Northwest enterprise. [volume] (Anacortes, Wash. Ter.) 1882-1887, 1883-08-11
CONFIDING IN THE WRONG SON.

A special to the Times says: Elmer
Snyder is wealthy farmer of Glenn
City, Columbia county. He is wi
dover, and lives alone with his ser
wants in fine house close 10y the
highway He is a prominent figure
in political and social circles. and is
deacon in the Methodist Church here
About five years ago his wife died
The cause of her death was attributed
to the absence of her only child. a
boy. who ran away from home about
fifteen years ago. Two weeks ago a
young man presented himself to the
farmer as his long lost son. Silnulta-
neously ugly rumors began to spread
with regard to his past life in Chi
cago and other cities in the West
The story got about that the young
man was imposing on the farmer, but
he grew in the old mans favor.
On last Wednesday handsome.
elegantly dressed woman, unaccom
panied, drove up to the village inn
and secured accommodations for a
few days. saying she was from Phila-
delphia and desired quie; room.
While walking on the street she met
the lately returned farmers son.
They suddenly became intimate, and
until Thursday night he was con-
stantly in her society. He intro
duced her to a few young ladies as
Mrs. Dickerson Of Philadelphia, and
said she was the wife of friend of
his. On Friday morning the ser
wants in the Snyder household were
surprised by the non appearance of
MIR. Snyder at breakfast, and as he
was an early riser the fact caused
much comment. After waiting until
10 o'clock they determined to call him.
Going to his room they found the
door locked. Bursting open the door
they saw the old man lying at full
length upon the floor bound and
gagged. The ropes that bound him
were wrapped around his arms and
legs with double twist, while the
gag was tightly wedged in his
mouth. Cutting the cords and lifting
him to his feet, they administered
restoratives.
When he had sufficiently recovered
the old man said: THAT young man
was not my son. l have been cruelty
deceived and robbed" pointing to a
safe which stood in the corner of the
room. The servants saw that the
safe had been opened and the con-
tents scattered about on the floor.
Last night" continued the farm
or, 1.-The young man and | remained
up till about IL O'Clock, talking about
the Western States. At last he
started to talk about my real estate,
money, bonds, &c, but l never sus-
pected anything. Shortly after l
went to bed. l soon thought | heard
a noise, as though a door had been
opened and shut, and 1 got up and
looked out of the window, but as l
couldn't see anything l went back to
bed again. soon fell asleep. How
long l slept 1 don't know, but l was
roughly awakened by gag being
forced into my mouth, and before I
could help myself l was bound and
gagged. In the partial darkness l
saw two figures. After they had
securely fastened me one of them
went to the bureau and coolly lit the
lamp.
"As soon as the light was turned
up l recognized the face of the young
man whom thought WAS my son and
the stylish woman who had stopped
at the tavern. The young man
laughed quietly, and taking up my
trousers took the key of the safe out
Of the pocket aud deliberately pro-
ceeded to open it. The pair then ex-
amined the contents. The money
they put in the valise which the wo-
mon carried, while the papers were
tossed about as You see them. After
they had taken everything the young
man came up to me and laughed in
my face. 'Good-by, papa he said;
I'll pay your respects to your son
when / get back to Chicago He
wants to hear from you They then
went out locking the door after
them"
This morning detective from Chi.
cago arrived in the village looking
for two persons whose description
tallies exactly with that of the
farmers bogus son and the feshy
woman who put up at the tavern.
The man is thought to be a conf
dence man OF Chicago, ely Bill"