Twice-a-week plain dealer. (Cresco, Howard County, Iowa) 1895-1913, 1900-08-14


Sturgis, with quiet conviction, "is that
every crime is it's own historian; that
all its minutest details are written in
circumstantial evidence as completely
as an eyewitness could see them-aye,
more fully and more truly than they
could be described by the criminal him
self"
The reporter was man Of about 80,
whose regular features bore the I'M
mistakable stamp Of intelligence and
refinement. In repose, they wore an
habitual expression of interpretive
concentration, which might have led
a careless observer to class Ralph Stur-
gis in the category of aimless dream
ers. But a single flash of the piercing
gray eyes generally sufficed to dispcl
any such impression; and told of keen
perception and underlying power. The
mouth was firm and kind; the bearing
that of gentleman and man Of edu-
cation.
But" objected the host, you surely
do not mean to express belief in the
infallibility of circumstantial evil
dence?"
"Why not?"
because you must know as we'll ms
anyone how misleading uncorroborated
circumstantial evidence is do not for
get what remarkable results you have
often accomplished for the Daily Tenn
pest in detecting and following up
clews to which the official detectives
were blind. But. frankly, were not
your conclusions usually the result OF
lucky guesses, which would have re-
manned comparatively useless as EVIL
dence had they not been subsequently
proved correct by direct testimony"
''Let me reply to your question by an
other, Sprague," answered Sturgis.
"When you draw check, does the pay
ing teller at the bank require the tes-
timony of witnesses to your signature
before admitting its genuineness"
mo; of course not
Precisely. He probably knows the
signature of Harvey NJ. sprague, the
depositor, better than he does the
face of Sprague, the artist. And yet
the evidence here is purely circum-
stantial. 1 know of at least one re.
cent instance in which the officials Of
New York bank placed their I'm
plicit reliance upon circumstantial
evidence Of this sort, in spite Of the
direct testimony of the depositor
who was willing to acknowledge the
genuineness of check to which bis
name had been forged"
II suppose you refer to the Forsyth
case" said sprague; "but you must
remember that Col. Forsyth was
actuated by the desire to shield the
forger, who was his own iscapegrace
son."
"That is just the point% replied
Sturgis; another witness will be
biased by his interests OF preiudices
blinded by jealousy, love or hatred
or handicapped by overzealousness
stupidity, lack of memory, or what
not. Circumstantial evidence lis al
ways impartial, truthful, absolute
When the geologist reads the history
of the earth, as it is written in It'll
crust; when a Kepler OF O Newton
formulates the immutable laws Of the
universe, as they are recorded in the
motions of the heavenly bodies, they
draw their conclusions from evidence
which is entirely oircunstantdal."
Eyes; but you forget that science
has often been mistaken in Its con.
clusions," Interrupted spragte, sc
that 1t has constantly been necessary
to alter theories to At newly acquired
OF better understood facts"
Granted" rejoined Stufgis, ''but
that Is because the interpreters Of the
evidence are fallible; not bedause the
evidence itself is Incomplete. The
same cause will always produce the
same effect; the same chain of events
will invariably terminate tn one and
the same catastrophe. The apparent
deviations from this law sara due K
unrecognized differences In the pro
ducing causes, to additional ,or miss
ing links In the chain Of evidence
Therefore 1 hold that. csinhnal
however clever he may be, laaEes be
hind him a complete trace OF. his ,ever,
act, from which his crime rpay b, re
constructed with absolute icertaiA,t,
by competent detective!
I'm short. Murder will orttp" saia
man who had been q sileryt listener
to the conversation up to this point.
He spoke with o. quiet smile. which
barely escaped being polite sheer.
sturgis' keen eyes met hds inter
looutor's as he replied gravely:
II should hardly care to make so
sweeping an affirmation, DIR. MUIR
dock. have merely stated that the
history of every crime is indelibly
written in tangible evidence. The
writing is on the wall, but of course
o blind man cannot see it, nor can
an illiterate man understand 1t.
Every event, however trivial, owes its
occurrence to a natural cause. and
leaves its indelible impress upon ma
ture. The Indian on the trail reads
with an experienced eye the story of
his enemy's passage, as it has been
recorded In trodden turf and broken
twigs; while the bloodhound follows,
with unerring Judgment, still surer
though less tangible trail. The lat
ter's quarry has left behind, at every
step, an Invisible, imponderable, and
yet unmistakable part of itself. Per-
haps my meaning can be made clear
by an Illustration. When a photog-
rapher In his dark room takes an ex-
posed plate from his camera, it ia ap-
Parently 9 blank, but in reality there
IL -i1IaRt .tktA Mate the xninutalv A..