Monmouth weekly herald. [volume] (Freehold, N.J.) 1854-1860, 1858-12-16
SINGULAR ATTEMPTS AT AS
S~ASSINATTON.

The Pliladelphia Norh Amelecan gives the
following particulars, Of the repeated attempts
to assaSinate the superintendent {. the Wash
ington Manufacturing Company ut Gloucester,
n j. For the discovery Of The conspirators
in this iiendisil scheme, the company now offei
a reward of ii Thousand dollars, and W tn some
prospect OF accomplishing tue desired object.
The history Of the affair is somewhat singular,
as the attempts have extended over a period
Of two years, during which time no less than
four have been made. The first was by a
| pistol attached to the front gate OF the super
IntendanCs house, pointing to the front door,
ne generally being the first to leave the house
in the morning, to visit tue factories before the
hands went to work. On The morning this
" machlne" was prepared for illul, he was not
well, and a little girl who was The first to 20
to the gate, fortunately discovered lie pistol
before il was discharged 1t was SO arranged
that, ty pulling lite gate open, 81 stone, to
whlcl a string was lea, would fall, and fire
the pistol. Inc child picked UP tic stone first
alid thus prevented the consummatlon Of the
heudlSh act Thus endel the first attempt.
The second was made some seven or eight
months after the first, when it was supposed
the recollection Of it bad died away The con-
~trivance consisted Of a box, which was sent TO
the address of the superintendent, and left at
the ferry house. The superintendent being
absent from home at the time, the family re
fused to receive anything Of d doubtful charac-
ter during his absence, without knowing from
whom it came. The box was left at the ferry
house, without a claimant, when it was eau.
tiously opened by q charcoal man who was
| tn1I In ,n;-bt Ia,o ,uhat - o.n+;n,I I'm.
opened from the back part with carpenters
tools, when three pistols, ready cooked, primed
and loaded, were found placed in such u man
ner that the act OF opening the box would dis
charge the pistols directly at the person in
front.
Some five or six months after this, the third
attempt was made. 1t appears that, ii short
time before the operatives quit work, at the
close of the day, the superintendent was il
the habit of passing along d walk by the side
of his house, previous to going to the factories
Early one afternoon, a long string was discov
cred, reaching high up in ii tree TO the side o.
Il fence adjoining the walk This circumstance
awakened the Suspicionsof the superintendent
family, and a person was sent up the tree tc
trace where the string led TO, when it was
found to be attachd to a pistol, loaded anC
cooked, and pointed i'll the direction in which
the superintendent generally walked at that
time OF the day. The string Was intended to
De pulled by a person outside Of the fence, bui
its length, Some one hundred and fifty feel
long, would have prevented the pistol from be
ing discharged with any degree of accuracy
even 1t had not been previously discovered
A fourth attempt we recently chronicled. l
was made after u lapse Of some five or si1
months, which has led to the offer of the re
ward above mentioned. Should the nature O
the attempt be described, the ends of justice
might be defeated, and the guilty parties es
cape. Suffice TO say, that 1t is one of the
most extraordinary cases on record Of perse
vering and deliberate attempts at assassination
The superintendent himself is ID man of consid
cradle nerve, to keep his place, unawed, whel
he has been so often threatened with anony
nous letters, aud his life attempted by 81
maAy internal contrivances. His predecessor
who is An eastern, man as also is the presen
ene-was soon frightened of, by mere threat
Which were made against him. The presen
one, however, is d man of grit" and seem
determined to face his enemies tearlessly, boil
open and unseen.
1t is much to besshope dthat tue diabolica
plot may be disclosed, and the cowardly con
spirators be brought to justice.