The Providence news. (Providence [R.I.]) 1891-1906, 1894-10-09

room or cannot be sustained if it
admitted.
From the first sensational, and, as sub
sequently proved, purely imaginary, de
scrption of how the then unknown
murderer pointed his pistol at the hear
OF EMILY CHAMBERS aud fired the fata
shot, which later examination demon
strated was fired into her back from
behind, to the testimony of the
young farmer DEXTER, who wa.
quoted as seeing the horse in the
case, but VINO, as he told THE News
yesterday, saw a different horse from
the one that KEEGAN is supposed to have
driven, the columns of "news" and
"eyidence" published by the esteemed
contemporaries of The News have been
chiefly mass of conflicting, distorted
and irreconcilable matter, frequently
cut or elaborated to make it fit the case
against kEEGAN, to say nothing of its
inadmissability in any court of law.
Much Of this mass of SO called 'evi-
dence' has been from time to time con-
iradicted. The "blood stains" on the
cushion of the buggy, for instance.
proved to be nearly as old as the cush-
ion, and, while this has been dropped
out of the "chain of evidence" wrought
by the reportorial detective force
OF The News esteemed contemporaries,
much that has been contradicted has
not been retracted, while the merest
suspicion that could be made to con-
tribute to the so-called "eyidence,
has been put into print, loaded, fitted
to suit, and spread out TO unlimited
columns.
No. The NEWS does not propose TO
defend LAWRENCE KEEGAN. THE News |
recognizes two fairly clear circum- |
stances that point to him as the guilty
man. One is the assault on Mrs. LAIRD.
oupposing that ladys story to be
true, the episode gives us an
dea that Keegan may have had a
mania for attacking women with
nurderous intent. The other point is
hat no one else has been discovered who
vas IN the habit OF being with EMILY
'HAMBERs, or who might have been with
Ter on drive, or who could be sus-
ected of having any motive for the
,urder. But even these points are not
vidence in any sense of the word.
hey are only sufficient to make fairly,
ist popular impression. The case of
lrs. LAIRD actually has nothing what '
FER to do with the murder of EMILY
HAMBERs, and the second bit of evil
snce is only of negative character.
nd yet, out of the whole mass
stuff published, this is all that is left
which to base even popular indict-
ent. AT least, SO far as is disclosed. /
Meanwhile the dross of the so-ca lied
evidence " which points to KEEeAN as '
Q murderer of EMILY CHAMBERS leaves
ly the barest margin of time for the =
Of the atrocious deed and 9,
rthermore, contemplates coolness. n 6,
lculation, finesse, on the part of the ii
cused man that seems almost incndi- ''
}, and yet which must be admitted if -
y case at all is to be made from IL
ainst LAWRENCE KEEGAY. 81
The NEWS begs 10 remind its es- ie
med correspondent and its readers
lerally that facts bearing on this case n
few and unsatisfactory, and that. con- lie
'ted with the mass of gossip and ru-
r, the real evidence available cuts but vi
sorry figure. The case suggests :"
murder of tho BoRDENs. 1t will be lic
lembered that the court acquitted ma
woman that some of the newspapers
victed OF killing ANDREW BORDEN gi'
his wife. So far as is at present ~ ~
losed, the evidence against Law A,
cE kEEGAN seems weaker than was the
against LIZZIE BORDEN. II he Is we
murderer, THE News hopes d
he will not escape, for a,,
OF evidence. THE News does not cra
Its readers to take the part of this cor
. IL only warns them against being i
nto believing that there are stronger JUS