The Bismarck tribune. [volume] (Bismarck, N.D.) 1916-current, 1920-04-28

Gathered in natural ampitheatre
with the cackling of chickens and the
lowing Of the cows disturbing the
deathlike stiffness. the funeral SER
vices of the eight persons terribly
murdered on the Wolf farm near
Turtle Lake held this afternoon was
attended by thousands of farmers liv
ing within a radius of so miles. The
eight cottins were placed on the
ground in front of one of the barns
opposite the farmhouse where five or
the terribly mutilated bodies were
found in the cellar underneath the
bloodsoaked kitchen floor. All morn
ing long sorrowing friends and ang-
uish torn relatives, mere inquisitive
neighbors and the morbidly curious
swirled around the cotfins.
Crowds Curious.
In spite of the revolving nature of
the crime it seemed as if everyone
present wanted to see with their own
eyes the unfortunate family of which
only one. an eight months old girl,
is the sole survivor. Waiting wOm-
en- gaze through tear dimmed eyes as
the lids were lifted from each of the
cotfins and the faces of brown eyed
children, the dead parents and the
l3 year old ch0re boy, Jake Hofer,
Scared and mutilated could be seen.
Build Altar
An improvised platform Immediate
r y>in>the rear ,bf the eight collins was
built to serve as an altar. The SER
vices conducted In German were un-
derstood by the majority Of those pres
ent. Here and there in the densely
packed crowd sobbing women and wet
eyed men overcome by the impress
siveness of the scene thought of but
one thing, who could the foul fiend be
that could commit such an atrocious
crime. For hours before the services
started all roads leading to the "mur-
der farm were literally black with
automobiles and filled in most instan-
ces beyond their normal capacity. En-
tire families even to tiny babies COO
ing at their mothers breasts were
brought to the scene of the crime
which still battles the best efforts OF
the authorities to solve.
Long Funeral Procession
The funeral procession from the
Wolf farm to the cemetery perched on
a hillside six miles away extended al
most the entire distance. AS the
coftins were lowered in the newly
made graves sObs shook almost every
woman present while the men hurried
ly wiped their tear dimmed eyes.
After few minutes the brown loan
fa11 hn rnfirc on1 tho aP01uic
slowly left the cemetery, entered cars
and started for home with the ques-
ton "Who were the murderers?" un-
solved.
Deny Wild Stories.
Published reports that the two men
believed to have committed the
atrocious crime which was not dis
covered until two days after it had
been committed are known to the au
thorities and that they were not ar
rested because it was feared the
aroused community would lynch the
two men are vigorously denied by
States Attorney John E. Williams
who is actively directing the search
for them.
Mr.. Williams also denies the reports
published in Fargo paper that the
murderers had eaten dinner with the
Wolf family Thursday noon. saying
such deduction at this time is utterly
foolish" In spite of the many con-
fiicting clues which the authorities
have discovered within the past hours.
the belief is held that the murders
were committed by persons familiar
with this section and probably we'll
acquainted with the Wolf family.
Few Material Clues.
The few material clues which the
authorities have, indicate that the
Confined nm Page TwO.)