Evening public ledger. [volume] (Philadelphia [Pa.]) 1914-1942, 1921-01-28

Your honor should not exercise the
capricious Imagination of an author
cleverly writing a detective story.
"The facts are that this man came to
his death at the hands Of another. The
bullet hole is directly In the center OF
his forehead; the man was standing
parallel to the ground when the shot
was fred. and the wound was made by
deadly weapon. All the facts must.
be consistent with the theory of guilt
and not innocence. Take the question
Of conspiracy for example. This man
might have written the Magee letter to
Drewes by arrangement he might have
had the gun and not have fired It but
came down to Philadelphia. The de-
fendant had the gun. There " an empty
chamber In the magazine. In the head
| Of the dead man was bullet similar to
: that discharged, with marks on 1t that
could have been produced by the gun.
Threats Are Recalled
| "Then we have the threat to get
: .hc - II It is the last thing l ever do.
And as the defendant spoke of the
fight for $500 side he looked into the
eyes of an old honest woman who could
not tell what she saw, but who showed
! IL in her face on the stand.
"He might apparently have passed
IL over, but In his mind, he passed
from the threat to fight him to the
threat to get him.
! "Drewes came here to meet a man
with Nash car, md to 90 to Reading
with him to get It.
This defendant was seen with his
car ut O p. m. that day, and declared
he was going to use It. The car was
Il l., ha nj
was It? Four days later the car was
found. This gun was in the car. The
car had blood on It. The jury should
| pass upon it. Taken all together. II
tells one story, the story Of this mans
guilt. II he had not had grudge
against him he would not have threat
tened Drewes. He claimed that Ircwes
cheated him, and that showed motive.
Queer Causes for Slayings
1--WE cannot account some times for
murder. i tried man in this court
not long ago for murder resulting from
a quarrel over dish Of olives. Men
will commit murder for money, for q
grievance, and IL there ever was a case
Of circumstantial evidence in this court.
stronger than this case, l don't know
when It was. 1t Is true we did not put
the defendant and the dead man to-
gether by eye witnesses az we put them
together by facts, and the defendant
cannot explain unless the whole case Is
explained.
house to say to the mother Of his chum
4 am sorry He did not do the natural
thing for a boy to do for his intimate
chum. He did not go as men do for q
last look at the face of hisfriend. The
L.. 10 10 .hp1t, ,tt,0
Mr.. Gordon ended at IL :07 and Mr.
Gray came back with his rebuttal.
There has been much said concern
ing the presumption Of suicide h
said. mot n word has been said nbou
the presumption Of accident. The de
PENDANTS conduct, as Mr.. Gordon ha'
outlined II, raises q presumption OF nc
cident, with the defendants fear o
being connected with 1t actuating him
Gray Makes Rebuttal
"The facts In the case must be con
/ s:stent with guilt, and guilt alone. NJ
man can say that in this case the fact
are such as to be consistent only will
guilt:
transported there; how does he account
for the shots heard? He might say Il
was for the purpose of making n screer
for making It appear that he wal
killed there when he was killed else
where, and that Is inconsistent. Mr.
Gordon says this man intended to go t.
Reading and then back to college. There
is nnthing to prove thnt he so intend
ed"
This was interrupted with dramatic
cry from the courtroom:
"Oh, yes. he did,
Mrs. Drewes, mother OF the slair
boy. was standing in her place. tear
streaming down her cheeks. Her nerve
had broken under the strain. A cour
attendant led her gently from the room
her daughter supporting her.
Mr.. Gray proceeded az II there ha,
been no Interruption. He cut his re
marks short, however, and ut 12:1'
o'clock Judge Ferguson adjourne,
} court. saying he would hold the motion
to quash under advisement until tina
time.
Women Eager to Get In
The crowd waiting for the courtroom
to open today was greater than ever be
fore. Before 8 o'clock there were u
least fifty women lined up in the cor
ridor, hoping for q chance to get int
the courtroom.
Every eIpedient was resorted to IL
order to win past the guards. Their
were so many instances of faxed" af
fidavits that Mr.. Gray early today CAV
samples of his handwriting to each o
the guards on duty in the corridor, 81
they could compare il with his signatur
on any subpoenas that witnesses for tn
defense might bring. Mr.. Gray saiC