Atlanta Georgian. [volume] (Atlanta, Ga.) 1912-1939, 1912-12-10


a worthless fellow, that he lived with and
ne had several times changed his name,
and that generally he was an unsatisfac-
tory Bohemian No actual criminal rec
ord was shown against him.
Early in his speech. the lord advocate
remarked that he would show later how
slater may have come to know that Miss
Gichrist owned the jewels No further
reference appears to have been made to
the matter, and his promise was there
fore never fulfilled, though it is clearly
oil the utmost Importance.
Later, ne stated, that from the appear
ance of the wounds, they must have been
done by a small hammer. There is no
must" in the matter, for it is clear that
many other weapons, a burglars jimmy,
for example, would have produced the
same effect
He then makes the good point that the
prisoner dealt in precious stones, and
could therefore dispose of the proceeds
OF such robbery. The criminal, he
added, was clearly some one who had
no acquaintance with the inside of the
house. and did not know where the jew
els were kept. That answers to the
prisoner" 1t also Of course, answers TO
practically every man in Scotland. The
lord advocate then gave a summary of
the evidence as to the man seen by va
rious witnesses in the street Gentle
men, if that was the prisoner, how do
you account for his presence there?"
OF course, the whole point lies in the
above phrase.
There was, it must be admitted, con-
sensus of opinion among the witnesses
that the prisoner was the man. But
what was it compared to the consensus of
opinion which wrongfully condemned
Beck to penal servitude?
The counsel laid considerable stress
upon the fact that Mrs. Lindel zone of
the Adams family had seen a man a few
minutes before the murder, lettering in
the street, and identified him as Slater
The dress of the man seen in the street
was very different from that given as
the murderers. He had a heavy tweed
mixture coat Of a brownish hue, and a
brown peaked cap.
The original identification by Mrs Lid
dell was conveyed in the words, zone,
slightly" when she was asked if any Of
a group at the police station resembled
the man she had seen. Afterward, like
every other female witness, she became
more positive. She declared that she
had the clearest recollection of the mans
face, and yet refused to commit herself
as to whether he was shaven or mus
tached.
We have then the recognitions Of Lam
bic. Adams and Barrowman, with their
limitations and developments, which
have been already discussed. Then comes
the question of the so-called flight" and
he ri, ~,
Had the prisoner been a man who had
never before changed his name, this in
cident would be more striking But the
short glimpse we obtain of his previous
life shows several changes of name, and
1t has not been suggested that each Of
them was the consequence Of q crime.
He seems to have been in debt in GlaS-
gov, and he also appears to have had
reasons for getting away from the pur-
suit of an ill-used wife. The lord advo-
cate said that the change of name could
not be explained consistently with inno-
cence." That may be true enough, but
the change can surely be explained on
some cause less grave than murder,
A GREAT LIAR.
Finally. after showing very truly that
Slater was great liar, and that not
word he said need be believed unless
there were corroboration, the lord advo-
cate wound up with the words
My submission to you is that this
guilt has been brought fairly home to him;
that no shadow of doubt exists; that there
is no reasonable doubt that he was the
perpetrator of this foul murder"
The verdict showed that the jury, I'M
der the spell of the lord advocates elo-
quence, shared this view, but, viewing it
in colder blood, it is difficult to see upon
what grounds he made SO confident an
assertion.
Mr.. Mcclure, who conducted the de-
Tense, spoke truly when, in opening his
speech he declared that ''he had to fight
a most unfair fight against public preju
dice, reused with a fury 1 do not remem-
Der to have seen in any other case
Still he fought this fight bravely and
with scrupulous moderation. His appeals
were all to reason and never to emotion.
He showed how clearly the prisoner had
expressed his intention of going to Amer
lea weeks before the murder, and how
every preparation had been made on
the day after the murder he had told
witnesses that he was going to America,
and had discussed the advantages of
various lines, finally telling one of them
the particular boat in which he did even
tually travel, curious proceedings for
fugitive from justice.
MIR. Mcclure described the movements
of the prisoner on the night of the muir
der, after the crime had been committed,
showing that he was wearing the very
clothes in which the theory Of the pros
ecution made him do the deed, as if
such deed could be done without leav-
ing it's traces He showed incidentally cit
is a small point, but d human one) that
one of the last actions OF Slater in Glas-
gov was to take great trouble to get an
English S. note in order TO send it as
a Christmas gift to his parents in Ger
many A man who could do this was
not all bad
Continued in Next Issue.