CHAS. R. KURTZ Ed. and Prop. THETRAGEDY AT WOODWARD How Wm, R. Etlinger Kills Constable John Bar- ner, and Wounds Several Others. HE DEFIANTLY COMMITS SUICIDE Turned his house into a barricaded arsenal--Plenty of dynamite and Amunition--Hobbled his wife--Intended to poison the entire Town with strychnine and arsenic--A diabolical plot averted-- Fhe story told by the wife--He loved his children and kissed hem good bye--A correct account of the tragedy briefly told. WM erngon, llefonte, and the news was Bon spread in every section of the Woodw layat 1 p.m coun ty of the terrible a®air at ard ’ 3 From that time on until Fri the scenes Woodward 1 i the most thrilling that are the Lnown annals of history for butchery. The eutire ized by this man whom that n 1: 1 i cruel county was terror eighbor- hood for years had feared aemon and treacherous devil, turned his residen Aas a and who had now aded into a barrie arsenal, well supplied with rifles an d large quantities of ingeni tion an constructed dynamite bombs Thus he successfully held the sheriff and deputies, a at bay hours. ud hundreds of armed men and defied arrest for almost 24 Adri It was only until driven fro his lair like a tiger by fire, that he trag ically took his own life in the presence of had been trying all this time by firing thous. several thousand spectators, who ands of rifle shots into his retreat to either kill a Such a scene, transpiring in a peaceable and highly him or force surrender civilized | feared him were | i ed the home and never character general ly its of his devil. ishness, prior tt event , have been cts were low r wife and child, ge township, ing that life might be takes desert. ared It is known that he comin ent wife to blackmail citizens in th it to return lled his pres. assist him in diny plots to community, extort money from them. He often clubbed and Leat he r, any way she would displeast one o these contemptible a of Woodward and remonstrated Ben Benner 241 HEE Etlinger with of about the cruel flew into a viole treatment wife. Etlinger accused him of community, is so | startling and tragic, that the people of | Rhat community are still iu a highly ex- cited condition. It has been the topic of conversation everywhere places and in every house in cosnty, while all the great daily papers from one end of the country to the other pntain extended illustrated accounts of this thrilling tragedy. in all public | | Centre | Almost every | feader of this paper in Centre county is | sonversant with the facts by this time Yet it seems necessary, and will be ex pected to give a brief account of what occurred and the incidents that led to this shocking affair WM. ETLINGER, THE MURDERER The central figure of this thrilling ep. isode is a son of Solomon Etlinger, a former resident of Woodward, Pa., and a once well known citizen of this county In 1886 Solomon Etlinger commited sui. cide at Potters Mills, this county, by shooting. He lingered for over a day from his self-inflicted wound which fina). ly proved fatal. At that time this same son, William, was in the Centre county jail for a crimisal offence and was taken | MRS, ETLINUER. | A photo taken Immediately §ftor she escaped, interfering with thelr fomestic affairs | and causing all the troubje between him. self and wife. He followed this by giv. ing the old gentleman a Severe beating in the blacksmith shop Bear his house, aud in the presence of veral men and a constable, who then Hid a warrant in his pocket for Etlinger sl rrest for a for. mer crime. Etlinger, Dat this time, struck his fatherdn.law A the head with a club that laid the scalgbpen and rend. ered the old gentlemd: unconscioas, Knowing of Ktlinger's flolent temper, and that he always ¢ ‘ried weapons, i to! BELLEFONTE, PA. T Woods came went by night, and carried ifle / borhood feared | his Winchester r withhim. T iis apg shedding of blood almost \ for the day, by this this manner expert several occasions caused terror a an defied known to be man who arrest in He was and mn in handling dynamite on that place by the street to explode, and at one time knock - throwing pieces out on ed a horse down at the in this manner Wm. Et. This is a brief des ription of ! Hdger and his vicious disposition, and feared Wm. Etlinger was why that especially him at this community time married to his second wife and | family consisted of two small children girl aged 5 and a boy about 2 CONSTABLE JOHN RARNER At the recent February election John larner, of near Woodward, was a can didate for constable. He asked to be | | elected on the ground that he serve the bench warrant on Etlinger and | | would capture him or “die in the at. | tempt.” On this fssue he was elected | Last Monday 2nd he came to Bellefonte and lifted his commission. He also made sure to ascertain the limit of his authority with this warrant. Knowing that he could make a forcible entry, if | necessary, he stated his determination of would | 1 1 he neigh- | roach and looked | get a move their a keeping his campaign pledge and went home, to arrest a desperate man, between whom for some tine there had been the bitterest feelings. He kept hig pledge to the letter, and ihe bloody trag. edy followed in which both lives were lost THE TRAGRDY, On Thursday, at about 2 p. m., con- stable John Barner accompanied by C, G. Motz and John Hosterman went to Etlinger's house, it being known that he was