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2 fact that Bass was to be tried three days later for receiving stolen goods, and that there was almost a certainty of conviction. They claim that he suicided to escape disgrace, and purposely disarranged his attire and fired the shot through the back of his head to make it appear murder and avoid invalidating his insurance policies. A few days ago two men named Divine and Bolan, workmen at the Exposition grounds came forward and claimed to have heard the shot and seen Bass fall, holding something in his hand. They say they were going to catch a car, and were at the corner of Houston and Ivy streets nearly a block away when the shot was fired. Bass, they assert, was alone. Before preceding with the real analysis of the case it is just as well to dispose of the theory of suicide. Every fact and every rational surmise is positively against it. In the first place Bass was not about to be tried, and would not have been called in court for over a month, which he knew. The pistol found in his hand had not been fired in a long time. This is demonstrated by the presence of lint in the barrel, such as accumulates in a weapon carried in the pocket. The ball coursed downward and forward through the head from about an inch behind the right ear, and had it emerged would have done so just in front of the left ear. Bass was a stout man with short, thick arms. It is absolutely impos sible for a man of that build to hold a weapon so as to produce any such a wound. There was no motive for suicide to avoid invalidating several of the insur ance policies, as they had been running long enough to become incontestable under any circumstances. This meets all the points except the statement of Divine and Bolan. They claim to have witnessed the tragedy at 4:30 a. m. at a distance of nearly a block. Last Wednesday morning a Looking Glass reporter visited the scene of the tragedy at exactly 4:30 a. m., and found it impossible to discern more than a mere shadowy outline of a man at the distance specified. The fact is that those who found Bass were obliged to light matches todistinguish his color. Other weak spots could easily be pointed out in Bolan’s and Divine’s story, but these are sufficient. It may be set down that what they state is a physical impossibility. So much for the suicide theory. Conceding the case to have been one of murder the first question that logically arises is this: Who had a motive—a strong and adequate motive in putting B. A. Bass out of the world ? The answer to this question must besought for in a care ful scrutiny of the man’s past career and daily habits of life. It is known beyond all reasonable doubt that Bass had deal ings with an extensive gang of profes sional car thieves, whose depredations have mounted into the tens of thousands of dollars during the past twelve months. That he purchased a large quantity of their plunder can be absolutely proven, and there is the strongest reason for be lieving that he was more or less familiar with the personnel of the gang. When arrested for receiving stolen goods Bass at first denied everything, but later on admitted to the officers and others that he had purchased a vast quantity of “crooked stuff,” and claimed that his transactions had been almost entirely with one man. In consideration of the prosecution against himself being held up he agreed to turn state’s evidence and be tray this middle man, and upwards of twenty others who were implicated, into the hands of the police. This compact he failed to keep, but it was believed that when confronted with the immediate peril of a trial he would break down and tell all he knew. He was in constant conference with the detec tives, and the thieves who had formerly done business with him must have known that they were in great danger from his possible disclosures. Here, then, was not alone one man, but nearly a score who had the strongest pos sible reason for desiring Bass’ lips sealed forever. It is intimated that some of those implicated as accessories in the depreda tions were men holding minor positions of trust in the railroad service. With Bass faltering and bargaining with the detec tives they must have seen ruin stare them in the face. It is fairly certain that the man who shot Bass seized him first by the collar from behind. If he had been simply lay ing in ambush to commit murder this would have been foolish. The reasonable conclusion is that the act was the finale of I■i • " ■MOfr s Sv 9S&.V'- ' aoJK • -gjl JI ■ - ga _ Al** ■ If j THE GREAT LABOR DAY PARADE. From instantaneous photo made especially for The Looking Gloss by F. L. Howe. some altercation after which Bass sought to move away. Let us suppose that one of those who feared the merchant’s evi dence waited for him on the fatal Friday morning and walked with him up the street, expostulating and remonstrating. Bass would have had every reason for dreading and avoiding such an interview, and no doubt sought to break away. It is probable that after a quarrel he turned to walk on and the other, infuriated, seized him by the collar. If so Bass’ natural impulse was to have reached for his pis tol, and seeing the movement, his assail ant in all human probability snatched out his own weapon and shot him through the head. This theory fits all the known facts of the case, and is sustained by every parti cle of