St. Johnsbury Caledonian. [volume] (St. Johnsbury, Vt.) 1867-1919, 1891-08-27


that Frank c. Amy, the Hanover
murderer, had been captured on the
morning of Aug. 20. The whole
story of his capture is thus graph
cally told in the New York Sun in its
issue of Aug. 81:
Fifteen hundred men and boys
passed in single file through a room
in the Wheelock House late this at
ternoon and glared with mingled
looks of hatred and curiosity at a
pale, thin-looking man stretched
upon a cot. He was helpless then
and unarmed, and every man in that
mob would have rejoiced at the op-
portunity of pulling on a rope that
would swing him up to the nearest
tree Yet that same man had, Tor
ten hours, kept the entire army OF
1900 armed men at bay, and al
though helpless with shattered leg
he had fought desperately until over
powered by superior numbers and
disarmed. Thus was Murderer
Frank c. Amy captured, and to
make the melodrama more interest
ing the murderer had chosen as his
retreat the very barn in which he
had labored so many months and in
which he had plotted the murder of
pretty Christie Warden. This hiding
place was within a hundred feet of
the room in which his victim was
laid out for burial, and he could over
hear the threats of the villagers as
they congregated in the barn yard
and commented upon his crime and
his disappearance.
Fifteen hundred men were in the
lines which surrounded that barn,
and outside the line were wagons of
every description laden with women
and children who had ridden many
miles to witness the lynching of
Almv. That poor wretch looked
through the cracks in the structure
and, seeing no chance Of escape. pre-
pared to sell his lie as dearly as pos
sible He had two revOlvers and
good supply of cartridges. With
these he held the place against over
whelming odds. Again and again
did the volunteers charge upon the
barn, but the prisoner drove them
back each time He shifted his posi-
ton SO quickly that no one dared
approach too closely after it was
learned that he was well armed.
Every time he fired a dozen bullets
would be directed toward that spot
whence the smoke came. OF course
it was blind shooting at first, but as
long as the puffs of smoke came from
the different parts of the barn, the
guards knew that their prisoner was
at least able to move around. At
length Almy's bullets came from one
location only, and then the crowd
knew that he must be wounded. and
plans were laid for his capture.
Scores of bullets had been fired at
random through the sides of the
barn, and one of them had shattered
Almy's left leg.
Giving that side of the barn in
which he was stationed wide berth,
the constabulary crept up to the
barn and gained an entrance with
ont becoming targets for the muir
derer's bullets. Then the great
crowd that encircled the building be-
came so quiet that a pin might have
been heard if dropped. Nerves were
strained to the greatest tension. A
pistol shot broke the stiffness, and
another, and then regular fusillade
was heard. All knew that the des-
perate man was lighting gamely for
his life, and all admired his grit, al /
though they longed for his death.
Then the firing ceased, and everybody /
hoped that the murderer had been
shot to death, for all wanted to see |
him get his deserts while the crime /
was still fresh III their minds. The /
process of law was too slow for their
fevered blood. But the officers of the /
law We're the ones who had entered /
the barn TO make the capture, and .
nobody thought of taking the pris-
oner out of their hands.
After a long wait the cOnstables
appeared in the doorway carrying
limp body. 1t was evident from the
way in which the body was carried
that life remained, but the man was
desperately wounded, and needed
surgical aid at once The crowd fell
back, and the police had no trouble
in carrying their prisoner to the
Wheelock House, where surgical aid
was procured While Amy was be-
ing carried through the streets there
were no feelings save those of curios-
ity. After he had disappeared from
view there was clamor for his
blood. Blu there was no organized
movement to take the man from the
custody ofthe police. To satisfy the
peoples curiosity the police permit
ted them to march through the room
in which the prisoner lay. This I'M
heard-of performance was TOO much
for Almy's nerves, and he tainted
while the procession was still NOV
ing. This was the natural reaction
after the nerve-shattering experience
to which he was subjected for ten
hours. He had displayed wonderful
nerve and resisted gamely to the
last. One Of the capturing party
says that when Amy saw that the
last moment of freedom had arrived
ta t11rl.al he tn,,1-zzll. tin.a ,.a1.nl,rer-