruSt Ed6CC
wood to the attic of Hauptmann's
Bronx home, and to lumber yard
where he once worked.
The ladder, however, was tempo
rarily out of the trial spotlight after
the defense baked prosecution moves
to have it admitted as evidence.
Handwriting was the big topic and
promised to be for the first half OF
next week.
Albert S. Osborn, the veteran king
pin in the States array of experts,
opened the handwriting case against
Hauptmann, naming him the ransom
note writer as the State started yes
terday to develop this line of evidence.
Jury Interested
Former Judge George K. Large,
special assistant attorney general on
the prosecution staff, said, Osborn
laid the foundation for his conclu-
sions and demonstrated they were
correct. The jury was greatly inter-
ested.
He made an excellent, convincing
and satisfying witness. His COM
parsons were excellent and he con-
clusively proved that Hauptmann had
written all of the ransom notes and all
of the other specimens of writing
Frederick A. Pope. a member of the
defense counsel. said of Osborn's tes-
timony: 1T was wonderful, long
lecture on something we know nothing
about, consisting of lot OF chalk
marks and ink marks from some OF the
letters.
In Osborn's description of the
handwriting some of the down strokes
on the 't's' turn to the left, some tc
the right. We can pick up his own
words to show that the old man was
mistaken"
Osborn, white of hair and mustache
was methodical in his procedure. First
he told the jury that all IA ransom
notes were doubtless written by the
same person, and that that person was
Hauptmann.
His examination Of the ransom
notes, he said, convinced him "they
were connected with each other, in my
opinion by the language contained III
them. the use of words, spelling
peculiar SpollILlS, ny lAAO oe1 -
the later letters of the amount OF
money mentioned in the first letter
by the statement in the later letters
relating to the subject of not report
ing to the police. and mainly, and per-
haps most positively the ransom notes
were connected with each other by a
peculiar and ingenious device thai
appeared on the lower right-hanc
corner" The device he referred tc
was the symbolic signature.
Symbols Interpreted.
He described the symbols at great
length, closing his remarks With the
positive statement, 1T would be I'M
possible to make them from a descrip-
ton alone or a mere observation ol
them, because of this mechanical
similarity"
After diSposing Of the ransom notes
the expert turned his attention to the
various specimens of Hauptmann'
handwriting which have been offered
in evidence The exhibits lncludec
samples which the defendant wrote
for police, his automobile license ano
registration applications and a prom
issory note executed in Hauptmann
penmanship before the kidnapping.
He compared the two sets OF hand
writing minutely and concluded:
In my opinion, the ransom notes
are connected with this other writing
with this standard writing, genuine
writing, writing of Richard Haupt-
mann, in three ways: General char
acteristics, ordinary, usual character
istics, and unusual or rare character
istics"
Osborn said that in the first hand
writing note the writer tried to
disguise his penmanship completely
and in the succeeding notes to par
tial or lesser degree, and then pointed
out that Hauptmann had also tried
to disguise his writing when he penned
the specimens at police direction
after his arrest.
Osborn will return to the witness
stand Monday to continue his direct
testimony. Others called to corrobo-
rate his testimony are his son Albert
of New York. H. J. Walters of Chi
cago. DR.. Joseph Schulhofer of Bir-
mingham, Ala; C. c. Farrar Of the
United States Treasury Department,
Washington; Clark Sellers of San
Francisco and Eldridge W. Stein of
New York City. The State did not
disclose the names of several other
authorities who will give evidence on
this subject.
Maid Rumor Denied.
The injection of Violet Sharpe's
name into the case again brought
from prosecution authorities the an
nouncement that they were in pos
session of a complete account of her
activities on the night of the crime
Miss Sharpe was maid at the Nor
row EngleWood estate, who committed
suicide before being requestioned dur
ing the early stages of the kidnap
investigation.
There is nothing to this report
that Violet Sharpe was seen in Yon-
kers the night of the kidnapping with
two blankets under her arm. The
State can account for everything she
did thai night, as it can for every
known person connected with the
case" said Prosecutor Hauck. 1--WE
have checked Miss Sharpe'S activities
closely and can produce witnesses to
remove any suggestion of her con-
nection with the kidnapping"
Indications were that the trial will
take about four more weeks.
Members of the prosecution said
that, despite the rapid progress in the
first eight days, they would require
two weeks more to complete their
case. Reilly said the presentation OF
Hauptmann's defense would take about
two weeks.