Huntington advertiser. [volume] (Huntington, W. Va.) 1874-1921, 1876-01-27

ter selectinga certain spot over whicl
was streSns quantity Of corn stake, ut
ter d fearful howls The searchess nov
felt satisfied that they had struck tn,
right trail and armed with 4 pi,chforl
one Of the party began thsowing asid,
the fodder and the manure. A few min
utes Of such toll suficed to excavate ,
hole eighteen inches in depth, from whicl
i peculiar sdor now arose; another thrus
Of the fork and the
CHASTITY CORPSE WAS EXPOSED.
For few seconds the searching part,
were terror stricken at the sight which
met their gaze. rsere lay the body o
Mechling, the face bleached to peculiar
whiteness through the agency Of the
manure, the skull was crushed in n
though il had been subjected to Blow
from sledge vie ded by giant, the
head was nealy sc ered:from the body
while the eye, portruded from their sock
cts A. though they wished 10 escape from
fiend hidden in the the once animate
brain. Brave hearts that had withstood the
awful shock Of g,ry battles, men to whom
fear under ordinary circumstances wa
stranger, turned pale at the ghastly and
mutlated form that Law before them, bu,
remembering the errand which they were
up N, they collected their scattered senses
aud proceeded a. remove the body from
its heathenish grave. 1t Was conveyed to
the house amid silence, the faithful dog
following and whining in piteous man.
ncr. All that could be done in the way
Of preparing the body for burial Was per.
formed. and when the officers had quilted
the house the report WIS quickly nolsed
abroad concerning the finding OF the
body. Ina very short time thereafter the
officers returned 10 Barboursville and re-
lated tn the then excited people Of that
place the result of their seach. A .gener-
al desire on the Tart of the populace when
the particulars Of the finding of the body
had been made By the officers was that
Mrs. Meehling and Williams should be
immediately taken from the jail and
hanged, but no movement to that effect
was made while the day lasted.
JUDGE LYNCH on THE BENcH.
Scarcely had the mantle Of night been
thrown over he earth, and while great
tears fell from the Heavens, knots of ex-
cited men from the neighboring town
ships could be encountered NJ the prln-
cipsl corners Of Barb"ursville, all Discus
mo the horrible murder Of Me"hling and
the a DISABILITY OF lynohing the MUIR
derers. Not a vOice was raised IN de-
fence IF the brutal aSsassins, every nind
being convinced that Williams and Mrs.
Msehling had killed Mechling. BY seven
o'clock every man aud woman in Bar
louisville had been inf 'rmed OF the muir.
der. The little knots Of men that had
assembled at different points in the town
gradually merged into i compact mass and
by eight o'clock it appeared as If every
man i'm the a>semblage was on the Jury OF
Lunch. The argument in the case was
brief aud whch the jury was p]lled IL was
found that verd ct calling for the I'M
mediate hang ng # the mnrderers, had
he m rendered. The Judge approved tie
verdict aud gave directions for the double
execution. The ropes were quickly pro-
cured and 1 tree IN curt house yard Sc
lected n. the Iiibbst, from which the
mur,lerers should swing. With messur-
ed tread, the mob wendell its WAY to the
court house ward and preliminarles were
arranged for executing the mandate
vi the court
MES. MEEIILISG REsPlrED.
After the tree had been selected, and
ropes placed in position, some one IN the
crowd announced that it would be inhu-
ling. a. she Was eRcientc and that 1t would
be a lasting disgrace il they should hang
the woman under the circumstance
The announcement Of the condition OF
Mrs. Meehling appeared To stagger many
reckless men in the court house yard,
while OF the other hand there were scores
Of excited men who could not realize that
thew would DC doing wrong IN executing
Mrs. Meeh!ing, their argument being:
that no further offspring OF the woman
should be allowed To learn its mothers
shame and awful crime Better counsel
prevailed, but it was with re uctance that
enough voices could be had to assent to
4 respite being granted the wretched wo-
man. Said one Of the most ardent OF the
lvnchcrs, LET the Law attend to tie Wo-
man. she will be hanged in good time,
should she by any chance escape the law,
then We can take her case up and hang
ler." When it was decided that she
should not be hanged, 4 vote was taken
upon the question OF hanging Williams
and an unanimous ave was the result.
The lvnchers were not noisy in their de-
alterations. nor did they cvince that eI-
element which usually attendsa body OF
men whose passions are more than ordi-
nartly infismed. Their resolves were
calmly adopted, their speeches free from
b ,isteruus ordinations and had stran-
ger to the proceedings, CHANGED at that
time to bc among the men, he would
have-from their calmness, been deceived
As TO the intention of their gathering.
PREPARE FOR DEATH.
The crowd having perfected its arrange
mcnts for the execution of Williams, 4
messenger was despatched for Rev. q. W
Young, with the request that that gentle
man would visit the prisoner and prcsen!
10 him such modicum OF PRAYER AZ could
BE- crowded into the space OF one hour
I i he ORDERS III Nilc NNulb NtiV wv wv "''N
shortly after eight o'clock Mr.. Young Wis
tied Williams, aud attempted To turn hl'
thoughts toward that awful abyss which
waS looming up with such terrible magnI
tudc. At first, Williams wa' inclined u
treat the advice of the minister vita levi
~, but hearing the hum of voices outside
ii the iaii, he relen'ed, and asked to be ia
ken insn the cell where his accomplish
was confined. This wa- granted him, anc
after he had seated him'elf, he was IN
! formed that ere IN hour had fed his sou
would be speeding towards that trlbuna
| from which there Is no appeal. His re
Vi e. at first were To the effect that he did
not murder Mcchlisg, but finding tina, hi
Manifestations availcd HIM nothing, he a
is., gave way T. his feeling, and made 'h'
. following
unRVIBLE CONFESSION OF MURDER.
"Fnr the last two wears | have beer
criminatelv intimate with Mrs Meehling
AID il was nv love f,r her that caused M
tn kill her husband. Two months ago
NSs. Meehling and myself determined
tn &c, rid Of her husband, and t. accom-
ulish tbs we resolved upon poisoning