Wheeling register. [volume] (Wheeling, W. Va.) 1878-1935, 1896-02-24

Of Interference with the Law, AL
though Indignation is Still Great.
Cincinnati, o.. February 23.-When
the headless body of Pearl Bryan was
discovered near Fort Thomas on Feb
ruary 1st the first feeling was chill
of horror at the revolving, devilish en-
genuity of the crime. Four days later
when the confessed partners in it,
Scott Jackson and Alonzo Walling, not
to mention the lad William Wood, we're
| arrested. the excitement over this un-
| speakable atrOcity became passionate,
indeed almost furious. AS one by one,
day by day, the dumb witness Of this
crime, matchless for cold blooded cru
city, came to light, all other passions
gave way to that OF vengeance. Pearl
Bryan's yalise, stained crimson with
her own blood shed by hands into
which she had confded herself, all too
trustingly, for
| RELIEF AND PROTECTION;
Jacksons bloodstained coat and Wall
ing's blood-bespatered pantaloons-
these intensified the horror and in
famed publiS indignation. Nor did
the fact OF the exceptional high stand
ing OF the families OF the victim and
/ OF the inventors and perpetrators Of
D q hf, .ufre fn Z flr, 81 n
of public Indignation. They found the
! strong walls, the barred doors and the
dim cells of the Jail a welcome shelter
from the OminOuS storm Of human pas
sion gathering around them on the OUT
side.
A lapse of three weeks since the per-
preparation of the crime. together
with the undoubted discovery of the
participants as we'll as the prospect of
speedily committing them into the
hands of the law, has had the effect of
allaying the harsh. impulsiye impa-
tience Of ,he first public sentiment.
During the past week, in the absence
of new and striking developments, the
public interest in these accused men,
Jackson and Walling, has
ASSUMED A NEW PHASE.
That fascination which mystery has
for the masses has drawn visitors not
by the score and hundreds 10 the Jail,
but by thousands every day. Begin
ming on Monday of last week the flow
TO the Jail of curious humanity was
. continuous from morning to night. in
fair weather and in foul. In fact as
the weather grew colder the stream
of callers grew larger in volume and
steader in flow. Last Thursday the
number had grown to one thousand;
on Friday it increased to 500. Jailer
Lew KusSman and his guards were alb
sOlutely worn out in letting the people
in and out. This became so burden
some that on and after Saturday all
visitors were excluded. In fact the
excitement was telling on the nerves Of
the two leading prisoners, Scott Jack
son and AlOnZO Walling. Not one Wis
itOr in hundred cared to see the boy
William Wood. A limit was placed
upOn the time visitors were permitted
to stay. Every few minutes the jail
was cleared and a new installment Of
F sightseers was admitted. Once in the
corridors of the Jail, the visitors
were
ARRANGED IN TWO LINES
facing inward, forming lane through
which the two chief prisoners were
led slowly. one at a time, for public
inspection. like horses at an auction be-
& fore a group of buyers. Both Jackson
and Walling stood this ordeal while 1t
lasted with steady nerve. firm step.
/ WEAKNESS and depression came to
both at the close of the day after this
hurrving was over. William Wood, the
boy who is charged with aiding and
abetting these criminals, was an inter
ested spectator of these exhibitions.
From the balcony of his corridor. which
is two stories above JacksOn's and
/ WaHing's floor. he would command an
| excellent view of the whole perform
anCe. Visitors usually simply looked
at the prisoners much after the man.
/ ner of viewing savage beasts at q
/ menagerie without speaking a word.
/ As TO the character of these visitors
the singular fact is that at least two
thirds of them are women. OF these,
/ the great number are
/ BLOOMING YOUNG GIRLS,
with rosy cheeks and bright eyes.
/ Once i'm a while a group of matrOnly
! women call. but this is comparatively
rare. Of course, most of the callers
have been from Cincinnati and the
neighboring towns. A highly respect
able minority are from Indiana and
more distant States. Occasionally
mothers take in their little sons and
daughters. Christian people who are
Sunday habitues of the Jail seek to talk
10 the prisoners on religious subjects
and meet a hearty reception.
What inspires the desire to see these
capital culprits -
Is A PROBLEM
for the psychologists. Mystery has its
charms for men. The Jail has held
many man with a dark secret held
in his bosom. 1t never enclosed in its
/ gloomy walls two men with a blacker
or more CHASTITY secret weighing on
their consciences. if they have any. than
that of Pearl Bryan's murder, the Sc
cret of which one or the other. or both
of these men have in their guilty keep
ing. Their distinction as participants
in a crime that will 60 into the calen-
dar as one Of the most singularly and
artisticaUy atr, ~ious OF the last decade
of the century. greatly enhances public
interest in them a. i'm a measure ac-
counts for curiosi, o see them.
/ There is also in The pa mind a be-
lief that they a N 81 danger Of
diving by the sentence Of j Lynch's
court. which makes them
OBJECTS OF PECULIAR INTEREST.