University of South Carolina Libraries
A TALK OF MURDER, THE CRIME COMMITTED BY A WOMAN AND THREE MEN. A Shocking St?ry of Morul Depravity from North Carolina?An Abandoned Woman Coiupit.sst.-rt the Marder of Her Iitisluuul? The Accomplices in the Terrible Deed. RALEIGH, X. C. December S- At Washington, Beaufort County, a mur der trial is iu progress the evidence in which shows the crime to be the most diabolical on record in North Carolina. The investigation proceeds slowly, as the case involves three lives in addi tion to the two already taken. The de fendants are Airs. Owens, wife of Alonzo D. Owens, two negroes, Rev. Isaac Jones, a preacher, and Stack Simpson, only twenty years of age. The charge is the murder of Owens on the night of September 23d last. The history of the terrible affair is as follows: A. D. Owens, a white man, was a merchant at Creswoll, Washing tun County. His wife was a woman with whom in early life he had con tracted a liaison; and whom he had married later, in defiance of the ridi cnle of friends and the entreaties of his relatives. He was, therefore, cast off, and though a man of respectable fami ly} was cut off from all social inter course. Mrs. Owens had several chil dren born before wedlock, and one of these, a daughter twenty years of age. was suspected of intimacy with a negro named James Ambrose. The latter was a desperado aud outlaw, and was a man who somotinie since set lire to*the jail at Ilarrell County, while a prisoner therein, and so made his escape. Owens, angry at the girl's love for Ambrose, locked her lift. Her mother took her part, not objecting to her intimacy with Ambrose. This led to a quarrel, and finally to Owens death. The quarrel occurred last September, and Mrs. Owens, her daughter and Ambrose at once began to plan to kill Owens. They admitted to their conlideuce Isaac Jones and Stack Simpson. All agreed tluit the wife should poison her husband. She gave him poison, but in too great quantities, and he was only made sick. The failure of the plan en raged Mrs. Owens. She conferred again with Jones, who was looked up to by all the conspirators. Jones advised her to give her husband an opiate, and said that when he was under its influence at night she could give the signal. They would enter the house, take OweDS from tho bed and drown him in a barrel of hot water. Mrs. Owens heated the water and administered the opiate. She gave the signal and her negro allies entered. Owens was only partially stupefied, and all the party stood by his bedside. Jones declared that it was unsafe to make the attempt to end his life in that way. Mrs. . Owens, furious at the repeated failures, Tttriftd them to shoot him. Jones con curred in her idea, and raid that as enough were present lo do the deed, lie would go to his church. It was agreed that the negroes should return later in the night and make a noise as if break ing into Owen's store, which adjoined j the house. The plan was carried out. Mrs. Owens roused her husband, tell ing him burglars were attempting to enter. Owens declined to go out. She urged him to do so. Finally he went info the yard and clapped his hands to ! gether to frighten the burglars. In an instant the report of a gun was heard, and Owuns fell pierced by many buck-1 shot. In a half hour he died. The community was soon in a state of the wildest excitement, and Ambrose was at once suspected. Two men, Bosnight and Spruill. volunteered to capture him. Entering his cabin they found him. He cried out: '?If you want me for shooting at Owens you are after the wrong man." With* these words he sprang at Spruill, threw him to the floor and drawing a revolver attempted to shoot him. Bosnight seized a revolver, but Am brose, drawing another, again attempt ed to shoot Spruill. Bosnight then fired on him, blowing oil the top of Iiis skull. Concealed in Ambrose's house was Stack Simpson, who was arrested, lie confessed the deed,and revealed the I awful crime above stated. He said that Ambrose shot Owens, and also that Mrs. Owens had promised each of them 820 and a pair of shoes for killing j her husband. To verily Simpson's statement, they took him to Mrs. Owen's door. She, came out when Simpson called, and Bosnight and Spruill, who were con- j cealed, heard her acknowledge her ob-' ligation for killing Owens, slur told! Simpson to call in the morning and get his money. This