OGLED THE JURY.

New Zealand Herald, Volume XLIX, Issue 15002, 25 May 1912, Page 2 (Supplement)

OGLED THE JURY.

GIRL AWARDED DAMAGES. It was alleged by counsel during a remarkable slander action brought by Miss Estelle Mercy, a former student, against Dean Maria Talbot, of Chicago University, that plaintiff flirted with the jury who tried the case. Plaintiff sought to recover £20,000 damages, alleging that the dean had stated that a hat costing £50, and wonderful party gowne which Miss Mercy wore while an undergraduate, came from a divorced man, who was the girl's fiance. Miss Mercy said that her uncle gave them to her. but after an inquiry she was expelled from the university. Counsel for the dean attacked Miss Mercy bitterly, and in his closing argument to the lury shouted: "She's a born flirt. Why, she has actually flirted with you. She has ' ogled and made eyes at you aver since the trial started, and everyone of you knows it." After a six-hours' debate, jury returned a verdict for £500 against the university. The fair complainant no longer restrained herself, and threw the famous £50 hat, which reposed on the table, into the air. Mrs. Blanch Mercy plaintiff's mother, said the case was full of romance. She intimated that her daughter would shortly be married to the generous donor of the £50 hat, and that it would be a double wedding, because dur- | ing the present suit Miss Ethel Coatea, a friend of the complainant, had made the acquaintance of Henry Mercer, complainant's brother, and was resolved to wed just as soon as the Chicago University had beett ordered to pay damages.