The Findlay Jeffersonian. [volume] (Findlay, Hancock County, Ohio) 1870-1881, 1876-11-17
THEY WE'RE GONE.

| IOllO
THEY WERE GONE.
Whether some one was watching and
gave them a signal, or they had come
outside to get some air, will probably
never be known. The monument is
surrounded by trees, large and small,
and to reach the shelter afforded by
them would not require a quarter of
a minute. The detectives at once
scattered, and went in the direction
the thieves had evidently gone, and
while lodging beind trees, two of them
exchanged shots, each mistaking the
other for fugitive. After shooting
they cried, "Wash, " "Wash," indica
tive of friend in such an emergency.
and then they found out their mistake,
The bullets whistled close to both, and
it was miraculous that they escaped
injury.
No traces of the Williams being dis
covered, the officers returned to the
vault, and there beheld sight which
made them :'very sad. The catacomb
consists of five crypts, side by side,
elevated three feet above the floor of
the vestibule. The central crypt is
the only one visible; the others, which
contains the remains of members of
the Lincoln family, being sealed up.
The open crypt is intended for the rec
option of the corpse of the President,
but the sarcophagus containing the
casket still rests on pedestals in the
vestibule, being thus placed that visi-
tors may see it. The body, as is known
=.
This is surrounded by a cedar case,
and the receptacle of these is a marble
sarcophagus. The latter has double
lid, the upper ONE hot bying as large
as the other. Both had been pried off
with chisel or an ak, and somewhat
Clipped in the operation. The unierlid
lay crosswise ON the casket, the head
piece on the floor, the upper lid was
standing against the wall. The casket
itself had been pulled out about foot
from the body of the sarcophagus. |
and small piece broken Off Perhaps
the demolition of it had been commenc |
ed. On the floor were an ak with the |
edge fnll of marble dust, an ordinary
chisel, aud a pair of pinners. The |
other tools had evidently been taken
away since the lock on the iron grated |
door had been sawed off
The officers were disappointed on
account of the escape of the vandals,
but, as only little damage had been
done, they were consoled to some ex
tent by that fact. With ten minutes
more the ashes and bones would have
been il possession of the wretcbes. Aft
or y,,4;,o oDo.ber po1IooE ~, tba Ioo- |
the party withdrew, and all but two
returned to the city, the two remain
ing to receive the burglars in case they
came back
Only one motive can be attributed
to these despoilers of the grave, and
that is the hope of reward for the res
toratio of the remains, if they had
succeeded in carrying them off 1t
certainty could not have been their
to take away the casket, for
it must weigh 500 or 600 pounds, and
half a dozen men could scarcely have
carried it 200 yards-the ground nee
cessary to go over to reach the road.
1t is more than likely that they propos-
ed cutting open the casket, and gath
ering up the bones and dust of the
marEyr President. What would have
been the indignation of the coutry had
this been done? The scheme concoct-
ed by these men is uuparalled in the
history of crime, and now that there
is evidences of minds so debased, meas
ures will b: taken 20 guard the mon
ument, and prevent future attempts
to disturb the sacred dust. This spec
les of robbery is entirely new, and it
will probably spread all over the coun-
try, as do new devices for picking
pockets and burglarizing houses, and
similar occurrences will undoubtedly
take place, and attempts be made to
blackmail the friends of the dead.
The facts given above did not come
till early this morning, and are known
only to few, otherwise the outrage
would have occupied as great share
Of the attention of the community as
the election. Words can not express
the feelings of those who do know il, Z
aad it is earnestly hoped that the I
double distilled perpetrators of this
attempted robbery of the remains of
Americas most loved President will
soon be brought to justice.
SPRINGFIELD. ILL.,. Nv. mol
luther clew has been obtained as to the !
IDENTITY of the parties to the attempt
last night TO steal the body of Abra
ham Lincoln from the sarcophagus at
the National Lincoln Monument. The
scene was visited by very many to day.
The bulls eye or heavy glass light in
'he crypt was discovered to be brok-
IN, and a dark-lantern was found on
he premises this morning. A guard
S stationed at the monument to day.
md the feeling aroused by the wanda
ism is very intense among all classes
If oUr citizens