Mower County transcript. [volume] (Lansing, Minn.) 1868-1915, 1876-02-17

| CeCOeu 10 register DIS NAME ~DuC InSte9Q
Of attempting An excuse, he merely arose,
saying, Il am miserable man; look in
the water r. Then he crossed stile and
struck path leading to the Rutherglen
road. The inspectors. astonished, went
to the river, and there found the. body Of
. young woman, which they caused to
be conveyed to town. While they were
accompanying it through the streets,
they passed one Of the princidal churches,
whence, at that moment, the congrega.
ton We're issuing, and among them they
saw the apprentice. But this did not
surprise them, thinking he might have
had time to 60 round AMI enter the
church toward the close of the service.
The body proved to be that Of the
missing servant girl. The apprentice
was arrested, and must, on the testimony
Of the inspectors, have been found guilty
had he not on his trial established All
incontrovertiblc alibi, showing beyond
possible doubt that he had been in church
during the entire service The young
man was acquitted.
A HORRIBLE LYNCHING AFFAIR.
from the Spring ield (Mass) Republican ]
No newspaper reader can have failed to
notice the growing frequency of lynch
law demonstrations all over the country.
during the last few months. Hardly a
day has passed this season that the tele.
graph has not reported one or more, even
this side Of the Mississippi river. The
old West and the old South are their
most common theater, and the victims of
this impatient sense OF justice are about
equally divided between murderers and
violaters Of women, while of the former
class the majority become such through
the sexual passion. West Virginia has
gained an unenyiable notriety in this res.
been taken from jails by mobs, and hung
without trial, while the female accom-.
plice Of one Of them narrowly escaped the
same fate that befell her paramour.
! The story of this last case is SO remark.
able, alike in the circumstances of the
crime, its discovery, the execution of one
Of the murderers, AID the wonderful es.
cape Of the other from the rope when it
Was all but around her neck, that it de.
serves to be told in full, as it has not yet
been.
Charley Muling. as his neighbor used
to call him, was an inoffensive, honest
farmer Of Barboursville, about twenty.
eighty years of age, married to rather
attractive woman of about the same age,
the father of three children, the
Oldest boy of seven. Edmund VII.
liams, q young man Of twenty-four, had
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 .
thorough search, his body was discovered
buried in the stable, under the manure,
the head crushed in with three bows of
the Ak and his throat cut. His wife and
hired man. when brought before the
corpse. showed little emotion, declared
their innocence Of the crime, and said
they had been told by Muling that he was
going to make trip down the river, and
so had not wondered at his absence.
There was no evidence to positively con.
meet them with the murder, and the chill.
dren at first protested that they knew
nothing about it. The Oldest boy, how
ever, after being taken to neighbor's
and pettcd till his confidence had been
gained. finally admitted that his first
statement was not true, and that he had
seen Williams knock his father down With
IN Ak, and then his mother helped to car.
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 administering summary pun.
ishment. By nightfall, Saturday, the
threats Of lynchirg had grown so bold
that Methodist minister by tho name
Of Young went to the Jail, told the muir
derers he feared they would be hung by
the mob before morning, begged that they
would allow him to pray for them, and
implorcd them to confess and repent.
But it was Of no avail the woman simply
protested her innocence, while the man
ridicdled him. -
\ Meanwhile there were omiuous sounds
of the gathering of men outside, and the
} minister had hardly given over his hope.
!; less mission before voice cried out from
] the darkness. ''Shall Edmund Williams
die IN thirty minutes T. followed by q
laundering ':aye," while only faint mo
!, followed the inquiry. "Does any one OBJ
ject :" Again tho voice cried out, ''Shall
Mrs. Muling die in thirty minutes p
, and again came the. loud AYE" from ,
hundred voices, mingled this time with ,
few ''noes," though only enough to show
, their weakness. Thoroughly terrified q
, last, the guilty pair now shrieked for Mr.
) Young, and upon his returning to Viii
liam's cell, the latter said that if he Va,
taken into Mrs. sMuling's cell he wouli
r confess oil it was done, and he kept hi
}. promise. Then the minister had tn
i murdcrers kneel while he tried to pra1
for the ~retches. But his voice wa!
e drowned by the mob outside, whose furl
q had grown so terrible that their leader
d appalled, at the storm he. had aroused
: resigned his post and insisted that anoth
}. er man should be made captain. tn
= minister, leaving the prisoners, made on
II last desperate attempt to save them
n and for full hour held the mob at ba1
d while he alternately reasoned, pleade'
q and prayed that shcy would allow tn
d law to take its course. But he nigh
}. IS we'll have reasoned with, q, hurricane
g and at last the lynchers refused to hea
t, him longer, pushed him aside and dragge
hl Williams from his cell, around in front q
It the Courthouse, where stand two SINAI
= locust trees, Ho WAS placed upon . bal
d rel beneath one Of them, : rope put abou
It his neck and the end thrown over a-iimt
r. and then he was asked il he had any thin
. tosay. He repeated 1t more length til
/. story he had already told the minister
10 how there had been criminal relations b,
ID tween him and Mrs. Muling for thre
t. years. how for several months they ha
It been trying to kill her husband, how sh
O. had three times administered poison, b.
q, without effect. how, ct last, despairinE
g success in any other way, he had on ii
Of previous Sunday night struck William
er With On AZ O. he lay asleep, and twice =
X peated the blow. after which no had G,
q his throat, how Mrs. Muling tl,en. helpe
ch him carry the body out and bury it, On
. how the little children had been witness
at to tho whole tragedy--all told With
lis horrible minuteness Of detail that show,
ID how he chung to life when he could on
IL