Mower County transcript. [volume] (Lansing, Minn.) 1868-1915, 1874-05-28
! BLOOD.CURDLING REVELATION.
Secret Gave IN Southern IiiimHis, nrs Itn
1SlONsly & alMICn

! bbIsssbuy OnucUOHs
For not II few years back, William.
son county, IllinoiA has been the scene
Of many deeds of outrage, violence, and
murder, many of them bloody, and
nearly all of them dark and mysterious.
Men have been waylaid and murdered
on the public highways; they have
been cruelty assassinatcd in their own
yards and on their own thresholds
they have been dragged from their beds
at night, hung npon trees, and their
lifclcss and CHASTITY forms left suspend
| ed in the air, to st;lrtlc the traveller, and
drive terror and apprehension to the
hearts Of their friends and ncighbors.
In nearly every case the perpetrators
have managed to conceal themselves
from the knowledge Of the public; sur
rounded by veil Of mystery which
neither the officers of the law nor the
just revenge of the surviving friends of
the murdered victims have been able to
penetrate, they have managed to clude
Justice, and escape altogether the pen
atty their crimes so richly deserve.
The Farmers Advocate published in
Marion, Williamson county, dated May
4th contains a communication which
throws I'LL air of wild romance around
the wild .lesperatloes who have SO long
been the terror Of Williamson county.
The correspondent of the Advocate tells
Il story, the substance of which is as fol-
ows:
Not long since party Of hunters
wero out at night. In their rambles
they met another party, who they were
Mortified to see, were carrying Il dead
man. The hunters, who had escaped
the observation of the others, concealed
themselves until the party with the dead
man lladpassed on, when they followed,
keeping at safe distance behind for
perhaps mile, when the whole party,
dead man and all, suddenly disappeared.
The pursuers searched but could find
no trace nor 81 gn of the party. The next
day the hunters returned to the search,
and were rewarded by discovering a
cave, the opening of which, large enough
to admit the body Of man, appeared
in q cliff of rocks overhanging small
stream of water. The explorers procur-
ed lights and reinforcement of three
or four other residents of the vicinity,
and returned to the cave and found
themselves in large room, carpeted
and furnished and showing evident
signs of recent occupation. The sides
of the room showed openings which
they felt assured led to other rooms.
The possibility that they might be &C.
cupied made the searcllers feel unconl-
Portable, and they quickly vacated the
place. The party concluded that they
had come upon the rendezvous of
band of desperatloes, and on their way
home, stopped at the house of an old
farmer and told their story. The farm
or became excited-left the room and
soon returned with four men, masked
and armed, who made the party of ex-
plorers kneel and take a solemn oath
never to reveal what they had that day
discovered. The writer of the commu-
nication says that the families of the men
who made the discovery are leaving the
country-that others are preparing to
follow, and that great excitement exists
OH the borders, of Jackson and Villa IN
son counties, in the vicinity of tue cave