Juniata sentinel and Republican. [volume] (Mifflintown, Juniata County, Pa.) 1873-1955, 1881-01-05

white faces and nolseiess steps. en-
tered the room
The scene that met their sight
froze their blood and paralyzed their
limbs and tongues, all but Snyder,
who was cool enough He said 1t
is too bad and, pointing to a WIN
dow, added, "There is where the men
Jumped out. I had hard fight with
them. There were four men alto
gether." The men stood about
speechless. The bed on which the
murdered man and woman lay was
mass of gore and brains The walls
of the room were bespattercd with
blood nearly to the ceiling. The men
went back into the kitchen and stood
there. talking in whispers Soon the
room filed up with neighbors, men,
women and children, who had heard
the horrible news and had come to
verify it. Their courage increased
with their numbers, and before day
light they had become an auSry
crowd, vowing vengeance, but dong
nothing. In the meantime Alice had
told a few women of Snyders at
tempted assault upon her and ex-
pressed her belief that he had muir
dered her parents, and the story grad
uallv got around among the crowd,
but there was no one among them
hardy enough then to arrest the cool
villain who was repeating to every
fresh arrival his incredible story OF
the burglars, and it was not until
after Snyder had quietly slipped
away that their anger, which after
wards carried them to the extreme
length of taking the law into their
own hands, was sufficiently stirred to
make them take any active steps to
secure the murderer.
The news spread rapidly and when
Detective w. w. Yohe, of the LIE
high and Susquehanna Railroad Com
panv. reached the house of the Geo
giles he found an excited crowd of
men, women and children around
it. The yard and road and lane on
the south side of the house were
filed with knots of people to the
number of several hundred, and, al
though there was no boisterousness,
it was evident that they were dread
fully in earnest and that ii would not
fare well with the criminal if he was
found. Snyder, dressed in dark
jeans, pants tucked in his boots, blue
shirt, brown jacket of overall stuff
and wooden cap, mixed with the peo-
pie freely and appeared perfectly
cool. To every new arrival he re-
peated the story of the four strange
men who retreated through the win
dow.
The neighbors, after the first hor-
ror had worn of, began to look on
Snyder with suspicion. He escaped
the notice of the crowd and went into
the barn. About six o'clock it was
discovered that Snyder had gone
through the barn, crossed stubble-
field and after clamboring hill had
reached the public road. Men, arm
ed with guns, revolyers, pitchforks,
clubs or indeed any weapon that
could be found, were about to start
in pursuit of Snyder when Detective
Yche arrived and took charge of the
expedition. Followed by about two
hundred men and boys the detective
searched two barns without results.
The third barn visited belonged to
George B. Ritter. The detective
mounted the ladder leading to the
upper NOW, which was filed with
sheaf wheat, sSua hunsed aroSN 4
a,.asHg- tne sheaves for some time add
the crowd breathlessly awaited .he
result. Ar. Yobes foot finally struck
some object, and on putting his arm
down into the straw he clutched a
mans wrist and yelled out: Here
he is. A farmer, named Samuel
kincade, was the only one OF the
hunters thai went up the ladder to
the NOW, but before he reached the
top Detective Yohe had hand-cuffed
his man, secured the much-feared re
volver. a four -barreled affair The
detective and Kincade came down the
ladder and told Snyder to follow, but
he deliberately jumped TO the barn
floor, a distance of over twenty feet,
and arose unhurt. The crowd now
became perfectly wild, and cries of
Hang him." ''Cut his throat" Hang
him up by the thumbs" and Burn
him." filled the air. Detective Yohe
seized Snyder by the arm, and a
march of half a mile across the fields
to Geogle's place was made. Snyder
and Yohe were handled pretty rough
ly. The crowd was reinforced by a
number of women and men from the
Geogles' house. They endeavored to
take Snyder away from the officer for
the purpose of hanging him. Mr..
Yohe chung pluckily to his man. how
ever, and after a struggle of five min
utes in the snow and another brief
battle in crossing the Monocacy
creek, Snyder was pulled into the
house of the Geogles and placed in
the front room adjoining the one in
which his victims still lay weltering
in blood The women, who were far
more bitter than the men, urged their
masculine friends to take the prison
er out and hang him. A man named
Eshlman mounted the front steps
and harangued the crowd, telling
them the murdered man and woman
should be avenged at once. He said !:
q Ii We let it go to the courts this
trial will cost us thousands of dollars
in taxes, and even then he may es-
cape. This argument had strong
effect on the people, and about this
time man went up stairs to Sny-
ders bed and, throwing the mattress
on the floor, brought down the bed
cord Then came another rush, but
the officer succeeded in keeping his
man behind him in a corner until the
would-be lynchefs retired.
,x-ae. NOM a1 IN