Fayetteville observer. [volume] (Fayetteville, Tenn.) 1850-1966, 1879-01-02

, Z y
Mrs. Bell was buried with he,
valuable diamond ring on he
finger. The design had heen Il
steal this from the supposed
corpse. Finding it impossible
Ito remove it, the daring thief
had raised the hand Of the dead
woman to her mouth, and in hel
attempt to withdraw the ring
with her teeth caused the pane
which went through the frame
of the victim of a trance, and
aroused her to consciousness.
On the finger, just below the
ring, marks of teeth were dis
tinctly visible for several days
after Mrs. Bells resuscitation.
Soon after this extraordinary
occurrence the vicar Of the par
ish resigned his living and re-
moved his family to England.
Several years passed away, and
the incidents herein recorded
were almost forgotten. Mrs.
Bells father died, and Mr.. Bell
and his family Quilted Kilmare
and took up their residence at
Toxteth, near Liverpool.
And row for the sequel.
During the Chartist riots il
1910 James Binns was arrested
for murder and lodged iu Lam
cashire Jail. He was tiled, con-
victed, and sentenced 10 be
hanged Before the last SEN
tcnce OF the law was executed
he made confession of many
crimes, and among the rest of
his exploits, as professional
body-snatcher, in which busi-
ness he had been engaged for
many years. The fol | ow n g
facts arc taken from his confes-
sion:-
In July, 1920, he was living in
Belfast, having fed from Eng
land to escape punishment for
his offanses. lie had done sew
eral small jobs in Belfast forthe
doctors, and on the night of
July 20, in the year named, a
welI-know physician of Belfast
sent for him and told him that
he had a delicate piece of work
for him to perform. A Mrs.
Bell, a lady of great beauty, and
the wife of a rich proprietor,
had just died suddenly and the
doctor and his associates desired
the body to investigate the cause
of death. The doctor paid him
so much money down, and dis
patched him to Kilmare with
such instructions as were neces-
sary. AT midnight he went to
the churchyard armed with a
wrench, a pair of shears, and
pick-lock. The night was dark,
and rain was falling. Creeping
up by the side of the church, he
approached the tomb Of the Bell
family. To his surprise, he saw
that the door was open and q
faint light burninginside. Steal
thily drawing near he glanced in.
He saw the coffin lying along
the marble slab and in front of
it a woman was standing. a
second glance showed him that
the woman was at work trying
to remove ring from the finger
Of the dead. A sudden thought
struck him, and slouching down
he reachedin at the door and with
his shears, which he had brought |
to rid the corpse of its cumber-
some shroud, he cut a piece from
the skirt Of the woman's dress
and retired unobserved. AS he
remained for an instant peering
into the strange scene, he saw |
the corpse arise and raise the
hand which the woman was ap-
parently in the act Of putting to
her mouth. The woman gave a
shrek, rushed through the door
and fled, leaving the lamp burn
ing on the floor. The body
guessed at once the
woman's design, and impressed |
with the conviction that she was
a person above the ordinary
rank, he resolved to follow and
see where she went. He had
no difficulty in tracking the
rapidly retreating figure. II
passed. out of the church yard at
4 small wicket on the north side
Of the church and entered the
Satisfied that he pos
sessed an important secret, out