Crítica
- A KEY WITNESS STEPS ONTO THE SCENE
- The Trampled Plant
- Mosca!... (Bull's-eye!...)
Crítica's page of 3 October 1926 continued its coverage of the murder of Carlos Ray, the Vicente López councilman killed at home the previous month. The paper presented a painter, Nicolás La Rosa, who said he had seen the two thieves as they fled and had heard shots between 5 and 5:10. It argued that his account matched the maid Angela Villalba and the other witnesses, and that the inquiry was rightly turning toward the criminal underworld. A shorter, partly illegible piece reported that a detective had found a trampled plant where the maid said the attackers had jumped over. It treated the find as strengthening the certainty that thieves were responsible. A sharp editorial mocked Enrique S. Mosca, the former Santa Fe governor, who had attacked Crítica from a newspaper he directed. Mosca had written that María Poey's defense was hatched in a rival newsroom that relished the case with "morbid, cynical or venal" complacency. Crítica answered with a sweeping personal attack and ended on a marksman's pun on his name. This reading is limited to the three selected excerpts and does not cover the rest of the page.
This reading covers three selected excerpts only. A library label hides text at the upper left, and small print in the clipping is degraded. Tile boundaries split several headlines, columns and captions. The first excerpt begins mid-sentence and ends with the heading "Foppiano Told CRÍTICA," whose text is not included. "The Trampled Plant" was transcribed with low confidence: fragments before and after its legible core are marked [?] or …, and they include part of an adjoining story. The map caption in the Mosca excerpt belongs to the La Rosa story; the paper spells the painter's name both "La Rosa" and "Larrosa."
Translation
A KEY WITNESS STEPS ONTO THE SCENE
…is that they agree with Villalba
A KEY WITNESS STEPS ONTO THE SCENE
As CRÍTICA anticipated, there is a painter who ran into the two assailants
Several days ago the painter Nicolás La Rosa, who lives in Vicente López, came to CRÍTICA. He has stated that he saw the thieves as they were fleeing, corroborating the statements made by the maid Angela Villalba and agreeing with her on many details. This statement, which takes on great importance because of the way it was given to us and the time that has passed, is of capital importance for the direction of the inquiry. The inquiry is now aimed at seeking the perpetrators in the realm of the underworld, the only sure path to clearing up the sensational Vicente López crime.
The time at which he heard the shots, between 5 and 5:10, coincides with Villalba's statement and with those of all the witnesses who have taken part in the celebrated case file. So does the number of individuals, two, as everyone has asserted, including the milkman who took part in the first police interrogations.
Foppiano Told CRÍTICA
The Trampled Plant
…who came face to face with the assailants … [?] to him. He had hoped his friend Villar would go with him, but the days went by and he never made up his mind. … [?] … the light, nor … [?] [?] to a [?] … [?] …
The Trampled Plant
Any small detail can cast a most vivid light, above all in crimes like this one, admirably prepared by expert "escruchantes" (housebreakers), whose success is often thwarted by some chance negligence or a moment of haste. A detective has discovered a trampled plant at the spot where the maid says she saw the assailants jump over. The detail is of great importance, and it could have been overlooked while the inquiry was on the wrong track, despite police opinion, which was frankly inclined to believe that professional robbers had taken part in Ray's murder. But now, thanks to the discovery of the trampled bush, the certainty that thieves were the authors of the crime grows stronger.
… saw the two … coming … perhaps. … [?] …
Mosca!... (Bull's-eye!...)
The map shows Larrosa's route and the spot near the general store where, at 5 o'clock, he came upon the assailants.
Mosca!...
Dr. Enrique S. Mosca is now a journalist. With the same brazenness and incompetence he has been a lawyer, a politician, a trafficker in Treasury Bills and a collector of walking sticks. In his fortunate career he has been able to say, like the character in Benavente: "I have been everything; even an honest man." Yet nobody knows what the specialty of this specialist in certain matters is. In Mendoza he deceived the people of Mendoza, but the Treasury Bills did not deceive him. An illustrious Pacheco of resounding mediocrity; a sly provincial who never takes a step without some useful end; a politician who betrayed his electorate; a possible candidate for the vice-presidency of the Republic, [?] as a consequence of this brief biography. Here we have Mr. Mosca, who has made the bad bargain of attacking CRÍTICA from a newspaper he directs.
