Somerset herald. (Somerset, Pa.) 18??-????, May 30, 1889, Image 1
Her SOMERSET, PA., THURSDAY, MAY 80, 1880. 1 El f! RISHER'S BOOK STORE. Here you run tct the full i;iiii-lrnuxl history of the k A '..s.tp- rdl: t' t Ul T INjI It U ale, luW tl alid I omilY JUT". 'EiHltL- Cull In!) M LOWEST WHOLESALE RATES. Fisher's Book Store. 3LES, ALBUMS, SUNDAY-SCHOOL TICKETS. CARDS, MENTS. GOSPEL HYMNS. PICTURES, FRAMES, kv McnHitip. fluse Hull tttnl !Ut. The hinut tin, k'hi ( ourt uock w ill U- at HEAD QUAPiT CI v S A.T 1HERR d BROTHERS. i u; .M.t. kim's or lies, Clocks, Jewelry, Spectacles, k tiM'll 111 )U t l.t- II :iUittl of tin- LOWEST CASH PRICES i iw- e then -J v tiMtkv i! .ntti;.M NAiT KtN .l AkAM Rfcl. FERNER BROTHERS' Reliable Close-Priced Shoe Store- petiole Congress ! a. is cm represents the Kmer- tti! IViinle ( oinrri-ss in Kanga t4 1'orp. ise. tori. .van and I.lmsa double p.re one z piai-e.1 bm k, aid llieotli f front of i(,e ankie-lione t is prpventing the strain .f Ii'tibl-r on J tie a!ik'.e-l.one C preventing the c 're Sirainst Ksrn imle. ami .ief,v.i l.v m- If lloltt Sh.s- is tii lUf Hon i.d ! 3 Ul 1 )X.G 1? !ES FINE SHOES L. DOUGr K r.-sp.x-tf,iilv e: R'tcrtion 1 laroe hne of tl.e .., styles in U,e im.ie, .j w.. Jt r deaiers. CALL AMi v; j. MUXEU-HIIOTIIEKS. LOOK SHARP! i v ( lo f l u" Hie new ul.mt the M iis:il,.iiix1 triK now yoinp'on in Court, so to UWBERGER MURDER andthe YODER HANGING, 1 .-I th- f't'ii -' f " information in n rnrl to Ok imirtani IhhH now r.itc im 3M'ny f. i'..,,.- v i h!SN ! -1 I K iiii'l nil Liu-W of j-ira. HfK-tk, I.-fc.-t- I mui K k-X- ';!'Lul Knv-itf). iittul1' ihii ft umh'1' ittil'. Site i.-. Tiua-hij. MftmM U irnl r PnT. Kiivfi.tt-s. Ink". IVm-iK IVn. Tal'l r.il i-v.-tviIimiit in in,-, i uv i'iU-i"irn li;y ijt- ttiul tii liif uiaaim- anil K-ntitmii Hi lor lc at iV' Iimh-I-ithc n nttrnrme torf will t oi'ti .lnrini: Coii-1 e.-k until 11 o'clock p. ni. mI i-.crv -. mimU;io:i BU't itlu-ltUou will Itc -hou u .11 Jul rem .lid imes di-hirmi; ! tin iMik store. TESTA- K!mth1 I'lu'-c of resort tor i:ou. prosit ami FISHER'S BOOKSTOR E. OOK SHARP! Ml.-ilion of th" ';Vic, im-i ,l--r'ally 'I Ht'enlil.r 'o;irt litis nn-l next twt i-.-nn.lt 1c Mock o; W il :ir or hi" loriilloi to IoihiiI ill Sirtihnnrt. lo lt l toc-ul .ii.i lor t'.ir-.f. . Kttv tilt t ,',ri'n' i-r in? t purrhn- nnytliinir in our -.lui'y 'imc m lite wi uurkuiuiik.v uumiit-r, uJ HERR BROS. S S i G AIT E I. Of All t.atest Styles, Hand Weit, &.C., Ac. Flexible Hand turned. K.m.si- '.:it.- IJ V1. r. U Shoe. Alo. fc!.t Viirkin b.-s. uii Leailier cismier mill iule. . the ?Vt that we constantly keep in stock a le and most serviceable eih. of the latest as mvit comparison of our price withthose 1 - Somerset Penn'a. ' Never in the annals ol Somerset County court has greater interest been manifested than it now witnessed. Before tne bell had ceased ringing every seat, not only in the boJy of the court-room, but all in (he gallery were filled thin 'Wednesday I morning. And then aisles and doorways were packed by hundreds of interested sectaUrs. who patiently stood through the three and a half hours of the tedious work of examining witnesses in the Vo der robbery case. As on yesterday, when the eight im plicated men were marched in by the sheriff and his deputies, everybody w as anxious to see them. Yesterday's View of them, and to-day's several hours of observation of them in the court room did not satisfy the public curiosity, as ujwn adjournment hundreds rushed to i the Court House vard and formed two solid columns from Court House door to the jail, through which the wretched "observed of all observers" had to kus. If, in addition to their other ways and methods of attracting public attention they aspire to additional notoriety, they surely outfit to te more than satisfied with thei marches to and from the old jail. During the hearing of some doz.cn or so w itnesses for the prosecution, seemini;- 1 ' ly the most nnconceniel men in the Court lioom were the eight men arraign ed for committing the offense. Not once did one of them betray the slightest evi dence of fear or apprehension. If, as some people used to believe, that guilt u ill show itself in the countenance when t confronted with imnitive evidence, then the irresistible conclusion must be that those eight prisoners are as innocent as new -born babes, as no betrayal of guilt is erceptihle in their looks or appearance. L veil under the harrow ing details as sworu to by Mr. Stevanus, the man bound in ropes at the time of the rob bery, and bv Miss Anna Itaker, the girl working at the time at Mr. Voder's, they all looked and acted as though they were less interested in the case than any other ierson iu the room. Nor did Christian Voder's simple and straight-f'rward slory of the terrible injuries inll ctrd upon him by men little less than demons, move theiu in the least degree. Though four of them, were pointed out and ferred to by name by several of the wit nesses, not one of them manifested a particle of embarrassment. Mr. Stevanus, the first witness, and who felt the effects of the ropes tits! j around and about him, is an average in telligent looking man, semingly about 4o j years old. He gave in his testimony in t a clear and distinct manner, and mi tiered i no confusion on cross examination. Miss Anna Ilaker, n not her of the lojie's ' victims, is a young lady, or more than til). on,.