St. Louis Post-Dispatch from St. Louis, Missouri • Page 3

ST. LOUIS POST-DISPATCH SUNDAY MORNING, MARCH SO, 1947 ST. LOUIS POST-DISPATCH PAGE How To Mark Time Ballot DAYLIGHT SAVING Mary Reardon is Found Not Guilty by Jury on First Ballot To Retain Daylight Saving ON HW nd not to the hands of the court Deputies Clearing Path for OFFICIAL BALLOT Election April 1. 1947 AN ORDINANCE TO REPEAL AND ABOLISH DAYLIGHT SAVING TIME 1 i v-i- Lr I AN ORDINANCE prepe fey Initiative repeal Ordinanc 43510 approval March 1. H4.

relating ta "daylight saving a path for MARY REARDON she left court after her acquittal. Mary Reardon n.v-a iVst-rMsliiiifh Staff PhmnnrBpber. (in rear between them) as said, "She (Mary) was an innocent child led on by this 13-year-old The cab driver didn't bear this out. He said Mary gave the- directions. When Mary told you she was taken to the tourist cabin, she wasn't suffering from amnesia, in my opinion.

"Then in the morning, this vestal virgin" who didn't know she was being taken to a tourist oamp was combing her hair in the cabin when Michael told her that her father was approaching. She calmly went back to combing her hair. "Mary testified she heard Michael click the gun at the tourist camp, yet to "Pooky (affectionate name she had for her father), her love, she didn't mention a word "Mary also testified that on the way from the tourist camp, Michael sat In the car and looked 'sullen and Yet Mary never told her father that Michael had a gun and was looking 'sullen and grim. Is that believable? Would that be a normal reaction? I say to you that's an insult to your intelligence. "Now they had to build Michael up as a bad boy.

They had to make him look like an associate of gangsters. Her attorneys, if they believed her innocence, would not have subjected her to a courtroom trial. WTouldn't they have come in and asked for an investigation? "Instead, they put on a parade of witnesses to anesthetize your good common sense so that you would send the girl back to luxury for guidance and rehabilitation. The defense, if they had the moral well-being of this girl at heart and believed her story was true, should have brought in this information and asked for an investigation. But this was not done, as it would have been done if it had concerned Joe Doakes of Wellston.

Instead, this girl had an opportunity to expend large sums of money in her defense." The last statement was ordered stricken out when defense counsel objected there had been no evidence of the amount expended. Defense Attorney's Plea. Following the luncheon recess Morris began his address to the jury at 1:30 o'clock. "You have the fate of this littl girl in your hands," Morris told the jury. "You can cast her out and destroy her, or you can say; 'Go with your "Think In terms of your own child," Morris said.

When the state objected (a majority of the jurors have children), the defense attorney said: "Well, think ir terms of this little girl; her home is completely broken." At this point Mary, in her first display of emotion since the trial began, had tears in her eyes. "The eyes of the nation are upon you; they are confident or the outcome, and I am confident too," Morris continued. "This is a case of murder. The charge is that this little girl killed the father she loved dearly. Her relatives are in this courtroom praying that justice be done.

"This is a charge of murder in the first degree. There are three elements in first-degree murder, it is committed wilfully, premeditatedly and with malice afore- thought. It means it has a motive, Is it that Mary Reardon did not want to go to girls' school? How preposterous! "Would she murder her father to avoid going to a girls' We know two shots were fired. Where are the two empty cartridges? Where is the bullet that penetrated Mr. Reardon's body? Where is the ballistics expert?" Morris went on to charge the county officers who worked on the case with making an inefficient investigation and suppressing evidence.

"They wanted to stick Mary Reardon," he said, "wanted to let it go as it was." As to the treatment of Mary at County Hospital, Morris said: "I wonder how Mr. Wallach (Prosecuting Attorney Stanley Wallach) or Mr. Hough would like their child treated under the same Gibe at Hospital Staff. "Our little English friend, Mrs. Vera Kelly, was busy getting information, but not finding out the girl had been shot.

They were busy telling others, and the story kept going like a cat with a ball Continued on Page 8, Column S. Dodge Regional Manager desires 6-room house or apartment, unfurnished. Call TErry-hill 3-2781. (TO RETAIN Daylight Saving (TO ABOUSHDaylighl Saving Time Scratch Voters in Tuesday's election, who wish to retain daylight saving time for St. Louis during the summer months, should scratch "Yes," as shown above, on the special ballot give them at the polling places.

