The New Bloomfield, Pa. times. (New Bloomfield, Pa.) 1877-188?, 1881-02-15

and this the passengers learned full
we'll. He thought that the boat was
over crowded, that It lay too deep.in the
sea for safety, that there were six or
seven too many people on board And
so In cold blood, he determined to get
rid of the extra six or seven. Incredible
as the story at this time may seem, he
made up his mind, and got the sailors TO
agree with him, TO throw overheard six
or seven Of the heaviest of the passen-
gers, SO as to tighten the long-boat by
just the amount these six or seven weigh
ed-making 30 many lives just the
matter of 30 many pounds.
There were thirty-two people in the
long. boat, counting Holmes. Holmes
made up his mind that there shouldn't
be over twenty five or six counting
Holmes of course). Holmes had at
first determined TO make short speech
to the passengers, telling 'em why he
was forced to throw 'em overheard
but he thought afterwards that that sort
of speech would make trouble, as it
probably would, so he determined to
throw 'em overheard first and explain
afterwards.
He waited till night came, and then
he waited till eleven o'clock at night
1t was pitch dark then, except when
there was flash of lightnin', and every
now and then it rained little. Alto
gether it was gloomy night.
Il 4 nosI
ors came up close to where man, one
of the passengers, called Owen Reilly,
was sitting, Holmes made sign, and
then the three of 'em caught hold of
poor Owen Reilly. He looked wildly;
it was tightening pretty fast just then,
and Reilly could see, by the flashes, the
cruel faces and stern looks of the three
men who had hold of him. He clutch
ed tight hold of the side of the boat,
and said to the three men: "What are
you going to do with me 2" The two
sailors didn't know what to say to this
natural question; they didn't know how
to put the deed into words. But Holmes
spoke right up, and answered "We
are going to throw you overheard and
tighten this boat. 1t is better one should
drown than thirty-two." Reilly fought
for while; but he was soon overpower-
ed, his hands and feet were held fast,
and they began to swing his body to and
fro, so as to be able to hurl it into the sea
so far that he could not reach the boat
again in his dying struggles. Then
poor Reilly gave up fighting and called
out to the women, who looked on, or
tried to see what they could, trembling,
but afraid and unwilling to interfere
"Ask 'em to spare my life, for Gods
sake" said poor Reilly to a girl who
had been sitting next him; but the girl
didn't or couldn't speak, and in less
time than it takes to write this, poor
Reilly was hurled alive into the sea-
| His death shrek was something awful,
but his cries and struggles didn't last
| long. There was silence in a minute,
and when the next flash of lightnin' lit
| up the sea, there was nothin' to be seen
of poor Owen Reilly. There were
only thirty-one passengers now, and
the long-boat was about one hundred
and eighty pounds lighter, but Holiness
and the two sailors consciences were
heavier by good deal more than one
hundred and eighty pounds.
| The two sailors who had been help
ing Holmes seemed themselves to feel
bad, but Holmes didn't give them time
to think. Telling them to come with
him, he stepped up to where another
passenger was sitting, a man named
Frank Atkins, and seizing him, the
three men threw him overheard, in
spite of the tears, prayers and struggles
of pretty young girl a few feet off from
him, on another seat. Frank Atkins
struggled, but he didn't say anything
about his own life, and only cried out to
the young girl, God bless you Mary"
| Then he went down into the sea, with
big splash, like stone. He couldn't
swim.
"Who's that young woman making
all this noise ?" asked Holmes with an
OATH
d" l am the sister of the man you have
just thrown overheard" answered the
young girl whom the dying Frank At
kins had just blessed as " Mary"
"Oh, 1 thought you was his sweet
heart" sneered Holmes, whose bad blood
was now up.
"Iloved him better than sweetheart"
answered the young girl, looking up
into Holmes's face with sad, brave
look. Then she continued: "You