horrible woman then returned to the house, where she had her paramour. The men entered, and arrested her. The people were' furious, aud came mar lynching her ami her two accomplices, but they were safely jailed. Later they moved the I case from Washington to Beaufort County. Yesterday upon the witness stand, Simpson testified in his own be half, and retold all the horrible story, and his statement caused profound sensation. ISacfc Again lo Their Old Homes. During the past few months a num ber of negroes from the upper portion of our county emiirrated to Florida, declaring that they never would come back again, but within a few weeks1 past nearly all of them have returned to this county?at least, all those who could get back?and they now declare that they will never leave it again, no matter w hat representations are made to them about the beautiful lands and prosperity prevailing in those (to them) new fields. This ift what we may ex pect from tiiose of our citizens who are so anxious to go to Texas. It is possi- j We that they may find?t as represented,. but we doubt it. and a few mouths may j suffice to show them that they were, too j hasty in moving. The same depression i in business prevails all over our land , that we experience here, and it is use less to wander off among strangers to look for better times, stay at home among your friends and be happy. Caiuden Journal. An earthquake was felt in Columbia ? last week. 3f>. Olli COTTON BANDITS IN YORK. i j Forty Ncfjroea Swear to Kill Any One Catch ins: them Stealing Cotton. York, December 8.?The Xews and Courier has already published in a dis I patch from Chester the fact that a i young white boy was found near his I home, in York county, so badly beaten ? and mangled that he soon died. The following arc the facts as far as can be learned: About sundown on the even ; ing of the 30th ult.. cries of distress were heard in the Held of Win. E. Good, ; who lives near Broad River, in the western part of this county. A negro in .the lot hastened in the direction of j the cry, followed by Mrs. Good und her ! little daughter. Proceeding they found j the son of Mr. Good, a hid 12 years old, i named .lohn Lee, lying in a water fur J row in a senseless condition. Iiis skull 'crushed, his mouth knocked in and his ! body bruised. He was carried to the i house and died at o'clock, never re ! covering consciousness. Trial Justice ! Blair, in the neighborhood, was notified ' and on Wednesday, acting as coroner, he summoned a jury and proceeded ! with the inquest. After examining a ' large number of witnesses the inquest j was adjourned and met again on Fri ! day, wheu, after taking much testi i mony, none of a conclusive character, ,' the jury again adjourned till next Fri day. In the meantime circumstances ' pointed to Mose Lipscomb, Dan Ro ! berts, Bailey Dowdle and Print t Thompson, all colored, as the guilty I parties, and they were committed to I jail. The theory of tile investigation was that some of these negroes had j been detected by the murdered boy in j the act of stealing a basket of cotton I from his father's Held, and to prevent j dectection they killed him. intending to throw his body into Broad river, 1 only two hundred" yards distant; but they were thwarted in this by the ap proach of the people from the house. The theory proved correct, for this morning Print and Dan made a confes sion to the above effect, and also impli cated Mose and Bailey as accessories. They also say that there is a combina tion of about forty negroes in that neighborhood pledged that if either one is caught in the act of stealing they are to kill the person so detecting them. This admission may lead to ? large number of arrests. There is much ex citement in the Broad river section, and now that a confession has been made, your correspondent does not pretend to know what may happen next, though at this time all is quiet. A FLORIDA MYSTERY. A Lake ut ForrcHtcrFolttt, NearPalatka, Covered with Dead Bullion. We clip the following from the Pa latka, Fla., Herald, of last week : For rester's Point is four miles down the rif er, on the J3ast side . It is one of thy handsomest spots in the State, and noted for its beautiful scenery. Sports men always make this their hunting ground, whenever permitted to do so, bv the proprietor of the property. Yes terday Messrs. T. W. Booth and J. II.. Stoker, made