The Topeka state journal. [volume] (Topeka, Kansas) 1892-1980, 1908-05-16
KAMSASscOAAENT
KATE BENDER.


It was many and many year ago.
~ q shanty on the lea. that there I've
co maiden whom you know by the
name OF Kate Bender. And this
maiden she lived with no other
tnoueht than to inveigle travellers In
then her father and brother. whose
motto was BY Industry We Thrive"
would bury the dead men in the yard;
ana children of mon wist not that 1t
was SO. >
The Moated Grange in which Kate
lived. was located some little distance
from Independence. Kan. In those
days. dwellings were few and far be-
tween, and the benighted pilgrim.
1ourneying toward the Old Mission,
or seeking. a land flowing with milk
and honey. was charmed to see a light
In the window for him.
He was given a kindly welcome by
Kate. who appears to have been
handsome maiden Of prepossessing
appearance and much fuency. When
ana seated himself by the blazing
hearth. the gentle Kate would dis
course blfthely Of spirits. She would
call spirits from the Vastly deep. At
posed: the lights were turned down.
and the stranger was given seat by
curtain. with the assurance that the
shade OF his Uncle Hiram or Aunt
Jemima would presently appear and
| talk over old times with him.
While he sat thus, in a state of ex-
pectancy, Kate would draw the cur
tain aside, noiselessly, and mash him
one with a hammer. He probably
saw the spirit Of his Uncle Hiram
| then, but not in this world.
| The discovery Of the crimes Of the
Benders gave the family reputation
that penetrated to all parts of the
world. Kate has borne the chief share
Of the unenviable renown, probably be-
| cause she was the siren who beguiled
| the wayfarers to their doom, but there
is no record that she ever went away
| from the house to find victims. She
| was content with such travellers as
came that way. Therefore do her
! achievements seem small, and her plots
innocuous, as contrasted with those
Of the Indiana widow who believed in
| the Open Door, and an aggressive COM
mercial campaign. :--t
But Rates record stood for q long
| time NEUTRALITY-SUSPICIOUS. Gazette
| -O-
| ANOTHER EXPOSURE. .,'
Winston Churchill, novelist, and re-
Gently defeated candidate for governor
of New Hampshire, has produced
new novel called "Mr. Crewe's Ca
reer." The story is supposed to be no
| only an exposure of New Hampshire
political methods, but to depict NOR
or less accurately the story Of Mr.
ChurchiIrs own experiences in tn,
politics Of the state. Congressman
governors and other noted figures ar
presented in. the thin disguise of an
other name, with their characteristic
| SO strongly brought out that all ma!
| know who Is meant The story ma!
be accurate in details. or not, but 1
is sure to arouse some suspicion as II
what were Mr.. ChurchilPs motives IL
politics. Was he, only a writer look
Ing for copy. and local color? TIL
book would seem to indicate this. Ant
the exposure" Is all very creditabl
to Mr.. Churchill, who was defeated
You will observe that exposures of pc
litical methods are usually made b,
the losers,s and that they never reflec
discredit upon the ~methods Of the los
iginal in his. latest effort, he is a
least very ADMINISTRATION Globe.