The Valley Virginian. [volume] (Staunton, Va.) 1865-1895, 1876-02-10
TWO DOLLARS PER ANNUM
NO 46.
The Long Island Horror.

adults of his household were DESTROYED nv tn,
fire OF last Sunday night. were made the rem
| devious OF thousands 6fide persons vestcr,h,,
/ ana last night. All day the tebrissmok am
1 burned. bursting into new fianes,w-l,eneve, i,
| was disturbed by the rakes and spades of thossE
/ WHO amused themselves by Searching i, f. h,
the barn 60 the east OF the house fire el,arra
bodies OF the victims OF the fire werestll lying
each one upon separate plank md eaeh ss',.
rounded by Knot Of curious sightseers.
coroner Preston. WHO is physician, il, ,,rac
tce at Amityville, visited the scare
morning, aud after learning nl that was know,
| OF the fire and OF the inmates of Ski(mora,s
mouse, prepared 4 list of tie nanes of thoS.
IRON whom testimony would be needed Of tba
inquest anti ordered them s,unnof,rl ~ ~,
tend the naAisiton ut Lux's Hotel il, BabvIa,
this morning. - - 10y
These persons are Maud Iayier, who first
discovered the cohflagration, AMI wI,oso ,,,att
er was burned in the fire: CharEs tproii 49,.
trump who was with her in the shank. fson,
whici she say the light of The burning house
DaVla and Carl Skidmore, the sons of the old
man VINO was burned to death E1mira Heve.
man. the wife of the sbantv owner whose
sickness brought Maud Taylor and Young TYR
rail TO his hut; Geo. P. Conkln, who was fha
ilfst 70 arrive at the ruins OF the destrove1l
nouse on monday morning. and lessee Munsey.
witness as to tile character of th, dead M.
sons anu their enemies and relatives. MI go
. Coroner Preston collected from The cI,arrad
Douies everything found with them. the ram-
hahts OF the corSets found on the woman ,rav-
lor who lived with Wright the pieces ~ he,.
WOODEN skirt aud of the freze coat she seanedf
to have Deci wearing, the square Remnant ,of,
OLD DAVE ohldInore $ overcoat Which he was
wrapped in, and closed iack-knife fonnI NV
Wesley Wright. This knife is said to hay,,
been left beside the ,corpse-by one of the mem
who renaoVed the bodies, aud who fhraw r. .
down because lie lad used it IN sayino pieces
of the bodies IRON tie bed Of einbsrs in whicl,
they laid. p 1I y
The married daughter OF Flee Weeks. the
old employee OF skidmore, visited the place
yesterday morning. She had not seen nor
father for more than two years. 'Ff
The stlbposition that some or all az tbov;, =
mates of the house were murdered before tim
building was fred finds more acceptance amon,r
the residents Of the vicinity as tile facts
become KNOWN The hatred which, was an
widely felt for Skhlinore, because Of his arores-
sive character ana perpetual lityations. il
thought sufficient ground for the belief that
SEINE one Of his ei1emies has taken yenoeance
on him in this fearful manner. The statement
OF Maud Taylor corroborated by Tvrrell. that
a wagon passed the Sk,dmore residence half an
hour before the fire was discovered. and the
girls other aver1nents that the fire began al
the front stooD. and crept from there 10 thc
halfway, would seem to support the theory OF
arson. 1t is said. but not vet confirmed thar
a negro family, living in a santy near tjss
Burned house heard wagon stop until two
men entered 1t from the woods on the sidn of
the road towards Skidmore's house. who, t,t.5
wagon was rapidly driven away. This il rn..
ported to have occurred ut about lI.30 or ID
o'clock. VI -
y, me singn'er eon,luct ef Maui Taylor and
fy1feH. Who have been nOtOriouslv f,n,;li;an
Slice the latter n j.
ago are woven into one of the popul:,.- theo
RES Lit Is considered remarkable that hotI, NJ
tlen should fave staid away from their homes
TO wait upon an invalid already well attended,
by ms wife The in!ifereneetf the GIRL to- her
mothfrs horrible fate and the taaliness Of wv
leil: VINO .iii nor report the shocking disaster
until late in the forenoon OF the elaV aftcr #
occurred. are made materials for the .lnai,,tc-
nance OF one Of the suppnstions.
DeViu Skitlmore, the eldest SON. has uof
capped criticism His early presan.a ~ t,s,,
IRE his lavish use Of money in tie tavero ~
Dapylon' his solicittle about the insurance on
is it''ler mouse the fact that he allowed six
a -. " pass before he notified the Coroner.
ana the report That he ended the i v viii, :,
drunken u, spree, are all taken into account.
The position Of the burned bodies whon,,Lov
were discovered in the debris showed that each.
ot the victims was in the room in which bn o.
s,F' slept. Mr.. Skitlnlora and Fleet Werks
sep. Ia aa1oinng apartments on tile second
!ioor' PACK. fhey were found four feet ap.rt
n! m. s''e naGh o me ruins Wesley Wright and
MIS-. iayler slept together in !, front room an
the same foor. they were found ox.ctlv mn.
oerheath where that room had been. All! fcnr.
seemed TO have dropped direct tl,ro,yh fron,
theif beds TO tie basement. But the snnnos;
ton tfHlt they were in bed is shaken hv the
wooeh skirtS ana corset on the corpse Of tbe
,nona anq " Slle eYereoat worn by Skid
These f2cts suitably intra:lilcelhe im,rossi,,
hello by some of tile neishbors ihat tl,a on ,;r.
party WITH the exception of SkfInorr yer. IN
toNcafed, and were unable to escanr tI,a oon :
migration. Weeks is now declared TO have haan
a haHt' "a, drunkaf'', aud both Wright and th.
"o''al Taylor often drank heavily, Mr. Skid.
',iole >e''''n 'lrllik Intoxicating liquors. He
was crippled aud .nlirnl, ami NAV 1,,va -
unable to escape on that. account 'So't
The Statement Of Maud Tlvloi. that ,h.h,a
was IN me ilahtt of bnrring'' is partially cor
"oboTated by the fact that the auent of tl,
FOLK Insurance Company examined ths Ina,,s.,
aterlt hlt taken tie some months 400 and
discovered. the chimney to be so tan%ero,,siS.,
o e g oroes mat ne eaneelle,l the policy. Mr.
ohiutiqre atterWaid had the property insura.l.
i'll the dsana Insurance Ccmnany ~ .s oI;e..
guaranteeing 500 on the house s3ao az ~
Darn, 1he'r ttlSe had stood nearly tlnt... OMAR
ters OF Z century, and was almost nntnr.,hias.
ne nonse was insured III pursuance of ;,
contract with II person who held = ,nnr, 49,
for sl,zoo upoi, it. There was "A sr.olI'd mort.
gage OF 500 upon the house, but two hu,ii,ren
W. .afs ~ u ~ ,ea paid Bosh these liens
We're @Iven III settlement Of law suits.
slr. John r. Walker, of Dear ParI, who 10
coulsPl Tor tie tWelvcllundred dollar NOR a,ee
mas notified the Insurance company to nav no
insurance except to his Client. Il, regard RI
oHHihlofc.S mania for litigation, Mr., Walkep