Wheeling Sunday register. [volume] (Wheeling, W. Va.) 1882-1934, 1899-01-15

brace with which he borxd dozen
holes in~the panel of the door. cutting
out space large enough for the admis-
sion of his hand. II he had made any
noise which attracted the attention of
the housekeeping servants they attrib
uted it to the carriages at the reception
and paid no heed. Ii they did not hear
the bit biting its way through2 the
wood it was because the horses and
! made so much noise that the burglar
could work secure from interruption.
| The police who were on duty in the
neighborhood were congregated near
the brilliantly lighted house where
the party had been in progress, attract
ed by the brave show of costumes, the
lights, the voices-anything TO break
the monotony of the weary hours of the
winter night. And the burglar worked
away in perfect safety.
When he had cut out the block of
NOOu Ii Olu IHe hllCAtn QOOI nt Iii uSL
in his hand and noiselessly turned the
knob of the night latch and the door
swung open. Then with cat-like tread
he picked his way to the front of the
house, where Mr.. Smell had his Office
and where the safe was which the bur-
glar expected to find full of money.
cafo I1n1ncIyod nd
swung open noiselessly, but the mid
night prowler was disappointed at the
quest for gold. The pigeon-holes of
the safe contained only papers, mort
cages and notes and other documents
of Mr.. Smells business, and the crisp
bank notes and jingiing gold were not
there. Leaving the papers strewn and
scattered over the floor, the burglar
picked his way up the stairs to the
parlor floor and found the doors of the
parlOr locked. Here, then, was the
treasure. If not, why should the bolts
be turned? Inserting a Jimmy" be
! tween the door and casing, he ap-
piled the wonderful power Of that
handy burglars tool and in a few mo-
ments the door was forced slowly open
and the marauder stepped into the par
lor.
But some slight noise had betrayed
him. Some false move had been made,
which had awakened the owner of the
mo ciD cir hA oh hon.
above. Suspecting at once that burg
lars were in the house, he grasped his
revolver and walked down the stairs
very quietly toward the parlor. Alone,
intrepid and without fiinching for a
moment, he went to face, he knew not
what, and met his death. He did not
call for aid of the servants within easy
reach Knowing that desperate, armed
men were probably in his parlOr, he
walked down in his night robes to
meet them, which shows something of
the character of the man. The noises
coming from the parlor, where the
burglar was working away at a desk
trying to open it, convinced Smell that
his surmise was correct and that his
home had been invaded, and without
waiting to face the burglars he fired
two shots through the heavy door, the
bullets sinking into the wall of the |
parlor The fire was at once returned |
through the door by the burglar or
burglars, for no one knows how many |
were in the job, and Immediately after |
ward the door was thrown open and |
two more shots were fired at the mil
lionaire, one passing through his head |
and another through his heart. He fell |
dead. still clutching his revolver, and |
the intruders fed from the house.
Servant girls and two little grand
children of Mr.. Smell sleeping on the !
upper floor were awakened by the
shots and screamed in terror, but were
afraid to make any investigation and
returned to their beds, when all be-
came quiet again. The shooting was
net heard on the street by the police
or belated pedestrians, owing to the
noise made by the departing guests OF
the neighboring reception and the muf
fling effect of the heavy walls of the
mansion, and the body of the dead inan
lay where it fell until nearly o'clock
in the morning, when the hostler came
from his room in the stable, found the
back door open and rushing into the
house stumbled over the dead body of
his master
Then came the sensation. The police |
began too late the search for the MUIR