The Wheeling daily intelligencer. [volume] (Wheeling, W. Va.) 1865-1903, 1866-11-07
a SrRANGE STORY.

Some wUEllS ago man named Alvin
G. TcmplN, IL citizen OF Now York,
mystcriOusly disappeared mt Burning
Springs. Within tho last few days sus-
piCiOn fastened on IL person named ROh't
=. Steinwny Ns his murderer, and nc
coriinEly he Was arrested. Since his
arrest lie has written and published
the following extraordinary statement
in tn" ParkErsburE Times OF Monday
last:
Ems. TIMES My object in writing
this communication Is 10 lay before the
public the IMCtS attending tho distress
ing death Of tho late Alvin &. Temple,
OF the city of Now York, AS have Just
been arrested hOrT on II charge OF being
ACCESSORY to, and the cause of it. am
hero without friends or nCQuRiutUnCes,
and must go TO prison for want OF bail.
hope, however, i'll the course OF II few
days, to oNOnCrNIS myself from all SuS-
Picion OF amy completely in tho death OF
my friend.
The DECEASED aud myself were both
residents of New York and had been
acquainted nearly ton years; about the
middle of September last, We lett home
together on n tour to tho oil regions ol
Southern Ohio and West Virginia. We
ed the oil wells of Duck Creek. We
then visited successfully uOrSeneCk,
Sand Hill, White Oak, and Burning
Springs. We arrived at tho latter
place on the afternoon OF Friday, Oct,
10th. We spent Saturday in visiting
the various oil wells. sunday morning
we started on IL THmble to make some
observations AS to the nature of the
country. From this ramble Mr.. Tenn
Pile never returned, and upon this cir
cumstance have been arrested. hope
the public, after hearing my statement,
will suspend its Judgment until l can
offer more proof of my entire limo
cence. Mr., Temple being something OF
a EColoEist, carried II leather sack sus-
pended by IL strap over the shoulder To
contain the specimens collected, and in
his hand hammer with handle three
feet long, such AS is commonly used by
biologists. We crossed the burning
Springs run ut the mouth and climbed
up the hill on tho upper
side. About threS-fourths OF the
way up we discovered an opening
in the rocks caused probably by some
cOnVUlSiOn OF tho earth. Into this We
found that we could crawl some fifteen
feet when further progress was stopped
by the iSSure becoming narrower
| Temple by thruSting i'll his hammer, us.
cert2ined that the passage soon wideued
again, and that by removing some OF
the pieces OF rock we could so on. We
procured II sapliug, which we found on
the ground above, which we used as a
battering ram. We could hear the
pieces fall as they were pushed inward
and from the sound knew the descent
could be but few feet. | went first
when We had opened the way, and de-
SCended by letting myself down by the
hands. Temple followed. Lighting 4
match and piece OF paper We found
ourselves in u cavern about twelve feet
square in which We could stand up
| right. Pieces of broken rock, varying
in size from an egg to n barrel, covered
the ground. Temple collected some
| specimens, principally sand rock and
| teldspar, which he put into n sack tC
be examined at leisure Our progress
was very difficult on account OF the
loose and Jagged stones. Partly
then lighting a match we man
aged to ascertain what l have rela-
| ted, and also to discover a assure nearly
| opposite where we entered, some three
| feet i'll width ut the bottom and grad.
ually narrowing toward the top. Crawl
| ing into this we found il made IA con-
siderable descent until it opened into a
| spacious cave, the dimensions of which
! cannot state, as il was not thoroughly
explored. We found hero the same
chaos OF broken rocks, and were con.
| tIuuHlly bruising ourselves in climbing
over and through them. Proceeding
some ~ yards we saw light on ouI
right which proved to tie caused by 4
split i'll the rock. Looking through II
We could see the hills on the opposite
bank of the kanHwhn, but could moi
open our way out. Leaving this on our
| right, We proceeded to make what eX-
ploratiOns our limited means would al.
/ low. After going perhaps fifty yards,
| We were surprised at finding small
] lake, Ut pool, as near as l can Judge,
some sixty feet in length, by twenty
! feet wide. Its level was some three feet
below the ground on which we stood
I Tempt" inserted his hammer into
this pool and found that instead
/ of water il was oil-petroleum
| have not time to describe oul
| sensations on this discovery, which
| promised untold wealth. After dis.
cussinG the matter for a few minutes
| he attempted u try tho depth with the
handle OF his hammer. He got rs neal
the brink as he could, and was about
| executing his design, when the loose
stones on which he stood suddenly
cnved in with him. He sunk, rose
| again, struggled a moment, and 1 saw
him no more. l was powerless to as.
sist him, even if had not been COM
! pletely bewildered. The weight of the
| specimens in his sack, no doubt pre-
| vented him from saving himself, as he
| was capital swimmer. The horror o.
| my situation may be imagined. stood
alone in that cave wherein was death
and darkness, fully aware that when !
went out into the light would only
meet strangers and suspicion. called
| my companion by name again and
again till terrified by the sepulchraI
! echoes that rcsounded through the
| blackness.
This is the true statement of the fact
Whether 1t will be credited is more than
can say. l am fully aware how diff
/ cult 1t Is for me to answer tho question
| wv ny did you not make this statement
sooneT?" Here is my reply. When
left the cave l went to my room at the
hotel. Overwhelmed as was, could
not help being sensible that the discov.
cry was an important one, and resolved
to secure the benefits oft; so kept the
matter quiet until nv designs should
be accomplished. To this end l obtain.
ed "A favorable lease from the agent OF
the Rathbone Oil Company OF the
| ground covering the cave. This lease
AS the county records will show, was
made the day after the occurrence above
revealed. II is made to George Temple
the father of Henry V. Temple, tI.G
| brother of the late Alvin G. Temple.
have not reserved TO myself directly OF
indirectly any part of this lease. hone
this circumstance will go far to show
that could have no motive in causing
tho death Of my friend. do not think
his relatives, or those who know me-
will entertain the slightest suspicion tC
my prejudice. Yet feel that can
never have moments peace of mind
until the judgment OF everybody shall
| hcIuit mo OF the charge, And now,
MeSSrs. Editors, l request that YOU will
| give the foregoing statement n nI1co in