The Caucasian. (Shreveport, La.) 1900-192?, 1903-04-23

legged, impressed some members of the
grand jury and it is the story of the ne
gro woman who overheard two men
talking near her window, discussing the
murder, on the night of the crime. dur
a query said he had struck hard enough
to kill. This story has been exploited
and is one of the many suggested in
minds distorted bv unpleasant dreams.
THE CONCLUSION OF THE JURY.
AS will be noted, the grand jury has
announced that we have investigated
the Matthews murder case as far as the
testimony before us will permit us to go,
and at present have no finding to report
to the court" In this respect the grand
luryS 5 conclusion is as the coroner's
jury, with the exception that the cor
oners Jury was more persistent in their
search for clues. It was one of the cor
oners jury who located Ed Porter. who
was reported to have been shot and
killed as the murderer. and who is in
the active flesh today.
Having failed to develop the case, it
is possible that this tragedy will go on
the record of great crimes which are
unsolved, and perhaps the perpetrator of
this dlabolical deed may shield himself
from the clutches of justice and the law
until he shall have gone beyond the
grave. In this case there are peculiari-
ties which, when analyzed deliberately.
are startling, but reason as one NAV,
the motive as the link is perplexing. But
as we said at the beginning the grand
jurors acting Oh the information before
them, had no clue and CROPPED under diff
tlcultleSA2erhaps beyond their control.
EGRAND JURY ON BLOOD
HOUNDS.
In their report to the court the grand
Jury suggest the necessity of blood
hounds, which, in some cases. would
prove OF great value in hunting fleeing
criminal, but blood hounds could not ac-
complish the impossible The blood
hounds may be ever so thorough and sa-
gaelous IN training as to give the most
gratifying results in fields, more or less
open and clear, where once on the scent
they could follow the trail 10 the end
and capture, but the best dogs would be
OF little value in trailing criminal
whose tracks have been covered bv
scores of people, called to the scene of
murder through curiosity. Dogs, unas-
sisted, in a city could do little good,
and Therefore the question of blood
hounds should be considered in con-
servatlve sense. The first act on the part
of the legal authorities when murder
has been committed should be to hasten
to the scene, assume charge of the prem
1ses, permit no one to go in or out, and
OF secure then and there all the inforna-
ticn which may be obtained readily, but,
if there is no restraint and everybody be
permitted to go in and out, how can the
best dogs find, take and keep the trail?
THE DISTINCT AND FORCEFUL
WORDS OF THE JUDGE.
In his charge to the grand jury Judge
Land said: "It is always ones duty to
submit to lawful arrest, and and forci-
bic resistance is crime
Iruer or more forceful words could
not have been uttered, but we do not
think their Interpretation to mean that
because man, arrested or about to be
arrested should try to flee and to escape
should be killed outright. If carried into
execution literally, almost any man
would be at the mercy of an officer who,
if not conservative moderate and pru-
dent in his action could shoot and kill,
on the preteNt of attempting to escape
1t will be conceded that when a person
is suspected of guilt and is trying to
escape, that the officer of the law should
get his man." but in this enlightened