The Sun.
London, England, 1870-08-17 00:00:00

FACTS IN MURDER CASES.

The course which a certain portion of the City Press
has seen fit to take in regard to the Nathan murder will
not add to the faith which many people place in their
newspapers. Of course it would not be desirable, even if
it were possible, that the details of such occurrences
should be kept entirely secret. A certain degree of pub-
licity will not only aid in securing the detection and
arrest of the assassin, but render it more difficult
for the police to evade their duty. An ama-
teur detective sometimes hits on the clue
which a professional has missed, and missed, too, just
because he was professional, and had become accustomed
to work in grooves. Probably the most extraordinary
instance of this on record is in Poe's analysis of " The
Murder of Marie Roger," wherein, on information obtained
solely from New York newspapers, he constructed a most
ingenious hypothesis to account for the crime. Subse-
quent discoveries proved his theory to be substantially cor-
rect. It is not to be expected, of course, that men are to
be found every day of Poe's peculiar subtle and
analytical turn of thought. But there are many men, iu
every walk of life, of keen instincts and feelings deeply
wrought by the atrocity of Mr. Nathan's murder, who
are at this moment, either from the. intellectual zest one
takes in a difficult problem, or from desire to obtain the
reward, intent on discovering the assassin, and who might
from minute and careful study of the known facts of the
case, hit upon his track. Superintendent Jourdan re-
cognized the value of this popular assistance, a hen,
on telegraphing over the country a description
of the lost jewels, he said that "it was better that
800,000 people should be looking for them than eight
scores." But, to make the services of this large indepen-
dent detective force available, the information afforded in
this, as in all similar cases, should be exact. Such facts
as it is desirable to give to
.the public at all, it seems
equally desirable to give precisely as they happened. But,
of the murder in Twenty-third-street, every paper presents
a different statement ; facts are given in one which we
do not find in another, or find only to be contradicted.
The public mind is confused, and the murderer's escape
facilitated by the vast and various misinformation of the
reporters. One imaginative reporter discovered, on the
door-posts and walls, the bloody impress of a small well-
formed hand, with only three fingers. This, if true, would
furnish a most important clue. But Superintendent
Jourdan declares positively that no such imprint was
visible throughout the house. Now, all this confusion
might be cleared up, and the ends of justice aided, by
the exercise of proper system and intelligence. If
in this and all similar cases the police would
take the trouble to collate the printed accounts, and cause
to be published an official authentic statement of the
ascertained facts, together with a description of the mur-
derer's probable appearance, if possible—and Poe's article
chews from what slight indications such a description may
be accurately inferred—the public at large could act intel-
ligently, and the chances of the criminal's detection would
be greatly increased. To be sure, such a plan would
diminish the professional detectives' chances of obtaining
the reward. But for that reason they will doubtless be
glad of the opportunity to clear themselves of the accusa-
tion that they suffer their private interests to obstruct the
course of justice. New 2 ork Times.