Smyrna times., 1855-12-05
A Dreadful Crime,

When crime OF universal horror and which
' has hitherto been a matter of rare occurro,o.,
: appears 10 nave become regular and frequent
thlng' 1t Is high time that it attracted sepor,ta
legislation and peculiar punishment. OF sucb
a character is the taking occasion to plunder
the sufferers on the occasion of some terrible
calamity, such as railroad or steamboat a..
ter AND this enormity has, of late, become
Setllea thIng-a matter requiring the most
VigLant investigation and the seyerest corrac-
tioh. AT the lime of the Camden and Anbov
ui'@Stcl' we noted In several cotemporary pa-
Pers accounts Of the plunder of the dead and
uyi"9-We have more than once known il to ba
e''0 'o'c III lesser lncldents-and we new learn
from the 81. Louis Republican that at the
Time OF the late accident at the Gasconodo
o'lu9e' numbers of wretches were on hand
"no' III place OF aiding the wounded. began At
once to strip them of their watches and otbo.
property. The Republican maryels whence
theSe Vultures came in such numbers. remark
ing That terrible storm of thunder and roi,
was raging at the time, but there were. ready,
70 rod The dead and to pick whatever valuabIrs
could be found, in the general confusion which
followed for hours afterwards
Did The case admit the supposition. we
should suppose the wretches in question had
PurPoseiy caused the accident for the sa ke of
Plunder. If so, it was most inpepiouslv dono
~ 10 'he bridge was new, the disaster would
d course be attributed to its incompletencss l
! ne question Is, however, of the frequency of
helr most unnatural, tendsh and wolfsb criuo
u piunderlng the dead on such an occasion
lnu The necessity of establishing some nnnisb-
neh'' oy law in the different States for an f
'Hence which, from its horror, seems TO do e
nanu punishment equal in severity TO anv Il
10" WITHIN the scope of retributive Justice Il
II is not merely because the crime thrills bv T
IS terrific hard-heartedness that we would adj b.
oca'e Tor 1t separate legislation. We believe CT
lat desire TO plunder the sufferer is at the ~ ~
oltom OF many railroad accidents and the r.
auSe OF many deaths. Every weck-we migbt al
lihost say every day-we find amonc our ov- nt
langes The account of some " fendish at ..
'nPt to cause calamity by placing logs on n III
'il'o@u tracks, or by taking up rails. Wbv Sc
ore caIamlties do not occur, or how it is tba, ne
many are detected in time to prevent them tu
marvel and mystery. na
as civilization progresses, vice advances fuI
SO, AID new forms of wickedness and nou, no
ases of depraved humanity advance with it sT, sal
niortunately justice, though she has iron bll
nds has also eaden feet, and her DELAY is in sci
rlabIy cause of suffering. But we sincere as
trust that this repetition of such soulloss sci
lrfuI dePravlty on such occasions as these 1, T,u
c'dents, will excite more attention than il the
hitherto done, and that the result NAV he in
ne adequate punishment. OF the revoItino fur
'tures IN fiction we can recall nothing more ext
rlble than the description in Bulwer's Last &C.
the Barons of the camp FOLLOWERS, who plun- the
red the dead-but in no work of fiction can SOU
remember to have seen any account which. all
luced to probability, ever equaled in afro. yea yea
ths' of prowling among the wounded and fur, flr
ng Id their last agonies, for the sake of pal-
petty theft.--PhiLa. Bulletin. 7