The West Virginian. [volume] (Fairmont, W. Va.) 1914-1974, 1917-10-18
BERT HgMPHRETS
(Continued frnnn pnra M

(Continued nom Page one.)
Yesterday morning at 10 o'clock vhen
constable Michael and Deputy Sher
ms Hood and Harris went 10 Hrr,
phrey's home in hopes Of getting him
oy surprise. Humphreys opened fro
on the approaching officers and Hor,
MS and Hood returned It, MicbaoIs,
revolver proved to be out OF commits.
sion when he was about to discharHo
1t, a spring recently repaired havi5 .
been defective in its WORKING ~ 8
humphreys. the officers say, prob.
ABLY mad covered a distance of he.
tween 300 and 400 yards when he
stopped to reload his revolver. FIT.
teen rounds were exchanged between
the parties. While Constable MI.
cnael went to secure a shot rnn
Humphreys crossed the road and took
refuge In densely wooded tract He
was followed and a number OF Shots
were fred by Deputy Sheriffs Harris
and Hood. The running fight came
10 close about 1870 O'Clock vbsr
harris fired his last two shots and
the sheriff's party was HELPLESS for
they were out OF ammunition, Hum.
phreys In the meantime resorted to
dodglng behind trees every now and
then and in that way escaped injury
from the many bullets that wbistIeJ
by him. AT this juncture Humphreys
gave the sheriff's party the slip. The
officers lost him in the woods The
tralied along Robinson's run and I'm.
on Deing told by a number of per.
sons that he had not come that wav
they retreated their steps and pro
ceeded up Painters Lick run. There
they were informed that Humphreys
mad been seen some time before and
he had been furnished an automobile
by some one and had already been
on the road and had made good his
escape. Later reports were received
that Humphreys was seen in the sew.
eral towns en- route to the PennsvI.
vania State line.
According to the officers Humph.
reys had two revolvers in his pos.
session and at no time did he run
short Of cartridges. 1t was rumored
that during yesterday mornings en-
counter with the officers that Hum.
phreys had been wounded in the
leg, but the way he made tracks"
convinced the officers that he had all
sound members and that they were
in especially fine working order.
Yesterday in the afternoons mail
"The West Virginian" received a spe.
cial delivery letter from Humphreys
giving his version Of the encounter on !
Tuesday night. People acquainted |
with him say that he is not sufTi- |
ciently educated to write a letter of |!
that sort, but agree that It looks very
much like his signature, which is !
rather scratchy and irregular. The !
body of the letter and the signature
were hardly written by the same par
ties. Humphreys was formerly tru.
ant officer in Paw Paw district. Cen
orally he is considered a very dan.
gerous man and often Dragged to
parties that he had killed four men. |
One of the officers claimed that he
had personal knowledge of three men
that he had killed.
Humphreys is rated as an excellent |
athlete as was evidenced by the way
he leaped over fence when the bat. |
tie was at its height. He genrally
is given credit for being a good shot !
1t is reported that he had as much |
as $1,000 on his person when he left /
these parts.
Seven officers searched the com.
munity in which Humphreys lived |
during last night Late last night it |
was reported to the sheriff's Office |