Public ledger. [volume] (Memphis, Tenn.) 1865-1893, 1880-08-11

lonesome places were questeda as a keen
hound scents a trail that is cold, and
still no traces Of the lost man were
discovered. Not a shadow of evidences
rested anywhere to say that DR.. York
had been murdered-not a sign any
where told how he came to his death,
if, indeed, death had overtaken him
unawares. He was traced to Cherry
ryvale, in Labette county.
but no further. There all
track and trace of him ceased.
The excitement was at a high pitch.
One day an exploring party stopped
at the house of the Blenders. Had
they seen anything Of DR.. York; No,
the answer came, they had not.
They knew nothing, whatever, con
corning him. But this visit had a
strange effect. The next day the
Bender family disappeared, and al
most as mysteriously as had DR.. York.
This suspicious circumstance aroused
curiosity. A man riding into Cherry
vale from the country one day, i'm
pressed by the deserted appearance of
the Bender place, he entered the
yard. In the stable he found a dead
calf. There was every indication
from the appearance Of the miserable
creature, that it had starved to death.
The man walked up to the house,
opened the door and looked in. Not
an article of household furniture had
been removed, but the dust lay heavy
on everything. The man went to
C%herryvale and told his story. Sena-
tor A. NJ. York, the brother Of the
missing man, was there. To his sus-
picious mind the sudden and sire nge
flight of the Bender family was a rev.
elation. He had found the first clue
to his lost brother. He divulged his
suspicious and a band of men accom-.
panied him to the Bender farm. The
front room of the house was carefully
searched, every crack and c~revice be-
ing infinitely looked into and subject
ed to the application Of rods and le-
yers to see if the flooring was either
hollow or loose. Nothing came of it.
No blood spots appeared. The floor
was solid. The walls were solid.
Next the party searched the back
room. The beds we're removed.
In their flight the Benders had left
everything untouched.
A HORRIBLE DISCOVERY.
The explorers were about to re-
tire, when they noticed a depression
in the floor. A trap door was reveal
ed. 1t was lifted up, and in the
gloom a pit outlined itself, forbid
ding, %cavernous, unknown. Lights
were procured and some of
the men descended. They
found themselves in an abyss shaped
like a we'll, six feet deep and five
feet in diameter. Here and thera
little damp places could be seen, as
though water had come up from the
bottom or been poured down from
above. They CROPPED around over these
splotches and held a handful to the
light. The ooze smeared itself over
their palms and dribbled through their
fingers. 1t was blood. Every suspic-
ion was realized. The murders had
fed, leaving behind damning evidences
of their hideous guilt. But where
we're the bodies Of the victims? For
an hour the party Of excited people
trayersed the lonely gardenin the rear
of that human slaughter pen, prod
ding the earth with a long iron rod.
all at once the iron seemed to strike
a heshy matter. In a moments time
a dozen eager spades had resurrected
from its shallow grave the decaying
body ola human being. 1t had been
buried face down. They turned it to
the sunlight. A cry Of terror went up
from the crowd. 1t was York's corpse.
Although far advanced in the stage of
decomposition the featui es were
plainly recognizable. How the muir
derous deed had been done was speed
lily and easily learned. A terrible
blow on the back of the head had
crushed the scull upon the brain, and
the throat had been cut from ear to
ear. The work of discovery went on.
One after another were laid bare the
graves Of ten murdered people. Most
Of the bodies we're identified. Among
them were the bodies of two children.
There were no marks of violence on
them. They had been buried alive.
The murders had been committed for
robbery. Travellers we're asked in to
drink. They never left the house
alive.
THE ARREST.
All traces of the Blenders were lost.
Where they went no one knew. A
few days ago a man was seen at Rich
land travelling eastward with a woman.
They stopped at a house, and soon
after their arrival made inquiries as
to whether anything had yet been
discovered of the Bender family, who
formerly lived in Kansas. Their talk
and actions excited suspicion, which
vas further strengthened by their
answers to questions asked them.
They appeared excited and told con-
ficting stories as to who they were
and where they were from; said they
had lived five or six years among the
Indians; that they had been up in the
Niobrara country, and that they were
not the Blenders. Sheriff Gregg was
called. He started on their track.
At Schuyler he caught up with them.
He passed them two or three times,
aud finally turned around aud met
them with drawn revolver. He said
to the woman, Hello, Kate" and
she was considerably startled, and re-
piled, u am not Kate Bender" The
old mar didn't offer any resistance
and the officer had no difficulty in
landing him and his wife in the Ere
mont Jail. In Jail the couple had a
conversation, which was overheard.