Little Falls herald. [volume] (Little Falls, Morrison County, Minn.) 1889-1950, 1901-10-18
CHAPTER II.
THE WAGER.

what / mean to assert said Ralph
Sturgis, with quiet conviction, sis that
every crime is its own historian; that
circumstantial evidence rs 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 a man Of about 30,
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 aim]ess dream
ers. But single. flash of the piercing
gray eyes generally suf6ced to dispel
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
dcuce?'
why not?"
''Recause YOU must know as we'll as
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-
NAMED 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 a check, does the pay
ling teller at the bank require the tes-
tinony of witnesses to your signature
before admitting it's genuineness?
mo; of course not
Precisely. He probably knows the
signature of Harvey M. Sprague, the
depositor, better than he does the
face of Sprague, the artist. And yet
the evidence here is purely circum-
stantial. I 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 a check to which his
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 scapegrace
son.
"That is just the point" replied
Sturgis; 'another witness will be
biased by his interests or prejudices,
blinded by jealousy, love or hatred,
or handicapped by oyerzealousness,
stupidity, lack Of memory, or what
not. Circumstantial evidence is al
ways impartial, truthful, absolute.
When the geologist reads the history
of the earth, as it is written in its
crust; when a Kepler or a Newton
forInulates 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 circumstantial"
"Yes; but you forget that science
has often been mistaken in its con-
clusions," interrupted Sprague, $50
that it has constantly been necessary
to alter theories to fit newly acquired
or better understood facts
"Granted," rejoined Sturgis. ''but
that is because the Interpreters of the
evidence are fallibe: not because the
evidence itself is incomplete. The
same cause will always produce the
same effect; the same chain of events
will invariably terminate in one and
the same catastrophe. The apparent
deviations from this law are due to
unrecognized differences in the pro-
ducing causes, to additional or miss
ing links in the chain of evidence
Therefore I hold that a criminal
however clever he may be. leaves be-
hind him complete trace Of his every
act, from which his crime may be re-
constructed with absolute certainty
by a competent detective"
IN short. Murder will out!'' said
q man who had been a silent listener
to the conversation up to this point
He spoke with a quiet smile. which
barely escaped being polite sheer
sturgis' keen eyes met his inter
locutor's as he replied grave]y:
II should hardly care to make So
sweeping an affirmation. Dr.. Muir
dock. l have merely stated that the
history of every crime is indelibly
written in tangible evidence The
writing is on the wall but of course
q blind man cannot see it, nor can
an illiterate man understand it.
Every event, however trivial, owes it,
occurrence to natural cause, and
leaves its indelible impress upon M.
ture. The Indian on the trail read>
with sn experienced eye the story Of
his enemy's passage, as it has been
recorded In trodden turf and broker
twigs; while the bloodhound follows
= with unerring Judgment, still sure1