The Red Cloud chief., 1884-11-07

On last sunday afternoon was
brought TO Red Cloud that another re-
voting crime had i,een committed near
Blue Hill. The new. created quite an
excitement in this city from the fact
that only a few short weeks ago all
other human being hal me. a similar
fate in that portion Of Webster county.
Alfmanner Of storie. were told in re-
gard TO the las, tragedy, and none
seemed 20 be rs bad a. the result show
ed II 20 be. The murdered mar wa.
well known in Blue Hill, and had lived
in that vicinity since 1873, during
which time he had gained a host Of
friends and succeeded in Accommodating
n farm and considerable stock. He
Was an inotfensive hsrdworking farmer
and no mar had aught TO say against
him. He lsborcd hard to make an
honest living, and attended strictly To
his own welfars~~This fact alone i
what makes the crime 20 hcinous in
it's nature. The william, who ever he
might have been could not possibly
have held a grudge against this man,
as he had onlv worked for him a week
and could not have engendered any
animOsity against him IN that time that
would have led him TO commit the
lnsr.lla <r,,a that took ptanA nm tho
fatal night of November first. Rail Was
simply decoycd and murdered in cold
blood by this fiend incarnate / hu-
man form, which SO shocked the
peaceful citizens of Blue Hill and sur
rounding country that all business was
suspended during the investigation by
the coroner. 4 CHIEF reporter in
company with DIR. Mosena, o OF
Webster county. visited the scene OF
the murder on Monday, ard vas there
f re able to CLEAN the following facts.
1t seems that about one week previous
to the death Of Rail
"A 1kAil AffkAFfb Al Blu HILL
in search OF work apparently, and wa.
directed To several parties living near
there that we're known 10 want hired
help. but each man refused him as he
stated, until he made application to
the murdered man, who "a: once en-
gagged him FOR a season. All went well
for the week which the tramp worked
for Rail and the last named became
quite attached TO him from the fact
F., that he appeared to be u good work
man and ready to DO any work that
was ret before him. This fact alone
! would naturally have made Il man
| think well Of the fellow. No suspicion
was aroused i'm the minds of Rail or
mmily in regard to this tramp. al
though the investigation 10y the coro-
ner would plainly show that be was
maturing plans Of some such crime as
he finally executed on the night OF
November /. His stories after being
thoroughly analysed were very trans
parent, and if they had been carefully
weighed would have had a suspicious
look.
He TOLD VARIOUS STORIES
about asking for work, which, repeated
after the murder of Rail, would have
led any one to believe that the crime
was premeditated in a cold and de-
liberate manner by this depraved
young man, or better, fiend, WHO has
scarcely arrived at his majority. 1t
seems simply awful TO contemplate the
preparation of such a horrible crime
at the hands of SO young q man. Ii
there could have been any rause the
aspect of the case would have been
seen in a much different light. Fol
lowing the story up We find that Cook
as he gave his name, had finally cul.
minated his plans and fixed up a story
that his folks, who he said lived in
Nodaway county, No, had sent him a
letter that they had sold out their
farm for $4,000 and wanted him io
meet them in Lincoln. Neb. and go 70
California, aud said he would have to
quit work and wanted Rail- to take
him to Blue Hill on Saturday night to
take the Q 2 NJ train for that place
This was one part of his scheme to
entrap Rail, and on Saturday after.
noon set about to put the balance into
execution. Accordingly he wen to
the house and asked Mrs. Rail for the
hammer, remarking by the way thai
the wagon was out Of killer, and TIA
he wanted to fix it. She not knowins
where the hammer WAS, told him tC
take the Ratchet that lay near b,
where she stood. Cook picked it W
and went hack to the WACO and 6xeo
it, secreting the Ratchet either in the
wagon or oil his person Is viii
hereafter be shown. To further hi:
diabolical scheme he told another s.or,
about some fellow whom he had seer
proving around the wheat stack ant
suggested that he ought to1be looked al
ter. This story was evidently concocte'
in order to get Rail to so that way s,
that he would not be apt to run acros1
anyone that would interfere with hi
SCHEME OF MURDER.
The stacks of grain are located abcu
one-half mile north If Rails residenc
in 3 big meadow and an unfreqnen;e'
sn0f n eOOd nlaca Tn commit inaf sne]