Wheeling register. [volume] (Wheeling, W. Va.) 1878-1935, 1881-06-17
MIDNIGHT MARAUDERS
DRAG PEACEFUL CITlZekS FROM
THEIR BEDS
And Treat Them to a Coat Of Tar and
feathers 10 Greene couaty, Pa Z
The Dsstardiy 0uiragss Con- =
tinuedin west Virginia
Seven Victims.
AsToay Thai oUIaNAls THE WORST
lwaYSszBgee, Pa June l6.-A series
.. outrsses which have no parallel In

aNArNkSBURo, fAS June lo.-A eerrs
o, outrsses which have no parallel In
the history oil this section is reported as
having been peIpstrated few nights
ayo, and the particulars as. furnished
sound like the Improbable annals OF
m,re deprayed age than the present.
The facts as reported are not to be ques
toned, however, and every particular is
youched for as being capable OF being
implicitly believed. The depredations
committed consisted in combination
OF unheard OF outrages, the perpetrators
being a gang OF
Mounted, Masked Men
who made Springhill, Greene county,
their starting point and CO mpleted their
dastardly work beyond the Pennsylva-
MIA line ia West Virginia. The mob
numbered from ten TO twenty men and
were considerably under the influence
OF LIQUOR, which, though not an excuse
for th q crimes committed, will doubtless
be TO certain extent considered pallia-
tior. The house OF Eli Reed. In the
above-named village, was first visited
and an entrance effected. Their ven
yeance, il such il could be called, WAS
sated by treating the head Of the house
10 a eoas of tar, after which he was rid
den on a rail and subjected to all man
ner Of indignities. Mrs. Reed was then
carried from the house considerable
distance and compelled to submit to
nameless indecencies. Not We. satisfied,
her body was covered With
A Coat OF Tar
and almost all her clothes stripped from
her ptran Continuing, they came 10 the
house of a neighbor, to their last victim,
Armstrong Sexton, and similar mode
OF procedure was gone through with, II
possible, even more outrageous than
the first. Sexton was taken from his
house, stripped and his body coated
with tar After heaping all the possible
abuse on the husband, the wife was put
under the tOrtures inflicted on the per-
son of the lady first visited. her hus
band being compelled to stand as spec
tator tO the fiendish acts The next OBJ
ipct Of their hate, on whom they pro.
posed committing their barbarities. was
John Petit, but being unable to take
him unawares. they were compelled to
give up their plans. so far as he vas con-
cerned. Mr.. Petit was a soldier, and
having had some little experience with
outlaws of this sort, was not the man
for such party OF cOwards to attack
when once on his guard.
The House Of Widow
named Sarah Roach, who. with her son,
lives in the same neighborhood, was
their next point OF attack. The boy was
taken first and treated to ccat OF tar
and feathers, after which the mother
was compelled To suffer whatever pun
ishment the mob saw lit to intlict. The
West Virginia line was crossed and a
widow named Wisbey made subject of
their madness. After compelling ner to
undergo the same tortures ~ their form.
er victims, coat Of tar and feathers was
applied Alter abusing her to such an
extent as to render her entirely helpless
and too weak TO even call for assistance,
the villains carried her to a large brush
heap, and throwing her among the brush
aud logs left her to recover as best she
could. After lying there for several
hours she recovered strength sufficient
To enable her to return to her home,
and apprise her friends and neigh5ors OF
the circumstances OF the case.
The mob then disappeared seemingly
satisfied with their
Gashtly Nights Work
and no one is able 10 tell whence they
came or whittier they went. Their work
was the most dastardly ever known 10
have been committed in this region OF
country. aud il is to be regretted that
there is no positive clue tn tine identity
OF the perpetrators. There is, OF course,
some slight evidence, but they came so
silently, did their work 80 swiftly, and
disappeared so quietly, leaving no marks
TO indicate the course OF their departure,
that it will be most difficult matter TO
trace the matter TO any one. What is
A Most Peculiar Phase
OF the strang- and unaccountable affair
is the fact that the persons who were
chosen as the ones to suffer are all
harmless and inOtfensive people who,
though they NAV have some enemies,
have never been guilty of any act to-
ward the less law-abiding portion OF the
community as would call for reparation
ON their part. The officers OF the law
are making every effort to ferret ont the
perpetrators and in this laudable fort
are receiving all possible aid from the
ciuzens of the vicinity in which the
tiendish acts were committed. Whether
they will ever he overtaken and given
the reward they have only too richly
earned is vet a matter which cannot be
determined, but n persistent and deter.