Imperial Valley press., 1913-10-08

"ele piopdoiy party W lilS CIluie. AS
further emphasizing the attitude of
the government, the chief of the
Odessa school district, who openly
disputed Prof. Sikorsky's contentious,
was dismissed from his post. In the
meantime the case had attracted
worldwide attention. Many promi-
nent men in England including the
Archbishops of Canterbury and York,
Lord Rosebery, Austin Chamberlain,
A. Balfour and scores of university
professors, scientists and ministers OF
the gospel signed and sent to Russia
a strongly worded protest against the
"blood accusation" In England,
France, Austria and Germany, full re-
ports of the inquest of the murdered
boy were submitted to unprecedented
boards of medico-legal experts who
united in declaring that he was not
tortured NOR the blood removed from
the body, as alleged. The British COM
mittee, of which Dr. W. H. Wilcox,
chief expert of the home office. was
the leading member, asserted that the
evidence showed that the boy was
killed almost instantaneously by two
blows on the head. that the numer-
Gus stabbings were merely incidental
to peculiarly tiendish crime, and
that there was no blood draining. At
the. last International Congress OF
Medicine in London the case was con
sidered by the sections on Forensic
Medicine and Psychiatry, and the
opinion was unanimously expressed
that it was not a ritual murder, but
the act of some homicidal lunatic,
which had been seized upon by Pc
sons animated by racial antipathy 20
the Jews to distort and misrepresent
facts for their own nefarious pur-
poses. Bells himself was little better
,han an ordinary day Iaborer, a man
Of practically no education beyond
that of his trade, and there is evidence
,tat he never had any strong relig-
lous convictions. 1uchinsky disap-
peared ON March -. when he left
home presumably to go to school,.
After his body was found it developed
that instead Of going to school he had
visited a boy friend named Eugene
whose parents lived near
the brickyard, where the boys fire.
quently played.
The direct evidence against Bells,
50 far as it has been disclosed, is
of rather flimsy character. First
there was a statement by LAM
lighter named Shakhhowsky, who de-
clared that Eugene told him a few
days later that he and Yuchinsky had
been driven from the brick works by
man with black beard. Shak-
howsky's wife deposed that an ac-
quaintance, Anna Zakharaovaya, tod
her that she saw Bells seize Yuchin-
sky and drag him toward the brick
kiln. Anna Zakharovaya, however,
flatly denied this Vassily Cheberiak,
Eugene's father, stated that a week
before the murder his son told him
that two Jews wearing unusual garb
had taken up their residence with
Bells, and that he had seen them
praying. Unfortunately, Eugene,
who had been sickly, died before his
evidence could be taken by the exam
ining magistrate, or the mystery
might have been cleared up. Cheber-
iak's home was the notorious rendeZ-
vous of a band of thieves, and it was
they whom krassovsky and other de-
tectives believed to have been the
real murderers.
Later, Ivan Kosatchenke, convict
informer, who was placed in the same
cell with Bells for two months, de-
clared that Bells arranged with him
to poison all the witnesses against
him, and promised that if he did so
the Jews would keep him in comfort
for life.
Throughout the yarious preliminary
processes Of the case the defense has
been seriously handicapped by the
manifest prejudice of the court off
Gals against tho prisoner. All pos
sible obstacles were thrown in the
way Of defense counsel. His first al
torncy was severely reprimanded and
temporarily suspended from the case
for having signed d petition protest
ing against the blood accusation" :"
His next lawyer was forced out by
reason Of palpabIy false charge
made by Vera Chcberiak, mother Of
the boy, Eugene, that he had at
tempted to bribe her. Bells was to-
day represented in court by an array
Of counsel employed by wealthy
Jews, chief Of whom were two of the