The Austin weekly statesman. (Austin, Tex.) 1883-1898, 1884-03-13
SEEN.
THE BURGLAR SHOT BY MRS.
SIMONS DIES-IS SECRETED
BY HIS COMPANIONS.
The RumOrs RIM Down and What
Was Found at the Other End
IF Them

The night that Mrs. Simons shot the
burglar, a negro in the employ of Capt.
Love saw two men not far from the
captains residence in lonely, Sc
Guided spot take some object about the
size of a man, lay it down,
and then go to work as if
to dig a grave. The negro reported
the matter to Capt. Love and the next
day the captain went to the place, and
sure enough some one had been dig
ging, and the removed earth was
about the size of grave. The matter
was reported in this city and coming
to the attention of the recorder, he
visited the spot and opened the sup
posed grave, but no corpse was found.
The matter was looked upon as mere
figmy of the negro's Imagination and
no further attention was paid to it.
but now comes another report that
would seem to give crediblility to
the negro's story.
John Gashaway, farmer liv ng
about fifteen miles from this city,
coming in late Ia t evening, was seen
by STATESMAN representative and
he tells this story. He had been to
Austin and did not start for home
| until
VERY LATE,
having, as he put it himself, "a little
time with the boys" His way
home lay past Capt. Loves
place. He says that when he was
passing through secluded
spot not far from Capt. Loves. hesaw
two men digging. His attention was
attracted to them, and his curiosity
being excited he went back to see
what they were doing. He drove
past. them, he says, without seemingly
attracting attention, and consequently
when he went back they did not notice
him. Mr.. Gashaway says he thought
the men had killed some person and
were buryiDg the corpse of the MUIR
dered man. While he was watching
them the negro came along and he
came so close to them that he
ATTACTED THEIR ATTENTION,
and becoming greatly frightened, he
ran away. HIS running caused one
of the men to follow him. and in do
ing so discovered a house not far
away. He returned and reported the
fact. The other man said they
must go somewhere else
and filling the hole took up what ap
peared to be body and left
Mr.. Gashaway followed them until
they came to horse and buggy
hitched not far from the place where
they had been digging. They put the
corpse, or what ever it was, into the
buggy and drove off. Mr.. Gasha
way went back to his team and drove
to his home. But this Is not all there
is
STILL ANOTHER
story reported that would seem t.
have some connection with the one
detailed above. A negro named Sam
Waller reports that he saw two men
in buggy driving towards Oatman-
vile with dead man in their wagon
lying between them. He says they
passed along the road a little before
day light and were driving very
fast. The buggy was an open
buggy and as described by
the darkey 'old and bad look
ing" in appearance. He says the
horse was very good horse, and a
bay in color. This darkey is very
positive that there was dead man in
buggy, and he would not change his
statement for any other theory. II
was suggested to him that perhaps it
was drunken man instead of dead
one, but he Indignantly replied he
knew a drunken man from u dead
man. How much reliance can be
placed in these stories we will not
pretend to say, but it would seem
there is something in them.
IT IS THOUGHT.
the shot of Mrs. Simons proved fatal
and that the man died of his wounds
and his companions took him in Their
buggy and first undertook to bury
him near Capt. Loves, and being
frightened away took him into the
wilds near Oatmanville and secreted
his body there. They no DOUBT de-
sired to bury him in some place where
the body would not be found, so that
no clue to their identity would be OBJ
tanned. THE STATESMAN has given
these reports for just what they are
worth; having taken considerable
pains, however, to get them as reliable
as possible.