Shenandoah herald. [volume] (Woodstock, Va.) 1865-1974, 1888-01-13

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lated where the robbers would
come in, and | felt so sure they
would come that | was not sur
prised when midnight brought
them. They perhaps mistrusted
that the cemetery was watched, for
they came along as softly as In
dians. They were three in number.
There was a patter of rain on the
fallen leaves, with occasional gusts
of wind harassing the trees, and |
neither saw nor heard them until
they were close upon me. The grave
had been located to a certainty by
one of the number, and they lost
no time in getting to work. One
disappeared to the right, and the
other to the left to act as sentinels,
while the third pulled off his coat
and began work with a shovel
The manner in which he worked
proved him professional. lie
went down to the coffin like rab-
bit digging a burrow in sandy SOIL
He did not open the iull length OF
the grave, thereby having all the
dirt to throw out, but dug down to
the head of the box, and l plainly
heard the hollow sound as his
shovel struck it. He then threw
away the shovel for a crawbar, and
in two or three minutes had split
open the box and coffin. 1t SEEM
ed to me that the man must be a
savage as l heard the wood split
ting and breaking, and so great
was my indignation that l could
hardly prevent myself from leaving
my post.
| was there to capture not one,
but all, and yet l did not intend to
betray myself even when they had
secured the body. The man came
ont of the grave and uttered low
whistle, and in a minute was joined
by the other two. lie had affixed
a rope to the neck of the corpse,
and the three now took hold and
drew the body from the coffin and
out of the hole. A sack had been
brought along, and the cadaver was
put into this and tied up. The
shoyeler started to fill in the grave,
but after he worked a minute one
Of the others observed:
ooh, let that gOl He is only a
pauper, and no one will care wheth'
er he is in or out"
Thereupon two OF them seized
the body, the third gathered up
the tools, and as they moved away
| followed them. A horse and wag-
on were waiting outside the fence,
and as soon as the body was dump
ed INTO the vehicle a lot of oats in a
bundle, which had been brought
along for the purpose, were thrown
IN on top. When the wagon moved
of only one man accompanied it.
The others went in different ways,
to meet again at some rendezvous,
and | followed after one of them. He
went straight for the town, meyer
once looking back or suspecting
that he might be Swallowed. Day
was just breaking as [ saw him en-
ter an old tannery on the outskirts
of the town, and | knew that the
wagon and the other men would
soon show up at the same place.
An hour later / was at the place
with a detachment of police, and
we made a wonderful haul. Four
wagons had come in from different
parts Of the county, three of them
bringing one subject each, and the
fourth having two. The five
corpses were not only there in their
sacks, but we captured seven men
whose work was not yet finished
They had the bodies TO ship away,
and were making ready to box
them up. The boxes were there
and marked, and the CHASTITY con-
tents we're to 60 away by express
as a patent preservative of eggs
We did not secure the men without
a fight, and In the melee a police
man was wounded and one of the
ghouls killed, When they had been
taken to Jail | sized the crowd up
and selected one man who | be-
lieved could be induced to peach.
He was ready enough to give the
whole thing away, in order to save
himself, and the story he told and
the proof he furnished revealed a
horrible state OF affairs IN that com.
munity. There was an Organiza.
ton numbering fifteen men who
made body-snatching almost their
sole business. The agent OF the eX-
press company got 80 much per
head for every box shipped from
his office. The messenger on the
road also received his per capita
The head man was a livery stable
keeper, and the others we're bum
mers and loafers, most of whom
had done a term in prison.
BY patient work and perseverlng
effort I got the whole lot behind
the bars, and then at least half of
them we're ready to turn States
evidence. They had been at work
for upward of two years, and re-
ceived the fixed price of S25 for
every body delivered at the ex-
press Office. If there were earrings
or finger rings or gold filling, the
| - L.