New-York tribune., 1885-01-17
A BLOODY MIDNIGHT FIGHT.
, DESPERATE STRUGGLE WITH BURGLARS

RIBLE RUN-sNowBALLs FOR WEAPoN9' -.
| A abort. th,ck-set man, with o German cast oi
| oonnt.nonce tramped along the old Bedford turn
nike in the neighborhood of Chappaqua ana Noun,
| Kisco on the Harlem Railroad on IhursdaS' anu
| with the utmost freedom entered severai IAN
| bonses without invitation and deliberately gu.
waved the premises He looked through the empty
rooms at his leisure. If he ran across any OF 'no
inhabitants he was good enough to say goou
| evening rand ask for something to eat OF ior a
| chance to get warm. About A O'CLOCK
| bc arrived al the home OF Iheo-
dore b. MellOws, halfway between Ohap
paoua and Mount Kisco, and entered side door 80
| close behind Mr.. MelOws, that If that gehtienian
had not been deaf he would have known tha' ITO
was followed. But he had led the visltor az iAi "'
the dining room before he discovered ms presence
| There the fellow was confronted by MISS "'.%1
| Crosby. n sister of Mrs. MellOws Is ne the
hoes y he asked pointing finger at Mr.. Mellows.
| R~ina informed that he the " boss" ne eyea
him for n moment and then asked for some bread.
| Then he warmed himself at the Kitchen nle'
| glanced about the house and went away. ME-
| Mellows knew nothing of his being there tiil sup
ner tune when her sister told her. 1t made her
little nervous and she was more careful than usua'
about locking up things that night.
| TheNellOws family consisting OF MN ana ME-
Nel,ows and Miss Crosby live in two-story frame
|
They have been there SIX years and take summer
boorders 70 make ends meet the in the dull
| season From the rear end of the short, narrow
hall a stairway of about dozen steps leads TO the
! two rooms above where the family sleep, MI Moi-
| lows IN one his wife and her sister IN the other'
Doors to these open on opposite SIDES oi 'he
lrtle space called the hall Mrs. Mellows. when
she went to bed, left the door OF her room
aiar. that she might the more eashy
hear any disturbance III the ho"Ho'
Mr.. Menows could never hear anything. All was
| ouet and the house wrapt IN sluinber' wheh'
about midnight. Mrs. Mellows was awakened py
the sound of door being broken open. Knowing
| Instantly that il was the door of her husbands
room .hc sprang ont of bed without waking her
sister grasped pistol from the bureau, ana mast
ened IN the direction of the noise. To dash across
| the hall and throw wide open the door already aJar
| ras the work of a moment The next instant the
light OF "A dark lantern flashed IN her face Shesa"
through her blurred vision the form oil small man
standing near the centre of the room with some
thing in his hand Leaping toward her he raised ms
hand and dwelling pistol al her race, puiIed thc
trigger BY the light OF the flash she saw that ms
face was black. Then with burning sensation III
her right temple the blood squirting over her cloth
ing shc realized that she shot. Undaunted,
sbc prappcd with the villain, cutchIng HIM by the
throat and despite his struggles aud blows iorced
him out of the room toward the stairway. His
hack was toward the opening and, seeing her adj
! vartoce she gave him sudden push With
| a muiled cry Of rage and pain he rolled headfore-
most down to the hall below, landing there all IN
| heap Faint and exhausted Mrs Mcllows, IN a SEMI
unconscious state, made her way back to her room,
andstood there painting aud bleeding. She knew
| NOT what was going on around her for the next few
minutes.
| MIR MEtIows AROUSED AND DRIVEN FRANTIC.
deaf ~ he Is. the pistol shot, aided by its flash,
| aroused Mr. Mclows from his deep sleep, ana
| spriuCing out of bed, he reached the door as the
| burglar rolled down stairs. Crossing the narrow
| hall he encountered another, short, thick-set
| man who eluded him and dashed down the steps
after his companion. Mr.. Melows followed IN hot
pursuit. and in the hall below the two men
l,ncbed bterrible strug c followed They were un-
| evenly matched the burglar having the advantage
in size and strength but Mr. Mellows was active and
virv and pressed his opponent hard. Twisting he
hind him he pinioncl his arms and dashed his head
against the wall. Bending low the man by a
a mighty effort freed his right hand in which he
rrasped a pistol and before he could check him a
bullet whlzzcd past Mr., Melows's cheek burying
10 his shoulder the man fired again
backward. but his ann was no tThcf tn2h
before aud another bullet crashed t,ro1gh @ tnc
woodwork. By the light Of the Hash N'r M'lIows
saw hc mans black face. Jerking away from Mr.
NeIlovs his antagonist turned npon him and beat
hun numerically over the head wi'h the butt Oh
HIS pistol. Then he fled.
Mr. Mcllows half crazed with pam, rushed mp
the stairs, through hIsroom through a small htllc
room behind II aud lcIped from the window. ne
distance to the ground was about tiItecn feet.
Scrambling 10 his feet he dashed az hard az hc
could around toward the front of the house. leav-
ing a bloody trait IN the snow Az he turned the
corner he say man standing near the porch, so lie
started OFF III another direction, scaling low stone
wall and rnnnlng III his stocking iee'
and night-drcss TO his nearest nelghbor,
Mr. Fays. about 200 yards away Without Ha
waiting To sec If his loud knocks at the door had
aroused anybody, he hastened, nceng ghost,
toward Mr.. loycc's house, nearly "a quarter of IL
mile away. Over snow, through water aud brnsh-
wood and brlars he ran, tearing himself aud MS
clothes nearly to pieces, and when he reachcd
the house he 80 tired and out oil
that al ne eG%d 9G wo wps svsdsh o Ga fa IN
hands caught up bullets Of wood and were about 10
attack hlm when they Recognized Mr. McIlews Mr
Fays had been aroused in thn meantime and iol-
| lowed the white figure through the tangled swamp
lie got some clothes for tho bleeding man and
with Jim" " McCarthy's assistance led him back to
his home, where some other neighbors had already
assembled for when Mrs. Mcliews recovered from
her short stupor she missed hor hus.
With With foul play, she and Miss Crosby began wild
searcn for him. Not finding HIM, they did thoir
best to awaken the neigh borhood by ringing bells
blowing trumpet aud shouting. As the burglars
went away they cried back 70 her: Keep quiet,
don't make much fussw The meeting between
husband and wife was affecting for each had sup
posed the other murdered. Mrs. Mcil0ws found her
, wound 10 bo slight but her husband had to be put
to bed and doctor sent for. lie was suffering
much yesterday but his wounds not thought
to be fatal. The white walls OF the house where
the scuilng took place are covered with black
marks, and Mr. Mcliowss night robe IL also biack
in many places, which leads TO the suppositon that
the men nad blackencd their faces for the occasion
mrs Mellows thinks she could not identify either
of Them When asked why she didn't use her pistol
she said she didn't know how to cock It,
Deep sleep had fallen upon Chappaqua,
three miles away, and Levi hunt the
| known westminster
County had, after a good days business, locked
the big safe and the little one left three dimes and
a. I.....