The Wheeling daily register. [volume] (Wheeling, W. Va.) 1864-1878, 1875-05-26
OUR HANCOCK LETTER.
Outrages by, and the Arrest of, Cele-
brated Evil DOers-Our Model
Judxes-THe Irops-POtatO Hug.
FARvIEw, HANCOCK COUNTY, !
May 25th, 1875. !


Judges-Tne I rops-PotatO Hug.
FAlRyIEw, HANCOCK COUNTY, !
May 25th, 1875. !
Editors OF the Register:
The law authorities of Hancock county
made successful haul of some rather
celebrated evll-doers last week. Ii am
not mistaken your columns have on more
! than one previous occasion recorded the
| larcenouS achievements, and the daring
encounters with the officers OF the law
of the Mayhem family Formerly Y their
/ habitat and the scene of some very
active life was in Greene county, Pa,
/ bordering on Ohio county. There they
! acquired n local habitation anda name,
/ in the vicinity of Burgettstown, Pa,
/ where some time last summer they came
| into hostile collision with the constabu-
| lAry of Washington county, in which
pistols and rifles were freely used, but in
which they were captured. After re-
naming in jail for some time they were
brought to trial and acquitted for want
OF proof a short time ago the family
immgratcd into Hancock county and
settled in tenLnt house on the farm OF
Mr.. John White, near Holiday Cove.
Since tina. date depredstions upon some
houses, sheep folds, stables and the prem
iscs generally of the vicinage have oc-
Cured with the frequency and certainty
unerringly attendant upon the neighbor-
hood oI the Mayhews.
On Monday night of last week SIX
spendld pieces of bacon were stolen from
the moke house of W. NJ. Lee, Esq, in the
| Cove. The next morning Simultaneous
| ly with this discovery 1t was discovered
that citizen OF the place had had Il
horse stolen. 1t was probable that the
! horse had been IL zen to convey away the
! bacon, and the tracks of the horse were
/ plainly traced down the river road, sew
eral miles when they ceased-the horse,
/ in the meantime, being found wandering
| homeward. 1t then became probable the
| bacon had at that point been shipped on
the river 1t so happened however that
between five and six o'clock that Tues
davl morning, young man called ut the
store Of L. {. Caldwell in Wellsburg,
and made offer to sell some bacon which
he had in u skitf at the wharf. The time,
the appearance of the bacon dealer, his
language and everything created SO
strong suspicion in the mind of Mr.. {.
that he deemed it advisable to have the
Young man (who gave his name as John
| SMITH arrested, and an older man (giv-
| ing his name as Martini who
kept hanging around, and who
| afterwards fully appeared to be IN cahoot
/ with the Younger one in the bacon busi-
ness. was also arrested But few hours
elapsed until sou of Squire Lee, and
then shortly after the Squire himself ar
rived in hunt of the meat. CndwcIIs
timely suspicious were then fully vcrl-
fled. and the two thieves were committei
10 jail in this county, upon information
properly made. Upon preliminary cx
summation before Squire Pugh, on We'd
ncsday, the younger one, (still claiming
| the name of Smith,) waived examlna-
ton; the elder (who now admitted him
self to be Daniel Msyhew) upon a final
hearing before the Justice, on Friday,
was also committed. There is not
particle of doubt, and it will be clearly
proved, that Smith is in fact u son of
Mayhem, the older. The parties will be
brought before the examining court in
June.
But the above Is not the end of the
Mavhew raid On Saturday morning,
constable Sweeney brought up and lodg-
I ed in Jail, upon commitment from
/ Esquire Lee, another of the young May
hews', charged with stealing sheep, a
few days previously from Esq. Freshwa
ter. Thus we have three of this precious
family in our Jail.
1t is not clear TO me that Judge Smith
is, after all, very much to blame for his
action in the removal business. To the
| Magic Relief man must the people
OF the State look for the vol
untary author of the clear and
really high-handel judicial outrage of
which they, and the authorities they have
ordained, have been made the playthings
and victims 1t was his unconstraincd
perversion of powers, reposed in him,
that rendered Judge Smiths action
consciously, even TO himself, solecism
and an outrage, yet-a possibility; if not
Il necessity Of legal administration. Even
less to be blamed and criticised is he
than Judge Moore, of the Supreme
Court, VINO exercised discretion in
granting the stay that will puzzle the
people to find discreetness in.
The rain which set in in this vicinity,
yesterday evening, was urgently in need.
| Nothing planted has been doing any
good since the cold weather ended, by
reason of the drouth. The hopes that
favorable weather might make up for
some of the failure by reason of freez-
ing out and the backwardne>s of the
carly part of the season, have been dis
spated No imaginable, or nj all pruba-
ble. conditions of the future of the sea-
son can save the wheat from being very
great failure, and the oats form at least
a large failure. As for the corn IL dies.
tiny is not yet fixed.
The potato bugs are already appearing
in large numbers, and are likely 10 he
much more numerous than last year.
Give them plenty of Paris Green
CANILLUs.