The morning times. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1895-1897, 1896-08-04
8EFGtD By 4AADAL HANDS
Elsie .Kreglo's Monument
Ruined BY Relic Fiends.
AT THE SPOT OF TRAGEDY
Little Slab Has Been Clipped and
Hacked Until 1t Is Almost Gone.
Trees, Shrubs and Stones Carried
Away Blythe Morbidly Curious as
Relics of the Sad Affair.

| A tiny slab of marble once marked the
spot where little Elsie Kreglo was muir
dered. Now ruined and shapeless Louder
is ali that is left of the unpretcntious
monument erected by kiEd hearted friends.
| On this spot, hallowed by the martyr
blood of the poor child, the ruthless hand
| of the relic fiepd has been at work. With
| a vandalism incredible to a nature OF any
sympathy, with u wickeiness and heartess-
ness inconceivabie, rude hands have hacked
| the stone until now more than one third
| of it has been carried off as relics-mute
relics that speak not of the sad tragedy,
| but eloqueDly OF the morbidness and coarse
| ness of those who own them
But their depreda tons had not stopped at
this. In all the picturesque gorge Of the
| little creek near which stands the kreglo
| farm there WIS no prettier spot than that
! where Elsie died on that May day. Green
willows dipped their tendrils on the pla yful
| waters-the same waters ttat later sobbed
and moancd around the little body. Grace
full ferns and tender grasses carpeted the
ground and elder bushes mingled their
boughs with the luXuriant vegetation of
the brookside. Nature made a fair cur
tain to screen the murderer and his vic
tim.
Now the place looks as though curse
had been laid upon. il. The feet OF the
curious have worn the ground bare and 1t
lays naked under the midsummer SUI.
Sacrleeious hands have torn away the
shrubbery, pulled up the plants and ferns
that Were the unsrcaking witnesses OF the
foul deed, and the pebbles in the brock have
been seized 10 display with ghoulish de-
light as memen,oes or Il crime which viii
ever be recalled by the pure in mind with
d shudder and prayer.
HUNDREDS VISIT IT DAILY.
The crime attracted the attention of the
entire country, and for weeks after the
deed the farm was the point Of pilgrimage
to hundreds OF curious people. Hardly
day passes now that visitors TO the city are
rot brought by their friends 10 view tie
spot, aud every holiday brings crowds To
the scene.
Al first the curio seekers tcgan to tear
away the houghs OF the trees upon the
brow OF the hill where little Elsie was herd
Ing the cows On that fatal day.
IL LOW dIEGD Us inc desert.
Tie en.bankIr-Dt down which her body
was dragged is Row worn into u well
defined footpath. Where vegetation was
exceedingly thick there is not leaf or
shrub.
The body was found on a little cape by
the side of n hrcoklet, that farther down
Flows by her fathers house. Ecr alncst
severed head lay toward the hank, and
at this point has been placed q ma rbIe slab
to mark the spot. The tablet is about
two and a half feet high, but 1t projects
only about a foot and a half above the
ground. The initials L. r. are deeply cut
into tie stone, and may be easily Ills cerred
for u distance
LITTLE MONUMENT RJTJNED
MA.
-,
- - =, - -,
-. - .. -.
,,,,r,NII,'s. ~ - - ~
- :, -, -
~, ta, o,a,,so, = -. -
-, -, ~, -, c.;
en- - -. - - -,
- - ~. s,,t, =, 10 r,,,. ~.
r,;na, IT. ri. =, ,no ,,h,.,t -. e.,
,,,o,,,a, .pd ~. o,oo s,,,o,,,, s,,r,..,,. -
~ r,,,,,,, an, ,,,s;,,,,,,. RI, -,
,,o I'LL, no -, ,,,,r,.u, -, ~.
,,,,,,,,,-. ,ua,,, ,,, 60, - -, -,
b.r,,nor, md :, ,,,,, o,rort =, se,,,,o
sr,o,, 80, 80 60 -
frequent for the dese,rator Ia hrcak off
huge lump Of the soft marble.
The ground was white with marble dust
when The Times reporter visited it yes