The Washington herald. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1906-1939, 1910-02-20
WOMAN FOUND BOUND
ON VACANT CITY LOT
Continued from Page one.


the fat. telling the eldest daughter she
would return in a short while. The widow
walked to the East lexington Market,
grocery store at Third and streets
northeast. and ordered some groceries
She chatted with the clerk who waited
on her, and said she was going to visit a
sick friend.
When Mrs. Smith left the store she ear
ried her handbag on her arm. Over her
head was & veil of black lace. She also
wore black jacket. She walked TO the
home Of DR.. E. C. Johnson, So6 seaton
street. Mrs. Johnson has been Ill for
several weeks.
1t was about o'clock when Mrs Smith
left the house She laughed and said
"Good-by'' 10 DIR. johnson when she left
him at the door. The physician closed
the door and went upstairs TO his wife.
Probably five minutes elopsed when the
neighborhood was aroused by a womans
screams.
Trace Cries to- the Lot,
Pedestrians thought some one was being
murdered. The cries came from a lot al
Third street and Seaton place This lot
is Uttered with rubbish hidden by a
covers about a quarter Of a block II
growth Of bushes and small trees.
Ward T. Mixsell. whose home at 3l2 S
street has a rear entrance on the lot, ran
to the assistance Of the woman in dis
tress. being the first TO reach her. Behind
Mixsell was Andrew J. Bennett, OF 80 S
street. The cries subsidized before the men
reached the excavation. and when they
gathered about the hole the woman was
moaning In q low voice
The excavation is about four deet deep
and ten feet square. Residents in the
vicinity say 1t was dug by boys who play
on the lot
Lying on her back in the bottom Of the
excavation, Mrs Smith was found by her
rescuers. Her bare feet. bound tightly
with a stocking, were on an old red cush-
ion which had probably been in the hole
for months
Her Face Hidden.
Her face was hidden by the black veil
with which an Intellectual attempt had
been made to gag her Her head rested
on a piece OF wood Against one wall Of
the depression was the woman's shoes.
The laces had been united as carefully
as though Mrs. Smith had taken of her
shoes in her home.
The woman's hands were tied behind
her back, with her stockings, In such a
manner she could not free them. Men
snelled peculia+ odor. similar to chloro-
form, they say. when they leaped in to
assist the woman.
When Mrs. Smith heard voices, she be
gan to scream. take away that chlorO-
form" she cried Take It away. II
makes me sick" Then she was quiet
for few seconds.
She screamed In fear when she heard
the footsteps Of her rescuers as they
jumped into the excavation For several
minutes she cried out In language which
was apparently delirium. struggling mean
while to free herself
Stimulants were quickly brought from
houses in the vicinity and given to Mrs.
Smith. though she endeavored 10 fight
against taking medicine
When police of the Eighth precinct were
notified a patrol wagon was sent 10 the
scene and Mrs. Smith was removed to
the hospital.
Cannot Explain Attack.
She could tell nothing OF tina events
leading to the discovery OF herself in the
excavation. and seemed 20 remember
nothing OF an attack. When asked
whether she thought she had been placed
in the excavation by white man or a
negro. Mrs. Smith said she could not tell
how she got in the lot OF who put her
there.
Police reserves. under direction OF Capt.
Doyle and Lieut. Judge Of the Eighth
precinct, searched every foot Of the va
cant lot and the bottom Of the excava-
ton. The pocketboOk was found in the
path by which the escape was made by
the person who gagged and bound the
woman. The purse was empty.
The bottle which contained the fluid
bore no marks BY which it may be traced
TO a drug store.
At late hour the police were question
ing Italians living in the vicinity of the
scene. Detectives Pratt. Hewlett. Mullin,
and Warren are working on tho case.