Juniata sentinel and Republican. [volume] (Mifflintown, Juniata County, Pa.) 1873-1955, 1877-06-13
A Lady Seventy Years Old Shot
and instantly Killed by q
Burglar.

1n0 Amst00tly Allle0 0y =
Burglar.
On Saturday morning, June 2, Mrs:
Elizabeth Reader, seventy years old,
was shot in the breast by a burglar
and instantly killed at her home in
Blue Bell, pre-Revolutionary vii
lage, on the Wissakickon hills, about
mile and half west of Penn Lyn
station, on the North Pennsylvania
Railroad. At the outskirts of the
village is the house of Samuel Read
er, aged seventy-fve years, and his
wife Elizabeth, who, having amassed
considerable riches, retired from &C
tive business pursuits about six or
seven years ago, and had been resid-
ing there ever since, with no one else
in their household except little girl
employed for help.
About three clock on the morning
in question Mr.. Reader awoke and
went to the window to observe the
weather. When he got in bed again
he heard noise as if made by some
one crawling ON the floor of the room
Springing out of bed he was firmly
grasped by a man who jumped up
from the floor and whispered loud
the warning: Don't holloa, or I'll
shoot ]"
The old man now saw that he was
confronted by two burglars. Crap
pling with one of them scuffle en-
sued, in which all three participated
Mr.. Reader shouted "Murderl' where
upon the burglar whom he first
grasped and continued to hold dis
charged a revolver, the bullet enter
ing the wall Then Mr. Reader
seized his gun, which hung by the
bed, and his wife got out to assist
him. He fired and the shot was re-
turned by the burglar whom he had
caught. 1t was this bullet that
caused the death of the old lady.
The robbers then fed, one of them
going through the front window and
getting on the ladder by means of
which they had gained an entrance to
the bedroom, which was in the sec
ond story. With his gun MIR. Read
er pushed the ladder, sending it and
the burglar together to the ground,
which they struck with a heavy thump.
The second burglar ran into another
room, kicked the sash out of a win
dow and jumped through, to the
ground While feeling his way in
the dark he had put his hand on the
counterpane of the bed in which the
young girl, Katie Dotts, lay asleep,
and smeared it with blood, which
soaked through to the sheet. 1t is
evident from this that he had been
wounded On the floor of this room
and on the window through which he
jumped were subsequently found
large spots of blood. His cap was
found in the room at the same time,
and on the window through which
the first burglar escaped were also
found spots of blood, leading to the
supposition that he was cut by the
glass in breaking it.
Mr.. Reader was ignorant of his
wife's death until he returned from
the window, when he realized the
tragedy and his great affliction. He
Immediately gave the alarm, and soon
all the neighbors were aroused, and
armed men proceeded to scour the
country in pursuit of the murderers.
1t is supposed that the burglars
are a white and a colored tramp, who
had been seen prowling about the
neighborhood on the previous even
ing. Their foot-marks were seen on
the ground next morning, and showed
that one of them was barefoot. The
latter was traced as far as Penn Llyn
by his foot-marks in the dusty road
and blood on the fences which he had
crossed. He must have been tall
man, for some of his strides were
five feet long. The detectives and
police authorities are still searching
for the villains.