Middletown transcript., 1899-07-15
HSsHuIiF HED ROBBERY
WILLIAM AHERN STRUCK ON THE
HEAD BY A STONE AND. THEN
RnpRrn

ID
I'll ROBBED
William Ahern, operator of the bic
n station at Ginn's crossing, two miles sou
ID of Middletown, not south of Townsend
4 most of the papers stated, was murderou'
i assaulted on Monday morning last by tt
J negroes. He was found lying on the fio
j Of the house by William ]. Reeder, frem
! ofspecial freight, No. SO, which left Midd
! town at ALA M. Assistance was call
+ and he was taken to Townsend where me
! | ic7l aid was rendered. He was subsequer
, | " brought to his home in Middletown ar
sDB. Mckee and Ritchie were in Rttendanc
The fact of the assault was telegraphe
up and down the road. The men were
the. store of Ex-Representatiye J. Fran
Eliason at Mt. Pleasant at the time II
message was received spending some of tE
money gotten and Mr.. Jones, the clerl
tried to detain them by strategy but th
colored mail driver from McDonough CAV
them the wink and they cut sticks toward
Maryland followed by Mr. Jones an
others Mr.. James N I. Downs was in hi
field along the railroad, having started hi
fallow plowing that morning. He saw th
chase but did not understand it. Mr.. Jone
came up all out of breath and explained
and then Mr.. Downs and Mr.. Jones renew
ed the chase on horse back the latter sool
falling out however. The men were bare
| footed and thorn hedges stood in their way
Mr.. Downs encountered wire fences. Not
withstanding the serious chase there were
many ridiculous features and situations
Finally Mr.. Downs got within few feet o.
them but with hedge between and calling
to them to halt they did so and at his
command went with him to the Buck
where the villagers had turned out in force
and with collection of fire arms that
would do credit to a museum, it is said,
Squire salmons leading with Revolution
ary 1intlock. The two men were brought
to Middletown and were given hearing
before Squire Reynolds, and were remand
ed to New Castle jail on suspicion.
At the trial on Monday Daniel Keith,
night operator at the Middletown station,
recognized one of the prisoners as the man
who had asked the distance and fare to
Wilmington and the distance to the next
station and the fare from that place, be-
tween 4.2o and 43o that morning. They
gave their names as James 81. Reason, aged
% years, and Gibbury King. aged % years.
In making a statement King said they
were from Uniontown, Nd, and had left
there at 7.30 P. NJ. on Sunday, got in Nil.
Iington about IL O'Clock and sat down to
rest. When rested they started on in their
walk to Wilmington. When at Middle
town they stopped at the station and asked
The distance and fare and walked on to the
next station. While at Mt. Pleasant they
washed, bought something to eat and some
The money they had had been
paid to them in part for work and the |
remainder was borrowed from Kings |
1ncle. Several minor details were con-
licting.
Both men were brought to Middletown |
or a final hearing on the noon train Thurs
lay in charge of State Detective Witsil and /
,ficer w. T. Jones. The first witness cali
ID was William Ahern. He said he was at |
1inn's block on Sunday night at work. |
t was about $50 A. NJ. when he was struck i
IN the head and he was not conscious
gain until at Townsend. He did not know
Vho struck him. He was not conscious
f being picked up, but knew something
7as wrong while on the way to Townsend.
When he regained consciousness he did not
ook for watch or money, and never
hought of them. He did not see his
ssailants.
State Detective WitsiI was called and
hid King had made a confession to him,
lille in New Castle Jail, which was as
,llows: "We were coming up the railroad, |
ere tired from our walk, and sat down on
,e rails. While sitting there Jim (Reason)
icked up large stone and when we start
on again he carried the stone with him.
Then we got to the block house Jim went
the platform looked in, then went back
i'd threw the stone through the screen and
ass. After this he run and called me to
,me on and said he started off mighty
lick. We came on to Middletown and
ent to Mt. Pleasant, where we were
rested"
James 0akes, engineer of the train which
und Ahern, said the train arrived at the
ock at 4.2O and blowed for signals. Being
, answer the fireman went to the house,
1t saw no one The train was brought in
ont of the house and the trainmen en-
red finding the operator lying on the
,or in pool of blood. The conductor,
errill Driscoll, then had him put in a car
ID the train went on to Townsend where s
edical aid was summoned. At Middle
wn between the creamery and the south
itch he had met two colored men and i
ION his information the men were follow !
and arrested. The ireman's story was
g same as that of the engineers with the I
dition that Ahern's watch was lying on I
e floor beside him and in q position sug i
stive Of being placed there. The pockets I
owed no evidence of being robbed. s
The men were each held in $1,000 bail {
ID in default were committed to jail to 9
Tait the next session of court. f
At this writing Mr.. Ahern is recovering
I'm the shock but is very weak. He is
nfdent, however, that at no time has his
e been in danger, and expects in few
ys to be at work again.