The Wheeling daily intelligencer. [volume] (Wheeling, W. Va.) 1865-1903, 1898-02-07
BURNED FOR SPORT.
Three sIsn Drei,el, a Negro Porter with
WHISKY, aud ii,sn set Firs 70 hls ,ioti,-

| t3d u N - =. = ~
Thrsc sfsn Drei,oi, a Negro Portfr with
|gtyhisly, aud ti,en see r,lrsto His I 1oti,-
s--Atrtsis roilosy. *
CORY, Pa. Feb. q. Nv. q. Plumb.
editor of one OF the daily paper, here
ard Democratic cand!da,e for mayor, ns
the last election. has been arrested In.
company With Thomas Oliver, proprle-
TOR o. the Phoenix hotel and William
Kellehtr, a CORY man.sbout-town and
all-hround sport. charged with satur-S
atlns the clothing Of an irotSenslyene-l
gro hotel porterwlth alcohol spirits and
then setting tlrc 10 II. The negro,s
clothing was burned Of h!ssbaek md he.
was 80 badly. injured by the hamesytiiat
no has been confined TO his bed under
medical care. II Is not thought that
the consequences viii fatal. although
the man'sisuffefings have beeniterrlble,
and he Will bear,the marks ofthe cow
ardly assault ifpon him 20 his dying
day. n {,
Although II was after midnight on
Tuesday last that this dlsgraceful NJ
fair took place. none OF the thfee daily
papers until to-day has had any mem
tlon Of II. As n matter Of fact frantic.
efforts have been made by all tho par
ties concerned and their friends TO hush
the AFFAIR up, II they succeeded In
keeping the papers quiet they did not
sacceed In keeping the story from
spreading like; wlidare by word of
mouth. Indeed. on "Wednesday, the
day after the assault. the feeling was so
bitter that perhaps all that saved the
persons concerned from some Disagree
was the fact that they are who they
are. K 4 s3i ttsl e
The facts In the case are that Plumb,
Oliver and 1Selleher3were In the Phoenix
hotel barroom together shortly after IL
O'clock. All had been drinking and Ol-f
liver himself was attending bar. The
negro, John NJ Her, Who Is O porter em-
ployed Mt the Grandin house and well
liked by everybody, entered In an In
offensive way on an errard OF some sort,
and was Immediately made the target
for n good deal, of. horsc-play and chat.
The horse play at last took the form
of throwing whisky over him. lie was
good naturcd about It and took several
drinks himself. the distinguished gem:
tlemen present asserting their Cauca-
sian superiority and keeping him on
his proper side lof the great social gulf
which separated him from them by,
throwing their heel taps In his face and
on his clothes.
His coat. waistcoat and even his trop-
sers became thoroughly drenched with
whisky. Then one OF the party con-
ceived the brilliant idea OF setting him
on fire. "a a.
Whether this was the former candl-
date for mayor, Mr.. Plumb, or the
sportive Mr.. Kelleher. Is not known. All
that Is certain Is that 1T was Mr.. Oil
YER the proprietor OF the hotel, who was
behind the bar. When the burning
match touched Miller's alcohol-s soaked
clothing the man was instantly wrap,
ped in sheet of blue flame. 5:
He became frantic with fright and
pain and ran hither and thither about
the little barroom like a cruelty tor
tured animal II was great sport. for
the cx!mayoraltys candidate and his
companions for a moment or two. Then
the serious side of 1t presented Itself
to Mr.. Oliver, at least. The poor negro
was burning alive before their eyes.
They made gingerly efforts to help the
poor man rid himself of his flaming
clothes. Al last. mostly by his own ef-
forts, he got out of his coat and waist
coast and threw them on the floor.
where they continued to blaze until they
were practically all :consumed.
The street was .Qulet atSthat late hour
OF the night and nobody had responded
to the mans frantic screams for help.
As soon as Miller's clothes were torn
from him he was hurried out OF doors
and rolled in the deep snow until the
fire was all extinsuished and the mans
agony from the burns somewha t dulled.
p The next morning Dr.. KILLER was
summoned. He found Miller IN a high
fever and suffering from deep burns on
thethighs, hips and hands. h. 5ss-5s iSfs
The local newspapers were ieffectualiy
choked Oft until to-day, hwen the thing
became too notorious to be longer ig-
nored, and two OF the papers had brief
references ttasit. And then came the
final stroke, the spiriting Of the injured
man out of town--at leastiit Is asserted
at the Grandln that ne Is out OF town.
/ DIR. KILLER was so Informed when he.
went to see HIS patient. and the proprie-5
tor OF the botcl, sn5told n World cores
pendent this evening. Although there
are those who believe aIiileris sill Con-
fined to his bed in the hotel, the one
thing that Is certain is, that he has been,
paclded and will not press his complaint.
The amount paid ,himis believed to be
$500. II now remains to bcseen whether.
the prosecuting attorney will take the
matter;up for. the people. In addition to-
having been the Democratic, candidate
FOR mayor. Plumb ran at one time as an
independent candidate for Congress in
this district, and had a strong following
In, the. lasts convention for the nomination
forsthc legislature. q s.. ,955