Columbia Democrat and Bloomsburg general advertiser. [volume] (Bloomsburg, Pa.) 1850-1866, 1857-06-20
MURDER /!

of the dsy. Scarcely paper can be pick
ed up that does not contain the shocking
details Of some brutal, cold-blood murder
We read of murder, think of murder, speak
Of murder, dream Of murder, and some-
times even witness murder. Sheriffs, Pol
icemen and Oonstables are almost wholly
occupied in hunting up and arresting muir
derers, Courts and juries in trying them,
lawyers in prosecuting or defending them,
and newspapers in publishing the full de.
tails of murder and all subsequent pro.
ceedings. Go where you please, you will
rarely fail to stumble upon murder.
The mania has broken out, and is wide.
spread in its ravages. City, town, hamlet
and country are alike afflicted with the
ravages of this foul, withering, desolating
curse. Scarcely have We been glutted with
the bloody details of one, till we are star
tied with the perpetration Of more atroc.
ious in anothe section. In more perpe-
tration, they resemble more closely the con-
stant rumbling of the thunderbolt, than
the ftful, evanescent glare of the lightn-
ing. With them there is seemingly no in
tereuption and no end. They are omni-
present and omnifarious.
From the date Of the brutal and fend-
ike murder Of young Doctor Norcross, to
the present, The public mind has been star
tied and horri6ed by succession of mur-
ders, every one, if possible, more daring
in conception and more ruthless in execu-
ton than that one. Who, of our readers,
is unacquainted with the particulars Of the
Burdell tragedy, with its long train of
mystery and concomitsnt horrors, which
was perpetrated close on the heels of the
Norcross tragedy. That was closely fol-
lowed by the White tragedy, in Allegheny
county, and that by the MKeesport but.
cherry. The Danyille poisoning case and
the Nowbury tragedy may also be mention
ed in the same category. But the list does
not end here, The murder Of Robt. Webb
and the serious injuries inflicted on Harry
K. Eaton, in st. Louis, and the more re-
cent murder of J, G. Bartholomew, by his
cousin Charles Philips in Chester county,
are necessary to complet the picture.
But these are only 1.-THE of the mur-
ders that have been Perpetrated during the
time mentioned above. 10 attempt to re.
count them all would be an endless task.
Their name is legion.
But, it may be asked, what is the reason
of such On alarming increase of murders
during tho present year. We unhositating-
ly answer, that it is attributable to the fail.
ure on the part Of courts and juries to do
their duty towards the perpetrators ofthem.
In comparatively few instances are mur.
derers dealt with according to their de.
serts. From false feeling of sympathy I
towards them the demands of Justice and
Providence are utterly disregarded or
trampled under foot, and he whose crime
.Itself il past all expiration,
Ehe greatest crime that nature dOih abhor,"
is turned loose upon society, which he has
so foully and irreparably wronged, or, at
best, confined for short time in prison, to
be liberated therefrom by free pardon
too readily to be obtained from Executive
officers of easy virtue, on the solicitation
of men of wealth and influence.
1t is true that in the Norcross tragedy,
thanks to the efficient and iudefatipable
action of the officers of justice, the guard
ians of the public safety, that murder vii
soon be atoned for, by the life of the guilty
perpetrator thereof. But in the other cases
how stands the record In the Burdell
tragedy, trial of the supposed (may we
not say the really perpetrator or instigator
of the murder has been held, but with what
result None whatever. The trial was
mere burlesque, mockery of Justice
The guilty party (in every sense save that
OF law (j j has again been let loose upon
society, with her hands yet reeking in the
warm hearts blood Of her victim. That
mystery has yet to be dissipated, and, so
far the blood of the murdered cry in vain /
to heaven for vengeance.
In the other cases enumerated above. ,
with The exception Of the Newburg mys. {
terry, which has not yet been solved, al. {
though every means have been tried to fer. |
ret out the guilty parties, the real sup {
posed perpetrators have been arrested and /
have yet to undergo their trials, What t
the result of each may be, time can alone ,
decide. In the meantime We sincerely ,
hope that every means will be employed
by the proper authorities to deyelope the
guilt or innocence Of the suspected parties.
We wish no injustice done to them, all we
ask is simple justice. u