home. They found the front door locked. This was broken open by sever. al blows with a sledge hammier, The doors on the inside room were bolted, and the pane! of the door, leading to the hallway and stairs, was next broken open, They heard the family up stairs. Con. HURSDAY, MARCH 12, 1896. wanted 1 he fired two ured fihe t the t into Creo Miller the bal that section o own Late shot 8 house uecar by 1 came 0 the head of very close t the mother.in-law of merchant Robert Wolf. Etlinger warned other citizens to He also wired several On. { loads into the school house close by w hile an ETLINGER'S CHILDREN As they came from the burning house in session, but no one was injured, By this time the entire community was aroused and up in arms. Guards were stationed about the house ready to shoot the murderer if he attempted to escape. His appearance at a window would be followed by a volley of rifles and muskets, During this engagement John Musser, located at a stable, got a flesh wound in | Mrs. Etlinger is said to have | the neck. appeared at the window and fired shots. This condition of affairs continued until night and from all directions people | came by the hundreds. SHERIFF CONDO ARRIVES Early in the afternoon a messenger | hastened to Coburn, and the telegram sent to Bellefonte at about 4 o'clock. The sheriff and a lot of deputies by special train left here at 6 p. m., arrived at Co. burn at 7, and at Woodward soon after 8p. m. He found the community de. moralized with fear, and the town in the vicinity of Etlinger's house deserted. Several hundred armed men surrounded ing. This was done to prevent the the decided the morning. man 4 from attempting to ¢ to It and keep the prisoner this soon used up all the cape moun tams close by wa to try mn house, i The at Wood manner, until men ammunition ward. A fresh supply from Millheim S00 Al, Harry Jackson started for Bel was exhausted, Carman and lefoute by special train from Cobourn d tring the night. They got a Was a 14) hous: rinto the When and there was mao ning ¢ { Cae A 11 1 Axes breathless silence > occasion was broken when Etling er opened fire from an upstairs window A ball gomery's head, Sheriff Condo felt the flasl This s fooll went close by Policeman Mont of another close to his face ed them that their move was and too dangerous They treated. One point it was d ehinitely prisoner had not escaped After this, firing on the house Missles rained down newed with vigor m it thick and fast. The windows were all broken, the doors and weather board ing shattered and splintered with fiyin A shop across the street to fire ar now was located, and from which he of his firing through the came very shooting several parties. In stance he sent a rifle ball that the ear of a man in the shop equally close calls are narrated 4 missles crowd in the blacksmith were in position Etlinges did small inte the cel where most cellar windows, and near one in. grazed Other DRIVEN OUT BY FIRR. After another consultation it was de cided that it would be necessary to burn the building to get the prisoner, unless | he should kill his family and himself and | be burned up, which was very improb able. To carry this into effect, a detach ment of expert riflemen were stationed {in the woods, back of the barn. They were located so as to be able 0 cover | every window in that end of the house. | At a given signal a constant fire of rifles | | was opened on the rear windows to pre- i | vent Etlinger from attempting to shoot | in that direction, At the same time the | | hero of the day appeared in the person of | | James Cornelly. Carryng a pail of tur- pentive and cotton waste he made his | way from the woods down to the bam, From there, a distance of seventy feet, he made to the out-house or work shop, that stood about twenty fest from the the building and kept up a constant fir. | residence, unharmed. He broke in a RURAL NOTES A SPECIALTY, olion teri rion a good riflemen, made safc his retreat. hort time 11 " a0 me the } L AS MVEIOPL ain Dwing to ; a calm day i were Ow In communicating he house Par black Bop, fearing : nagnt mad turated aver Two tom those 1 10 CO as No one lhe noise of the rifles *xcited mob drowned d in Qa 1 ith this posi tion about five minute rifle balls dropping about her Suddenly she drew her feet from the wing compelled to to cellarway, Etlinger | seck safety, and she started run along the side of the house. At this mo ment there was another and as she ran away and fell, three revoly suspense, er shots followed her in quick succession from the who now seemed determined by husband, to kill his this critical planingmill cellarway, her deserting him in moment the and was taken in charge by several men wife for She reached | Weak and exhausted, she was carried to her fathers house. She was thinly clad and on her right ankle a steel hobble was still dangling that had ben placed there by her husband. Heretofore the crowd considered Mrs. Etlinger an equally guilty participant, but the sight of the crue! hobbles that lacerated her limbs changed their bitterness to tender sympathy for the poor woman, THE DESPERADO SURRENDERS, The next and most tragic event of the day followed. Messrs, Ira Gramley, of Aaronsburg, Sam Miller, Sheriff Condo and Al. Garman, all of Bellefonte, were located at the planing mill building, and [Continued on 4th page.)
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