The Brookings register. [volume] (Brookings, Brookings County, S.D.) 1903-1971, 1907-01-24
THE
BrangWyn Mystery

In which II had rested for seven year.
the astonishing discovery OF the
body after all that time, unchanged
unased.
THE Crown Is indebted for the so
luton OF this portion Of the problem.
said the attorney general, ito the In
genuity of a member Of the press. He
observed that when the water was
pumped out Of the flooded cellar IL
which the body Of the unfortunate
gentleman was discovered q deposit
was left upon the hoor which appeared
to him Il be very different from thai
which would be left by an ordinary
Thames food. He secured a portion
of that deposit. He submitted II to ex'
animation, 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
err now before the court was suspected
OF completely in the actual crime or
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 il can henceiorth approach hin"
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
I 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 five minutes.
Il do not wish" said the Judge.
when 1t was once more possible to
! proceed, Il do not wish too severely
TO r%eprehend an outburst OF popular
sympathy which is so evidently sin
cere, but Il Is my duty to say that this
is not the place for It, and to warn you
that on any renewal OF 1t the court
will at once be cleared"
The point to which | was about to
draw attention when | was interrupted
by that extraordinary demonstration"
resumed the attorney general, was
this. The prisoner, over whom, as !
must insist in impressing upon the
jury, a 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 a 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, a 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 It
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 the
water OF an unusually high tide. flood
ing the cellar in which 1t had been de-
| posted, had liquified the statue. and
thus revealed the body OF the dead, 30
strangely preserved for Identification
seven years after the commission OF
the murder"
II was Of no use for the Judge to
command silence, or for the officers OF
| the court to endeavor to enforce It.
So loud q hum of amazemsnt at this
disclosure filed the chamber that any
single voice was drowned In It. 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 a lit
tie while to secur O return to silence.
There Is one thing which. as I 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 the disap-
pearance Of the deceased. Why, It may
be asked, did they pass by so obvious
a 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
er had worked upon the statue with
such tremendous and well-guided haste
before the alarm was given that 1t was
simply impossible for any man to
guess that the person who had van
ished from human view so short a
time before could possibly be hidden
beneath It's stately and imposing folds.
And, moreover, before It was thought
necessary to effect q complete exam
nation Of the house the outer clay had
hardened to such a consistency that.
as / am assured by experts, it would
be quite natural for anybody other
than ar expert to suppose that the
work had been In existence as 1t then
stood for the space Of many weeks, or
even months. .
81 have thought It advisable to meet
in advance = suggestion which easily
might have been made to the detri.