The Washington times., 1935-01-14
K|DNAP TRAITS
HELD LACKING
IN SUSPECT
BY ADELA ROGERS ST. JOHNS
Copyright, 1885, by International
News Service)


PENNINGTON, N. j., Jan. IA.
When he comes into court after
the weekend rest, Bruno Haupt-
mann holds himself erect, his eyes
glitter, his face is alert and has
a little color, he smiles and mods
to his wife.
But the excitement Of his en-
trance wears off, the effort Is too
great, and within 20 minutes he
settles into that rigidity where he
seems to see and hear and feel
nothing. His flesh goes dead and
his eyes sink into their sockets.
I cannot take my eyes from
him.
Questions Arise
Is this really the man who did
this deed that we have heard de-
scribed by Anne Lindbergh? Is
this the man who cut those sleep
ers from that dead baby and sent
them back? Is this the man who
killed Little Lindy?
Since that night in 1892 when
the whole nation gasped and chill
ed and wept over the kidnapping OF
Lindy's baby, we have talked about
and thought of the Lindbergh
kidnapping.
The hunt began and we followed
it every hour on the radio and IN
the papers.
Where was the Lindbergh baby,
who had him, where was he kept?
Were they giving him the diet
Anne Lindbergh had SO pathetical-
ly begged them to give him, was
he being kindly treated or was he
being abused?
Our brains, strained with SYM
pathy for the mother in those
hours, frantic with horror for our
own babies, pictured a thousand
things that might be happening
and over them all, picture Of the
Lindbergh kidnaper.
The ransom money was paid, on
that dark night in the cemetery.
And we waited, as Anne and
Indy waited. We waited with
them and prayed with them and
grew tense as the hours and days
sped by.
Wasn't the baby back yet?
Had they found him?
I remember how at the Holly
wood studio where I was working
we used to shout back and forth
at each other, and then turn on
our radios and rush down after
extras.
-1y God, hadn't the baby been
brought back yet? Once someone
came in and told me he'd been
found, and we all laughed and
cried together.
But the KIDNAPER who had
taken the money didn't bring him
back.
Hope Gave Out
Then came the day when we
knew it was useless to hope any
longer. Little Lindy was dead.
Somewhere in the world existed
the kidnaper, and We watched as
the long hunt went on, watched
and forgot as human beings will
and must. We forgot what men
will do for money.
N0uy cf ;o1n ~
the face of the man all the great
forces of law enforcement, all the
forces of the Federal and State
Governments, all the forces of the
police, say is the Lindbergh kid
naper-a man named Bruno
Hauptmann.
And at first glance I say:
"Oh no, impossible. What
this thin, gray, rather good
looking young man, so meek and
mild and plain. with regular
features and face just like a
human face, with nondescript
brown hair and two arms and
legs and hands and eyes-it
can't be-"
I want something like the Boris
Karloff screen creations. I want
King Kong. I want Dracula or
Scarface or Frankenstein.
This casting is wrong.
In a few days he will walk
across those few feet in the court
room and take his place on the
witness chair where Anne Lind
bergh sat, where Indy sat. and
tell us his story.
But before that, let us look for
a moment at the Lindbergh kid
naper in the abstract. as these
long, nerve-racking days of the
trial have shown us he must have
been.
!