Sacramento daily record-union. [volume] (Sacramento [Calif.]) 1875-1891, 1888-06-30

day morning. gentleman whose yer4o.tv
cannot be questioned, stated ttat for some
days pas! unknown parties had been firing
dynamite bombs at The residence Of II. e
soule, which IS situated one.half mile east
of the Lower Stockton road, shout three
miles and half southeast Of lie citv i'm
its. His statements were Of such a cbarac-
ter that REcoBD-U UNION reporter was N.
mediately
! DISPATCHED TO THE SCENE
To ascertain all the facts in this most e.
markable case. On hls arrival at the farm
he ascertained that Soules family consisted
OF an aged couple ana TWO grown sons. The
two latter were found piowing in stray
! berry patch near the entrance 10 the IN
closure, the residence standing back 10 q
| grove of beautiful trees some TWO hundred
| yards distant. Without stating that he was
Eewsgatherer the reporter engaged them
in conversation
REGARDING THE OUTRAGE,
And they Immediately told him all they
knew about i. he was then accompanied
to the house, where the mother verified
| heir statements. The father, who was in
the orchard some distance away, was called,
/ hnd he also told the same story, as uuac-
| c1untable to them as 70 the reporter.
! Briefly stated, the stories told by them
are as follows About two weeks ago at
| l:3O P. N, they heard what to them sounded
| like
| THE SHREK OF a SHE'LL
Passing through the air, which was imme-
| diately followed by q terrific explosion.
! On investigation il was discovered that r
] dynamite Qr -Cv1o Otbar bigbl,r ,l,,r,,
| bomb had struck q stump in tber rear Of the
kitchen The stump was almost entirely
demolished. Some of the Weather-board-
ing was torn off the rear Of the kitchen.
and all the bottles and jars on the shelves
were thrown upon the floor with such force
that they were broken.
THE ENTIRE HOUSE SHOOK
! As if by an earthquake. Loose boards in
/ the blacksmith shop some thirty wards
away we're torn of and thrown some dis
| iance. The entire family were very much
/ frightened 4 thorough search of The
/ premises was made but no one could be
! discovered. Several bombs were exploded
III close proximity to the house that night,
most Of which fell harnlessly in the or
/ chard. The day following, while the family
! were At their noon meal they
HEARD a TERRIFIC EXPLOSION
! And flying missiles struck the house. On
| rushing outside they saw Il dense volume
! OF smoke arising from the apricot orchard,
! where a few moments before the father and
/ two sons were engaged in packing fruit
/ The boys armed themselves and rushed
into the orchard, but no enc could be seen.
| The father clambered 10 the top of The
windmill, height of forty feet, where he
| had commanding
VIEW OF THE ENTIRE PREMISES,
But he also failed TO catch glimpse Of q
! single human being save the members of
! his OWL household. Again that night
| bombs were exploded intentionally close
to the house, and although the entire fam
| lily was on the alert the handlers of dyna-
| mite were still! undiscovered. 1t became
J quite monotonous. Bombshells were
bursting in the air and all around them.
! They We're in q state of siege and beine
| BoMBARDED BY AN ENEMY
! Whose position was as much unknown s.
/ the besiegeTs themselves. The fourth iav,
! about l O'Clock. when the father and Oldest
| son were absent from the farIa, q bomb
came shrieking through Inc sir, aud
crashed through the root OF the blacksmith
/ shop. 4 blacksmith forge standing near
| the east end oi the shop had brick Chin
| neF some slI ieet II hight The missile
/ evidently struck me tnp Of ghis ci.. a.aev,
as f0ur layers oi lie bricks We're
! GROUND ALMOST 70 PONDER,
| While leadeu missiles were louad scsl,--.,i
/ in every direction. > nackerel can. winch
1 stood soua ter feet distant was pierced BY
! three Of these r,lssiles. The can is now on
exhibition at line RECORD CEIoH Office.
/ Four lead bullets were picked ont Of q
I short piece OF scanuirg, in which they
/ were imbeddeG 10 The depth of an inch
/ The youngest son, who was lying sick in
Y E.1
rushing to the door saw he shop in flames.
| These he quickly put out, ana hen discoy-
cred the result Of the shot 10 above de-
scrioed
The rex;, the fifth day, auoihsr shot
SET FIRE TO TIE SHOP,
And several smaller ones fell harmless in
orchard and vineyard.
For live days the firing ceased ana Tue
| family began TO breathe free agsia and
fondly hoped that their unknown enemy
had decamped This, however, was not
the case. He evidently had run oct of an
munition. and was only waiting for fresh
supply, Tor after five days OF truce the bom-
b2rdment commenced with Lew Vicor ana
has been kept up constantly since The
shooting is kept up about equally betw ween
the dey anG night time. Thursday night
the gentlemen who brought the inf1rma-
ton TO this office, end who is a friend Of
TIE HtRAssED FAMILY,
Went out to the farm and stai0 a., nigat,
in order to satisfy himself regarding The
matter. While they were sitting in The
parlor conversing pleasantly, and the
rancher was remarkng that he guessed the
city duck" had frightened the bombarders
away, terrific explosion took place in the
apricot orchard some fifty yards to the
north OF the house.
IT SHOOK THINGS UP
Quite lively. =" The breath of the igua-
mite shook the whole house" remarked
the man who had gone out from the civ.
As the visitor is man OF immense lung
power, he went ont in the orchard and ad-
dressed the unseen enemy FOR several
minutes. No more shots were fred that
night, nor up 20 p. ". yesterday, when
the reporter left. Other parties went out
from this city last night to try and clear up
the mystery.
The reporter was shown several battered
bullets that had been picked up around the
premises, and short piece of lead pipe,
the remnants no doubt of an exploded
| dynamite bomb.
A DKEP MYSTERY.
! The family can in nowise account for
| this murdeTous onslaught. They say that
so far as they are aware they have not an
enemy in the world. They visit but little,
live retired life, and have had no disputes
with their neighbors or anybody else.
The reporter asked if they had discharged
any help lately. They replied that they
had not-they usually did all their own
work. Some months since they sold their
farm TO E. B. Carroll, of the Capital Can
merry in this city. They were to receive
their final payment in August next, up to
which time they were to live upon the
place and care for the fruit crop.
THE PROBABLE CAUSE.
Some two weeks ago parties were in the
habit of going into the apricot orchard at
| night and stealing fruit. One night Mr..
Soule and his boys made a sortie while the
thieves were in the orchard, and fired their
guns in the air to frighten the marauders
away. The very next night the bomb
throwing commenced, and has continued
uninterruptedly since, with the exception
| Of the five days spoken Of above.
Taken altogether it is one of the most re-
| markable cases ever heard of in this sec
| ton, and the public will no doubt anx-
iOuslV await for the develOnmpnfs The