The Topeka state journal., 1898-11-11
OLD MAN TORTURED.
Burglars Burned the Soles of His
Feet to Get a Mythical Treasure.

Feet to Get Mythical Treasure.
New York, Nov. lin the hope of
forcing Jacob Erwin, an aged resident
of Washington. N. J., to reveal the
burglars, supposed to have been tranps,
tortured him into such fierce resistance
that they were compelled to murder
him in self-defence. His dead body was
day with a bullet wound in the heart
and remains of half-cOnsumed news
papers scattered about the room. Bis
ters on the sole of the right foot told
the story of the old mans torture
Erwin was 6S years old and had spent
the grea ter part of his life in Washing
ton. He lived alone in a shanty close
to the Delaware, Lackawanna & West
ern railway tracks in the western end
Of the town. Although eccentric he
was regarded as clear-headed. He had
six married daughters living in the
vicinity, who looked after. his home
For many years the old man had work.
ed for Williams Shields, a resident of
the town, for a salary of $12 month
and his board, but for some months
previous to his death he had done only
odd jobs
1t was said that he had a fortune hid
den away in the old shanty. but no basis
for this belief has been discovered. 1t
was common gossip, however, and it is
believed that it reached the ears of
tramps with which Washington, being
an important division point of the Del
aware, Lackawanna & Western, is in
tested
The old man went to the Methodist
church last night, returning to his home
after the services. The house in which
he lived contained but one room on the
ground floor and another in the garret.
He slept in the lower room, his bed be-
ing placed behind a stove which stood
almost within reaching distance of the
door. In a corner of the room, where
1t could be touched from the bed, stood
a small, Misunderstanding, single barrel
n rom TTTh W. ant
protection against tramps.
The men who committed the crime
there were two or three in the party
according to ndications=evidentI
reached the house about 2 o'clock in
the morning, for at that hour William
Wright, the nearest neighbor, whose
house is distant some two hundred
yards from the Erwin place, was aWak-
ened by the barking of his dog The
murderers took from Wright's yard a
small log about eight feet in length.
With this they proceeded to Ervin's
shanty and. using the log as a batter
ing ram, they knocked the door in half.
What followed can only be conjectur-
ed from the appearance of the room. It
appears that the old man sprang from
bed when he heard the noise. There
was a lamp turned low, but illuminat-
ing the interior of. the cabin. He was
confronted by the thieves who threw
him on the bed and tied his hands and
feet with rope, about Is feet long, that
they had fashioned out of pieces of var
ious grades of tWine.
The old man was thrown on the bed
and newspapers were lighted and ap-
piled TO the sOles of his feet. But the
soles of his feet were calloused and he
struggled so energetically that the
charred instruments of torture were
scattered all over the cabin and ground
into the texture of the bed clothing. Al
though an old man, Erwin was strong
and he succeeded in breaking the f1fmsy
rope and shaking off his assailants.
Then he reached for the gun and in
the struggle for its possession the trig-
ger guard was broken off and fell to
the floor. In desperation lest the old
man succeeded in escaping them and
giving the alarm, or perhaps because he
recognized one or more of them, the des-
peradOes determined to kill him. A bull
let from a A calibre pistol passed
through his left arm, shatterinS the
bone. and penetrating the heart The
old man died instantly, lying on the
floor with his feet toward the doorway,
his head inclined to the space between
the bed and the stove. The men fed
without searching for booty
a purse containing $12 in bills and
some receipts for pOlltaX was found in
the pocket of the old mans trousers,
and his watch and chain were found un-
der a pillow on the bed. Search of the
upper part of the house showed that
nothing there had been disturbed. The
rope and the log were found in the yard.