The Somerset press. [volume] (Somerset, Ohio) 1873-1977, 1873-10-31
lane when the FIRE broke out, and there
had been no explosion.
ACT SECOND.

A-eiNA CS~Ai AED - tAS7ADtA-
ACT SECOND.
The United States Circuit Court room
Baltimore. The widow of Goss had
claimed of the insurance companies the
amount of the policies ON her husbands
life, and payment had been refused, on
the ground that Goss was not dead. The
widow maintained that her husband had
perished in the flames, and brought suit.
The remains found in the ruins were dis
inferred, and examined by medical ex-
perts. The defense urged that the teeth
were unlike the fine set Goss was known
TO have possessed; that the hair exhibi-
ted was not the color of his, and SO a war
was waged over these charred fragments
of humanity, which resulted in victory
for the plaintiff. The average juror has
no bowels of compassion for corporations
or cormorants. An appeal followed, of
course. The insurance companies were
dissatisfied with the verdict, and no Won
der Indeed, it is asserted that prior TO
this trial overtures had been made to
the insurance agents on the part of Goss,
who was ready to give himself up for a
sum Of money and immunity from Grim
inal prosecution for all concerned IN tho
plot.
ACT THIRD.
In this We see the wanderer, driven
from place to place, embarrassed pecuni-
arly, given over to drink, now in Cana
da, then in Tennessee, then in Pennsyl-
yania, and for time in New jersey
All this time he is in communication
with his fellow conspirators, receiving
money and letters from them, and on one
occasion visited by his brother and I'm
derzoot He has assumed an alias; is A.
c. Wilson, single man, and in this
character Is attentive to and endeavors
to persuade into an elopement a girl in
the humble walks Of life. Finally the
sinews of war become exhausted; ii was
not foreseen that the insurance c0mpan-
les would hold on to their greenbacks 50
tenaciously; and to one of the conspira-
tors at least, murder seems to afford the
only way to escape detection and punish
ment for lesser crime.
ACT FOURTH
Is laid in Pennsylvania. Underzoot and
Goss arrive in Chester county together.
Goss is left at a tavern in Jennersville,
while Underzoot visits his brother-in-
law hard by, a ne'er-do-weel named
Rhodes. lie endeayors TO secure Rhodes
as an accomplice in the premeditated
crime. by arousing his cupidity. He
tells him the stranger has one thousand
dollars in his possession, and more may
be had. Rhodes refuses and warns, I'm
derzoot, if we may credit the statements
of the former, ard Underzoot then re-
solves to do the deed himself. He pro
cures a horse and buggy and invites
Goss to ride with him. The two start
out together; bat one returns. The re-
mains Of the other are found ten days
later, where the murderer's hands had
laid them. The deed was done under
the cover Of darkness. The buggy was
halted by the roadside at the edge Of q
wood. The murderer's left arm wa:
placed around the drueged and half
conscious victim, while the right hand
inflicted three deadly stabs with dirk
Then the body was forced back against
the buggy-top, breaking the bow, and
the throat cut. In taking the corpse
from the vehicle, the step was broken
and the dashboard bent. The lifelesi
remains were taken into the woods. The
bloody blankets were thrown out of the
buggy, the oil-cloth removed from the
floor of the vehicle, and it was washed
in stream near by, and returned to its
owner in Penningtonville just before
midnight. With all these precautions
ring, afterwards identified as one worn
by Goss, and bone-stud, which belong
ed to Underzoot, were found in the bug
gy, and later examination detected blood
stains. The vehicle had also been in
jured in the struggle, which did not es-
cape notice at the time; but Underzoot':
explanations we're deemed satisfactory
and he paid for the damage done and foi
the loss of the blankets. The buggy
having been thus disposed Of, the mur.
derer returned to complete his fearful
nights work. He stripped the body oi
all its clothing, save the shoes and stock
ings, cut off the arms at the chest, tried
to cut off the leg5 at the knee, but could
not dissever the joints, and so cut then
off at the thigh. The body he buried il
one place, the dismembered limbs in an
other, and the clothing and the blankets
taken from the buggy in third place
all so marked that he could readily find
them if he desired. Coolness and cal
culation appear to have marked all the
murderer's movements.
The buzzards disclosed the burial
place of the murdered man; an inquesl
was held, and a verdict found against
w. Z. Underzoot He was arrested ir
Baltimore, and taken 10 West Chester
Jail TO await his trial. Rhodes, his
brother-in-law, was afterward arrested
as an accomplice in the murder, and A
c. Goss was also arrested on a charge o
conspiracy and perjury made by the in.
surance companies.
ACT FIFTH.
The Courtroom at West Chester
Pennsylvania, where W. f. Underzoo
is to be tried for his life.
These are mere outlines, meagre notei
of a chapter Of incidents in the criminal
annals of this country on which those
insatiates Of horrors viii coon be fed tc
the full. Clearly the brothers Goss, the
widow, and W. L. Underzoot, were il
the plot to defraud the insurance com
panies. How many more were concern
ed in it, must be left to conjecture foi
the present. Think of these conspira
tors, wife and brother among them
swearing to the identity of remain.
which they knew to be those Of an un
known son,-critically examining
II ,o.t,r,.;,,s, ,,,,o,, tell, op.1 hair d,