evidence. Four reputable witnesses will be produced who saw a man running from the scene of the crime. Their de scriptions of the fugitive all agree and agree moreover with the description given by Bass himself of the man whom he de signated as leader and negotiator of the gang. No one happened to be near at The. Looking Glass the moment, and the murderer had ample time to make good his escape. The mi’take that has been made thus far is in attempting to sustain the prepos terous theory of suicide instead of actively investigating the dead man’s antecedents for a clue to his slayer. It can be readily proven that Bass knew that he was a marked man, and told his confidential friends that he feared assassination. This probably accounts for the fact that he loaded himself with insurance policies, the total amount of which will no doubt reach over $20,000. If he ever spoke of suicide it was because he dread ed the unseen hand suspended above his head, and was driven to distraction by his constant peril. The theory that the detective depart ment had any reason for disposing of this man is too far fetched for serious atten tion. He knew too much and his slayer was one of those who feared lest he might speak. Joe Leppert’s Tonsorial Parlors at 6 W. Alabama street are the coolest, cleanest and best in town. Try them. A LONG JOURNEY. The Forthcoming Journey of the Guards to Chickamauga. On Tuesday afternoon at 3:30 o’clock company B of the Capital City Guard, Fifth Regiment, Infantry, Georgia Vol unteers, will swing into line forty strong, and at the word of command from Cap tain E. W. Hewitt, will start on their march upon Chickamauga. In addition to their friends the Fifth Regiment band will see the troops off. The idea of marching to the famous battlefield was a bold one, but the members of the com pany have taken hold of it with a will, and will turn out in full force. Through subscription by the business men of At lanta the trip will not cost the soldiers a cent aside from personal expenses. They will carry a supply of provisions, tents and camping appliances in wagons, and will live as did their fathers during the war. Company B will be the only representative of Georgia State Volun teers at the dedication of Chickamauga Park, and as such they will be given a prominent place in the ceremonies. They will not traverse the military roads over which the Northern troops pushed their way to Atlanta, but will follow a route never before covered by a military organ ization. The entire march will be con ducted on regular campaign style from the hardtack and coffee down through the military manual. Six days will be the time consumed in the trip, which will place them in Chickamauga several days previous to the dedicatory exercises. The boys are as a unit enthusiastic over the prospective march, and as it is a company noted for its athletic members, they will doubtless go through without a scratch. “AFTER THE BATH.” A Vivid Description of a Painting That is Causing Some Comment. A large oil painting entitled “After the Bath,” by Lloyd Branson, of Knoxville, Tenn., has been the source of considerable anxiety to Art Director Horace Bradley during the past few days. The painting is well known to connoisseurs in this part of the country, and is generally regarded as a magnificent piece of work. Some thing over a week ago Mr. Branson sent it to Atlanta for exhibition in the fine arts building on the Exposition grounds, but Mr. Bradley, who had meantime arrived from the east and assumed control of this department, was at first somewhat dubious as to the advisability of giving it a place. Mr. Bradley is much too fine an artist himself to quibble over the alleged impro priety of such a painting, but he had the many preposterous prejudices of the general pubiic to consider, and took a few days to think the matter over. He finally decided to hang the picture according to the original plan, and has given it a fine space in the art palace, It was placed in position last Thursday. The publicity which has already been given to the matter has excited a good deal of curiosity as to the exact character of the painting. The canvass is five feet by six feet, and the subject is an interior of a Roman bath. The pool is in the center, surrounded by a circular balus trade and a flight of steps lead down to the water. Disposed about the marble pavement are six female figures, all nude or nearly so. In the foreground a woman stands with her back to the spectators evidently watching her companions. This figure is nearly life size. By her side another of the bathers is seated on a tiger skin. She also is turned toward the pool, and opposite these two and facing them is a woman stretched at full length on the floor. This third figure is the one over which some doubts were entertained. It is wholly nude, but exquisitely handled and not in the faintest sense suggestive. The other three figures are grouped in the back ground and are much smaller. The painting is bright and cheerful in tone and the flesh tints are admi-ably handled. It would excite no sentiment other than admiration if hung in any metropolitan gallery. Mr. Branson, the painter, is a man of considerable promise. Other specimens of his work have attracted attention elsewhere, and he ranks well among the younger American artists. After the Bath has been publicly exhibited in Knoxville and created a furore.