Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1908-02-02

p ~ ,Ss deSt"nrtfou of the West Shenandoah
colery. Born IN Brcckiyn IN is'' ca rnpn
4 Linden learned the trade "f u snip ci'rp"ra;;,
ter He served in the navy during me s'ni.
war. and after that became cohiie'te, ,, Win
/ tho pinkprton detective agency in chicago.
/ For his valuable services in the coal re
sions he WAS made superintendent oil ilhhel
tons agency in Philadelphia. ana retalhtu
tbat position until he became superintendent
~ police of Philadelphia under Mayor i n,nt
arr After reiiuGuishin- this office ne "peiieu
" 'nriyatc detective agency which ne main
+ tanned until his death. j few years ago.
y the night of October ~. 1Si9
Paymastcr Mcclure and his
body guard. Hugh FlanaShan
cnploves of Charles McFadden,
u railroad contractor, were way
laid in the Luzerne mountains. Just out
side of Nilkesbarre, Pa, robbed. and
foully murdered.
Tho two men left Wilkesbarre in
onc-horse buggy. and arranged their jour
nov so that they might reach Miners
Mills in time to pay off the Italian labor
ers who were. working ON the railroad
nc.4r that Mace They had Sl2UW In
leather satcheI which was fastened to the
bottom Of the carriage with Z couple OF
straps. The thought of personal danger
never entered the minds OF either Of the
men. 1DeN knew every ltcl VI biif o4OSi''i
and moreover. were acquainted WIN
nearly every man. woman and child with
in radius of five miles.
Their coming to Miners Mills was al
WAYS the occasion Of much joy among I'll"
Italian iaborers and their wives and chill
dren. In fact Mcclure and Flanaghan
were looked on as miniature editions OF
Santa Claus, except that instead OF com
ing once a year they made their welcome
visits twice month. They were as pune
tual as the clock itself. and the workman
knew to the minute when TO expect the
paymaster and his assistant. As con-
sequence, when they failed 10 appear at
the usual time October ~, the people were
very much disturbed. \ telegram from
Wilkesbarre stated they had left that city
twelve hours before.
\ general alarm was sent out. and a
delegation of men started for the noun
tains. Some of the most prominent citi-
Zens of Luzerne county headed the search
ing party. They knew that the paymaster
and his assistant carried a large sum of
money, and they were also aware that
certain parts of the mountain were as
lawless the most unciviliZcd section of
the United States. Little wonder that they
were filled with gloomy forebodings. They
had not gone far before their worst fears
were realized. The horse belonging to
Mcclure and Flanaghan lay dead in the
road. The animal had been wounded. and
evidently suffered great agony before it
died. for it lay there weltering in its own
blood. Some yards further up the road
they came to the broken shafts OF car
rage. spintered and blood stained.
x
They continued their search nerving
themselves for the shock that was still
to come. II came only too soon. The
dead body of Paymaster Mcclure was
found dangling from the bar of the buggy
where it had been caught and hung sus-
pended for hours. An examination proved
that the dead man had been shot in the
back in four distinct places. 1t was as If
volley had been fired from ambush. The
horror of the affair was increased five
minutes later when F'lanaghan was found
face down. PROSTATE in the road. lifeless.
He evidently had been shot and fallen
from the wagon.
The bodies were hurriedly conveyed to
Miners Mills and then an attempt was
made to locate the murderers. For hours
the loca! authorities searched the vicinity
but with no result. The mountains were
covered with heavy carpetng of dead
leaves. and it was impossible to detect or
follow footprints under such cjrcum-
stances. The theory of the affair was that
the robbery was not committed until after
the two men had come to a full stop
ar that the assassins had secured the
money, fed into the woods and escaped
BY way of the railroad shanties in the
vicinity. 2.
The inquest demonstrated nothing OF