The New York herald., 1871-09-15

race Aorsoe or ne, too prop auiy. would nave been
Of the ncuscsSc servants sleeping m little frame
house. some lfty or sixty feet back OF me main
dwelling.
The murder was not discovered until these SER
wants went to the house about haifpast ve O'Clock,
to get breakfast The doors being all securely locked
summons the people became alarmed anu burst INTO
the hons. ho.w w'.ssns .ssns met thA'- ~--- -''''
room lay the body Of the Old man. nung aagSnaiSS
blood, his head beaten TO q jelly His right hand
was clenched as If he had made struggle for lie,
and one foot nearly touching the moor showed tnas
he was trying 10 rise when he was nung back TO DIE
The bedciothes were saturated with blood, aud on
the pillow, that had hardly been pressed, was the
The sister was found by the terrified colorcd peo-
stu Bleeding ds rom i've & horrible wounds in % the neal
These wounds had evidently been made with the
same instrument that mad been used on Mr.. Jacob;
but in his case, however, only the butt end OF the
hatchet was used. on Miss Euzabeth's unprotected
head the sharp edge had descended several times
The old lady was cold anu unconscious, but showed
signs OF some remaining vitality.
The nelghborhood was Immediately aroused and
Ii was not long before the whole country around
was apprised Of the dreadful occurrence A score
OF men stood ready TO so TO almost any iengtn 10
ne a' Of the eas
prevented the adoption or awning like o settleu
theory as 70 the plan OF tne mmrIer OF !ne oplecs o.
for the criminals, it was long time before anybody
looked. Some thought the object was plunder;
The Observation-Disclosures pcnurious-habits OF the
Harpers were well known. They were known TO
Some said they mad accumulated as much as
$500 COO. And the impression was general that they
kept their treasure concealed about the house.
Against the theory OF roboery 1t urged thai the
house had not been ransacked. as robbers In quest
n lna sab @ou,a an
had been opened and searched bat the places
where the family really Kept their valuables were
lSA
with thieves working upon a premedita:ed plan.
The only money taken was distracted from Mr..
ing more than little loose change, he carefully
pinned at the top after depositng there.
IL is not known whether the old man had any
money on MIN at the time, but from the fact that
the never-belore-nilssing PIN was gone 1t was sup.
II plunder alone had been the object, what was the
necessity OF despatching the old lady who had none
about her and was too much wasred with consump-
lon to have given any alarm, or IN any way inter.
Tered with the robbery or murder OF her brother II
she had become aware of III
The robbers could not have feared Identification,
for thee were no candles IN either OF the rooms,
and no lights were seen from outside. Against the
people, though very close In all their dealings, were
thorougnly lar and honest and 100 infrm and
nodensiye to engender hatred. So the good peorle
could make nothing OF the case whatever.
lhe coroner OF tne county came and held an in.
mystery. The testimony proved next to nothing.
One OF the Witnesses o young negro by the name OF
dieting himself couple Of times in the course OF
rigid and rather brOwbeatlng r0ssexamtnation, as
TO what clothes he had worn the day before, and
some other Insignificant points, and one OF the ju-
rors, basins suspicion nat he was In the secret
these diverse statements, had him sent to the Ver-
sailles jail for further examination.
Suspicion also attached to another colOrcd boy by
the name OF Tom Scott whom Old John engaged to
WORK on the place for his board and clothes the pre-.
Ceding saturday, and who left the farm early this
morniDg. Scott was sent TO jail also. Neither of
the boys had bad reputauOns and really appear roo
young, dull.brained, and Inexperienced to have
made the showing Of innocence they made to-day.
with fresh blood on their hands and q mangled
corpse still unburied anu almost In their sight
further search for the criminals will have to be
made, and IL will probably result in the arrest Of
men employed about the place, or something more
tangible than appears against the two boys now IN
jail.
The fact that the batcnet used was one that had
been lying about the kitchen and wOOdhouse Tor
some time would seem to indicate that somebody
employed on the premises did the deed. IL the
murder had been plotted by outside and expert
robbers they would have been apt 10 use their own
tools.
Mr.. Harper was buried in the little buryfng ground
on the place at i've O'Clock. The interment was
made by the farm hands under the superlntendenco
OF Old Jonn, and without religious exercises or any
kind.
The old lady is easier tonight. but still uncon.
scious. Sue has four fractures OF the skull and can
not possibly survive.