The New York herald. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1840-1920, 1879-01-11

feet were tied together. OF course he knew
nothing Of the They s Rassd n% on
the fur cap put the close to his neck the sheriff
placed great white linen cap upon his noddns
men with their hats on, held the unconscious man--
drunk or drugged-on. his feet while the moose was
..po YOU want to say any thing?" asked the Sheriff
OF course Hunter did not hear the question he
made no response.
Sherns whitehead lips uttered. benjamin Hunter.
have you anything to sayY
II was precisely twenty-seycn minutes past eleven,
and Hunter paid no heed.
THE FIzzLE.
Quick rs thought the sheriff seized an from the
corner and cut the rope. As he did so the men re-
leased their hold of Hunter, and the limp body sunk
to the floor. whence the 900 pound weight in the cell
lar 1erked it upbut to its normal position. for,
horror of horrors the mans feet rested the floor.
| Instantly and with commendable nerve Deputy
Sheriff Morgan and two assistants caught the rope at
o. and. after the OF sailors. pulled it hand
over hand until the body was raised four feet from
the oor and there it danged at the end OF the long
green rope, turning slowly about now facing east,
facing west. quietly stransling, without heave
Of the chest without culver Of the muscles. long
crime and monument to official stupidity.
THE JUDGRMENT.
Instantly the sentiment OF the crowd underwent q
change ..Shame shame" went up from every side.
That's the damndest outrage ever saw said one
she Roaid have Rn S ;m said an sn s line
folly. The deputies held the rope. and the rope
held the body. The doctors examined Hunter
he WIS slowly dying OF stransnlation, as
swung about it was seen that the Sheriff had not
even taken the precaution to remove the collar and
crayat from Hunters neck (which materially retarded
the choking. Altogether it was sad sight and far
removed from single consideration OF serious ma
ture. There did not appear 10 be a man there who
had spark of pity in his breast until the bunglers
had botched their sjob,' when, for moment, hui
man nature that finds all the world akin, broke forth
in Judgment upon them.
There were six or seven doctors in the enclosure
and they took turns in feeling Hunters pulse. At
the expiration OF one minute II was arter
he had been choking seventeen minutes it was four
ten. and in half hour the dead body was cut down.
taken to the door at the end Of the corridor and pre-
pared for delivery to John Hunter and the family OF
the deceased. There it remained until the afternoon
when it was wrapped in blankets and given to
Philadelphia undertaken.
THE WIND UP.
Naturally the Sheriff and his friends desire to have
this blunder eased up but the effort 10 in vain The
arrangements that looked well paper were siis
pected from the first and distrused to tho last by
practical men,: As soon as the apprehensons OF ex.
would have been horrible in the extreme If Hun
ter had been in good physical snrts condition. hsa
tne 1nerin the anu Corridors In 1riyate room
there was gathering of the faithful but the officers
knew the less the better for them, and just as
the doctors had come to the conclusion that death
at hand the Court House was freed OF all in
quisitors.
The streets were still crowded and extras sold
like hot cakes. Everybody excited and all man
ner Of rumors passed from one to another.
Later in the day the broken hearted brother OF the
punished man passed slowly down the street to the
Philadelphia ferry, carrying, as he went with the sad
intelligence to his now hopeless home. the sympa-
| thies Of all who saw him and OF all who knew the
devotion and affection with which he remained by his
] brother to the last
people of the town. who loud in their denuncia
tons of the sheriff and his extraSrd mary
small political revenge against Colonel Scovel and
also blow in return for his open assertion that
tickets were sold. 1t understood that John Hun
| ter. who, with Rev. DR.. Allen, remained in the
| Sheriffs private parlor during the managing OF his
brothers unconscious body Is FRUSTRATED this even
ing and unable to see or converse with friends Mrs
Hunter is also seriously ndisposed, and the eldest
| daughter has been completely exhausted since her
farewell interview with her father, between whom
| and herself existed the strongest regard.
HISTORY OF THE MURDER.
On the night OF Wednesday, January 23d last, John
NJ. Armstrong a music publisher. of Philadelphia.
found wounded ana dying on the sidewalk, near
| the residence OF Ford W. Davis, in Camden. N j.
| The top of his head crushed in. evidently by
| blows from q large hammer and heavy Ratchet
found near the body. These weapons had cut upon
| the handle the initials .F W. D." Mr.. Armstrong
was removed to his home in Philadelphia, across the
river from Camden, but never reeoved conscious
ness and died Friday the second day after the at
| man. OF forty-two years, with mild manner, and
afflicted with deafness.
The officers of the law when they began to ferret
out the murderer. found that Armstrong had had a
| W. j,
who owed him money and against whom no had
threatened arrest an imprisonment for fraud. They
as 81 Mao ne WAS MAS gong Sa ar
near Davis house, and that the weapons had
Davis initials on them. Ford W, Davis was
strong case of circumstantial evidence against
him. James p. Demaris was also arrested ON sus-
picion OF having assisted, because he associated
with Davis In the business troubles with the MUIR
dcred and the testimony OF an express driver ut
the Coroners inquest was that he saw two men run
afal,nn fhp pne
Cured. Both Davis and Demaris strongly protested
their innocence but the case against them was APP
parently strong one, and the alibis they attempted
| to prove were not satisfactory at this time.
| ' GETTING AT THE TRUTH.
Then began q series of discoveries which slowly,
little oy little but surely conciusivey and clearly.
revealed OF the most codblooJed deliberate and
fiendsh plots in the recent records of crime. 1t
would require columns of space to partcuarize the
little threads that were patiently followed up here
and there by the officers of the law. materially
sisted by the reporters Of the leading newspapers.
but 1t is more than justice to record that the
credit OF the brilliant detective work which laid bare
the inwardness of this monumental villany belongs
to public prosecutor Il. s. jenkins and Sheriff jacob
Danbnian, OF Camden. and Detective Samuel Yoder.
of Philadelphia, whose sagacity and perseverance,
| BExJAMrx HUNTER
II first discovered that Davis and Demaris we're
innocent and that the real assassin had endeav
! orcd to add another crime to the murder of Arm
strong by fastening the guilt on others. Armstrong
had an old and intimate friend named benjamin
Hunter. Hunter had been in the range and boiler
business aud had accumulated wealth. He had loaned
money to Armstrong and was u special partner
thereby in Armstrong; music publishing business
The families OF the two men were very intimate, and
Armstrong regarded Hunter rs his best friend.
On the evening of the murder Armstrong; wife re.
ceved note from her husband saying that he would
not be home to tea. he going to Camden
to Davis about the money Davis owed him
Hunter. he said. going with him. When Arm
strong brought home dying his family natu.
rally sought to know what his friend and companion
Iunter) knew of tho strange assault and at daylight
Thursday morning young Frank Armstrong, the
murdered mans son, went tn Hunters house.
Hunter surprised at the VISIT declared
| that he had not been in Camden the
night before, very unfeeling and angry in his
conduct toward the young man. and showed no sym.
pathy his friend. Later in the morning he visited
the Armstrong house. bringing Iuan with him
whom he introduced as Mr. Epp, and who. he said
| would certify that he had been with him the night
before and not in Camden with Armstrong. Hunter
| very anxious to know II the wounded man had
reganed consciousness, and IL he had said anything
This remembered sfterward. aud that lie be-
trayed excitement when he declared, III Armstrong