Ottumwa weekly courier. (Ottumwa, Wapello County, Iowa) 1872-1899, 1878-05-01
ALAwYER's v1LLANY.
Hiring a Kentucky Outlaac for a Dia-
bolical Purpose-Jiitedb By a Fascin-
ating WidO,o- The Incendiary's
Dooma-Ztoo Hapless Tramps limo
Gently Hung.

"Only 500? You must be crazy,
Mr.. Woolman."
"Well, l will add $25, Ralph
"Do you really think, Mr.. Woolmau,
that would risk my neck for the pal
try sum Of S225?"
"But, Ralph, it is only arson ?"
eyes, You want me to set fire to q
building occupied by four people,
Under the laws of Kentucky this is
capital offence, Mr.. Woolmsn; and as
l do not yet wish to shuttle off this
mortal coil, beg to be excused"
"But, Ralph, they will never catch
you. Let me look out for that"
II don't want even to go to the pen
itentiary at Frankfort, Mr.. Wool
man. 1 was there for two years, and
| got nearly starved to death, not to
count
THE NUMEROUS FLoGGINGs
Which / received for the most trifling
infractions of the terrible prison reg
ulations."
"Let US come to an understanding,
Ralph. How much do you want for
the job ?"
"Two thousand dollars, Mr.. Wool.
man."
"Are you crazy, Ralph?'
81 am as sane as any body. l won't
take cent less. If you won't give
me the $1,000 in advance"
ain advance J"
eyes, in advance, Mr.. Woolman.
Don't take me for fool. Two thou
sand dollars is small sum for YOU"
This delectable conversation took
place in the office Of Jared Woolman,
q wealthy lawyer of Bowling Green,
Kentucky, between 8 and TO O'Clock.
A. NJ, on the l7th of May, 1889, be-
tween Woolman aud Benjamin Ralph,
q seedy and decidedly desperate-look-
ing man Of thirty.
This man Ralph was one of the
worst young outlaws of Kentucky.
He had committed at least three MUIR
ders, but had always escaped convic-
ton owing to the insufficiency of the
evidence against him.
For horse-stealing he had served a
term of two years in the penitcntiary,
where he had behaved very badly,
and in consequence had been treated
by the prison authorities with
MARKED SEVERITY.
On the present occasion he offered
WOOlman, who was very mean, COW
ardly villain, to set fire to the house of
the Widow Smslls, a very handsome
woman, for $1,000.
Why did WOOlman want this most
infamous incendiary act to be COM
mitted? Simply because the Widow
Smalls had rejected his proposals of
marriage. He was voluptuary of
the worst kind, and the buxom charms
Of Mrs. Smalls had inflamed his un-
bridled passions.
When Mrs. Smalls told him that she
would not marry him because she was
engaged to Valentine Donohue, an
Irish merchant, the lawyer had sworn
to himself that he would ruin her in
order to prevent her from becoming
ANOTHER MANS WIFE.
With fiendish ingenuity he had con-
ceived the following plan: A distant
cousin of his, an insurance agent, had
prevailed, ct his solicitation, upon
Mrs. Smalls to insure her house for q
very large sum. Careless about busi-
ness matters, the widow had filled out
the papers without reading them
Woolman had also managed to get
into the widows cellar q quantity of
combustible rags saturated with oil,
&C., without her knowledge. Ralph
was to enter the cellar in the night
time and set fire TO the combustibles.
In Mrs. Small's house lived beside
herself her aged mother-in-law, Mrs.
Bocock, and the latter's two spinster
daughters, Jane and Betsey. Wool
man thought If they all of them per.
ish in tho conflagration, well and
good. II they are saved, Mrs. Smallf
will be prosecuted for arson with ev.
cry chance of SJ&
HER SPEEDY CONVICTION.
Ralph's demand seemed exorbitan,
to the lawyer. After higgling about
the price for long time the outlaw
agreed to take l,5O0 for the diaboli
cal deed and Woolman paid him the
sum in one-hundred-dOllsr notes.
Ralph promised to do the "job' a
eleven o'clock the same night.
At that late hour the villain ap
lproschcd furtively Mrs. Smalls
house, very fine frame building ly
ling in the center OF a splendid garden
The night was very dark and the in
mates Of Mrs. Smalls' house had al
|g0ne to bed.
Only the two slaves, a married
couple who were living in big los
cabin situated in corner of the gar
den at . distance of one hundret
yards from their mistress house, wer
'. still awake. t
i But they were singing some OLE
. plantation dittiea, and they had NJ
idea that . villain bent upon dia
bolical deed was stealing up TO tn
home.
Il Ralph cautiously groped his way 4
.. the cellar door, which by the light Q
! ia dark lantern he broke open with
. Jimmy with the celebrity of
:. AN EXPERIENCED CRACKsMAN.
HI He easily found the combustible