Wheeling register. [volume] (Wheeling, W. Va.) 1878-1935, 1898-06-14

Great Bend, Kas., June 13.-In the
public square, fronting on the princi-
pal business street Of this city, a muir
derer was lynched at s o'clock this
evening by a mob of probably 500
persons.
1t is estimated that at least 1000
men of Great Bends population of q
500 persons witnessed the tragedy.
The victim was John Becker, a young
white man, who, on April s, killed Myr-
tie Huffmeister, the 16-year-old daugh-
ter of William Huffmeister, a farmer
living midway between Great Bend
and Ellinwood, the second station
east Of here.
Becker was employed by the farmer
and protested passionate love for the
daughter, and the tragedy followed
the girls refusal to accept his adj
vances.
When the girl came to the stable
in the evening Becker shot her to
death, sending eight bullets into her
body, after which he set fire to the
farmers stable and escaped. On April
ID a posse of farmers captured the
murderer near st. John, Stafford coun-
ty and he was kept for a time at
Hutchinson.
This morning Becker was brought
here from Hutchinson for his prelimi-
nary examination. Farmers began COM
ing in, and by o'clock this evening
the streets were thronged When it be-
came known that the murderer had
been granted change Of venue there
were threats of trouble. Sheriff Aber,
approaching the danger, took Becker
into buggy and started for a crossing
east of the city, intending to flag the
train there. By this time the crowd
was threatening lynching. When the
train pulled in the lynchers boarded the
train and rode on. When Sheriff Aber,
at the crossing saw that the train was
crowded to the guards he did not flag
it, but hurriedly drove back to Great
Bend with the prisoner. At Dartmouth
the lynching party left the train and
started back to this city, having hired
all the conveyances available there.
In the meantime, Sheriff Aber had
hurried back and had lodged the pris-
oner at the county Jail.
A few minutes before o'clock the
mob was swarming around the Jail.
Evidently believing that he could out
wit the lynchers by flight, the Sheriff
rushed Becker from the jail to his bug
gy, which was in the street, but he had
no sooner done so than he and his men
and tn 9 prisoner were surrounded. The
Sheriff aided by his deputies, made a
stubborn defense, and the prisoner,
realizing the fate that threatened him,
fought desperately with them After
they had fought their way back almost
to the entrance to the Jail, the mob
through sheer force of numbers pre-
vailed. Selling the murderer, they bore
him away to the public square. There
a rope was drawn around Becker's neck
and after he had been beaten almost to
lnsensibility, the rope was thrown
over limb of a big tree and he was
drawn up. Some one in the crowd gave
the body a push and as the murderer
was being drawn up, his body repeated
ly swung back, scraping upon the
trunk of the tree.
The Sheriff and his men kept close
upon the heels of the lynchers but
they were held back for fully fifteen
minutes. When it being apparent that
Becker was dead, the mob quickly
melted away and the murderer's body
was cut down by the Sheriff and the
coroner.
Though guns were drawn and threats
were made. no shots were fired by the
Sheriff and his men in their struggle
against the lynchers. Many of the
lynching party must be known to the
county peace officers, but tonight there
is no very strong talk of arrests. The
sentiment here seems to be that II ever
a man deserved lynching Becker did.
Becker was about 80 years old.