"THE "YES" MUST BE SCRATCHED. IF DAYLIGHT SAVING IS TO BE RETAINED. BECAUSE THE VOTE BEING CAST IS ON A PROPOSITION TO END THE EARLIER TIME. Therefore, by scratching "Yes" the voter will say. in effect.

"I DO NOT WANT DAYLIGHT SAVING TIME ABOLISHED." the trigger. Two lie dead, because they were not braced for the collision. The third sits there. She was braced tnd she suffered only superficial wounds. "There was a little rapid manipulation of the gun in the defense enactment of the drama in the shooting.

If all that went on in the automobile, what was Mr. Reardon doing? "Would she have assumed the responsibility for her father's death if Michael had shot down her father in cold blood? There was never any suggestion that Michael did it until she was placed on trial. You remember she said she had had no experience with guns, but she certainly set me right. She knew enough about it then. "If Mary had been shot and there were two shots fired at that time, and if Mary was shot first, Mr.

Reardon would have been shot in the face. There were no shots fired before Mary shot her father. She was shot afterward when she fell to the floor and the gun was discharged. "If Michael had shot her he would have killed her and he would have been alive today, either a fugitive from justice or on trial in this court." Ridicules Gang Suggestion. Hough ridiculed the defense suggestion of some connection or acauaintance between Michael D'Arcy and the late Al Capone Chicago gang leader, who, he said was in prison tiSr'o years before Michael was born Speaking sarcastically, Hough Two deputy sheriffs clearing from excitement and shock.

Now let's see if we have evidence to support our story and if they can support theirs. "If you have a reasonable doubt, that is, a substantial doubt, it is up to you to turn her loose into society without restrictions. If you find her guilty, it is equally your duty, regardless of her prior social condition, to make her a ward of the court, so to speak. "We have presented a series of witnesses who placed her in the auto directly behind her father, witnesses who talked to her and to whom she reiterated her state ment that she had killed her father. They were professional people who observed no shock.

In fact, one of them was a psychi atrist who examined her and found no brain injury of any sort." "Criminal Amnesia. Hough went on to argue that the defense account of the shooting was aimed "to confuse and mislead" the jury, and that the medical testimony for the defense was to the same effect. He told of Mary's replies to some questions and her professed inability to answer others, saying the girl had a convenient and criminal am nesia." Testimony of schoolboys and others was described as "throwing dust in your eyes so that you would accept a perjured defense. "Her story blames Michael," the lawyer went on, "but Michael is dead and cannot defend himself. Isn't that In the car there were three people.

Two didn't know what was going to happen. The third did, because she pulled we din Continued From Page One. something about you by reason of a study of you, which I had reported to me." (From the study he referred to Judge Witthaus had determined that Mary should be tried as a juvenile delinquent.) Her Life "Not Easy." "Some of these things I learned were presented in court; others were not. I know something of the difficulty of your life; it has not been easy. I want to be helpful to you if I can.

The mere fact that this jury found you not guilty does not mean that they approve of all that you did. "I want you to bear this In mind from small things great tragedies can arise. Initially your truancy from school laid the ground work for all this. I hope you won't feel now that you axe an important person. "I hope you will develop affection for those worthy of your affection.

You have been given the benefit of the doubt here. I hope you will not reel that this is a vindication of everything you did. You are now discharged." Mary Thank Judge, Jury. When Judge Witthaus concluded, Mary said, "Thank you. Your Honor." Then, turning to the jurors with the poise which had marked her appearance in court, she said: "Thank you, ladies and gentlemen of the I knew I could not possibly be convicted of something I had not done." Defense Attorney Henry G.

Mor-risi, who stood beside his client while Judge Witthaus made his remarks, added his thanks to the jury. Escorted by a defense attorney, Frank E. Williams, Mary marched through the line of spectators lining the corridor and joined her uncle and aunts, who were wait ing for her. The majority of the spectators were teen-age youngsters, who had been denied admittance to the trial. When Mary left the courthouse she went to the home of relatives, but her attorneys and relatives de clined to say specifically where she was going.

Michael D'Arcy's parents, Mr. and Mrs. Martin D'Arcy of 7445 Byron place, Clayton, sat in the rear of their darkened home last evening, when a Post-Dispatch re porter called. They said, in reply to questions, that they had no comment to make on the Reardon girl's acquittal. They said their at torney, Mortimer Rosecan, was the only person who could speak for them.

