The daily intelligencer. [volume] (Seattle, Wash. Territory [i.e. Wash.]) 1876-1881, 1880-08-25
rHs STORY or THE BENDER HUTCH
ERIEs.

On the o Ia OF March. 1873, DIR. Wm
n. York left Fort Scott on horseback
for hi. home in lndependrBce. Kansas
lie never arrived as bOme. On the 2stA
Il March the Lrerence Tribune gave .
bri-f account Of hrs disappearance and
hiu,ei at fnul play York was vel.
kr.wn thrJsgh"ut the State brother
of c.,l. A. a York, whose expose VI
olt Senator Pomeroy bad st that time
made him f.,nsus Tue story Of York's
disappear snc- was now.in every mouth
add every .ff ri was put forth to solve
the a,y,tery Of his absence. Rivers we're
dragged. sp1ts &c for an ambush were
prcb-d foot by foot. lonesome places
~er. qaested a. keen hourd scents .
trail that Is coid, and still no traces OF
The io-t man were discovered Not Q
,hsdox Of .sid-nce rested any where
to say THAT DIR Yok had been rnnr-
derei = not Q sign anywhere told how
he came To his death. il indeed death
had overtaken him unawares. He vas
traced to Cherry vale. in Lsbette Coun :
". but no further. There all track and
tIace Of him ceased.
About two miles south Of Chesryvsle.
in rude frame house sssnding IN lot
Of two acres in dimension, lived the
Bender family. There were four Ut
ihem-faher. mother. son and daugh-
tor. The mother WAS Spiritualist She
called herself medium; the neighbors
called her che devil. She had . way
Of boiling herbs and roots that were
supposed TO have cbarus and spells
about them. and she dealt in incsuts
tion.. She was repulsive in aspect
tall. angular. and scrawny, with bard.
steei-gr.y eyes. and thin. ragged gray
hair strag. ling over her temples. The
family seeun to have been totally under
the iuiuence Of this ungainiy cresture.
Her word with them was isw. The
Benders si.nsitly kept a grocery. A
sign Was displayed in front Of thalr rude
Dwelling The only stticie they dealt
IN was cheap native wine. which was
served ou the spot. There were two
TO ms ia the house. one used as
ki'ch. and dining room. aud the other
~ sleeping apartment.
Whiie the excitement over the mysts-
rian, dl.apI e~rsnc- of DIR York Was al
i's height party If Cherryv.ie citi
zens dropped in at the Render mansion
aud casually inquired OF the family If
they had at any time daring the past
,ix weeks s.sn anything of York. The
answer was IN the negative. and the
subject was dropped The visit and
toe questioning Of the Cherryvaie
party had u strange effect upon the
Beuders. They suddenly disappeared;
nor were they seen again till their ap-
prehension al Fremont, Nebraska, last
we,k
A man riding iuto Cherryvals from
the country one day was impressed by
the deserted appearance Of the Bender
place Hs entered the yard. In the
stable he found dead calf. There was
every indication from the appearance
of the miserable creature that it had
starved TO death. The man walked up
tn the house, opened tae door and
LOOKED in. Not an article OF household
furniture had been removed. but the
dust lay heavy on everything. 1t WAS
suspicious. The man went to Cherry
vale aud told his story. Senator A NJ
York. the brother Of the missing mau.
WAS there. To his suspicious mind the
sudden and strange flight Of the Bender
family was revelation. He had fouad
the first clue to his los, brother. He di-
vulged his suspiciens and sAsd Of
men accompanied h,m to the Bender
fra. The front room Of the house
wa, carefully searched. every crack and
crevice being minutely looked into and
subjected to the application Of rods and
levers to sec if the flooring wss either
hollow sr 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 were removed In their fight the
Bsnders had left everything untouched.
A slight depression was noticed in
the floor, which upon closer exsmina-
tian revealed q trap door. This WAS
lifted up and IN the gloom . pit out.
lined itself, forbiddiug, cavernous. IN
known. Lights were procured and
some of the men desceuded. Thoy
found themselves In IN abyss shaped
like well, Elk feet deep and i've feet
in diameter Here and there little damp
places could be seen, - though water
had come mp from the bottom - been
poured down from above. They gropsd
aroand over these splotches and held q
handful to the light. The oose smeArsd
itself over their palms and dribbled
through their tingsrs. II was blood.
Every suspision was realized. The
murdercrs bad fed. leaving behind
damning evidences Of their hiacous
guilt. But where were The bodies OF
the victims! For an hour the party of
excited people trsyersed the lonely
garden in tie rear Of the human
slaughter pen ,lprodding the earth with
u long irun rod ALI at once the iron
seemed to strike aeshy matter. In .
moment's time & dozen eager spades had
resurr~cted from its shsilow grave tho
deraying bedy of . humsn being. IL
bad been buried iace down. They
turned il 10 the sunlight. A cry Of
terrar went up froa, the crowd. IL wss
Y.ak's corpse. Although far advascsd
in the stage of decomposition. The fss-
tures we're plainly recognizable. How
the murderous deed had been done wss
speedily aud easily learned. A terrible
blow oa the back Of the head had
crushed the skull upon the brain and
the threat had bean cus from ea1 70 ear.
The ~nrk OF discovery vent on. One
AFTER another were laid bare the graves
Of ten murdered people. Most Of the
bodies wsre identified and tSe roster Of