The Columbian. [volume] (Bloomsburg, Pa.) 1866-1910, 1882-06-09

There he made the following impor-
tant statement: He had started, he
said, from Woodley, in the morning,
with five passengers. This, of course,
could be verified by reference to the of
ficials there. AT various places, so he
said, he had set down FIVE passengers.
He had also taken up two, but did not
remember what they were like, as he
thought nothing about them at the
time; could not say even if the two
were men or women thought they had
alighted on the way, and that the
gentleman in the coach was one of
those who started first at Woodley.
When about two miles on the other
side Of Winfield Hollow he heard what
seemed to him to be a violent dispute
going on inside the coach. He stop
ped the horses and went to the door.
Only two passengers were then inside
--one a young man with dark eyes and
chestnut hair, and the other he could
swear was the murdered man. They
seemed to be in high dispute, but when
they saw him, and knew that their al
tercation had stopped the coach, the
murdered mamie was certain he could
swear it was the murdered man--put
his head out of the window and said:
"What do you wantf Ny friend and
! had few harsh words, aud what is
that to you7"
When he heard this he remounted
the box. About FIVE minutes later one
of the gentlemen stopped him to get
out, seeming to be much agitated,
which he supposed to be on account of
the dispute. He did not notice at the time
which gentleman left, but could certain
ly swear it was the murdered man who
had spoken to him from the window,
and who appeared to be the principal
in the dispute. A very few minutes
after the unknown gentleman left the
murdered man the accident occurred
which prevented the coachman from
any very close remembrance of partic-
ular incidents.
Rush, the stage coachman, appeared
to be much troubled during his examin-
alton by the police, which was very
natural, as he had good reason to know
that he would be greatly blamed, and
would probably in the end be dismiss
ed for carelessness. 1t is no pleasant
thing to drive a coach, and to have
people murdered in it, He was, how
ever, much relieved when he found that
his conduct, on account of the excite
ment occasioned by the accident, was
not considered to be very culpable, and
that he was only bound over to attend
and give evidence at the inquest, which
he was very willing to do.
The inquest was held in due course.
Mr.. Pritchard, the Coroner, being an
active, sensible man, nothing was left
undone which might subserve the ends
of justice. Several people were called
as witnesses, but only three gave evil
dence of any consequence. The first
was the clerk at the Office where the
coach started. He gave the names of
the passengers booked, but could not
identify the murdered man.
The next was the coachmau, John
Rush, whose tale was much as has been
already told
The most important point in his
evidence was that he affirmed that the
murdered man spoke a little huskily
through his nose, and had way of
lisping out his words so that even in
the midst of the fight he could hardly
help laughing at him.
All this evidence he gave in a clear,
straightforward manner, such as, it was
thought, proved him beyond a doubt
to have no completely in the foul deed.
The third witness was the porter who
discovered the dead body; and after
these were one or two others who were
present at the time, including the med
ical men who examined the corpse.
| The coroner summed up with great
ability, and the jury, without moments
consideration, returned a verdict Of
wilful murder against some person ol
persons unknown.
The next day the body of the murder
ed man was buried, and the police re
newed their search, but everybody saw
that after little fuss on the part O
the newspapers, the tragedy of thu
Beliair stage would most probably be
come one of those mysteries which wal
for elucidation and punishment unit
| the day of doom. Strange to say, how
ever, the perpetrator of the crime wa
discovered, and convicted on his Owl
evidence; and the very means whicl
he adopted to hide the deed were tn
occasion of it being brought to light
as ! shall now briefly explain.
The town of Bellair was about fort
or fifty miles from Woodley, and tn
stage ran between the two places. /
few miles from Woodley was anothe
small town called Oakbourne, and il
Oakbourne lived widow fair, name
Conway, and her daughter
, Mrs. Conway had brother who wa
deaf and dumb. His name was Thoma
Ellwood. His affliction, as might b
supposed, was a source of great trial t
his family, and had his parents bee
poor it would probably have made h
course in life much harder than
really was but his father, old Mr.. FL
, wood, had but two children, the eide,
a girl-who married while young
, certain Mr.. Conway-and Thomas, {
| whom am about to speak.
After Jane Ellwood became Mr.
Conway she saw very little of her ow
!, family, for her mother was alread
/ dead, and in less than a year after h
l. wedding day she lost her father, al
S now her only surviving relative w
4 her brother Thomas.
Q To Thomas Ellwood his father le
: almost all that he possessed, sayiI
n that his daughter, being married, war
a ed little, and that poor Tom could {
Il nothing for himself. "Poor Tom" ho
II ever, at the time of our story, was
!, longer boy, for he had nearly reach
o his 4Oth year, but he had never marie
= His sister, Mrs. Conway, was older tb
b himself, and had an only child,
N daughter, now about II years of az
d called after her mother, Jane.
IL Jane had great expectations, for 1
only was her widowed mother well,
l. IL 4 FNI