Rosecan, last nfght, could not be reached for a statement. Brief Rebuttal Testimony. Following brief rebuttal testi mony yesterday, the court instructed the jury and attorneys for the prosecution and the defense then argued their cases in a courtroom filled to capacity with spectators. Each side was allotted one hour and 20 minutes of argu ment, with the state opening and closing the presentation. Both sides reviewed the various aspects of the evidence, the state pointing out that Mary was being tried as a delinquent, ana tnat it was the duty of the state to pro tect her.

Williams announced that he had filed a petition in Probate Court at Clayton asking for the appoint ment of a guardian for Mary. Williams said the petition was filed immediately after the close of testimony, and he pointed out that the girl will require a guardian because her father is dead and her mother has been adjudged incapable of handling her own af fairs. Judge's Instructions. Judge Witthaus, in his instructions to the jury, said Mary Rear don was charged with being a de linquent child by reason of acts "which if committed by an adult would considered murder." Defining premeditated murder in the first degree, and second degree murder without premedita tion. Judge Witthaus told the jurors that "under the charge the defendant can be found guilty of either charge." "If you believe beyond a reasonable doubt," the court continued, "that Mary Catherine Reardon wilfully, premeditatedly and of her malice aforethought, either deliberately or without deliberation, shot J.

Vincent Reardon and on Feb. 8 he died from the effects of the bullet; or If you find' he was shot and lost control of his automobile and died of injuries in either event your verdict should be that she is a delinquent child." Explaining that the law presumes a person innocent until proven guilty. Judge Witthaus cautioned the jury to give Mary the benefit "of any doubt in your minds." Discussing statements credited to Mary, the court cautioned the jury to take into consideration "her age, sex and the circumstances under which the statements were made." If the statements were believed to have been made voluntarily, they may be considered, Judge Witthaus said. "If the defendant was in a state of shock, any statements made by her should be disregarded," he cautioned. Judge Witthaus instructed the Jurors that their verdict must be unanimous, and in the event of conviction it would be his duty "to determine what disposition shall be made of her." Since Mary is a juvenile, the maximum penalty possible would have been incarceration in a correction institution until she is 21 years old.

Prosecutor' Argument. Associate Prosecuting Attorney William Hough opened the arguments, consuming one-half of the state's allotted time of one hour and 20 minutes. Hough told the jury the case had been presented on the theory the defendant had killed her father. "She shot him in the back of the neck and bullet lodged right under the cheek bone, causing him to lose control of the machine, and he' was killed and Michael D'Arcy was killed," Hough said. "There had been no argument it was unprovoked." Alluding briefly to the defense theory that Michael D'Arcy had fired the weapon after Mary had struggled with him in an effort to stop the shooting, Hough said, "The defense says she can't remember making certain statements, that she was suffering MARK BALLOT THE ELECTION Hearings Before Aldermen Indicate Substantial Majority of Residents of City Desire to Retain Ordinance.

St. Louis voters will decide, at the aldermanic and School Board lection next Tuesday, whether to Keep the daylight saving 'summer time schedule. Daylight saving was in effect last summer under a city ordinance, and for four previous summers (1942-45 inclusive) as part of the national wartime program. Jt goes into effect April 27 and ends Sept. 28.

As it appears on the ballot, the question before 'Olers is stated in reverse. Repeal of the daylight saving ordinance Is proposed: therefore, those who wish to keep daylight saving must scratch "Yes" to vote on the repeal proposal. Those opposed to daylight saving will scratch "No" to vote "Yes" for repeal. The chief reason why a publicity campaign is being waged by the supporters of daylight saving is the fear that, because of the confusing form in which the matter appears on the ballot, voters might mark their tickets in a way opposite to their intent. Hearings before the Board of Aldermen, and two polls, have indicated that a substantial majority of the people favoi daylight saving.

The repeal proposal was sponsored by moving picture theaters, which have found their summer business lessened somewhat by prolongation of daylight hours. No organization or group 1j campaigning actively for repeal. The arguments stated herewith for continuance Of daylight saving, and against repeal, are those put forward by an organized citizens' committee. The arguments againut the daylight schedule were those heard at public hearings and contained in letters to newspapers from its opponents. ARGUMENTS FOR DAYLIGHT SAVING lessens Delinquency.

