The Washington herald., 1909-07-01
EASTERN SHORE TRAGEDY.
Curious Things that Tend to Cor
rObOrate Lame Bob's' story.

Curious Things that Tend to Cor
robOrate Lame BoB's'' story.
Fsoz the Lo,sisriIe Courier-Jo--naI.
The case against Eastman IS certainly
overwhelming. That the woman came 70
her tragic end In his company and
through his agency: that he appropriated
her money and pawned her Jewels: that
he hid the crime and fed pursuit. and
that. brought 90 bay. he took his own
iife. would seem conclusive They find a
narcotic IA The bungalow. Therefore, the
victim was first dragged and then slain
Yet. back Of al this-Iisten 20 your
Sherlock H0lmes,-there are some ,curs-
Gus corrObOrarOns OF Eastman's letter 20
his wife; and In no event can We acquit
Edith WoOdM Of completely IN a haison
which. according 70 all the rules OF that
kind Of game, invited the contretemps re-
lated BY her paramour. Il fmDresses US
as far more than the idea Of a brutal
and deliberate murder.
she had provided Tor a prolonged ab-
sence from the Thompson homestead by
q letter fun 0f falseLOods she knew
where she was going When she Quilted
galow IS found letter speaking OF q
projected nocturnal visit. There IS hear
Say OF ths voices of women and men in
the bungalow. There IS hearsay OF a
strange boat IN the bay What more
natural. what so natural as a CAV party
and a yacht-let Us surmise, from New
York; debauch. and. presto. the stroke
Of q wine bottle hurled by drunken hands.
jest as Eastman tells T.?
He had been a stock broker II Wall
street She had been. II not a Ely girl. %
at least. a lively young woman. about the
Hotel Navarro. That their Intimacy an
Jedated her second marriage nav be
taken for granted They uaeet-perhaps
By chance. for Destiny does not always
reed accounplices-in a pretty rustic place
and the intimacy Is renewed spiced by
the circumstance that he Is q Fugitive
living under an assumed name. presently
the lonely designations do not suffice;
they grow uonOt0nOuS. so-ar6-sO has q
boat. sO-2nd-sO are dying FOR an outing
such a lark. why not2
There are human beings born 70 bad
luck. Poor Enmet Eastman-''Lane Bob 20
they called htn-seems OF that category,
not OF the category Of born essassins.
II puts no strain upon the Imagination 10
tial evidence against him and Il. The tell
tale jewels IN the pawn shop. the money
taken and appropriated. the mad scheme
Of concealrnent and fight. make in truth
an tncriminating anri-clinax- anl yet and
YET. a creature such as Eastman. perhaps
a dope nend, and certainly a Weakling,
caught in such 2 plight. might do any
thing; would. could, do nothing wisely;
the exigent need OF money readily ac-
counting Tor the robbery AFTER the event.
The girl dead. the resi- OF the guilty party
gone, he. waking out OF a drunken stu
pOr, to behold the havoc and 10 hold the
bag.
Poor devil, Ee might have waited. II
IL happened. as he says IL did. the proof
might have IN the end achieved itself.
After the murder OF Helen Jewett- the
case against her paTamoUr vas Just as
convincing But when the man, known 70
be a manly fellow. told his story, the
jury. spite Of its awful details. gave him
the benefit Of the doubt, and he lived
many years longer. not Outcast by the
public at large nor wanting the conf
dence and regard OF q host OF friends. TO
whom he related al the awful parricu-
lars OF his misadventure. and VINO be-
lieved him.