Burlington weekly free press. [volume] (Burlington, Vt.) 1866-1928, 1876-02-11

| irritated they upset the card-table an
= seized each other by the throat In t.
' struggle that ensued Hazlitt got a blac
/ eye ; but when the two combatants wer
, parted. Hazlitt turned to Talfourd, VIII
was Offering his aid and said; You need no
. trouble yourself, sir. do not mind bio,c
/ sir;; nothing affects me 6W an Absfrdc
, H,o. '"
A Remarkable Lynehing Scene In West Virginia
Charley Muling, as his neighbors used t,
. call him, was an inoffensive, honest farme
! of Barboursville, about % years Of age
married to a rather attractive woman o
about the same age, the father of three
children, the Oldest boy of seven. Ed
mund Williams, young man of "a, haC
been working for him and living in the
family for some time On Thursday of last
week Muling was first missed by his father
who lived near by, and, after "a thorough
search, his body was discovered buried in a
stable, under the manure, the head crushed
in with three blows Of an axe and the throat
cut. His wife and hired man, when brought
before the corpse, showed little emotion, de-
clared their innocence OF the crime, and
said they had been told by Muling that he
was going TO make a trip down the river,
and 50 had not wondered at his absence.
There was no evidence to positively connect
them with the murder. and the children at
first protested that they knew nothing
about it. The Oldest boy, however, after
being taken to a neighbor's and petted till
his confidence had been gained, finally ad-
mitted that his first statement was not true,
and that he had seen Williams knock his
father down with an axe, and then his
mother helped to carry the body out and
bury it. The man and woman were at once
arrested, but hardly had they been lodged
in Jail before there was talk of administer
ing summary punishment. By night-fall,
Saturday, the threats Of flynching had grown
so bold that a Methodist minister by the
name of Young went to the Jail, told the
murderers he feared they would be hung by
| the mob before morning, begged that they
would allow him to pray for them, and i'm
| plored them to confess and repent. But it
was of no avail the woman simply pro-
tested her innocence, while the man ridcul-
ed him
Meanwhile there had been ominous sounds
OF the gathering Of men outside, and the
minister had hardly given over his hopeless
mission before voice cried out from the
/ darkness, - Shall Edmund Williams die
in thirty minutes ?' followed by a thunder
ing " aye" while only a faint - no. fol-
lowed the inquiry, 81 Does any one object ?''
Again the voice cried out, " Shall Mrs. Mu-
ling die in thirty minutes" and again came
the loud " aye from a hundred voices,
mingled this time with a few " noes. -
though only enough to show their weakness.
Thoroughly terrified at last, the guilty pair
now shrleked for Mr. Young, and, upon his
returning to Williams cell, the latter said
that, if he were taken into Mrs Muling's
cell, be would confess all ; it was done, and
he kept his promise. Then the minister
and the murderers knelt. while he tried to
pray for the wretches. Bat his voice was
drowned hy the mob outside, whose fury
had grown 50 terrible that their leader, ap-
palled at the storm be had aroused, resigned
his post and insisted that another man
should be made captain The minister,
leaving the prisoners, made ono last despsr-
ate attempt to save them, and for full
hour held the mob at bay while be alter
nately reasoned, pleaded and prayed that
they would allow the law 10 take is
course
But he might as well have reasoned with
hurricane, and at last the lynchers refused
to hear him longer, pushed him aside and
dragged Williams from his cell, around in
front OF the court house, where stand two
small locust trees. He was placed upon
barrel beneath one Of them, a rope put
about his neck and the end thrown over a
limb and then he was asked if he had any
thing to say. He repeated at more length
the story be had already told the minister,
how there had been criminal relations be-
tween him and Mrs. Muling for three years,
how for several months they had been try
ing to kill her husband, how she had three
times administered poison, but without
effect, how, at last. despairing Of success in
any other way, he had on the previous sun
day night struck W Villains with an axe as he
lay asleep, and twice repeated the blow,
aifer which be had cut his throat. how Mrs.
Muling then helped him carry the body out
and bury it, and how the little children had
been witnesses to the whole tragedy all
told with q horrible mInuteuess OF detail
that showed how he clung 10 life when he
could only probing it by recitlng the awful
story.
At last his confessios was over, and the
mob cried again for his blood But once
more the inlomitable minister appeared and
insisted that he should be allowed to offer
another PRAYER for the wretchcd man. which
he did at great length. Then Williams sought
a few minutes more OF Ii ieb7 begging tor
further opportunity to confess, which being
granted. he went over the horrible story
again. Even then the minister demanded
still another opportunity to pray, and 50
held the mob at bay while longer, during
which time two Of Williams brothers had
organized an opposition party, which cried
for the cutting of the rone, and threatened
to rescue the murderer. The leaders be-
came desperate, cried, Out with the
lamps 80 "a few scattered lanterns) , the
rope was drawn. and the barrel knocked
from under the wretched man. But the end
was not vet. The limb bent, and Williams
stood upon the ground He was seized,
lifted back, AMI the rope drawn again
While it was being adjusted the second
time, he cried out that be had been CON
verted and should die happy, and his last
words were, " Meet me in Heaven" His
neck was not broken by the fall, and the
mob waited in the dark night and pitiless
rain for the last of his long-continued and
deperate struggles
Then they went back to the Jail, and pre-
pared to deal out the same punishment 10
Mrs. Muling no opposition being manifested.
She was brought out, the lanterns again
lighted, and she was placed before the corpse
OF her paramour and told that she had but
twenty minut 5 to live. She showed great
emotion, turned slowly to the crowd. made
her confession, said she yas ready to die,
and, kneeling, began to pray. 1t was a
weird spectacle, this woman, guilty Of her
husbands murder, kneeling there at mid
night before the dead body of her accom-
plice in that murder, and praying, not for
her life, but for her soul. And an impress
siye spectacle, too, for. before she was
through. one-half the mob were on their
knees, and when she arose an almost unani-
nous " no. greeted the leaders question.
. Shall she die ~ She was taken back to
the Jail, and the crowd, who had made no
attempt at concealment through the whole
/ performance, dispersed TO their homes
These horribly ly-fascineting details are
drawn from the letter of a special local cor
respondent Of the Springfield Republican
who was an eye witness Of the remarkable
scene. There is no evidence that the courts
would not have dealt faithfully with the
prisoners. The motives of the populace
seemed rather impatience of the Slow or
der of law, and hungry, human thirst
vengeance.
IHE LATEST CHARLIE Ross.-Tbe village
of Cr ille, o. an out-of-the-way
place miles from Titfn. puts in
the latest for the discovery of the missing
Charlie Ross. 1t seems that last October,
when the Westervelt investigation was
being hotlv pressed at Philadelphia. two
men in close carriage drove up to the
residence of Mrs. Beebe, in Crawfordville,
when one OF them. giving t9e name OF
Skates. left the boy. stating that he had
business TO transact in the neis hb0rhood
for day or 50, and did not wished to be
bothered with him. The little elbow re-
mained at the lady's house for several
weeks. when, nobody calling for him, he
was placed in the iniirmary. Some week {
! a1o annthpr lady fook a farpy To the hav