The Emporia news. [volume] (Emporia, Kan.) 1859-1881, 1877-04-13
THE RsNDEws.
Satan Ahead as La.t Accom- nsA
Thos. Beers. of this city, for

deputy sheriff of Labette county
at the time of the terrible Bender
murders. He knew the Blenders
well. He lived at a hotel where
the notorious Kate worked for
some time. He was the man who
discovered the body of DR.. York.
He has always believed he could
find them, and was at one time
close upon their track, Owing to
circumstances he could not con
troll, and because other detectives
were favored above him, he gave
up the chase until the administra-
ton changed. AS soon as Gov.
Anthony took the reins Beers re-
newed his efforts, and urged an
appropriation tor the purpose OF
capturing the worst set of murder
ers who have stained the annals OF
crime. He finally received such
encouragement from Gov. An
thony as to induce him to 60
in search of the criminals. be
claiming all the time that he knew
where they were, because he had
formerly lived in the same section
of Arkansas where the criminals
are now residing. Armed with a
requisition from the Governor, he
and Major Eph. Brown left here
about two weeks ago. The next
news was that the Benders had
been captured in Arkansas. The
following telegram tells the bal
ance OF the story
MUsKoeEE, l. r., April DE
tectlve Thomas Beers, of Emporia,
Kansas, arrived here this after
noon at 8 o'clock, having in
charge George Keafer, alias John
Bender, Mrs. Keafer, alias Mrs.
Bender, Phillip and lena KiefeI
alias John Bender, Jr. and Kate
Bender. They were arrested near
Boston Mountain, Crawford ceun-
ty, Ark, on a Tequisition issued
by Gov. Geo. T. Anthony, of Kan
sas, ON the governor of Arkansas,
April Sd, at a deserted farm on
the Bayou road, from Vanburen
to Fayetteville.
Miss Kate resisted the arrest
shrewdly stating to the officer thai
she was not the one wanted. She
would show him = photograph o.
Kate, and going to a trunk, fol
lowed closely by the detective. she
reached for a neat looking nickel
plated revolver, but the detective
was too quick for her. She then
went for a fire shovel, but was
speedily disarmed.
They had been three days or
the way through the Indian Terri
tory, and reached this point on
their way to Kansas two hours il
advance of Deputy Marshal Will
kinson, with writ of habeas cor.
pus, issued by Judge j. G. Parker
of the United States district court
commanding them to bring the
bodies forthwith to Fort Smith
Arkansas.
There is great excitement anC
Detective Beers looks upon it as &
ruse to obtain time for the
friends to effect q rescue. They
all start back for Fort Smith to
morrow. Gov. Anthony has guar
anteed the two Thousand collars
reward offered by the State OF
Kansas if they prove to be the
genuine original Blenders. George
Kaefcr claims to have baen a
member of the legislature of Wis
consin 10 1860. from West Bend,
Washington county, and to have
resided there until 1873. Wheth-
er they are the Blenders is st:ll an
open question.
MILWAUKEE, April 9th. - The
Sentinel has special from West
Bend showing that George Keafer,
arrested in Crawford county, Ark,
on suspicion of being q Bender,
resided for many years in Wash
ington county in this State, and
was member of the legislature In
1850. He removed to Arkansas
1873.
The story published in the
Commonwealth some time ago and
repeated in last Sundays Kansas
City Journal, to the effect that the
Benders had been caught and
lynched short time after their
escape, is entirely too thin to 60
down, and is not believed by any
one. It is not sustained by one
particle of creditable proof. Il
seems to have been an after
thought, gotten up by some would
be hero or heroes, who loved a sort
of mysterious fame more than the
truth. Had the lynching taken
place it could not, amidst all she
excitement of the time, have been
kept secret. There was no pos-
sibility that any one engaged in
the lynching would have been dis.
turbed even if found out, There
was no object at all in keeping the
matter a secret if the lynching had
really taken place.
LATER.
A dispatch was yesterday re-
celve1 at the governors office fiom
Judge B. w. Perkins, of Oswego.
He states that the Benders, or the
Keafers, as the case might be, had
not yet arrived in Labette county,
but, on the contrary, parties from
Kansas had gone to Arkansas as
witnesses before the habeas corpus
case before IT - InA,yo PorL