Wheeling register. [volume] (Wheeling, W. Va.) 1878-1935, 1893-12-25
VERY PECULIAR CASE.
A Wealthy PittSburg Iron Manufac-
turer Kidnapped.
CONFINED IN A CHICAGO HOTEL
Henry B. Shields, of Coleman,
Shields & Co., of Niles, Ohio,
Arrested Charged With Spirit
ing Away E. M. Byers, OF Pitts
burg-Two Sides to the Story.

CHICAGO, December 24.-Henry B.
Shields, of Coleman, Shields 81 Com
pany, iron manufacturers of Niles,
Ohio, and manager of the Girard fur
mace at Girard, Ohio, was arrested last
evening charged with kidnapping E. NJ.
Byers, of Pittsburg, Pa, member Of
the wealthy iron manufacturing firm Of
A. N. Byers & Company, of that
city. The warrant was sworn out by
Mrs. Byers. Shields arrived in the city
yesterday morning and registered at the
Hotel Grace under the name Of j. b.
Perry, Boston, Ohio. The arrest was
MADE so quietly that no one about the
hotel knew OF it. The prisoner was
taken before Justice Murphy and ad-
mitted to bail in the sum Of $40, 600.
Attorney George $. Baker, who rep
resents Mrs. Byers In Chicago, says:
"May 18th last Henry B. Shields took
Mr.. Byers from the hotel In Pittsburg,
where be was then living, and brought
him to Chicago. Here he was placed
in charge of DR.. w. Lewis Tallnan,
house physician at the Great Northern
hotel. Mr.. Byers was, by various ar
tifces and charges against his wife,
worked into state in which he was
easily handled. Shortly after his
arrival here he was placed under the
immediate charge OF a woman nurse
named Dilts, who received her direc-
tions from DIR. Tallman. For more
than three months Mrs. Byers made
diligent search and inquiry for her hus-
band, and during this period she says
Mr.. Byers wrote frequently to her but
none of these letters reached her, and
when be would inquire why he was told
that sheRO longer cared for him.
Az ane search L NJ. Byers and
hA Sere found in st. Paul. Mrs.
Byef = vent Immediately there aud
found him. The next day DR.. Tall
man arrived and together they returned
to the Great Northern Hotel in this
city. 1t was while they were here
that Mr.. ByerS was again taken
away. This time by DR.. Tallman,
while Mrs. Byers lay i'll, DR.. Tallman,
with the nurse, took his patient TO
Montreal, where he registered the par
ty as "Dr. Il. NJ. Brown, j. B. Smith
and Mrs. AIva Dobbins, Chicago" "
Since then Byers has been taken to va
rious parts Of the country. He has
drawn personally but little money from
his firm, yet it is estimated that since
his abduction last May there has
been spent from this source for
his account a sum approximatiDg
SIS, 900. We know from statements
made by Talman and others that Byers
wants to go TO his wife, but is held in
duress and detained in the manner
related herewith.
DIR. Tallman ridicules the story OF the
alleged kidnapping and the allegation
that his patient is insane. He says:
"Mrs. Byers has her peculiarlties and
twenty years Of married life with her.
together with business cares, had
brought on nervous prostration, so
when Mrs. Byers went down 10 At
lantic City last May be came out here
to recover his health. He was
doing finely and in August
went up to st. Paul to the races in
charge of a trained nurse. Mrs. Byers
went up there and created scene. l
went up there and brought the entire
party back here. Mr.. 'Byers said he
would try and live with his wife.
For fourteen days they lived to-
getner On the fourteenth day he
told me he should stand It no longer;
that he was going away where be could
have a chance to get well. Since then
l have seen him but once. His friends
know where he is, for be writes to them
occasionally Shields left for Pitts
burg to-day but will be back hero on
Wednesday when mis- case is called.