Atlanta Georgian. [volume] (Atlanta, Ga.) 1912-1939, 1912-12-09

| facts, but some fresh details came out at
the trial which may be enumerated here
They have to be lightly touched upon
within the limits of such an argument as
this, but those who desire a fuller sum-
mary will find 1t in an account of the
trial published by Hodge. of Edinburgh,
and ably edited by William Roughead
W. S.
HIS ACTIONS.
| On this book and on the verbatim pre-
cognitions and shorthand account of the
J American proceedings, l base my own ex.
animation of the case. First, as to Sla-
ter's movements upon the day of the
crime He began the day, according to
the account of himself and the women, by
/ the receipt OF the two letters already re-
ferred to. which caused him to hasten
| his journey to America. The whole day
seems to nave been occupied by prepara-
ttons for his impending departure. He
gave his servant Schmalz notice as from
next Saturday Before five Gas was
shown by the postmark upon the en-
! velope), he wrote TO postoffice in Lon
don, where he had some money on de-
post. AT 6:l2 telegram was sent in his
name and presumably by him from the
Central station to Dent, London, for his
watch, which was being repaired. Ac-
W
he was seen in a billiard room at $40.
The murder, it will be remembered, was
done al seven. He remained about ten
minutes in the billiard room, and left
some time between $50 and $40.
Rathrnan, one of these witnesses, de-
posed that he had at the time a mus
tache about a quarter of an inch long,
which was so noticeable that no one
could take him for clean shaver man.
Antoine, his mistress, and Schmalz, the
servant, both deposed that Slater dined
at home at o'clock. The evidence of the
girl is no doubt questionable, but there
was no possible reason why the dismissed
servant Schmalz should perjure herself
| for the sake of her ex-employer.
The distance between Slaters flat and
that of Miss Gilchrist is about a quarter
of a mile From the billiard room to
Slaters fiat is about a mile. He had TO
go for the hammer and bring it back,
unless he had 1t jutting out of his pocket
all day. But unless the evidence Of the
two women is entirely set aside, enough
has been said to show that there was no
time for the commission by him of such
a crime and the hiding of the traces
which II would leave behind it.
At 9:45 that night, Slater was engaged
In his usual occupation of trying to raise
the wind at some small gambling club.
The club master saw no discomposure
about his dress (which was the same as,
according to the crown, he had done this
bloody crime in, and swore that he was
then wearing a short mustache, like
stubble," thus corroborating Rathman 1t
will be remembered that Lambe and Bar
rowman both swore that the murderer
was clean shaven
On December "a, three days after the
murder, Slater was down at Cooks office,
bargaining tor a berth in the Lusitania
for his so-called wife and himself. He
made no secret that he was going by
that ship, but gave his real name and
| address and declared finally that he would
| take his berth in Liverpool, which he did.
Among other confidants as to the ship
was barber, the last person one would
think to whom secrets would be con-
hded. Certainly, II this were a flight. 1t
is hard to say what an open departure
would be-
In Liverpool he took his passage I'M
der the assumed name of Otto Sando.
| This he did, according to his own ac-
count, because he had reason to fear pur-
suit from his real wife, and wished to
cover his traces. This may or may not
be the TRUTH. but it is undoubtedly the
fact that Slater, who was disreputa-
BILE rolling stone of a man, had already
assumed several aliases in the course of
his career 1t is to be noted that there
was nothing at all secret about his de-
parture from Glasgow, and that he car
ried off all his luggage with him in
perfectly open manner.
The reader is now in possession of the
main facts, save those which are either
unessential or redundant, 1t win be OBJ
served that save for the identiications,
the value Of which can be estimated there
is really no single point of connection be-
tween the crime and the alleged criminal.
1t may be argued that the existence
of the hammer is such a point; but
what household in the land is devoid of
a hammer? 1t is to be remembered that
if Slater committed the murder with this
hammer, he must have taken it with
him in order to commit the crime, since
it could be of no use to him in forcing
an entrance. But what man in his senses,
planning a deliberate murder, would take
with him a weapon which was light, frail
and so long that it must project from
any pocket? The nearest lump of stone
upon the road would serve his purpose
better than that
Again, it must in its blood soaked con-
came away from the crime. The crown
never attempted to prove either blood
stains in a pocket or the fact that any
clothes had been burned. II Slater de-
stroyed the clothes, he would naturally
have destroyed the hammer, too. Even
one of the two medical witnesses Of the
prosecution was driven to say that he
should not have expected such weapon
to cause such wounds.
FACTS ON ONE SIDE.
1t may well be remembered in this
summary of the evidence | may seem TO
have stated the case entirely from the
point of view Of the defense. In reply, 1
would only ask the reader to take the
trouble to read the extended evidence. II
he will do so, he will realize that without
a conscious mental effort toward special
pleading. there is no other way In which
the story can be told. The facts are on
one side The conjecturcs the unsatis-
factory identihcations, the damaging flaws
In