a discovery while on a hunt, that has proven very mysterious. They were in the swamp on the lower end of the Point, when Mr. Booth sighted a deer, and leveling his gun on I the object, pulled the trigger to his gun I and the animal dropped. The two then j went in search for their game, and on going about two hundred roils came to a sheet of water about 1,500 rods in cir cumference, covered with blood. They stood gazing at their discovery with : amazement, and in about fifteen minu j tcs the disturbed waters had cleared j away, running out of the little brook that leads to the river. The sight bc I fore their eyes perfectly paralyzed them, ! as on the bottom of this little lake were I several human and animal bones, notli ; ing else being left. The deer that had i been shot was at the bottom, and was ] clearly visible, the water being clear as ? crystal. Mr. Stoker took from his \ pocket a three hundred yard fishing line ; with a hook on it and letting it down i in the water to pull out the animal, failed, as the line lacked a good deal of reaching the bottom. The two, failing in their attempt with the tackle at hand, returned to the city for assistance and will go down to-day on the Sylves ter with the necessary articles." The news spread over the city like a prarie lire, and, comment was loud. This lake is about three hundred rods from dry land, on the swamp, and up to this time had never been heard of. Fish of large size can be seen swimming about, and the-banks are perpendicular. On either side of the lake arc large cypress trees, and is a very picturesque' spot. Photographs will lie taken of it and put on sale. It is tu l>e hoped that some thing will come to light to toll how tlie human bodies caiw to be there. We await the return of the explorers to i;'ll the tales of the Dead Man's Lake. Two IVntillcrx1 Crime. St. Louis, Dec. 6.?Yesterday after noon Mrs. John W. Gutting, of 4ooS Pennsylvania Avenue, while alone inj her house admitted two peddlers, who asked to idler their wares. They seized and carried her oil bodily in their wagon, enforcing silence by'threats of death. They carried her to a secluded place in the suburb of the city: both outraged her and then permitted her to go. She informed the first policeman Shu found mid was taken home. The men were captured later, both being very drunk. One was able to under-1 stund his perdicamenl. lie was fright ened and said his comrade had com mitted the act and he had witnessed it. but took no part in it. The woman's husband is a clerk in the Probate Court. Didn't Know it Was Loaded. The Sumter Watchman says that on Saturday evening last. Ashby and George, sons of Mrs. Booth, wen; play ing with Ervin, a son of Mr. Sam Hrown, in a room at Mrs. Booth's. There was a loaded pistol on the mantelpiece and in some way Ervin got hold of it. thinking it was unload ed, and snapped it at Ashby. sending the bullet into his brain. Ashby linger ed in an unconscious condition until the following afternoon, when he died. Mrs. Booth is almost crazed with grief and is in a very critical condition. in i, 'hu vXGEBLTRG, s. c, thtji TAX ON DOGS. A REMARKABLE FORENSIC DISPLAY IN THE STATE SENATE. I The Rosalinds Find Themselves ii: the : Minority, and ? I5I11 Providing n License I Tax of 91 tor Cur? of High and Low De I Krec is Fanned. The Senate is never without a stib \ jeet for wide debate. Tuesday the most I interesting essays were on the subject I of dogs, good, bail and indifferent, hy ; drophoiiic and harmless, carnivorous. graminivorous and omnivorous. One of the first bills on the Calendar'! for a second reading was Senator Tal- j ! bert's "providing for the taxatiou of I dogs and bitches.'' Mr. Talbert secured i i a preliminary victory by securing the] 'rejection of an unfavorable report! j without a division. He then moved to amend so as to provide for a "license" ? of one dollar instead of a "tax," the j proceeds to be paid into the county treasury lor educational purposes. Car- j I ried. j Senator Williams moved to strike I out the enacting clause of the bill. This brought Senator Talbert to his i I feet, with a spirited defence of his pet \ j measure. He cast gross aspersions upon i j the Edgelield dogs. Last year there j I had been three thousand cases of hy-1 ! drophobia in Edgelield County and sev- i j eral deaths. The worthless, starving dogs were so numerous