Shepherdstown register. [volume] (Shepherdstown, Va. [W. Va.]) 1849-1955, 1875-10-30
THE SEARCH AND TIE DISCOVERY.


o'clock that evening, the family first
learned that Josie had not been at her
desk during the day, and he knew that
she had not remained at home. The
news Of her disappearance spread rap
idly. A call was made for help, and
several hundred of Mr.. Langmaid's
Suncook neighbors rallied to join in
the search. pot so.> % >i.,
Josie was easily traced to the point
where she was last seen in the road.
1t was dark by this time. A line of
men was formed, lanterns were lit, and
by their uncertain light the searchers,
taking broad sweep, struck into the
dismal woods Progress was difficult
and slow, it was not till nearly 9 o'clock
that the spot was reached. ..ti
A Mr.. Copp, familiar with the woods
and little in advance OF The line,
stumbled over straw hat, caught i'll
the twisted root a tree. Inside the hat
were great spots of blood. Ten feet
further on he found the mutilated body
of the girl. The limbs were crossed
and partially covered with torn rem
nants of apparel.
Mr.. Langmaid was not ten feet be-
hind Mr.. Copp. Almost at the same
instant the father caught sight of the
body, and with piteous cry flung
himself upon the ground beside it.
The men gathered round with their
lanterns and learned the full extent OF
this most horrible of crimes. The
father aud the brother, both frantic
with grief, were led away. Some one
threw a cloak over the poor, mangled
body, and it was borne from the place.
The search was resumed in the
morning, when the head was found a
quarter of a mile or more further into
the wood. Josie Langmaid was buried
on Wednesday in Chichester, where
she had formerly lived. More than a
thousand people attended the funeral
services. .T.4-s
eTIlE ARREST OF WILLIAM DREW.
Almost every community has its
scapegoat. In Suncook this position is
held by an illvisaged young man known
as Bill Drew. He is a drunken ne'er
do-well about twenty-five years of age
his father a thief, mother a hag, home
hovel, and connections and record ex-
ceedingly disreputable.
a The farmers of Suncook were not
/ long in gathering up their abstract in
dignation and concentrating it upon
the head of the ugly rough who had
stolen their chickens, insulted their
dau lighters, and quarrel!ed and fought
about their streets. There was really
no positive ground for suspecting that
Bill Drew did this deed; but his bad
name alone was enough to convince
worthy people who had, indistinct
notions of evidence. There was a uni
versal cry for his arrest. The Boston
detectives who were working up the
case could find no circumstances point
ing to Drew's guilt. .''No matter
cried the usually quiet and orderly
citizens, now become frenzied mob,
che is just the critter to do it, and wei
have him dead or alive. The man that
murdered Josie Langmaid knew them
woods and nobody knows EN- better
than Bill Drew"
A rumor that Drew, who had once
worked tor Mr.. Langmaid, was known
to have made insulting proposals to Josie,
who had promptly rejected them and
threatened to inform her father Of the
insult, followed by another rumor that
the hee! of a gaiter boot belonging to
Drew's wife and some time worn by
him corresponded to the print upon
the murdered girls cheek, was enough
to convince the few that still doubted.
Constable Hildreth, constrained by the
overwhelming public sentiment, started
out to arrest the only man whom the
people of Suncook deemed" wicked
enough to have committed the murder.
Mr.. Hildreth found Drew on the
road walking toward Hooksett, few
miles out of town. The officer captur
ed him and brought him back to Sun
cook handkufed The excitement OF
the village people had meanwhile in
creased to violence. A mob filled the
streets around the lobby, as the brick
Jail with two cells is called, waiting the
arrival of the prisoner and prepared to
take the law into its own hands. ID
NARROW. ESCAPE. ..-..
The officer drove his horse at a gahop
through the crowd and up to the lock
up. The people shouted, 'Lynch him
lynch hirn!' ''Tear bis heart out,
'Let us get hold of him once," and
made rush for the frightened prisoner,
Had he fallen into their hands at that
moment he would have been torn liter
ally to pieces. He jumped from the
buggy with an alacrity upon which his
life depended, and put the Jail door be-
tween himself and his fellow towusmen.
Officer Hildreth stood on the doorstep
with a revolver in his hand.
"Gire the man a chance" he said,
sand if he turns ont to be the murderer,
I'll be one of you. -.
From the time that the key was turn
ed upor William Drew and an officer
placed with him, more to protect his
life than to prevent his escape, the lob
by has been guarded day and night by
a vigilant committee of citizens, less
noisy but even more determined than
the mob of Tuesday. Any attempt to
remove the prisoner to Concord would
have been attended with violence.
The Suncook people dc not mean that
this man shall be taken beyond the