Atlanta Georgian. [volume] (Atlanta, Ga.) 1912-1939, 1912-12-12
,rlock Holmes in Real Life
.ToDAY'S INSTALLMENT.

L., is a priorl the more probable:
...r an unheard- of million-to- one
1 s.n.. should have occurred, or that
Il lt.a having committed themselves
4 ,,-arv that he was the murderer,
sol to admit that they were wrong
the bottom fell out of the original
1 and uersevered in the hope that
,a ideatidcations of a queer-looking
orer would Justify their original ae-
A outside these identifications, l must
.at once again, there is nothing to
;, Mo slater with the murder, or to show
j he ever knew. or could have known
srcb Il person as Miss Gilchrist ex-
THE REPRIEVE.
krba admirable memorial for a reprieve
u.r mn nv the solicitors for the de-
~, uas signed by 10000 members OF
4 nublic. and had the effect of chang
4 the death sentence to one OF penal
Evitude for life.
grba sentence was passed on May 6. For
.snty days the man was left in doubt,
the written reprieve only arrived on
4 = % within twenty four hours of the
4 no for the execution. On July 8 Slater
l. conveyed to the Peterhead convict
Esor. There he has now been for three
ars and there he still remains.
4 csu not help in my own mind compar-
L the case Of oscar Slater with another.
Eich had occasion to eXamine-that of
torge EdaljL
must admit that they are not of the
me class. George Edalji was a youth
exemplary character. Oscar Slater
4 IS a blackguard. George Edalji was
Eysicaly Incapable of the crime for
hich he suffered three years imprison-
emit. years for which he has not re-
lived. after his innocence was estab-
.hed, one shilling of compensation from
e nation Oscar Slater might con-
,yabIy have committed the murder, but
e balance of proof and probability seems
ltirely against 1t.
Thus, one can not feel the same burn
e sense of injustice over the matter.
nd yet I trust for the sake of our char
ter not only for justice, but for INTEL
yence. that the judgment may in some
az he reconsidered and the mans
eseut punishment allowed to Iatone for
ose Irregularities of life which helped
make his conviction possible.
Before leaving the case, it is interest
z to see how far this curious crime may
reconstructed and whether any possi-
e light can be thrown upon 1t. Using
cond-hand material, one can not hope
DO more than Indicate cartain possibil-
les which may already have been con-
iered and tested by the police.
THE POLICE WAY. :,
The trouble. however, with all police
osecutions is that, having once got what
ey imagine to be their man, they are
IT very open to any line of investiga-
IN which might lead to other conclu-
ms. Everything which will not fit into
e official theory is liable to be ex-
Ided
One might make few isolated COM
snts on the case which may at least give
sc to some interesting trains of thought.
One question which has to be asked was
neither the assassin was after the
wells al all, 1t might be urged that
e type of man described by the spec
tors was by no means that of the or
nary thief,
When he reached the bed room and lit
e gas, he did not at once seize the
Itch and rings which were lying open
exposed upon the dressing table. He
not pick up a half sovereign Which
Is lying on the dining room table. His
tention was given to a wooden box,
e lid of which he wrenched open.
his, 1 think, was 1.-The breaking of
cks" heard by Adams.) The papers
1t were strewed on the ground Were
papers his object, and the final alb
action of one diamond brooch a mere
nd? Personally, can only point out
possibility OF such a solution.
N the other hand, 1t might be urged
the tnief's action seems inconsequen-
l. that Adams had rung, and that he