Mosca says, speaking of María Poey, naturally:
"This defense has been hatched in the newsroom of a colleague that is not repelled by the matters of the case file either, and that, on the contrary, devotes particular interest to them, gathering them in its pages with morbid, cynical or venal relish. So much so that it has become the scandal sheet."
It does not surprise us that the former governor of Santa Fe has suddenly become a moralist. It is a new facet of his brazenness. Throwing stones at María Poey, a poor woman who is a victim of her surroundings, fits perfectly with his sensibility.
Meanwhile, like an observer faced with an unusual phenomenon, we ask ourselves: What is to be done with this thing that crosses our path? Respond in person? No. Send out ahead to him any Black man, doorman or reporter. Then what? Let us confine ourselves to saying, like marksmen thrilled at a lucky hit: "Mosca!" (Bull's-eye!)
Context
What was the Vicente López crime, and how was it resolved?
The "sensational Vicente López crime" in these articles was the killing of Carlos Ray, a physician and municipal councilman, at his home in Vicente López on 10 September 1926. María Poey de Canelo, who lived with him, said they had heard noises, turned on the lights and found two masked men, who fired at them and fled. She became the chief suspect, but in the end the crime was attributed to two common criminals whose aim was robbery. That resolution came only months after this page appeared. In December 1926 Víctor Antía, a criminal who had been badly wounded and arrested during another holdup, confessed in hospital that he had taken part in Ray's murder with two accomplices. Poey and the councilman José Pereyra were released on 30 December. The case stayed contested even after that, because two of the accused later retracted their confessions and said police had tortured them into making them. So when Crítica wrote on 3 October that the underworld was "the only sure path," it was taking a side in an open investigation, not reporting a settled result.
Poison or robbery: why witnesses and the trampled plant mattered
Two explanations competed in September 1926. A judicial autopsy by Pedro Pando found cyanide. That led to the theory that Poey had poisoned Ray, possibly with accomplices, and that the councilman Pereyra had disguised the scene by firing into the body. On 29 September a panel of experts delivered its report to the judge: it had found no trace of cyanide. That same day Ángela Villalba, the maid next door, said she had seen two men escape while Poey shouted from the window. Her employer had told her to say nothing, to avoid getting involved. The press split along the same line: La Razón and Última Hora leaned toward Poey's guilt, while Crítica backed the robbery thesis of Commissioner Eduardo Santiago, head of Investigations of the Federal Police. That is why La Rosa's matching times and number of men, and a trampled plant at the spot Villalba described, carried so much weight in Crítica's argument a few days later. The painter's statement and the plant come from the paper's own reporting. Crítica's line that police "frankly" favored professional burglars fits the documented alignment between the paper and Santiago.
Who was Enrique S. Mosca, and why did Crítica attack him?
Enrique Mosca was a Radical Civic Union politician and a former editor-in-chief of the Santa Fe daily La Argentina. He was elected governor of Santa Fe in 1920. In 1924 he became federal interventor of Mendoza, which explains the editorial's jibe that "in Mendoza he deceived the people of Mendoza." That same year he joined the Antipersonalist faction opposed to Hipólito Yrigoyen, and in 1926 he was named head of the National Education Council. The victim, Ray, had also been active in local politics as an Antipersonalist Radical. The editorial's charges about trading in Treasury Bills and betraying voters are Crítica's own polemic, not established facts. Its sneer about a "possible candidate for the vice-presidency" turned out to anticipate later events: Alvear offered Mosca the vice-presidential nomination for the 1937 elections, and in 1946 he was José Tamborini's running mate against Perón.
Gender and morality in the fight over María Poey
Mosca wrote that Poey's defense had been hatched in a rival newsroom that gathered the details of the case with "morbid, cynical or venal" relish. He made that charge while Poey's private life was itself on trial. The press had reported a psychological study by the director and deputy director of Melchor Romero Hospital. It called her "an instinctive pervert" whose most salient trait was an irregular private life and licentious habits. It also argued that an ordinary woman in her situation would have fainted rather than seize a revolver and cry for help. Some papers portrayed her as an unscrupulous adventuress who seduced rich men. Against that background, Crítica's description of Poey as "a poor woman who is a victim of her surroundings" fit its robbery thesis. It also let the paper turn Mosca's moral posture into proof of his hypocrisy. The quarrel mixed political insult and rivalry between newspapers with competing judgments about what a respectable woman was.
