The Washington herald., 1911-02-10
POLICE SEARCHING
FOR SCOTT GHOULS|
No Demand for Ransom for
Body Received Yet.
HOLE IN CEMETERY FENCE
Detectives Working on Erie Tomb
Mystery Find Iron Pickets Torn
Down and Believe Robbers Used
Auto Truck to Carry Away Corpse.
Black Hand Incident Recalled.

Erie, Pa, Feb 9-No demand for a re-
ward or ransom has come from the
shouls who despoiled the w. L. Scott
mausoleum and carried away the body
OF Mrs. Anna NJ McCollom. formerly of
Philadelphia. sister of Mrs. Scott. The
police are searching for the ghouls. who.
it was discovered yesterday. had all but
completely wrecked the interior of the
magnificent Scott mausoleum in the Erie
Cemetery.
They believe tonight that the robbers
made a mistake and took a corpse they
did not want. 1t is thought they intended
to take the body Of Mrs. William i.
Scott, mother Of Mrs. Charles II. Strong.
reasoning that Mrs. Strong. grtef-stricken,
would pay large ransom for the return
of the body.
Late this afternoon detectives discov-
cred hole in the west side of the fence
which surrounds the cemetery. Three
iron pickets had been torn away. making
room for a man TO pass through. Near
this opening a truck or automobile is
believed I'd have waited. The authorities
lean to the opinion that men familiar
with the work of robbing graves COM
mitted the crime. The name plates from
the caSketS in which the remains Of Rich
ard Townsend and J. A. McCollom lie
were torn off with some hooked instru-
ment and were found on the floor.
Hooked Instruments Used.
The police think that after the bronze
doors and copper fasteninGs at the
mouths of the crypts mad been torn away.
hooked instruments were pushed into the
crypts for the purpose of pulling the
caskets out. and That a slipping of these
instruments caused the name plates to
be torn off.
Whether the murder of the Italian Clio
vambastiSta Arer"hi. who was buried in
Cleveland to-day. had any bearing on
the tomb robbery is not yet definitely
settled. The police belivve there is such
a possibility. That he was murdered by
Black Hand members is not doubted. and
Chief of Police Wagner is of the opinion
that -.re"Chf may have been one of tn"
men who planned to rob the Scott tomb.
and that ne weakened. and fearing he
might disclose their identity the Ghouls
lay in wait for and killed him. That the
tomb may have been robbed the same
night Arecchi was murdered is regarded
as probab BILE.
The interior Of the nausoeum showed
signs of hurried work. and a number Of
palms at the rear of the structure were
those making an investigation that the rob-
berry occurred either Monday or Tuesday
night, but to-dayS developments leaf
them to believe the place was robbed at
ieas, ten days ago.
Armed Guard on Duty.
The metal that was cut away is so
conditions could have been brought about
ho oF
the far;ily an armed guard spent last
night in the mausoleum. and one again
Is on duty tonight
Mrs. McCOllOm, whose body was stolen
was the daughter of the late John A
Tracy. who came to Washington town
ship. Erie County. in 1888 Her mother
was Susan Jane Robbins. daughter of
Capt. Daniel Robbins Her father died In
Erie in 1879. Her huSbanl belonged to a
prominent Philadelphia family, and was
a lieutenant in the navy.
When the remains of William L. Scott
were first placed in the mauSoeum, a
was employed and every pre-
caution taken to prevent any one rob-
bing the grave. Burglar alarms were at
tached to the structure and a large cleo
trio light was placed in front of it. The
light was removed some time ago and the
burglar alarm has not been in working
order for many years.
Held for Ransom.
The idea that the body of Mrs. Nc
Collom is being held for ransom is sub
stantiated by an incident of two years
ago when the Strong family received
Black Hand letters demanding $4,000 with
the alternative of having their summer
house dynamited. The writer's subse-
quently were apprehended and are serv-
ing sentences in the Western peniten-
tiary
William L. Scott who built the ,mauso-
leum twenty years ago, was a close per-
sonal friend of former President Cleve-
land. and was one of the leaders of the
Democracy in the House of Representa-
tives when Cleveland was serving his
first term President. Grover Cleveland
was one of the pallbearers at his funeral. |