The Topeka state journal. [volume] (Topeka, Kansas) 1892-1980, 1895-10-28
THE PITY OF IT.
Edward IIlston's Body Found
Dead in the Grass.
Two Bullet Holes in the Boys
Head.
BRUTALLY MURDERED
By Stranger Carrying a
Rife
Who Was Seen to Get On His
Wagon
BY A NEIGHBOR LAD.
The Poor Boys Mother Kept a
Lonely Vigil
With Lighted Lamp For Her
Sons Return.
Determined Search Made for the
Murderer.

NJ urderef.
Four miles from his home on the bleak
prairie the body of fifteen year old Ed
ward Illston was found at 10 a. III. yes
terday. The face was swollen and black
ened and the body bloated to twice the
natural size. Two small holes in the left
side of the head told how the boy met
his death. They were fired from twea-
ty-two caliber rifle and either would
have caused almost instant death.
The boy was murdered for the team
with which he was hauling load of sand
from Topeka to his home. the team and
wagon would not have sold for $40 on the
streets of Topeka. After the murderer
had shot the boy he threw his lifeless
body over a five wire fence and then
dragged it fifty feet from the road into
The tall grass in pasture and then drove
away with the team.
All this happened two weeks ago, and
since then the whole country in that
neigh hbOrhood has been searched for
trace Of the boy. The deed was COM
mitted in broad day light, not later than
half-past four O'clock, on one OF the best
travelled roads in the county, and within
a quarter of u mile of farm house, and
the murderer drove out of the country
uumolested while the body Of his victim
was allowed to purify in the warm In
dian summer sun. It could have been
seen from the road if anyone would
have looked closely.
There could have been no more
cowardly. dastardly murder The mur-
dered boy was of gentle, retiring dis
position, and was so timid that he could
not look a stranger in the face. He
would have offered no resistance. and yet
he was shot down from behind by a
strong man and then thrown over a fence
and dragged out into pasture and left
like dog.
The men who looked on the blackened
and distorted face OF the boy
yesterday said some things
which under other circumstances
might have sounded cruel, but no one
conversant with the facts would saw that
any fate is too severe for the man who is
the author of the horrible heartle5s crime
If guilty conscience haunts man the
murderer must have passed many a
sleepless night ere this.
Two weeks ago this morning, Edward
Illston left his home which is eleven
miles southeast of Topeka. His mother
gave him nickle with which to buy a
piece of bologna and she wrapped a
piece of bread spread with butter in q
piece of brown paper and gave it to him
He was to drive to the sand bank in
Topeka aud get his load. eat his lunch on
the way home, and this was his DAYS
work. His father had planned a new
stable and the sand was to be used for
mortar to build the walls The boy had
made the trip several times the week be-
fore and there was no thought that he
could not reach home in safety, as he al
ways got back before nightfall
The boy drove to Topeka, got his load
of sand and started home. He stopped to
talk to no one. On the way home he ate
his frugal lunch and fed his horses. A.
four o'clock he had reached point six
miles from Topeka. As he passed by
the farm of L B. Clearinghouse, a short
heavy set man got on the wagon. The
boy half turned his head but did not
speak. The man carried a rifle of small
caliber. He was about five feet, six
inches in height, and weighed perhaps
100 pounds. His hair was of reddish
brown, and there was u short red nous.
tache on his upper lip. His eyes were
grayish blue aud rather small, and his
face very much freckled. He was dress.
ed in a worn blue suit of clothes and
carried a threadbare Overcoat on his arm.
His hat was black with a broad brim,
and much the worse for wear,
Edward ulston was never afterward
seen alive and no one knows what has
become of the man and team A mile
from where tho stranger mounted the
wagon the body of the boy was found
and half mile further on, half the load
OF sand was discovered. 1t had been
shoveled over the fence and afterward
scattered SO as not TO attract notice. A
half mile farther north the remainder of
the load was found. 1t had been spread
out like the rest. There the last trace
OF the wagon and team and the murderer
who drove them disappeared.
When o'clock came W. Z. IIlston. the
boys father, wondered why his son had
been delayed. Six o'clock and nightfalI
came and still the rumble of the WAGON
was listened for in vain. The Iamu Was
left burning and the mother sat beside il
for she would prepare warm
supper when her boy arrived.
The wagon must have broken down
was the fathers thought but the mother
with mothers fears at once concluded
that her boy had been hurt 1t was 10
o'clock when the couple retired but the
mothers eyes we're not closed that night
All night she listened for Edwards
footstep and when daylight came there
WAS 3 hurried consultation, and the