that they in-1 j vailed the cornfields and devoured the j ; roasting ears. Senators Williams attacked the bill I vigorously as a proposition to oppress I the poor people. i Senator Youmans thought the bill i would be unjust to a great many poor I people. Senator Hemphill read from the comp troller general's report to show that the number of sheen in the State was 86.052, valued for taxation at 807,852. j while the dogs numbered G'0,257, 'and-j had a taxable value of $337,0113. The ' difference in favor of the dogs was 8239,241. ? ' Senator Smythe drew attention to i the remarkable mortality in the dogs of the State during the last year. Since the last preceding report of the comp troller general the dogs had decreased y,000 in number and 856,000 in:value. The value of dogs, he showed^ varied from $1.10 in Anderson to$10in Barn? well. He thought the State could get j along with fewer yelping curs. His friend from Abbeville said that the dogs were worth more than the sheep. No duubt, when they kept the number of sheep down and discouraged their raising. If dogs were so valuable and such a comport as the Senator from Georgetown declared, there was no rea son why a licence of one dollar should not be paid for them. In its present I shape he favored the bill. He dwelt upon the impossibility of successfully conducting sheep imsli:indry--.vhilc'the> dogs were unrestrained and uudimin-j ished. Senator Patterson objected to the adoptiou of a uniform license fee. The poor man would have to pay as much for his $1 dog as the rich man for his $100 dog. The proposed law could not be carried out. The provision for li cense collars could and would be easily I evaded. Senator Talbert, declared that the bill1 was in the interest uf the poor man, ? because it would put money in the j county treasury to educate his phil-1 dren. Senator Sligh read a paragraph from j the News and Courier of to-day, in re-i gard to a little girl of his county who j had been bitten by a mad dog. The life | of that little girl Was worth more than I all the dogs in Newberry County. Why fear to put a tax on them which would decrease the number? The poor man! is required to keep his cow and his hog up, but the dog is an independent ani mal and roams at large. lie kills sheep and hogs, and, added the Senator, with the emphasis befitting a climax, "he | sucks eggs." Senator Youmans thought US much of ajfpig as of a dog. fur he was able to eat the pig, but suggested that raccoons and wildcats had eaten the Edgelield j corn and hogs. Senator Howell drew an affecting j picture of the County Commissioners tramping through the country putting license collars on dogs. The bill ought to be killed. .Many people in his coun ty supported themselves by following their dogs in hunting. Senator Murray was surprised at the, last statement of the Senator from j Oolleton. If there were in the low! country any considerable number of J people who "made their living by follow- j ing their dogs around after game.it! was one of the hcA arguments for the I bill. lie hoped that they would be re-; formed so as abandon this profession ' and go into some productive business. Senator Field did not know that he favored the bili in its present shape, but he thought something ought to be done to decrease hydrophobia, which was ;: growing curse in his section. He favored some stringent law to curb the! dogs. Senator Howell wished to correct the j impression that the people of Colleton "livedon dogs." [Laughter.| lie hail' meant to say that many of them lived : by their dogs by hunting. Deer were so plentiful in Colleton that a man. one day last week had killed live at a shot.. IL was evident that with so much game ? in the county dogs were an essential. ; Senator Smythe inquired what the deer were worth. Senator Howell replied: ''About $12." Senator Smythe : "Then that's a | very good reason why the hunter should be able to pay a dollar license for his ] dog." [Laughter.] Senator Austin moved to table Sena tor Williauis's motion to strike out the enacting words of the bill. Yeas?Senators Alexander, Austin,! Bell, nieman. liyrd, Crews, Edwards, Erwin. McCall, McMnster, Moody, Mur-. raw Ithatnc, Sligh, Smvthe and: Tal bert? 16. Nays?Senators [Hack, Field, Hemp hill, Howell, Kennedy. Munro, Patter- j son. Reynolds, Sinkler.Smith, Williams! and Youmans?13. Several proforma amendments were j made to the bill. Several amendments j ISP AT, DECEMBER 16, defeated. Trie bill then passed with out a division, with notice of general amendments on the third read ing.?Xews and Courier. PRICE OF FARM PRODUCTS. A General Redaction hi Value*, Except for Corn and Out?. Waniiixgtom, December 10.? The' December returns of the average farm prices by counties show a material re-j auction, as compared with the values of the crops of 1885, in wheat, rye and 1 bare?