New-York tribune., 1912-04-28
Abound in Mystery and Adventure

lieves that he was a blacknailer, who oed
some foreign royal parsonage. But then
again. he might have been q secret agent
French or foreign. Thus Is the romance OF
history made The whole trend Of the story
is toward an impression that the French
government sought az first 10 drop the
Steinheil case quietly, as an unsolvable
crime, and later. when that had becoms
impossible. owing 10 Nine. Steinheil's per
sistence, to prove her guilty OF the murders
hv hook or crook
I THIS is indeed. her own explanation OF
the matter Aftcr the failure OF the clev
Of the gabardines, she says, the police pre-
tended that they were busily continuing ths
investigation, but in reality made no efforts
ST all When she became insistent. she was
advised by a high official TO drop the case;
her innocence was not In question-es .
matter Of fact, all Paris was accusing her
she had enough 10 live upon quietly some
where else; why not disappear?
Meanwhile she was being overwhelmed
with anonymous letters denunciatory. en-
couraglng, but chiefly suggesting ciews II
was thus that the guilt Of her servant Gull
! lard because an idtc fre with her. until
Q
was only. she explains. what detectives do
every day. But her greater mistake, chs
concludes. was her appeal FOR tho aid Of
: the press She denounccs the journalists Of
Paris. who. she says. were not concerned
with her innocence or the guilt Of others.
but with the securing OF daily sensa ton
Tor their papers, and Of an ultimate beat
OF unprecedented magnitude. They over
ran her house, they called morning, noon
ana night. they left her no peace, they wers
ineXhaustne In their suggestions II was
thus. at last, while at the end OF her physi-
cal and mental endurance. under the hyp-
motto influence OF four hours third de-
gree" to which she was subjected by two
newspaper men, that she was forced 20
make the confession OF her completely In
the crime. These two men, she says made
her say whatever they wished to near. Ths
result was her arrest and trial.
Nine Ste!nheil reports her preliminary
eAamina tions and the conduct OF the case in
court largely In the form of her answers tn
the questions put to her Tie selection OF
this material is well calculated to present
once more TO the English and American
mind the bewilderng ways of French crim-
sUme that the accused is guilty until he
proves himself innocent. and which turns
the judge presiding at tho trial into a
ferociously partial additional public prose-
cutor. That every incident Of her past life
however irrelevant and nnocuous I'm itself
was twisted into significant evidence
against her is, OF course, not a popularity
oC French criminal law alone, but the un-
fairness, the brutality OF the trial reused
enough Indignation in France itself to
lead to calls for a revision Of the law and
OF legal procedure.
This. ii should not be forgotten, is the
story OF Il woman who has been declared
Innocent Of the crime charged against her
by a jury of her peers. II Is also the
story Of the latest OF a long row Of women
whose names and deeds and misdeeds stud
the pages of the history Of France. and OF
many other countries as well. II u her
own story. Somo future Gribble will re-
tell It in his own way in days to come.
Meanwhile the book is strikingly timely In
this period Of the writing OF many bicg-
raphies Of women like Marguerite ets(nhall