-,,;,! will recognize it at a ordinary strength of character, and knew Jg!anc(. probably the m-asi astonished what to say, how to say it, and when and t llliin of a!! who w'ill si-e this pi.lure will where to say it. Her testimony was . , A,V.A himself .and he w ill now under right to the point, with no break or sem-! .an,i w(lat t1(, n,..lty Jr,.a and pleas- blam-e of rambling. In identifying her) ant..".., gentleman, who interviewed stockings that bad been stolen she prov-; jlim f,.w jays since, with a card in ed herself to be much more than i ,js hand, on w hich he seemed to occas mateh for her cross-examiners. Withai J ioRa y ,tni;) the point of his lead lasncil, she is a ra'her fine looking, modest lady j ag ;f to ctnbha.-is to some remark, whose appearance and demeanor on the! was after. stand made a favorable impression on the fhir artist caiiiiit the phi of Tasker vast audience that gave her every answer j j .rm;. the hearing in the We t cor.iw marked attention. an,l drew the Sullivans' from hasty notes j made w hile visiting the jail. Long before the bell rang for Court to assemble this (Wednesday) morning, our streets were crowded with pedestrians! wending their w ay toward the Conrt House, so that when the doors were; opened they might be sure of gaining " admittance ere it became an impo6sibili-j ty, owing to the crowd being too great for the room. Scarcely five minutes elflied after the doors were thrown open until! eei peill, n well n iui'ir standing space was occupied, the anxiety being to hear the trial of the MeClelland town gang for the Voder robbery. As soon as court was convened the prisoners were brought in and seated around the table of their counsel, and in front of the judges' stand. In appearance they all looked neat and trim, apparently con- tent. U-wis beinghe leader, was fre-! staying with C hnstian 1 oder on the l Sth quently consulted by the ettorneys for j of April laft ; took supper there on that the defense in their cross-examination of late; it was after dark ; other persons the Commonwealth's witnesses. . j were present Kilen Baker, Fanny Wil Seate.1 at the table of the counsel for helra.Ciiristian Yoderand wrfe. Mr. Yo the pnwecition was old man Voder ' derwassitting in the house ith thedoors whom base, heartless and cruel wretches closed when f ar men dropped in ; tw.o so cruelly tortured and robbed on the came in at the front door, and two at the lth of April last. All eyes seemed to be back door ; three of them were armed turned toard the old mKn whose long, with revolvers; they first tied me, then snow-white hair and bearo1. and mild j tied Voder ; said they were after money blue eye an I pleasing face render bis ap- j t'l swore they would get it ; Mr. Voder peararice venerable, and would impress ! told them the money was in a desk ; they one with the truthfuilness of the oft re- neated assertion that Mr. Voder "Is at i peace w ith all the world." He is sixty-five years of age and when he was asked to i lake his place in the w itness' stand he j was sworn for the first time in his life in ia conrt of justice, and told in a clear and j,,. manner of the horrible torture he underwent on that memorable occa sion, after he had peaecahly given up all the money he had in his possession. Bold Bandits On Trial ! Thc ' McClellandton Gans" Face Somerset County Jurv. "('bristly " Toder Takes The Stand. Damning Testimony of Witnesses. THE COURT ROOM PACKED SUFFOCATION I TO Intense Interest Taken in the Trial. Full Report of the Evidence Produc ed and Portraits of The Gang. The Umberger M urder Case Likely to be Called This Afternoon. liver since the story of the capture and imprisonment of the " M Cli-!tindti)wn 0:0!''' IS til frr:!l::ilVl!K' t , ll r 1 i tl tllM i ,, ' , , , , , ., 'lltlllllt no tmvo !otl in nlmost ilailv receipt of requests from diiferent parts of the county to " print the pictures of the gang.'' The prisoners were not anx ious to lie (lor'.rayed and refused all of our solicitation fir their tihoto'Taobs. j ,,t tie ,,,..,,, aU.lv, a ,lrm ,.,;ever in newspaper enterprise and solicitous that every reasonable retiet of its pat rons should le grati;i I, has employed a sjiecial artist to visit tii. jail and make sketches of some of the more prominent prisoners. This portrait of Cu m:i.i i. I. i:vis is so lifflike!iat nnv one who has ever W El'NEHlAY MoKNIM.StSSloN. Inintediately after the oriening of the court the jury in the case of C. II. Hen- ford, who was charged with violation of the liouor laws, returned a verdict of "inilty in manner and form as indict ed.'' The jury was polled, and all answer ed in the affirmative. A motion for new trial was made, and postponed for further consideration. THE VoliEl: ColtlftKY CASK. Samuel Stevanus, the hired man who was bound ami gagged at the time of the outrage on Christian Voder was perpe trtfced, was the first witness railed on be half of the Commonwealth. Wegive be low the subtanee of his testimony : Live in KUlick township, and was drst went np sta;rs and commenced a searcn or me nouse : anor mis uiey went into the cellar ar.d ate s:ipper; one of the robb?rs then tk Mr. Voder into another room, afterwards took him tothe barn ; when they brought him back they asked him for au order for? 10). Mr. Voder answered in voi.