Judges and welfare workers dealing with children and youth testify that the juvenile delinquency rate has dropped in St. Louis until it is one of the lowest in the country. In the past five years, iu which time daylight saving has been in effect here, the delinquency rate has shown annual decreases, or lower increase rates, than that of other cities. Judge Michael Scott Of Juvenile Court has given his opinion that return to the old time schedule would mean a marked rise in the number of juvenile offenses. He has cited case histories of crimes cf violence, by boys and girls 10 to 18 years of age, as showing what may be avoided, in large part, by giving youths a period of outdoor recreation made possible by daylight saving.

Youth Welfare. An added hour of daylight between the evening meal and bed time is of great value, if with their parents, there is time fori playing about home or picnics in carks. lor streetcar or ous noes If by themselves, they have time for a thorough workout in the nlaverounds. As school play rrounds have no artificial light ing, the added hour makes the difference between one recreation hift and two. Wage Earner.

The added hour of daylight time makes the difference between op portunities for sport and outdoor life, and an aimless evening, rarn tennis courts were used by 130 000 persons last summer, the golf courses by most or tnese were wage earners, and the heaviest use of the facilities was in the latest hours of daylight. The daylight saving time sched tile keep St. Louis within one hour of the time of Kastern busi ness centers, in all of which day light saving time prevails. If the schedule is not in effect here in summer, St. Louis time is two hours behind that of New York and Boston, and St.

Louis business is affected unfavorably as compared with that of Chicago, which runs on daylight saving time. Safety. An added hour of daylight time In the evening makes for safety, in view of the established fact that motor accidents are more common after dark. Gardening. An added hour of daytime makes the difference between success and failure in many home gardens in the city and in St ST.

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l79. MEMBER OF THE ASSOCIATED tH AUDIT BUREAU OF CIRCULATIONS Ttw Attatcl it ex tusivWy rntttlrd in for rfm duration of ill new ii it oi nut otherwise rretiited in thi r-v and also thci Ittral new ft ut- irii hmn. All rights of rrputi lira tinn of jiWOal dintr-ito-a bfrnn are al rwrred, SUBSCRIPTION RATES: P-r canier in lin-n'e- St lmia PaUjr $1.25 A Uoum, ttutttiay xvc a copy Hv MaU (I'iviMc in Advanro). MISSoriu, and AltKAXffAS AppUrhi only Hjief V-al drain jtrrnc i no available and Sunday one ar S16.0O luiiv without Sunday one year 8.50 Sunday emtv, on ymr 7.50 ALL OTHFU STATES. MKX1CO.

HOT TH AMJrJtJCA AM I AN AMEIUCA-N cohntiuks Iaii aid fcunday, one year $19.50 Iaiiv. withmit Ktndy on year 12 OO fcuridar onl. one year 7.rU Kraut either by postal order Xre money rarr or juouu exrnange TO IN SPORT COATS Time Scratch A recent survey of about 2500 registered voters snowed that 68 per cent were in favor of retaining daylight saving time but only about 52 per cent of the total were able to mark the ballot cor rectly to express that wish, it was announced yesterday. Fred Hoffmeister, chairman of the Citizens Committee to Op pose Repeal of Daylight Saving Time, which ordered the survey made, said the results were a "blow to our committee." In explaining the survey, Hoff meister pointed out that after the voter stated whether he was "for' or "against" daylight saving time, he was, given a sample ballot to mark accordingly, 'over one- fourth of those 'in favor' either marked their ballots 'against' or spoiled them altogether," Hoff meister said. "Although a majority of St.

Louisans want daylight saving, the confusing ballot can very well lose the election for us unless our supporters get busy," he said. Based on Study of Voters. The sampling was based upon a study of all registered voters, Hoffmeister said, "and only a big vote could be counted on to yield 52 per cent majority of those who not only favor keeping daylight saving time but who also vote accurately. "Our supporters must do two things next Tuesday. First, and most important, they must go to the polls.

Second, they must scratch out the word 'yes' on the daylight saving ballot," Hoff meister said. The chairman again compli mented the Board of Election Commissioners on "having printed as clear a ballot as possible under the circumstances" and urged supporters to follow the instruc tions printed in red on the bottom of the ballot which reads: Retain Daylight Saving Time Scratch Yes')." Radio listeners last night heard a panel discussion over t'ost- Dispatch station KSD, by Philip Hickey, superintendent of Instruc tion in the public schools; Henry F. Chadeayne, president of the Social Planning Council of St lunula and St. Louis county, and Miss Carol Bates, executive secre tary of the Missouri Welfare League. "The repeal of daylight saving time might force the Board of Education to terminate its evening playground program which attracted an attendance of 750,000 last year," Hickey said.

