Keowee courier. [volume] (Pickens Court House, S.C.) 1849-current, 1904-04-06
Babies Burned Allse Terrible stor 81 crIme
BY PHILADELPHIA Women.

philadelphia, April q = Astounding evil
dence of the existence St,f n creInatery In
this city whore live babies were burned
were given this afternoon at tho hearipg
before Coroner Dugan, In the case OF
Mrs. Elizabeth Ashmead. David T..
Mosier, who says he IL a physician, swore
II saw number of children thrown
into the furnace. Mrs. Ashmead had
them In her apron. One or two of them
were crying, and she tossed all of them
into the furnace
Stolid aud indifferent, Mrs. Ashmead
listened to the frightfnl story of Mosier,
which sent a shudder around the court
ROOM SIS
...I have seen her frequently go to the
cellar OF her home" continued Mosier,
with her apron filled with newly born
and throw them into the blazing furnace.
That's the way she disposed of them. I
into the fire.
The inquest was held to inquire into
the deaths Of Sarah Hughes and Mary
B. Sloan, i'm which Mrs. Ashmead and
her son are involved, and It was only
for the purpose of fixing his right to
hold the prisoners that the Coroner
touched upon the more dastardly feature
OF their offenses.
For some time the mysterious disap-
pearance OF young women and wives has
been reported TO the police by their
friends and husbands, aud quiet in
vestigation has been made, with the re-
suit that Coroner Dugan now claims to
have established the existence of a chain
OF unlawful institutions In which murder
and cremation have been commonly re-
sorted to to cover up lesser crimes.
1T seems inoredibie," said the C~~oner
to-day, "but 1t Is true that br' tiave
been thrust alive into redh, furnace
by those human flends. RI the evi.
dence to proveit or 1 woulu ,not make
so astoundinga a statements. =
He hts witness who has made full
confession. This witness was member
OF tue syndicate; he is in possession of all
the secrets of the participants in the
Grimes, and has made a complete state
ment to the Coroner, including names
and addresses and the dases of many of
the recent horrors perpetrated by the
syndicate, which includes a bureau of DO.
gus death certificates, and numbers on
| its staff corps of physicians as well as
undertakers and agents.
Dr. Jos. III. King occupied an Office in
the building at No. 258 South Twelfth
Street, whore Mrs. ,Ashmead is alleged
| to have conducted her crematory for
three weeks. Mrs. Ashmead, he declared,
told him 1t was fine location for physi-
CidnS WHO naQ women patents. . ri.
VI asked her what she did with the ba-
bies," said DR.. King, land she said she
wrapped them in newspapers, let them
die and threw them into the furnace.
When l heard this / left the place at
once. L understood that they were max.
ing 5000 a week in the place. Four doc
tors were busy all the time"
AT the conclusion of tho inquest, Coro-
per Dugan held Mrs. Ashmead and her
son, Rowland Ashmead, Jr., and DR.. Nc.
Vicar to appear before the grand iury ia
answer for the deaths of the two women.
Grace Ashmead, the pretty daughter OF
the accused woman, was locked up as a
witness. Dewitt Ashmead, another son,
who was arrested last night, was dis.
charged from custody.
One of the sensational features of, the
case is the fact that the Ashmeads are
members of one of the oldest and best
| families in the oity. It's history runs
back to re-Revolutionary days, and q
| picture of one of the ancient Ashmeads
hangs in Independence Hall.
The name of Ashmead appears on the
Assembly list, and there is street in the
city named after the family. The house
in which the worst of the crimes are al
legged to have been committed stands in
| the heart of what was once the most
fashionable section of the city. Many of
the old families still reside in the neigh.
borhood.
The police are working vigorously on
the case, and additional arrests are OK
| pected.