The Wichita daily eagle., 1895-12-17

IT will be Carried at Once from the Su-
preme Court of Kansas to the Supreme
| Court of the United States where, 1t is
the General Relief of Attorneys, ii will
be Reversed-Topeka is still Trying to
Keep Itself Excited Over the Robbery
of fGraves-second sight has Become the
Fad Up There.
Topeka, Kan, Dec. 16.-The firm of
| Valentine, GODDARD & Valentine has
| been retained to take the now famous
case OF Beverly VS.. Barnitz, involving
| the Kansas redemption law, to the Unit
| ed States supreme court. Attorney Scctf
of Kansas City, who represents the
plaintiff in error, has agreed with nhe
opposing counsel to assist in getting
| The case advanced to an early decision
at Washington. Mr.. Scott was in To-
peka yesterday and expressed himself
| as confident that the supreme court
| would sustain the Kansas supreme
court.
This view IS not taken my many other
Kansas lawyers. The bar at Topeka is
practically unanimous in the belief that
the supreme court Will reverse the Kan
sas decision. Every lawyer in town
talks about THE decision freely, and
winthout an exception they sustain the
opinion formerly handed down by Judg-
es Horton and Johnston, which is now
reversed by Judges Martin and Alien.
There is an odd fact connected with
this decision. Two men reversed two
men. The two men who were reversed
had been upon the supreme bench for
many years and during that time made
regulations for learned and wise de-
cisionS. The two men who did the re-
versing are comparatively new upon the
bench one having been there lessS than
a year.
THE TOPEKA FAD.
Now that the greater part of the ex-
citement over the body-snatching dis
coveries has died away, the people are
discussing the strange manner in which
THE discoveries were brought about. 1t
has been related how Mr.. 1. o. Van
Fleet sat at his fire side last Sunday
night, brooding over the loss Of his
wife, who had been buried but a few
hours, when a vision came to him in
which he saw two men digging at her
grave. This was not a simple impress
sion, not dream in the night, but a
clear and detailed premonition of some
thing which was taking place to a man
wide awake and in possession Of his full
faculties.
So deeply was Mr. Van Fleet i'm
pressed with this vision that he went to
a neighbor's with his story. The nigh
Dor endeavored to pooh-pooh the whole
affair as the work of a grief-distracted
brain, but Mr.. Van Fleet was so en-
tirely convinced that he had seen the
vandals at work at his wife's grave
that he proceeded to the cemetery where
every detail OF his vision was verified.
This story is so straightly told by both
Mr.. Van Fleet, his family and the neigh
bors 10 whom he went with ii, that no
one here doubts its truth. While he is
certain that he saw two men working
at the grave, in his vision, Mr.. Van Fleet
is unable to give any description of
them. He says he could see but indis-
tinct forms, but is sure there were only
TWO of them.
Naturally, this strange occurrence
has given rise to much talk over visions
and dreams and Supernatur warnings
of all sorts. 1t is surprising how many
people nave full and implicit confidence
in the verify of dream warnings. Go
where he pleases in Topeka this week
one could hear stories related with all
the solemnity of perfect belief of in
stances similar to the Van Fleet affair.
Possibly the best known of similar
instances in Kansas is what is known
as the Stewart vision" 1t became IA
NOUS at the time of its occurrence, and
was widely discussed in religious and
scientific publications. In 1856 John
Stewart was a Stalwart young free
state advocate in the city of Lawrence.
On May 20 farmer by the name of
Jones had been murdered while en- route
from Lawrence TO mis- farm on the Wau-
karusa bottoms by some of Sheriff
Jones border ruffians, who, on the 2lst,
sacked the town of Lawrence. When
news OF the murder came TO town,
young Stewart, with two companions,
went out 20 investigate ii. They in turn
were assailed by the border ruffians and
Stewart lost his life.
At exactly the moment that Stewart
was shot down in far-away Kansas,
Mrs. Jane Stewart, his mother. who
lived in Rochester, y. Y, sprang to
her feet with the cry:
MY God. they are killing john
Then, as SHE stood clinchng her hands
to her bosom She continued: They
have shot him. He is running. Now
he falls. A man gets off his horse and
puts a pistol to his head and with a
WELD shrek the woman tainted away.
But little attention was paid to this
by Mrs. StewaGt's family, for the rea-
son that she had been anxious about her
son from the time he first went 70 Kan
sas. and frequently predicted that vio-
lence would befall him; but presently
letter came from Kansas friends in
which the death of John was announced
together with the details precisely tally
ing with the vision OF his mother. 1t
was also discovered that the vision was
had at the moment the desperate af-
fair was taking place in Kansas The
papers took up the occurrence and gave
IL wide publicity, as will be remembered
by any Of the pioneers OF 1856.
Colonel Cope Gordon, proprietor Of
&-the Copeland hotel. is firm believer
in visions and he has had personal
experience which warrants that belief.
In bhe early days OF western New York
his father was away from home en-
gagged in building a state road. One
night in camp l1e was impeiled by a
power he could not resist to go home,
D long distance overland He could
reason out no excuse for the trip. but
a something forced him out OF bed and
started him homeward. He had pro-
ceeded but portion OF the way when
he met a messenger who was bearing
the sad tidings TO him o. his wite's
death.
Every other man one meets in Topeka
nowadays has a story OF similar pur-
port 10 relate. and the capital city is
really enjoying what might be denozni-
mated a renaissance OF the supernatural