}'. Corn lias made an advance nearly equivalent to the percentage of rcdmrfcion in quantity, and oats, in1 sympathy with corn, rather than with : smaU grains used for human fcod, aver-: ages a slightly higher value than last | year,. The farm value of corn was 33 cental per bushel in December of last year. It is now 37 cents, 1 cent higher; than the crop of 1884. The average for the'pTevious five years was 44.7, and for the '?a years prior to 1880 it was 42.6, centti. The prices in the surplus States are*: Ohio 37 cents, Indiana 32, Illinois 31, Iowa 30, Missouri 31, Kansas 27, Ne braska 20. This is an increase over last year of 1 cent in Nebraska, 3 in Kamms, Illinois, Indiana and Ohio and 6 in Iowa and Missouri. The average is 50 in New York, 47 in Pen nsylvania and 45 in Virginia. 2 cents j lower in each than last year. Prices in I the Cotton States South and West of j Notih Carolina are higher than lastj year: South Carolina (50, Georgia00,1 Alabama 58, Mississippi 5'.?, Louisiana 55, Arkansas49,Texas 80, an increase! of 11 cents, due to disastrous drought, j Tim average December price of wheat is 69 cents, a reduction of 8 cents from the average value of the last crop, and \\i cents above the price ln?L884. The average in New York is 8i cents, 12 cents lower than last year; PenAylvania 83.13 cents lower. The reduction is still greater in several Western States. The average of Ohio is 74s cents. Michigan 73, Indiana 70,1 Illinois 6'), Wisconsin 68. Minnesota 61, | Ktr* 60, Missouri 63, Kansas 58, Xe- j braslia 47, Dakota 52. There is little decline in the Southern States, in some j of which, prices are higher than last year 1 The average in California is 73 cents. The average value of oats is 29.9 cents, against 28.5 last December. Rye averages 53.1 cents, against 57.0 lasttyear; barley 53 cents, last year 56.3; buckwheat 54.4 cents, a reduction of 1.5 cents per bushel; potatoes 46 cents, 1 cent higher than December last year. The value Of hay averages nearly $8 per ton. _ A CONGRESSMAN IN DISGRACE. Fearful Full or Representative .James W. \ . Reiri, of North Carolina. A Reidville correspondent of the. North Carolina State Chronicle tells tb A';>!lowing story of?Mr. Heid, present mf(^?of""Co?gr<?sSr fw>tn fhe?]|iftfc District* who was defeated for re-elec tion: The air at Reidville is thick with rumors auent Mr. .lames W. Rcid who was defeated for Congress. His friends are reticent. They are dumbfounded. They know little about the charges against him, and he is not at home, they are not prepared to make any denial. The terrible, truth, his friends fear, is that he is a ruined man. It is charged openly and everywhere that he I has gotten money under false pre tenses; that he has given mortgages; aggregating over $20,000?some say 330,000?on property not worth over S8.U00; that he has" hypothecated hisj salary due to March Ith. at two or more places; that his 1 O L's are in the J hands of many people who had implicit faith in him: that he owns several! newspapers in the district and that he hired others; that he is in debt for whisky bills at sundry places; that he lived a terriblv fast life in Washing-' ton; that many of his best friends will suffer, and some of them will be ruined; I that his whereabouts are unknown and j that he is afraid to come homo for fear j of arrest. It is hardly probable that the report that his whereabouts are un- j known is true. Congress is in session, and it is supposed that he is at his post i in Washington. These are undigested rumors that arc lloating about in the! country round about Reidville. That j they are all true is not probable, but that enough of them are true to stain his name and bring loss to his friends ' there appears to be no doubt. I have I never been more stunned in my Jife at; siich. revelations. tSIowu Through the Roof. EOOEKIELD, December 12.