St. Paul daily globe. [volume] (Saint Paul, Minn.) 1884-1896, 1889-09-24
Judge Lynch Gets in His Work
on Two Innocent Per-
sons.
Compelled to Acknowledge a
Crime Of Which They
Were GuiltlesS.
A Madman Brought Dowr
With a Syringe Loaded
With Chloroform.
Careless Workmen Drop
Huge Stone on a Passen-
ger Train.

cial to the Times from EldOrado, KAN,
says: The details of the mob trial un-
der lynch law of AlonZo Edwards and
his wife, Mary, at Rosalia, Kan, are OF
the most revolving character, and reveal
a story of inhuman treatment seldom
met with in the administration of bor-
der Justice. Mr. and Mrs. Edwards and
Henry Bloomer and wife were engaged
as farm hands on the farm of George
Dudley, ten miles from Rosalie.
Last Tuesday Mrs. Edwards was left
in charge of the house while the rest of
the farm hands were sent to the fields
to work. To her was entrusted the care
of the three-year-old child of MIR. and
Mrs. Bloomer. When the party re-
turned to the house for supper in the
evening the child was missing. Search
was instituted and no trace of the child
could be found. The nearest nelghb0rS
were summoned to join in the
search, and all night they tramped
over the fields. Mrs. Bloomer was
active in the search. and when the
morning came and no trace of the child
had been found, she fell exhausted In
the field, and had to be carried to the
house. Not until to-day did she re-
cover sufficiently to raise her head, when
the good news was brought to her
that
HER CHILD HAD BEEN FOUND
alive and we'll All day Wednesday
and Thursday the search was kept up,
and still no trace of the child was found.
By this time the whole county had been
aroused, and fully LOCO men, women
and children had joined the party.
Thursday night the crowd was organ
lied in definite manner and placed
four feet apart. The whole county
was then trampled over for fully
two miles in everv direction. During
all this time MIR. and Mrs. Edwards dis
played an indifference to the child's
fate that aroused suspicion, and they
were questioned closely. and their an
swers seemed to be indefinite to the ex-
cited people. and they were taken in
charge by the mob and arrested under
lynch law. The mob divided itself into
two parties, one took charge of Mr.. Ed
wards. and the other was given the wife.
Mrs. Edwards is a large woman of emo
tionaI character, and when COM
manded to confess the crime,
under penalty of being hanged,
if she did not, she finally said she had
killed the missing child. She had
thrown a stick of fire wood, she said, at
a rat in the kitchen and had hit the
child by mistake, killing it instantly,
and had thrown the body into the creek.
She was told to lead the party to the
place where the body had been thrown.
She went to place about half a mile
from the house and indicated it AS the
right place. The creek was dragged,
but Mrs. Edwards statement could not
La
the nearest tree and a rope placed
around her neck. She was told the fate
that awaited her if she did not tell
where the body of the dead child was to
be found. She repeated her former
statement. Then she was given an OPP
portunity to offer prayer, and was then
drawn up from the ground. She was
ALLOWED TO REMAIN SUSPENDED
in the air for a minute until her face
became black from impending strangu-
latlon. She was then lowered to the
ground in an unconscious condition.
When she revived sufficiently to speak,
she was asked if she was ready to tell
the truth. '.If you are not" the leader
said. "you will be hanged the next time
until you are dead, and your husband
will be burned at the stake" The poor
woman was actually too badly
frighted to speak, and assuming
her silence to be voluntary, the mob
again fastened the rope about her neck,
and she was again suspended in the air.
This time she was permitted to remain
longer. and when cut down she was
more dead than alive. The mob was
about to hang her the third time when
Bloomer. the father of the missing
child. interfered and persuaded the mob
to desist. only, however, because if
Mrs. Edwards life was taken the
body of the child could never
be found. Mrs. Edwards was then
taken to the house and placed in
charge of a guard. In the meantime
that part of the mob which had Ed
wards in charge attempted to extOrt a
confession from him. He protested his
| innocence. He, too, was
HANGED FROM A TREE
and cut down. Still he maintained that
he was innocent. Again be was strung
up and again cut down. He could not
be made to confess. Friday night the
prisoners were placed in the Jail here.
From that time until this morning a mob
VARYING in numbers from 500 to !, 800 has
continually surrounded the Jail, clamor-
| ing for the lives of the accused. The
sheriff barricaded the doors, and arming
himself and jailorS, kept the mob at
bay. Early this morning the missing
child was found alive and well, sitting
on the door step of former near Rosa
liza. Where it had been all the time is a
mystery. 1t is tooyoung to speak plainly
and can give no account of itself. 1t
! is supposed that it was kidnapped
and returned when it was found what ex-
citement its disappearance was causing.
When the news of the finding of the
child was brought to the city, the mob
| could not be made to believe the truth
until the child itself was produced, and
was recognized by its mother as her
own. Mr.. and Mrs. Edward were then
released. They are still suffering from
the effects of their harsh treatment.
The marks of the rope where it had cut
into their necks are plainly visible, and
indicate their suffering must have been
great. An attempt will be made to