The times., 1901-05-25
The Ayers Murder.

The Ayers murder mystery still re
mains a mystery, because the Washing
ton police either through lack Of abilit.
or sufficient courage, do not unravel il
In a populous neighborhood of tn
city here is a populous hotel, in on'
small room of which a frightful TRACED.
is enacted, with adjoining rooms OF
both sides, divided from it only by thin
partitions. In such a confined space
revolver shots would sound like tbs
cracks Of an elephant rifle Yet wit
nesses testify. and one woman in par
ticular asks the police to believe, anc
apparently they do believe, that the eX-
pIosions in the room of the murdered
boy were too faint to be traced TO their
source. If the history of criminal in
yestigation contains anything more in
conceivable in theory, we never have
heard of it.
Yet, IN spite of the pointedly sugges-
tive circumstances Of the case, with the
exception of the woman whose amazing
confession" is fresh in the public mind
nobody has been taken into custody.
This statement, perhaps, should be
modified by the admission that in two
or three instances there are people who
are under what the police solemnly re-
fer to as surveillance"
As every bit Of evidence pointed TO
Mrs. Bonine as the probable homicide
she should have been. and in any other
American city would have been, arrest
ed as early as the Saturday after the
murder IN fact, it is understood that
a detective wanted to arrest her on that
day, but was not permitted TO 90 so. In
any other city person whose room
was a communicating one with the
small chamber in which the murder
was done, with the door between SO
flimsy that the lowest conversation or
noise in one could be heard in the
other. and who should tell the police
and testify before the coroner's jury
that she heard shots and groans, but
did not do anything but pile trunks and
furniture against a door which led into
the corridor, and not into the room
from which the shots, groans, and cries
for help proceeded. would be compelled
to admit the utter faulty of such tes-
timony, and indeed, to amend it. Al
though the witness referred to was sat
isfied that a death struggle was in
progress, and, later, that a man lay
dead somewhere in the immediate
neighborhood, she failed TO give any
alarm, and only mentioned the matter
in request at the breakfast table at
eight O'Clock, or afterward, that a
waiter should go up 10 the fourth floor
and "see how Mr. Ayers might be-"
It would be, perhaps, too much to say
that this particular witness, if she
would. could describe the tragedy ac-
curs tely, 50 far as the two principals,
and possibly another person, an eye
witness, might be concerned. But in
any rational enquiry, this convenient
inability to remember damning facts
could be only excused on the ground
that the witness was deaf, dumb, and
blind
Many plausible suggestions have been
made to the authorities as TO how the
crime came to be committed, and as to
its assumed attendant and antecedent
circumstances and motive. Some OF
these theories have been considered and
investigated, while others have not
But the fact remains that James Sey-
nour Ayers was murdered at or about
two o'clock Of the morning Of Wednes-
day, May IS, and that the only person
whom the District police have connect
ed with the deed is woman who has
barricaded herself behind a "confes-
sion which, as matters stand today,
and without the damning evidence
which undoubtedly exists, and should
long since have been in the hands Of
the police, viii secure her prompt ac-
quittal when she comes to trial, if. in
deed, she is ever to be tried at all.