Bridgeton pioneer. (Bridgeton, N.J.) 1884-1919, 1900-06-07

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He came along dragging himself as
best he could through the dusty roads,
and the only white spot upon his en-
tire body was his face. Tar, black,
shiny, tar paint enveloped him from
his head to his feet. Here and there
were sprinkled feathers. but they
were not very thick. Not stitch of
clothing had been allowed him, and
with the exception of the coat of tar
and the feather trimmings, Afford
was in the garb of simple nature.
Not even a fig leaf had been permit
ted him to hide his nakedness.
In the meantime Mayor Hampton,
who had been apprised of the matter,
had detailed Constable Cresswell to
remain at the house and see that no
harm befell the little girls, or the
house in any way disturbed. Cress-
well was there when Afford came
home muttering curses and vowing
vengeance.
He told the officers that the men
had forced him away out in lonely
road between here and Fairton, and
then they proceeded to tear his cloth
ing from him. What little money he
had the crowd appropriated and .one
man remarked that that would help
pay for the tar. When Afford was
stripped they threw him upon the
| ground, and applied the tar paint
with the brush and gave him heavy
coat. They allowed him to dry off a
bit, and then they gave him another
coat, until the tar was about an inch
thick in most places. They were par
ticular to smear it on good about his
head, but were very careful not to
get it on his face. Indeed, Afford de-
clares that they did not harm him a
Bit.
The sprinkling Of the feathers was
failure, None of the men seemed
to want to get the tar on their hands
and the feathers were not rubbed in
very well. Afford said the gang used
candle to assist them in seeing what
they were about.
When the job was completed the
men left Afford, and departed into
the black night, leaving him to find
his way home as best he could. He
declares he could recognize some of
the men by their voices, but so care
full were they to keep their masks
over their faces that he could not
identify single one.
From the time Afford arrived home
until late in the morning he was en-
gagged in endeavoring to clean him
self. He secured quantity of kero-
sene oil and with this he managed to
get the worst of the dose from his
skin, although there will be traces of
the paint visible for weeks to come.
He had particular trouble in getting
his scalp and hair clean
1t all seems cruel and horrible, and
yet nobody is saying outrage. "Pio-
neer'' reporters have not heard a
single condemnatory word of the
whole act. Preachers, business men,
everybody declares it serves the fell
low right. 1t may be that the "Pio-
neer' should lecture somebody for
lawlessness and all that sort of thing,
but in this case it won't do it. On
the other hand it will commend the
officers for their zeal in going out to
the place where the tar and feathers
were applied after day break, and ar
resting the empty kettle, the long
handled brush, and the partly burned
candles. All these are to-day upon
exhibition at the City Hall. There
may be some arrests, but that is
doubtful.
The funeral of Mrs. Afford occurred
Saturday from the residence at
Pine street and Garfield avenue.
There was no particular excitement
and not great many about. There
was one unpleasant episode. A num-
Der OF Mrs. Affords relatives came
here from Salem, among them sis
ter, whom Alfred dislikes greatly.
He refused her admission to the
house, but at this juncture, Rev.
Mr. Ford interfered and declined to
conduct the services, if there was
such unseemly conduct. Afford
backed down and the sister entered.
The services continued quietly and
the interment was quiet.
Injured Himself.
Young Jesse Clark was up at the