Rangitikei Advocate. TUESDAY, MARCH 26, 1907. SECOND EDITION. EDITORIAL NOTES

Rangitikei Advocate and Manawatu Argus, Volume XXXI, Issue 8772, 26 March 1907, Page 2

Rangitikei Advocate. TUESDAY, MARCH 26, 1907. SECOND EDITION. EDITORIAL NOTES

THE Thaw case, ..winch has been ,d dragging its slow length along, has at last come to a sharp turn. A cable-, gram dated March 23 stated that Mi r Jerome, public prosecutor, had pre- c seated to Judge Fitzgerald affidavits 1 made by seven loading specialists * certifying that Thaw is insane, and j, asked that a case be .stated for, a,,., lunacy commission. If the commie- f--sion should declare that Thaw, is out | of his mind his trial will at once I come to an end, as the law does not ■ permit a man to be tried for any ( offence while he is insane. He will 1 then be placed in the asylum for criminal insane, and stay there; for , over, unless eventually he was de- ] dared to have," recovered, when he ■ would bo brought back and tried for i liis life. Mr Jerome may have been i led to take this course owing to the fact that he thought Thaw was , likely to bo acquitted by the jury, or ho may consider that the evidence brought forward by Thaw’s lawyers to prove that he was temporarily in- j sane at the time the murder took [ place is so strong as to prove that he was insane -at all' times. The defence. may quite possibly, in their anxiety to prove temporary insanity, have gone too far and proved permanent insanity. The evidence, as cabled, is of such a contradictory nature that we can form no conclusion as to jwhere the truth lies. It appears ."certain that White was a " man of low moral character, though he may not have been the nnmiti--5 gated scoundrel that his enemies alleged, but it is equally clear that Thaw had no right to murder him in ’ cold blood unless he was willing to undergo the legal consequences of his crime. Apart from the interest 1 ' naturally attaching to the trial, it 1. ja regarded in the United States, as a u test whether the law courts can be ■ relied on to give a fair decision in a ° case where a millionaire,, witn all the resources that money can pro- □ cure, is accused of a crime for ■which a poor man would Without doubt have suffered the e \ ivemo penalty of the law. Mr Jerc j.e. has all along been the enemy of orrupt administration, and the Thaw case will make or mar his career in the ■'» popular opinion. If he can secure a conviction it will go some way to prove that money is not as influential in defeating the ends of justice as it lias often been jn the past.

THE news received on Thursday that a sudden inrush of water had occurred in the Westralia East mine and that one of the miners had been cut off from escape, gave no hint of the exciting scenes which were, to follow. When knocks were hoard from the imprisoned man it was at once determined to ’attempt a rescue by means of divers, as it was impossible to hope to pump the water out in less ‘than ten days. After tlirce attempts a. volunteer diver immed Hughes succeeded in reaching the imprisoned man, who, to quote the cablegram “was intensely surprised when the diver emerged (from the water below. ’ ’ The achievement was probably a unique one in the annals of mining rescues. After being lowered to the 900 feet level, -which had not been reached by the water, the diver had to * descend through water 100 ft by ladderway down the shaft, then to grope his way for 300 ft. along a level or drive, then to scramble 30ft. up a rise, that is, an: excavation made more or less perpendicularly from the level into the country above it. The accomplishment of such a feat by a diver encumbered with liis diving suit and carrying with him the gradually lengthening tube on which his air supply depended, seems almost incredible when we reflect how easily the frail pipe might have been twisted or frayed in' transit, The imprisoned man had enough air to. breathe for some days at any rate, as the rising water had shut in the air-at the higher points of the workings, but he must have been in total darkness as soon as his lamp gave out. The first idea seems to have been to convey a diving suit to him and bring him out in this way, but apparently this plan has been abandoned as impracticable. The water is being pumped out and lias already fallen six feet, and the unfortunate ruau will probably have to remain for 10 d.ayf i.u his present position before lie can he rescued. We shall await the result with anxiety and it is to he’hoped that no unexpected accident will prevent a successful issue of what is one of the most plucky deeds that lias ever been recorded in a field where bravery and self sacrifice seem especially to flourish.