The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1888-03-29
BIRD In THE LAWS NET.
THE SUPPOSED SLAYER OF JOE
GILL BEHIND THE BARS.

Ride to the Swamp with the Prisoner
His Narrow Escape from Lynching
Bird Tells the Story of His Arrest
and Denies the Shooting Marcus,
His Suspected Accomplish, Still at
Large
1t begins to look as if there is to be an
early solution of the Gill murder mystery
The arrest of Rafe Bird (colored) yesterday
morning is the first step in that direction.
Some time last Friday a beef belonging
to the Widow Ferrill, daughter of Marion
Gill, was found butchered and hidden be-
hind a log in the swamps near Butler ave
nue., about half way between the Central
railroad and the Louisville road, near
Pooler. From the best information obtain
able Marion Gill had disposed of some
cows to Bird, but as the latter had
failed to pay for the stock, Marion Gill had
agreed with Bird that he would take year
lings in payment Bird was to bring HIM a
yearling that morning in time to be butch
cred for market Saturday morning. Instead
of doing so Bird and his wife went to Gill's
Friday morning, where they killed lot of
chickens for Gill, and where Bird reported
that he could not find the yearlings. Gill
1hSIotcu tilaO ue sllOulu 10 OuJ III Jne WOOuh
and hunt them up, but Bird kept making
excuses, and finally Gill sent his son to look
up his own cattle, and incidentally to keep
lookout for Birds yearlings. The son dis
covered the butChered beef in the woods
and reported the facts to his father.
SUSPICION RESTED ON BIRD
Suspicion was at once directed toward
Bird by reason of the fact that he had
shown no disposition to look for the cattle,
but in the later and more exciting incidents
of the evening, the suspicion seems to have
been dropped.
The readers of the MORNING NEWS are
familiar with the facts connected with the
Friday night tragedy, when the Gill broth
ers, Haywood, and their posse took up their
station to watch the beef and catch the
thief, and how Joseph Gill was shot down.
Detective Wetherhorn at first declined to
lend his services and aid in tracking the
murderer, but finding that no one seemed
inclined to aid in bringing the guilty par
ties to justice he consented, on a second in
terview, to do all in his power
After full consultation with the citizens
of Pooler and with the relatives of the dead
man he suggested that Bird be sent down
TO Savannah. The negro had testified be-
fore the Coroner's jury to meeting two men
Friday afternoon on the railroad track,
one of whom had a musket, which he den-
titled as the one found on Saturday in the
neighborhood of whore the shooting oc-
CURED. HIS statement was to the effect
that while he could not recall the names of
the two men, he had worked with them in
Savannah when he was in the employ of
Mr.. Andrew Mccormick, and he could
readily recognize them
BIRDS CONFLICTING STORIES.
On Sunday Gill brought Bird to the city
and turned him over TO Detective Wether-
horn. But Mr.. Wetherhorn found Birds
stories conflicting. His description of the
two negroes varied in essential details, and
the detective soon discovered by carefully
watching that Bird was making no sincere
effort to find anyone. 1t was found, too, by
the detective that Bird had only been EN-
ployed three days by Mr.. Mccormick,
although he had created the impression that
be had been in his employ for some tlme
Mr.. Wetherhorn found Mr.. John Downing
who keeps the time of the hands, and the
names of all the men employed when Bird
was working for Mr.. Mccormick we're
called over i'll Birds presence and while he
had said he could not remember the names
of either of the two men he saw without
bearing their names called he was unable to
Xix upon any of those on the time book. In
TACT his conduct was so suspicious that the
suggestion was then made to the detective
that Bird should be placed under arrest.
On Sunday and Monday Mr.. Wether-
hoiH piobly JuOTOuHnly convinced DlulS9lI
that Bird was not trying to find any one
In a consultation Monday evening Mr..
Wetherhorn learned that when the
butchered beef was found the liver and
heart were missing. He was convinced
that whoever killed the beef would not take
those parts to Savannah, and that they
must have been taken to some contiguous
cabin for morning meal. Reasoning on
tins train, what cabin more probable than
the Bird cabin. 1t was near the scene of
the killing Bird himself had intimated to
him that some one might think he was con-
nected with it as it happened so near his
house. There was no confederation of
Birds story of meeting two men, one of
whom had musket.
STRANGE COINCIDENCE.
1t was also strange coincidence that
Bird had found the musket Oh Saturday. 1t
was suspicious, too that almost Immediately
after Joe Gill was Shot, Bird, his l2-year-old
boy Sam and Henry Marcus, worthless
negro who had been hanging about Birds
place, should come upon the scene and make
themselves known, Bird hallooing out not
TO shoot, that it was him. Putting all these
things together, Detective Wetherhorn told
the Pooler folks to go back home; that he
would keep Bird in town until Tuesday noon.
and that they should use their Judgment
and try TO learn from Birds children if they
had hal liver on the table rece ntly. The
Birds had been living in great penury, and
to that degree that they had been known to
cook and eat the entrails of the chicke
butchered for Marion GILL
On Tuesday Mrs. Ferrill made an excuse
TO visit the Bird cabin, taking with her
a basket of provisions. Gaining the conf
dence of 10-year-old girl of Birds, she
very artlessly told that they had liver to
eat, as did old Rose" an aged negress who
made her home at Birds, but the boy Sam,
a lad OF II, seemed TO have been posted, and
he denied any knowledge of having liver in
the house for over year.
FINDING THE BEES LIVER
When Mrs. Ferrill communicated this in
telligence to her father and supplemented it
by saying that as she was coming away
from the house she had met Bird returning,
Marion Gill, Ben Rothwell, Joseph Ferrili
and Jack Gill mounted their horses and
galloped over TO the Bird cabin Bird was
Immediately taken into custody at about 5
O'Clock Tuesday afternoon, and a search Of
the house resulted in finding a portion of
the beef liver in wash boiler.
Bird was tied and taken to the railroad
station, and an effort was made 10 get him
to tell all that he knew about the affair, but
he persisted in his original story, with slight
variations. Later in the night "a larger
body of men, armed, made descent upon
the guards, and taking him TO the swamp
threatened TO lynch him if he did not tell