Original
APARECE EN ESCENA UN GRAN TESTIGO
es que Coinciden con la Villalba APARECE EN ESCENA UN GRAN TESTIGO Como lo anticipó CRITICA, hay un pintor que se topó con los dos asaltantes Hace varios días estuvo en " CRITICA " el pintor Nicolás La Rosa, domiciliado en Vicente López y que ha declarado haber visto a los ladrones, en momentos en que huían, corroborando las afirmaciones hechas por la sirvienta Angela Villalba y coincidiendo con ella en muchos detalles. Esta declaración - adquiere gran importancia por la forma en que nos fué dada y el tiempo transcurrido - es de capital importancia para la orientación de la pesquisa, que actualmente se encuentra encaminada en el sentido de buscar a los autores del hecho en el reino de los maleantes, único sendero cierto para lograr el esclarecimiento del crimen sensacional de Vicente López. La hora, entre 5 y 5. 10, en que oyó los disparos, coincide con la declaración de la Villalba y de todos los testigos que han actuado en el célebre sumario, así como el número de individuos, que es de dos, como lo han asegurado todos, inclusive el lechero que participó en los primeros interrogatorios policiales. Foppiano Expresó a CRITICA
La planta pisada
ue se enfrentó con los asaltantes er, en [?] a él. Esperaba que lo acompañara su amigo Villar, pero pasaron los días y nunca se decidía. ó, se [?]) de las mproa, pela luz ni siué hifo. - fran - [?] [?] a una [?] ormatructor de la uienes, ante a imion que se da La planta pisada Un detalle cualquiera suele arrojar luz vivísima, sobre todo en los crímenes como éste, admirablemente preparado por " escruchantes " expertos, que suelen ver defraudado su éxito por una negligencia fortuita o un apresuramiento cualquiera. Un detective ha descubierto, en el sitio por donde la sirvienta dice que vió saltar a los asaltantes, una planta pisada. El dato es de gran importancia y y pudo no tenerse en cuenta cuando la pesquisa estaba mal encaminada, no obstante la opinión policial, inclinada a creer, francamente, en la participación de asaltantes profesionales en el asesinato de Ray. Pero actualmente, fortifícase, debido al hallazgo de la mata pisada, la seguridad de que fueron ladrones los autores del crimen. o vió venir a los dos desVícto quizá. La y pro Se hom en vis cido. El p
Mosca!...
El plano indica el trayecto de Larrosa y el lugar donde se encontró, a las 5, con los asaltantes cerca del almacén. Mosca!... El Dr. Enrique S. Mosca es ahora periodista. Con igual desenfado e incapacidad fué abogado, político, traficante en Letras de Tesorería y coleccionista de bastones. En su venturosa trayectoria ha podido decir como el personaje benaventino: " Fuí de todo; hasta hombre honrado ". Sin embargo, nadie sabe cuál es la especialidad de este especialista en ciertos asuntos. En Mendoza engañó a los mendocinos, pero las Letras de Tesorería no lo engañaron a él. Pacheco ilustre, de resonante mediocridad: provinciano cazurro que no da un paso sin una finalidad útil; político traidor a su electorado; posible candidato a la vicepresidencia de la República - [?] como consecuencia de esta biografía sintética. - He aquí al señor Mosca que ha cometido el mal negocio de atacar a CRITICA desde un diario que dirige. Dice Mosca, hablando de María Poey, naturalmente: Esta defensa se ha incubado en la redacción de un colega, al que tampoco repugnan las cosas del sumario, y a las que, por el contrario, consagra particular interés, recogiéndolas en sus páginas con morbosa, con cínica o con venal complacencia. Tanto que ha llegado a convertirse en la hoja de los escándalos. No nos extraña que el ex gobernador de Santa Fe se haya convertido de pronto en moralista. Es una nueva faz de su desenfado. Arrojar piedras contra María Poey, una pobre mujer víctima del medio, encuadra perfectamente dentro de su sensibilidad. Entretanto, como un observador que está en presencia de un fenómeno insólito, nos preguntamos: ¿ Qué hacer con esta cosa que nos sale al paso?: ¿ Una actitud personal? No. Enviarle por delante a cualquier negro, portero o redactor. ¿ Entonces? Concretémonos a decir, como los tiradores entusiasmados en la realización de un impacto feliz: - ¡ Mosca!
Source: Source: Internet Archive / Biblioteca Nacional de la República Argentina