Crítica
- Before her defence lawyer, María Poey recounts the crime
- Thirteen years! — Crítica is now a national newspaper
Two large editorial subjects dominate: the Ray murder report, whose witness and police accounts disagree about the second shot, and Crítica’s thirteenth-anniversary celebration of its national reach. The expanded reading preserves both the disagreement and the newspaper’s self-promotional voice.
Two substantial subjects occupy the page. Selected case passages and the anniversary editorial are transcribed; intervening details and the continuation on another page are omitted.
Translation
Before her defence lawyer, María Poey recounts the crime
Dr Horacio B. Oyhanarte, entrusted with the defence of Mrs María P. de Canelo, went this morning with Councillor Pereyra and the former head of investigations in La Plata, Mr Jorge L. Ower, to the chalet on July 9 Street. He wished to speak with his client and form a personal impression of how Councillor Dr Carlos A. Ray’s murder had been committed.
[…]
The second shot—
She then relates how, as Mr Ray rose, another shot sounded behind him. She considers this the fatal one, since immediately after it rang out, Mr Ray collapsed.
She then threw herself out of bed, on precisely the side where Dr Ray had fallen.
Meanwhile the men, of whom there were two, fled through the same door by which they had entered: the bathroom door.
[…]
The two shots—
These are the conclusions the police reached as the most accurate.
The first shot was fired by the first man to enter the bedroom, whom Dr Ray surprised rummaging through the belongings on the dressing tables.
The second shot came from the man at the bathroom door. Seeing Dr Ray move and believing him unhurt, he wanted to stop him reaching his weapon. As we have said, this bullet did not reach its target because at that moment Dr Ray, his strength gone, was falling, never to rise again.
Thirteen years! — Crítica is now a national newspaper
THIRTEEN YEARS!
We can maintain that youth knows more than experience.
[…]
Crítica is now a national newspaper—
With all these spiritual resources, we shall fill the new house. Crítica is now a national newspaper.
It weighs upon the country’s axis of rotation, and when its columns set a course, public opinion changes direction and follows us. Little by little, the pen is becoming a rudder between our fingers.
[…]
Yesterday’s primer has become a daily book. Our six editions can scarcely contain the public’s eagerness. The 250,000 copies we force from the presses with a tremendous effort are a drop in the ocean for the reader awaiting us in every home. The railways hold up our editions and disrupt the smoothness of dispatch, and we cannot satisfy that demand for copies.
Context
Why the sequence of the shots changes the story of the crime
The two accounts assign a different role to the second shot. In María’s recollection it brings Ray down; in the police reconstruction it misses because he is already falling. That difference affects how the actions and intentions of the two intruders are understood. By taking the defence lawyer into the house and then setting out the police’s version, the report makes the crime scene a place where competing explanations are being assembled.
How Crítica turned its birthday into a claim to public leadership
Natalio Botana founded Crítica on September 15, 1913. Its large headlines, illustrations and popular language helped establish a distinctive mass readership. Thirteen years later, the anniversary editorial converts that readership into a political claim: the paper says it can steer opinion, not merely record events. The pen becoming a rudder captures the ambition to treat journalistic popularity as authority over the country’s direction.
Why a national newspaper depended on railways as well as presses
The anniversary passage describes an uneven production chain. More copies and frequent editions could be printed in the city, yet distribution by railway determined when distant readers received them. A paper calling itself national therefore needed transport capacity to match editorial ambition. The complaint about delayed editions turns a technical bottleneck into evidence of demand, allowing Crítica to celebrate growth even while admitting that it could not reach every waiting reader.
Original
Ante su abogado defensor, María Poey relató la escena del crimen
El doctor Horacio B. Oyhanarte, a quien se confirió la defensa de la señora María P. de Canelo, concurrió esta mañana en compañía del concejal Pereyra y del ex jefe de Investigaciones de La Plata, don Jorge L. Ower, al chalet de la calle 9 de Julio, para conversar con su defendida y obtener una impresión personal de la forma en que fué cometido el asesinato del concejal doctor Carlos A. Ray.
[...]
El segundo tiro—
Relata luego, cómo al incorporarse el Sr. Ray sonó a sus espaldas un nuevo disparo, que ella considera que ha sido el mortal, ya que inmediatamente de haber estallado, el Sr. Ray se desplomó.
Entonces ella, se arrojó fuera del lecho, del lado precisamente en que cayó el Dr. Ray.
Entretanto, los hombres, que eran dos, se dieron a la fuga por la misma puerta que habían entrado, y que es la del cuarto del baño.
[...]
Los dos tiros—
Estas son las conclusiones a que arribó la policía como las más acertadas.
El primer tiro correspondió al primer hombre que entró en la habitación y que fué sorprendido por el Dr. Ray revolviendo en los efectos colocados encima de las mesitas del toilette.
El segundo disparo que fué del hombre que estaba en la puerta del cuarto de baño y que al ver el movimiento del Dr. Ray, no creyéndolo herido, quiso impedirle alcanzar el arma. Como decimos, este balazo no llegó a su destino porque en ese instante el Dr. Ray, sin fuerzas, caía para no levantarse más.
¡Trece años! — CRITICA es hoy un diario nacional
¡TRECE AÑOS!
Podemos sostener que la juventud sabe más que la experiencia
[...]
CRITICA es hoy un diario nacional—
Con todos esos elementos espirituales, iremos a repoblar la casa nueva. CRITICA es hoy un diario nacional.
Pesa en el eje de rotación del país y cuando sus columnas marcan un rumbo, la opinión pública tuerce su curso y nos sigue. Poco a poco la pluma se nos va haciendo timón entre los dedos.
[...]
La cartilla de ayer se ha hecho un libro diario. Apenas si en nuestras seis ediciones cabe la ansiedad del público. El cuarto de millón de ejemplares que le imponemos en brutal esfuerzo a las máquinas es una gota en el océano para el lector que nos espera en cada hogar; las vías ferroviarias nos estanquean las ediciones, tironean de nuestra quietud de expedición, y no alcanzamos a satisfacer esa demanda de ejemplares.
Source: Source: Internet Archive / Biblioteca Nacional de la República Argentina