- Informa tion has just reached town that Mr. V. 11. Thomas, postmaster at Cold Spring, apostollice in this county some ton j miles wesi of here, and a negro whose name is unknown to your correspon dent, met with a horrible accident on j yesterday that will in all probability ; result in the death of both. Mr.j Thomas, alter lighting his pipe, can--; iessly threw the match upon a keg of. powder that was near by igniting and exploding it. Doth of Mr. Thomas's legs wer-' broken just below the thigh, one being almost entirely blown off. He received serious and, it is thought, incurable burns on other portions of his person. The negro was blown through the roof of the house, part of which was taken off, and his injuries are of a more serious nature, if possible, than those of Mr. Thomas. Mr. Thomas is a prominent and highly respected citi zen of this county, and bits the sympa thy of our entire people.?News ami Courier. Die?! from the KfTeetx of Chewing Gum. A sad story of the sudden death of a little girl comes from Clear Creek, at tributed to chewing gum. Last Satur day a number of children iu the neigh borhood of Mr. Hobt. Simpson's indulg ed in this practice. That evening the eleven year old daughter of Mr. Simp son was taken sick and vomited a great deal. Mrs. Simpson, who was visiting a neighbor, v. as sent for but before the mother reached home the little girl died. Her death occurred about o'clock a few hours alter she was taken sii k. Mr. P. C. Mungo and Mr. John Wilson both had children very sick for a while and their sickness and the death of Mr. Simpson's little daugh-i ter is attributed to the gum they had been chewing.?Charlotte Chronicle, j 1886. PRIG KILLED FOR DISSECTION. The Horrible Murder of a White Wuman | in Baltimore by Two Negroes. Baltimore, December 12.?About ? o'clock on Friday evening:! negro "man came to the Maryland University on j Lombard street with the body of a white woman and lett it with Ander-j son Perry, the colored janitor, saying J he Would call again for $15, the price agreed upon. The body was taken to be prepared for keeping until ueeded for disscctien, but it was found that the head was horribly crushed and that there were two wounds in the left breast, and the police were at once no tified. Yesterday a post-mortem exam ination of the body was made and phy sicians staled positively that the wounds were made after death, leaving the inference that it was simply a case of body snatching, and that the work had been done by a novice. To-day, however, the body was identified as that of Emily Brown, a woman W years of age, who for the last six months had been boarding with a colored fami ly in the western section of the city. She was of dissipated habits and lived on what she could beg. She was at her home three hours before tier body was brought to the University, and it is now evident that she was brutally murdered for the price her body would bring for 'use on the dissecting table. Perry, the janitor, who received the body, denies that he ever saw the woman, but he is known to have been a boarder at the same house and to have eaten breakfast with her on the morning of her murder. He was arrested to-day as an accessory to the crime. Late to-night John Ross and Albert Hawkins, both colored, were arrested and confessed to having killed the woman at the instigation of Janitor Perry. They followed her to her room and Ross smashed her head with a brick, while Hawkins held her and stabbed her through the heart with a knife. They then carried the body to the University in a bag furnished by Perry, who received it and shaved the head to make identification difficult. The bloody clothing was thrown into a tub of dirty water. Ross boarded in the house with the .woman. The price to lie obtained for the body was the sole object of the murder. TORTURED TO DEATH. 