The Indianapolis sentinel. [volume] (Indianapolis, Ind.) 1880-1904, 1885-03-25
AFIENDISH OUTRAGE.
4 Defenseless Widow Dragged From
Her Bed By Three Scoundreis,
And Foullv Outrage1-Two Men AR
reeted for the Crime-The VIC
tins Statement.

&1OA VI oil 80 80 "N4OWr
which could be conceived and worked cut
only by villains OF the deepest dye. In the
village referred to live Mrs. Mary E. Smith,
a widow OF one year, and her little daughter
AureIia, who is now in her eighth
year. Mrs. Smith and her dau ghter occupy
= sma all cottage IN a sparsely settled part OF
ire town, the nearest house being about 100
yards distant On Saturday morning Mr..
Cornelius Ingleman was passing the house,
and hearing the cries OF the ! tile girl en-
tsred 10 ascertain the csuse, the child scream
lrg as though Suffering from some
unusual event Uoon entering the
house, the door Of which was open,
' 9 found Mrs Smith lying upon the kitchen
Il or in her night clothes, with her hands
ard feet bound firmly together with cords
evidently portions OF a trot line Upon at.
tempting TO arouse her he found that she
was unconscious, and nearly frozen from
having lain in that condition So long. Her
mouth was covered with a towel tied at the
back of her head, ~aniianother towel passing
under the chin and was tied over the top Of
the head. When the towel was re.
moved it was covered with blood,
and the throat gave evidence
of having been firmly grippsd and BRUISED.
The cords with which she was TIED had been
cut from a line which extended across
the kitchen, and which was Used FIR the pur-
poee OF drying clothes. in bad weather. A
glass, containing a white looking substance,
was on q stand IN the room. and the furni-
ture gave evidence of there having been a
struggle. The ~neighoors were called in and
the lady removed to her bed, and medical
aid summoned. Beyond the statement
OF the child nothing could be
learned as to the circumstances
of her mothers condition. She said that she
had walked up in the night, aud finding her
mother absent had cried betself to sleep.
and upon awakiDg sgsin In the morning,
and seeing her mother lying in the kitchen,
As she supposed, dead, she had begun to cry,
when Mr.. Ingleman made his appearance.
When Mrs. Smith was restored to con
seriousness sbe said that her house had been
entered the night before by three
men. who had drugged her and then
outraged her person. She gave 4 description
of the men, and on the strength of this Ed
Law, q young man about nineteen years of
age, was placed under arrest and taken be-
fore Mrs Smith for Identification. At this
time he ~ore a hat, and Mrs. Smith failed to
identify him as one of the mea in her house
the night before. A cap was substituted for
the hat, and she then declared that he was
account of himself the night before,
except such q one as seemed to furnish strong
circumstance of his guilt. He is boarding
with Q mar by the name of Festherston, and
be acknowledged that he did not go home
until 3 O'Clock in the morning, claiming to
f-N<< = oeAoAC At46sc
about 100 yards from Mrs. Smiths house,
whereihe says be heard the cries OF Aurelia
Smith during the night. Fsatherston cor
roboratts this in so far as it relates
to the hour of Laws return home.
Law was at first placed undsr 81 900 bonds.
but the indignation of the citizens was
aroused to such a pitch that he was
rearrested and the bond increased
to $1,000, in default OF which he was
sent to Jail. William Grose was also ar.
yoafaH and hfa h0nA H~od a. O ltHo N HIT
the community believing that he was not
guilty and Mrs. Smith not identifying him,
the bail was given and he is now at home.
After Law was identified, he denied that he
had ever worn a cap, but any amount OF
testimony will be forthcoming to show that
lie wore a CAP frequently d1Tiog the winter,
snd in fact was wearing one on Friday even
ing. The trial WAS set for Yesterday, but
owing to the illness of Mrs. Smith it was
postponed till such ime in the future as she
would be able to attend.
A representative of the Sentinel yesterday
visited Greenwood, where he learned the
foregoing facts, and also visited Mrs. Smith
TO obtain her version of the story. He
found her in bed. evidently not fully re-
covered from the terrible ordeal through
which she had passed. When questioned
with regard to the outrage which hsd been
committed upon her she at first de.
ciined TO tax, but when told
tfat there were many contra
0lCtOIJ umol5 aDOdt IN Inc community,
and Thai Ii would be better to publish the
facts as coming directly from her, she recon-
sideIed her determination not to give the
desired Information, and made the follow
ing statement, which Was taken down in her
own words:
AZ did a hard days washing on Friday,
end that night | went to bed between 5 and
$ o'clock, and immediately dropped off to
sleep. / had been asleep but q short time.
when / was awakened by what | thought
was q loud knock on the door. but after get
ting up and listening awhile | concluded il
swss the wind, and then went back to bed. I
went to sleep again. but do not know how
long l bad slept when l was aroused by foot
steps In the room. and opening my eyes /
saw Two men standing by my bed and an
otneI approaching it with . lamp in his
hand One Of them took hold of me aud be.
gan TO drag me from the bed. / begged and
prayed to him for Gods cake 10 lei me alone,
but he leplied that he did not come here to
bear my prayers; that was not his business.
be was q very, tall man, had on a
low-crown bat and a dark suit of clothes and
wore whiskers and O mustsobs. His face
was covered with q mask, and as he dragged
ne from the ted / clutched the mask and
pulled it from his face. / then recognized
Iii ss . man whom / had seen several times
upon the street and who once spoke to me
ut the fruit-house, but l do not know his
name. | am positive that / would recognize
him if 1 could see him again. When I
pulled the mask OF. he struck me a heavy
blow upon the head and jerked me out upon
the floor. The man who stood beside him
had o Ratchet in his hand. He cursed me-
and said be would kill me if | did not hush
my screams. / do not remember the man
who carried the lamp, except that he
had . cap on and looked quite boy
ish, not more than nineteen or twenty
years of age. When they dragged me
ont upen the floor, the man with the
Ratchet in his hand put his left ha1d
over my eyes and said he would kill me II
l did not hush. While l was being held
down upon the floor by the man from whose
face lad taken the mask, I heard them
mixing something in q glass. They then
brought 1t to me. bat l refused TO drink it,
bot they threatened 10 kill me-. snd forced
The stuff into my mouth. | do not know