The herald-advance. (Milbank, S.D.) 1890-1922, 1907-01-11

In which it had rested for seven years
the astonishing discovery OF the
body after all that time. unchanged,
unaged.
"The Grown is indebted for the so
luton OF this portion of the problem.
said the attorney general, ITO the IN
senuity OF member OF the press. He
observed that when the water was
pumped cut of the flooded cellar In
which the body Of the unfortunate
gentleman was discovered q deposit
was left upon the floor which appeared
to him to be very different from that
|, which would be left by an ordinary
Thames flood He secured portion
of that deposit He submitted 1t to ex-
amin alton, and he was led to the con-
clusion that it was mainly composed
of modelling clay-the earth used by
sculptors in the earlier stages OF their
work Now, at that time, as is a mat
ter OF common knowledge, the prison
er now before the court was suspected
of completely in the actual crime OF
murder. He has been able to triumph
antly rebut that suspicion, and SO en-
tirely to the satisfaction OF the legal
advisers of the crown, that no shadow
Of it can henceforth approach him"
AT this there was a tumult OF ap-
plause in court, which the ushers
strove in vain to quell. 1t rose in such
volumes that the members Of the un-
thinking mob. which thronged the
street outside, took 1t as the result OF
a verdict OF acquittal and roared them
selves hoarse with premature rapture.
The business of the court was sus-
pended for full Ave minutes.
Il do not WISH" said the Judge,
when 1t was once more possible to
proceed, Il do not wish too severely
to reprehend an outburst OF popular
sympathy which is so evidently sin
cere, but it is my duty to say that this
is not the place for 1t, and to warn you
that on any renewal of it the court
will at once be cleared"
''The point to which was about to
draw attention when I was interrupted
by that extraordinary demonstration,
resumed the attorney general, was
this. The prisoner, over whom, as
must insist in impressing upon the
jury, charge still hangs second only
in Importance to that Of which he has
cleared himself, was the center OF
widely-spread suspicion. He is him
self sculptor. and, as all who are in
terested in the art OF this country are
aware, has achieved considerable en-
inence in his profession. At the time
of the disappearance Of the deceased
there was in the studio, In which he
had for some time worked, colossal
plaster statue of Boadicea, and the
theory offered to the crown, which has
been since verified beyond any reason
able doubt, was that the body of the
deceased had been inferred within the
mass Of this statue whilst the clay was
still in q workable condition; that 1t
had been preserved from decay by the
entire exclusion of atmospheric air; !;
that, at the time at which the house
of the murdered man was dismantled,
this statue had been conveyed to the
house In Agar Row in which the body
was ultimately found: and that tho
water of m unusually high tide, food
ing the cellar in which 1t had been de-
posted, had liquifisd the statue, and
thus revealed the body OF the dead, so
strangely preserved for Identification
seven years after the commission OF
the murder"
It was OF no use for the Judge to
command silence, or for the officers Of
the court to endeavor to enforce It..
So loud Z hum Of amazement at this
disclosure filed the chamber that any
single voice was drowned In 1t. But
the crowds eagerness to learn of the
means by which the prisoner had
cleared himself, and the expectation Of
revelations yet to come, helped In q lit
tie while to secure q return to silence.
There Ii one thing which. as con-
ceive, deserves to be said In behalf Of
those trusted and intelligent officers
Of the detective force who were en-.
gagged in the inquiry into tho disap-
pearance OF the deceased. Why, It may
bs asked. did they pass by 20 obvious
. hiding place for the body Of the man
Of whom they were in search? My
lord, and gentlemen Of the jury. the
skilful, guilty hand Of the real murder
or had worked upon the statue with
such tremendous and well-guided haste
before the alarm was given that It was
simply impossible for any man to
guess that tho person who had van
ishod from human Wow % short .
time before could possibly b hidden
beneath its stately and imposing folds.
And, moreover, before It was thought
necessary to effect Z complete exam
ination Of the house the outer clay had
hardened to such q consistsncy that,
az l am asbured by experts, 1t would
be quite natural for anybody other
than an expert to suppose that the
work had been in existence - 1t then
stood for the space OF many weeks. or
even months.
II have thought It advisable to meet
in advance = suggestion which easily
might have been made to the detri
ment Of . body Of servants Of the
state who very rarely fall short in the