The Somerset herald. [volume] (Somerset, Pa.) 1870-1936, 1884-12-31

Then they threatened him with
the most horrible tortures for him
self and the two women unless he
divulged the hiding place of his
treasure They spent some little
time in endeavoring to frighten him
into compliance, but his only
response was negative shake Of the
head.
ToRTURING THE WOMEN.
The burglars at least seized Mrs.
Jackson, who is quite decrepit from
age, and bound her fast, and treated
the daughter in the same way, first
the bandages from Mr.
Jackson's eyes so that he might wit
ness the sutferings of the females
The latter were piled with questions
and menaces to force them to the
disclosure they had vainly attempt
ed to extort from him, but encour-
aged by his example, they remain
ed heroically stubborn and silent.
Finally the old lady was stripped to
her underclothing, placed in the cen
tire of the room aud two-gallen can
of kerosene emptied over her.
One of the robbers then approach
ed her with a lighted brand and
gave her just sixty seconds in which
to reveal the hiding-place of the
money before the torch was applied
to her. Her courage might have
sustained her through such dread
full ordeal, but her husband and
daughter gave way before the idea
of seeing her cremsted alive. They
hastened to confess that s175 in gold
and 500 in currency were secured
in an adjacent apartment The bur-
glars hastily broke open the trunk
in which it was hidden and left the
house.
ALMOST PERISHING IN THE COLD.
The three inmates of the house
were left bound upon the floor The
night was bitterly cold, the masked
robbers had left the doors open and
the cutting wind blew through. I'M
til o'clock this morning the VIC
Tins struggled with the cords that
cut their flesh almost to the bone
Then the daughter freed herself and
released the others. All three suf-
fered agonies from the cold and
their bonds, and were barely able to
move about when they regained
their feet.
They quickly gave the alarm, but
no clue could be obtained to the
criminals. When the masked men
quilted the house they took from
the stable a horse and spring wagon
with which they made their escape
There can be no doubt that they
were acquainted with the fact that
Mr.. Jackson had some money about
the premises. While they were
harnessing the horse, one of the men
whom the leader called "Noggern
was left to- guard the family, and
when the leader came to summon
him he suggested that they pour
coal oil upon the bed and set it on
fire, but the leader objected, saying
they would kill any of the family
who should attempt to give the
alarm before they got away.
MASKED HUMAN FIENDs.
Monday night at s o'clock four
masked men burst into the mansion
of Elijah Marling, an immensely
wealthy farmer living eight miles
from Wheeling, w. Va, in in isolat-
ed place. They first bound him
hand and foot with a clothes-line
and gagged him with teavy pieces
of creased muslin. Searching his
clothing they found sl05 in cash.
They then ransacked the house, cut
ting open feather beds, tearing up
the hearths, ripping up the flooring,
bursting open bureau drawers, and
pulling wainscoting from the walls
in their search. They alternated all
of their movements of this kind by
exposing Marling to the mostincred-
ible tortures. They heated poker
red hot, and removing the gag from
his mouth, they told him either to
diyulge the hiding place of his mon
ey or suffer the consequences.
He assured them that he had no
money beyond what they had taken,
but they refused to believe him, and
put him to the torture. His legs
were prodded in a hundred different
places. while in his right thigh IS a
wound nearly two inches in depth.
before prouding him they again gag
ged their victim. Removing the
gag they assured him they would
burn him slowly to death if he did
not disclose the place in which his
money was hidden. Again assuring
them that they had ali he had in
the house, he was gagged and this
time tortured in earnest. They
heated quantity of lard to the
boiling point, and poured it slowly
down the back of the writhing,
groaning man. His agony was
something awful, but, having moth
ing in the house with which to graf
ify his tormentors, he was compell-
ed to endure several applications of
lard. For three hours they kept up
their heroic treatment, and then left
him bound and gagged and alone in
the house. where he lay until yester-
day morning, when a tenant on his
farm found him and released him.
So great was his prostration that
it was some hours before he could
coherently tell the story of his suf-
ferings. A physician found him in
a very precarions condition. and
says that unless he speedily reacts
he cannOtrecover. Marling is a tall
powerful man, nearly fifty years of
age, and has lived the life of her.
NIT in magnificent old Virginia
house for nearly twenty-years. He
owns five hundred acres of ground
valued at 5000, and is known to
have over $4,000 in money. This
money the thieves thought he had
concealed in the house, but he had
always kept it in a Wheeling bank.
He strugulod before capfured verv