"Repeal would mean more than the loss of one hour as far as evening recre ation is concerned. In many cases, it means the loss of the entire evening. When it gets dark earlier, a great percentage of our city's youth does not have time to go to the city parks and play grounds after their evening meal." Attendance at Centers Cited. Miss Bates pointed out that at tendance at city recreation fields and playgrounds last summer to taled that 225,000 persons used the city's tennis courts and golf courses, and 12,000 people par ticipated in the Municipal Athletic Association's program. "The number of extra hours of recreation afforded these people through summer daylight saving time is staggering," she said.

"The dangerous aspect of the entire vote Tuesday is that repeal would have a catastrophic effect on the whole proerram." Chadeayne said that, If daylight saving lime is repealed, the outdoor evening programs of many of the 150 member agencies of the Social Planning Council would have to be curtailed. VOTING mm Our new spring sport coats (yes, we've new slacks, too) are so good looking, so smartly styled in the California manner, we feel like going on the air and singing you a All are masterfully tailored in the famed shops of Hart Schaffner Marx. Coats: solid colors, checks and plaids. Slacks: solid colors. Louis county, where localities fol- ow the city time schedule.

Radio Programs. Daylight saving time will keep St, Louis synchronized, through the summer, with the large radio networks; without it, the St. Louis air schedule would be disorgan- zed and confused. This happened prewar summers when daylight time was not in effect here. I Electric Bills.

Earlier bedtime, brought about by daylight saving, will mean a saving of electric current to all families using this form of illumi nation. The total saving for the season to the community has been estimated at 32,000,000 hours. Little or none of this will be re quired in meeting the earlier time of rising in the morning. Indorsers. Those who urge St.

Louis vot ers to defeat the repeal proposal and thus keep daylight saving for 1947 and future summers; Include: Philip J. Hickey, superintendent of schools; Dr. Carl F. Vohs, presi dent of St. Louis Medical Society; Bishop William Scarlett of the Episcopal Church; Msgr.

John J. Butler, president of Catholic Charities; Robert R. Vernor, executive secretary of the Y.M.C.A.; Fred J. Hoffmeister, former Judge of the Juvenile Court: William L. Weiss, president of the Junior Chamber of Commerce; John A.

Turner, city superintendent of recreation; Gilbert Harris, director of Young Men's and Young Women Hebrew Association; John T. Clark, president of the Urban League; the Rev. Ervine P. Inglis, president of the Church Federation; Mrs. Joseph Batt, president, Jewish Child Welfare Association; Police Lt.

Thomas Moran, supervisor of the Juvenile Division; David Grant, president of Association for Advancement of Colored People; and Mrs. Meyer Stern, president or tne parent Teachers Association. ARGUMENTS FOR REPEAL PROPOSAL Family Kffects. Some parents, who put their young children to hed at 8 o'clock the year around, find it difficult to enforce this bedtime when it is still light outdoors, as is the case until 8:30 or later under the daylight saving schedule. A Cool Hour IoHt.

On some midsummer nights, many sleeping rooms are 100 warm for comfort until two or three hours after dark. Advancing the clock by an hour leaves that much less time for sleep in the morning, when' the house is cooler than at any other time of the day. Juvenilis Iellnqtiency. St. Louis has had daylight saving the last five summers; therefore, any recent juvenile delin quency is not to be attributed to lack of daylight saving.

The chief cause of such delinquency is parental inefficiency or neglect. Show Business. Night baseball games, Municipal Opera and other forms of outdoor entertainment cannot begin until dark; if darkness is shown as an hour later by cIock adjustment, the fan or showgoer has an hour less to sleep before the required time for arising. Daylight outdoors also cuts down attendance at indoor picture shows. Railroad Time.

The railroads continue to keep Standard Time, making gap of one hour between train schedules and the time generally kept by the public. This will not cause anyone to miss his train, but it causes many to go to the station an hour earlier than necessary! Missouri Woman Dies at 100. MENDON, March 29 (AP) Mrs. Mary Ann Sellers, 100 years old, Chariton county's oldest resident, died here today. Coals from 30 Slacks from 15 jtirrwn i urn i a man's store exclusively MONDAY STORE HOURS.

9 A. M. TO 5:15 P..