Newark leader. ([Newark, Ohio]) 1917-1946, 1923-01-19

are wondering why we should spend
our time on a simple burglary case;
but this may turn out to be a rather
curious one. When Rogers told me
the story of the Circle Lake affair, ]
recognized at once that it resembled
very famous case that took place in
England in 1879"
He waited to fill and light his pipe
before continuing:
"Yes, that's why l am interested in
tail as the story you will find in that
pamphlet you hold in your hand. The
English case, known in criminal his
tory as The Edlingham Burglary is
famous because two innocent men
were in prison for six years for
crime they did not commit. The evil
dence against them, the manner in
which it was discovered, is almost, if
not the very same as that in this
affair at Circle Lake of which Rogers
tells US.
"The Edlingham case goes down in
the history of crime as one of the
worst miscarriages of justice Of which
we know. There is no doubt that the
police faxed the evidence against the
men. They spent six years in prison
for crime they knew nothing about.
In that case, too, the two men were
found early in the morning in the
house of a local vicar. Just as Slyke
and his step-daughter found someone
In their house, so the vicar and his
daughter discovered two men in their
living room. Later the men were ar
rested on the outskirts of the little
English village; and, as in the story
that Rogers told US, piece of paper
was found in the room at the vicarage
that fitted into the torn corner of a
newspaper which was discovered some
days later in the house of one Of the
men. Footprints were also found un-
der the window, and a little piece of
cloth on q rose bush. This in turn
fitted into a torn place in a pair of
trousers belonging to one Of the men"
/ uttered an exclamation of wonder,
and BARLEY grinned. "It is the most
famous case Of its kind in the history
of English crime. It's odd how the
evidence in this Circle Lake robbery
parallels 1t so closely. 1t looks little
as if someone had read of the English
crime, and tried to repeat the evidence
in this one"
And then these men may be inno-
cent?"
We'll" replied BARLEY thoughtful-
ly, maybe. The fact that there have
been other attempts to break into
Sykes house points that way. To a
student of criminal literature, the
finding of an old crime re-staged is
rather interesting. That is why / said
l would like to look into it.
"Go into the office, will you, Pelt,
and see what we have there on Slyke."
BARLEY had large office, lined with
tall, green filing cabinets, containing
the reports of his cases and his won
derful card-index. This index con-
tanned information about almost every
important person in the country, in
formation that gave at glance keen
insight into the character of the man
whose name was on the card. 1t took
me but a second to find the card that
contained Sykes name. When l re-
turned to the library, Barley asked
me to read it aloud. 1t contained the
following:
"Slyke, Robert, broker Born Kit
terry, Maine. Educated in public school.
In business in New Hampshire, 1879
to 1885, buying and trading cattle.
Came to New York, 1886, became a
broker. Made and lost several fort
unes. Said to have been converted by
Billy Sunday in 1913; no evidence of
it. Rather eccentric dabbled bit in
spiritualism and has been duped by
several mediums. Quick tempered,
with few friends. There is a question
of his business honesty Wife died
1914. One son and a step-daughter.
Summer home, Circle Lake, n. Y. City
home, Garden City. Was worth about
100000, but rumored to have lost a
part of this in recent years"
BARLEY listened while l read this
short and commonplace history.
When / had finished, he said simply,