The Waterbury Democrat., 1937-07-27
THOMAS ELDER
 TAKES STAND
Continued from Page D

tlI1Ully, pub 1lueE dNOlueu BlhHCAlS at Norton. The courtroom was packed.
 Elder, now an Alton, N. H.. poul- try farmer, testified in husky Yam kee twang. He leaned back in the witness stand and when not watching his chief defense counsel, former District-Attorney Charles Fairhurst, gazed at the ceiling as if trying to recall past incidents.
 His early testimony concerned his life as student and later as dean of Mount Hermon. He told how his department and that of Norton over- Tapped.
 Did you have secretary when you became deanp" asked Fairhurst.
 "Yes, I have had several secre- taries."
 Was Miss Dill one of themP"
 "Yes."
 Superior Judge Thomas J. Ham, mond would not permit Elder to name the other secretaries.
 Blushingly Denies
 Greenfield, Mass, July 27-(UP) Attractive Evelyn Dill, 29, of Bos- ton today blushingly denied from the witness stand that former Dean Thomas Edwin Elder, 55, of Mount Hermon school kissed, embraced or even "chucked" her under the chin while she was his secretary.
 Testifying less than IS minutes at Elders assault trial, Miss Dill categorically denied the testimony of S. Allen Norton, 66, retired Mount Hermon cashier, that he saw her and Elder kissing and enibrac- ing in her office in 1880.
 It was Norton's complaint that Elder threatened him with a shot, gun in his garage the night of May 25 that resulted in Elders trial.
 Under croSs- s-eXamination by Dis- trict- Attorney David H. Needy, Miss Dill, clad in @ blue ensemble, ad- mitted that she had been to Brat tleboro, Vt., with Elder lon busi- ness" and that he had attempted to teach her to drive, but couldn't remember" whether Elder took her to Boston and to 8 theater there.
 Elder sat diagnoally across from the witness stand and listened in- tently throughout her testimony. Behind him sat Mrs. Elder.
 Denies Kissing
 Tt is true that Dean Elder kissed you?" asked Defense Attorney Charles Fairhurst, a former district attorney.
 No" Miss Dill replied emphatic ally.
 "1s it true that he chucked you under the chinp"
 Mo-"
 "No, 1t is not" Her blush was visible throughout the packed courtroom as Fairhurst asked about her relationships with Elder.
 Miss Dill said that Norton apol- ogized to her for circulating stories about what he allegedly saw through a hole he had punched in the wall between his and her of- fees.
 "'I'm sorry made an untrue ac- cusation against you'," she quoted Norton, "'Let's forget it,"
 "I'll do that" she said she replied. In cross examination Needy asked:
 You knew MT. Elder very well, didn't you?"
 "Yes, indeed"
 You and MT. Elder were very friendly weren't you?"
 "Very friendly"
 MT. Elder frequently took you to ride?"
 "Hs took me to Greenfield some- times"
 You'd go to lunch sometimes with MT. Elder, wouldn't you?"
 Sometimes when we were in Greenfield on business"
 She admitted she went to Brattleboro, Vt., once with Elder on business. He attempted" to teach her to drive for short period" she said.
 She testified she left Mount Her. mon several months after Elder re- signed.
 After completing her testimony, she immediately left the courtroom.
 Hotel Clerk Witness
 Harry Ferguson, night clerk at the Eagle hotel in Keene, N. H., was the next defense witness. Elder has asserted that he spent the night of the alleged assault at the Eagle ho- tel with Mrs. Elder.
 Ferguson testified that he saw no one leave the hotel the night of May 25. He had clear view of the stairway, only exit, at all times, he said.
 What do you do nights while on duty?" asked the prosecutor.
 T read love stories" replied Fer guson as spectators Uttered.
 But he insisted that he did not become so engrossed in magazines that he would not have heard any, one leaving the hotel.
 Carl Wyman, Alton, N. H., garage mechanic, testified that he repaired Elders automobile May 21 and 9 and that it had quiet sounding motor" A state witness has testi- fled that an automobile roared away from Nortons house with sa much noise that it woke him.
 Her First Appearance
 It was Miss Dill's first appear ance at the trial. She had been waiting Tor the call in the nearby grand jury room, where three years ago an inquest was held into the still-unsolved murder of Headmas- ter Elliott Speer of Mount Hermon. Only one witness preceded Miss Dill.
 He was Houghton Seaverns. sec- retary of the Holstein-Frieslen as-