The Anaconda standard. [volume] (Anaconda, Mont.) 1889-1970, 1898-10-22
LIGHTNING AND LYNCH LAW.
How the First Wiped Out the Witness
Of the Other.

How the First Wiped Out the Witness
of the Other.
Gazing northward from any train on
the Big Four road as IL runs across the
fertile plains of Benton county. near
Templeton Junction. Ind. 100 miles out
from Chicago. no observant passenger
will fail to see, perhaps half a mile dis
tant from the tracks. the charred and
shattered. sharp-pointed stump OF what
was once a great tree. Around 1t for
a radius OF 20 feet are piled old rails
and pieces of timber. Wei cared for and
generally rich with heavy crops il the
field In which the tree. one OF the few
In Benton. which Is Indiana's greatest
prairie county. fi~ourished. But not so
around the ~blackened trunk. The plow-
man and all who till the land seem to
avoid any familiar proximity TO II. and
the rude barrier which surrounds IL
seems 10 tell that the spot was the scene
of some uncanny doing.
And so IL was-the scene OF the n
eance meted out to the perpetrator OF
one OF the most terrible crimes in In
diana's annals. Sixteen years Ben
ton county was not the well-populat ted
and prosperous one IL Is to-day. 1t was
a favorite place for Illinois and Indiana
hunters to seek when the prairie chick
en- was plentiful. The wolves of Ben
ton county. and wen lions and other
~ferocious beasts supposed to have lairs
there, were used to terrify children, and
even some older people. A few years
before only had railroads opened up the
country.
In 1882 a Mr.. Atkinson was one OF
the most prosperous farmers I'm Benton.
with his wife he went to the nearest
town one day late I'm h fall of that
year. They returned home to find their
beautiful daughter. Ada. 10 years old.
dead-murdered and mangled horribly
No clue was left by the murderer. but
suspicion fell on Jacob Melting. "A farm
hand. employed on the Atkinson place.
He was arrested. and despite the fact
that no actual evidence could he ad-
duced. so great was the Indignation
against him hat ne was hurried over
land to Lafayette. Ind. n lodged In
the T~ippecanoe county Jail which was
guarded by troops. ordered out by the
governor.
While confined there a man who now
occupies a responsible position with a
leading Chicago hotel. was introduced
into the jail as a prisoner. He was real
" an employe Of a Chicago detective
agency. He gained NeIling's confidence.
and to him the latter related his guilt
Of the murder Of Ada Atkinson. Mel
ling was advised by the lawyer he en-
gagged to go to Benton county and plead
guilty. the lawyer promising to follow
and make a plea for mercy. Melting
was taken to Fowler. Benton county,
on the day before the one set for his
trial Early the next morning his law
yer was waiting in Lafayette to take the
train for Fowler. when he received a
telegram telling him not to come. You
client don't need you" IL aid Melting $
body was dangling from a limb of the
tree not far from the scene OF his crime.
A mob had broken into the jail a few
hours after his arrival there n taken
him to the place Of vengeance. The
tree never fiourished after bearing such
chastity fruit. IL was dying when a blast
Of lightning from the struck
and shattered II. And the barrier was
placed around II. and there the stump
remains. an object lesson or warning
or whatever II may be.