15i ut.il Trent ment of ii Colored Workman hy Men of His Own ltr.ee. Savannah, December 9.?The report of the fiendish murder of Sam Hub bard, a negro, in Tattnall County, three weeks ago, has just been received here. Uubbard was employe-: by R. A. Hanewacker, a large shingle manu facturer on the Altainaha River, twen ty miles north of Johnston's Station, on the Savannah, Florida and Western Railway. Hanewacker'had twenty negroes employed, one of whom, Henry Weaver, was; foreman. Weaver, who was reliable, was made banker of the workmen, and they deposited their sav ings with him. On November 15 Weaver told his employer that $250 had been taken from his trunk. Uub bard was suspected, because he was the only one who had a key to Weaver's room. All the negroes who had their money deposited with Weaver arrested Sam Hubbard and threatened to whip him if he did not tell where the money was hid. He took the negroes* from place to place, but they could not lind it anywhere that lie said. After being fooled repeatedly they carried him into the swamp and* whipped him with a leather trace. Then lit: accused two others, saying they were accomplices. One was not caught, and the other de nied it. After that Hubbard was whip ped several times during the day. and at night was taken to a church and whipped, beat and kicked to death. His body was buried in the swamp. The country is sparsely settled, and it was a good while before the authorities heard of the murder. A few days ago Hane wacker. who bears a good reputation, stated that he tried to induce the iiesrroes to si::h! Hubbard to jail, but could not inliuenee them. He was dis charged. t?..s also two of Ids workmen. Seven others. I'm- whom warrants were issued, escaped, it is n?w believed that Tom Crawford, who, Hubbard said, was one of his iiccumplice*. got the money and lied.?-News and Courier. An Admirer of Mr. Davis. The Philadelphia Times states that while hunting in the mountains North of Altoona last week, Governor I'alli son made the acquaintance of an eccen tric old character named .lacker Camp bell. Tb'-latter looked the Governor over critically and said : "Well, you're a purty :iue lookin' man. an' you make apurty good Gov'nor. but you havn't got, half the brains that Jefferson Davis hud." Campbell is an uid-time Demo crat, and during the war came near getting a rope around his neck in Hun tingdon County for his forciblj ex pressed admiration for Davis und his cause. Foreeil !! Jo Live. Clin .'.'?ii. December K. Henry Jan sey, wife murderer, who was trying to starve himself to death, has beer; fed by force, lie was pinioned, a clasp pul on his nose, his teeth pried open, and Ids mouth lilted with it mixture of milk, sugar, brandy and egg. lie endeavor ed to reject it, but in Ids gasps for breath heswalluwed considerable ol it. This was repeated three times during the day, ami consequently his strength rapidly grew, although the improve ment put him in an ugly frame of mind, and he denounced his saviors in most piratical terms. A Mate'h Crime. Savannah. Ha., Dec. 10. J.S. Titi eomb. the lirst mate of the schooner M. IL Millen, of this port, was arrested to day for the murder of the former mas ter, ('apt. W. IL Young, of Maine. Young died on a voyage to Rio de Janeiro. :s;:d tin* crew charge that the mate poisonii! him. An examination will be had to-morrow. Another Foreign. IC:irthi|linke. Coxstaxtixoplk, iJccemiier 11. -An earthquake to-day was felt in Smyrna and throughout the Island of Chios. The disturbance made fissures in the walls and in the fronts of houses i:i all parts of Hie territory affected. i-: 91.50 pee Ayi\mi: COLOSSAL COWARDICE. STARTLING INCIDENT OF RAILROAD TRAVEL IN TEXAS. A Train full of I'iuwcngcrH, IncluilUic; Forty Men. Among Thema United State? Army Officer und Five Negro Soldier* Robbed l>j Two Highwaymen. St. Louis, December 12.?The par ticulars of a train robbery yesterday near Bellevue Station, Texas, are that three robbers, who were unmasked and made no effort at concealment, arrived j at a water tank a few moments before I the train. "When the train arrived one of the robbers, with a drawn pistol order ed Engineer Avers and his fireman and 0. (i. Miller, another engineer who was riding in the cab, to alight, which they did. He then marched them some thirty feet from the train and went through them, taking what valuables they had. While this was going on the other man went through the train. It appears that one of the passengers, who was looking out of the window and saw the operation with the train men, disceringthe situation, weut into the forward ears, notifying the other passengers of what was going on and told them to secrete their money. This they did in various ways, giving most of it and their diamonds to several I ladies aboard. Miss Kate Haas of Fort i Worth took charge of $3,000 and other j valuables. Mrs. Chambers of Totts dam, X. Y., secured 6?,<XK) and some diamonds, and Mrs. Wittick of Carth age, Mo., took her husband's gold watch and several hundred dollars. Mrs. j Wittick was greatly incensed at the proceedings and stood up in the ear and asked if forty men were going to sub mit to such an outrage at the hands of two highwaymen. About $12,000 in money and $4,000 worth of diamonds and other valuables were left by the robbers in their haste to get through the train and because they did not search the ladies. They were evidently novices in the business and went away with the paltry sum of S103, three gold watches, ten silver watches, five revolv ers and one gold ring. The robbers left the train at the rear of the sleeper, mounted horses standing near by and rode rapidly away. The train was then hurried on to Bellevue, where tele grains were sent to Superintendent Frost, at Fort Worth, who immediate ly replied, offering $250 -for each rob ber, and in less thau an hour live posses of officers and citizens were ir pursuit. Captain Conners was on the train, hav ing in charge two deserters with a guard of live negro soldiers of the Twenty-Fourth United States infantry. Conners ordered the soldiers to draw their revolvers and tight the robbers, but several passengers opposed so strongly and pleaded so earnestly in I behalf of the women passengers on (board, that the captain reluctantly yielded, iura when the robbers 'reached ' [the soldiers and demanded their weapons they quietly gave them up. Attacked by an Kngle. Minneapolis, December 7.?Prof. W. F. Carr ami Samuel Chute, who were surveying on Xieolet avenue, near the Wasliburn Home, were attacked yesterday afternoon by a large eagle. The bird dropped down like a bullet, and. knocking f'urtis's cap from his head, assaulted him with great fury. The man caught up a crowbar, and for a few minutes defended himself in an unequal combat, calling lustily for Ids companion. Prof. Carr coming up, the savage bird tinned upon him, caught him by the leg, threw him down, tore his trousers, and, sinking his talons in the fleshy part of his leg, inflicted a serious wound. The bird then mounted to the collar of the unfortunate man and seemed determined to bear him away bodily, but just at this crisis other men came up, and by their united efforts the bird of liberty was finally conquered and securely pinion ed, it was found that his wings measured nine feet ten inches from tip to tip. and his ialons were over four inches long. The capture of the eagle goes far to explain the fact that lately ' the farmers near the Washbnm Horn?' i have missed sundry pigs and sheep. shot for a Width. (jKom.sh's December 10.-Wilson I 'am, la respectable colored man. lives in the Turkey Pond neighborhood, a negro settlement about four miles from (ieorge's. Lust night, arter eating an early supper. Cam's wife, with her two children, leH horn ? to attend church near by. She had proceeded but a short distance from the house when she was shot und killed i;1 tin* high road by some unknown party or parties. The children who wen? with her say that alter the gun liretl they saw a big lilaek man running off. It is reported thai Mrs. Cam was looked upon by her igm?r::nl neighbors a.sa dangerous per son, being able to -use you up.put things on you, Work spells,"*' &c. News and ( ourier. SlloeklllK l>. alh of a ?hihi. The Darlington N'ews says that on Wednesibiv morning. December I. Han nah, the ten ve.ip- old daughter of Mr. .lohn W. Harrington of U.utsville. was running in Ihc yard with a pair of scis sors in her hand, when foiling accident l\ over a wheelbarrow, the scissors en tered her abdomen and broke against the vertebra. The portions of the scis sors which remained in her body was broken in two parts, only one of which the doctor succeeded in abstracting. The poor little sufferer lingered in in tense agony until I o'clock Sunday morning when she died. Crushed to Death. (??iwkta.nnui:?., December 11. W. F. Cautwell, formerly telegraph operator at the Ciiion depo' at this place, bill recently running on the Ashevillc and Spartnnburg iioad a- freight conductor was run over by thy engine at Campo bello to-day. Iiis rigid leg was crushed at the km c. and the lingers of his left hand were cut off. He was brought to Spartnnburg this afternoon, but owing to his condition amputation was con sidered in.*! IvisaMc. Mr. Cant well died ' at 7 o'clock tiiis evening. He was bom in Columbia, and has resided here sev eral years.