-e very weak, from their having put a ripe around his neck and drawn him up, that he could not write. One of them pulled out a 1 vv- v,t.,;io "'.'.i IK t 'km' revolver and said tome "keep silent, or we'll kill yon." They then took Youer out saving "lets take him out and kill the son of a bitch." When they brought him back Voder was all bloody. They wanted me to tie the ladies I refused. They then tied the women anil said they would come back in about one half hour and loosen us, but they didn't do to ; they took hams, stockings ; my boys untied me about 12 o'clock. Have seen the four men who were at Y oiler's house on that night twice since and could iden tify them. The witness being asked if ae could identify the men now, walked up to the prisoners and pointed out 1-ewia, Tasker and the two Sullivans as the me u who robbed Voder. I saw them when they were taken to Meyersdale for a hearing before the "Sjuire. Lewis tied ine; one of the tSul- Iivans staid in the room when the others went out of the house. The stolen articles were here shnwn to the witness and he said that the blocks of maple sugar were like same that Mr. Voder had ; he had made sugar of that kind hirulf for Voder. ( in cross-examin Ation he said that he saw them tirst at Voder's and next at j Meyersdale ; didn't say to Marshall Sul livan l 'ion i recognize you; Knew mem all when I tirst saw them ; wasn't much scared as not to remember them : recognie Marshall Sullivan because he was in the house all the time; he had a mask on but I am able to recognize him from his general appearance and from his talk, from the way he sat in a sto p ing position; had hat on ; I did not say to Marshall Sullivan I don't know you i but said I never saw vou liefore; I recog nize Tasker from his general apjiearance, size, weight, etc. ; saw the whole of Lew is' face, it was close to mine when he tied me; recognize Jack ion Sullivan; would swear to him with or without moustache ; was close to him ; they all stoI around me : didn't see the prisoners take the ar ticles, but know they were taken that night, also that two horses were taken ; saw money, over four hundred dollars, taken, On re-direct examination be testified that Lewis had nothing on his face; Iewis was the lead jr. Ullen lUker. I lived in Klklick town ship with Christian Voder at the time of the robbing; there were present that evening Voder, his wife, Fannie Wilhehn, Stevanus and mvrelf ; we were a!) in the room and had lights lit; it was s o'clock ; men came in, 2 in at each door; the loorswere an opposite sides ; the doors were closet, but not locked ; three had revolvers and one had a club ; they tied Stevanus and Voder with their hands on their back ; they said they wanted money; had cord in their pocket : they asked Voder where the money was ; he said it was in the desk drawer; they went there and got silver and green backs; I don't know how much; they went through tne whole House; tliev took sjinething belonging to me; four pairs of my stockings, two handkerchiefs and some jewelry they took; then they took Yoder out ; three of them went out and the other one sat on the wood box, with a club, guarding us; when Yoder came in lie didn't say what they done to him; afterwards they took him ont again: when they brought him in he had marks' on his neck where they hung him np and he spit blood ; they got something to eat ; three went to cellar and one guard ed us with club ; after they came - back the other one went to the kitchen and got something to eat ; they wanted Yoder to sign an order for $VK) more ; he said he could not, they .had used him too rough ; after that they tied me and I"an nie Wilhelm ; then they left at 12 o'clock and left us all tied in the room ; I can identify ray stockings; those stockings were there in the evening and next moruing they wera gone ; I knit them and know them; I reoogniza Charles Lewis and Jack Sullivan ; I don't iden- i tify any of the others; two of them had been there on Friday evening a week before at supper; Charles Lwis and j Tasker were the ones that were there; they had no masks on then ; they said they wanted to stay all night ; Yoder ' would not keep them ; they went away then . Cross examined Two of them had j masks on when they entered ; I can't ' pick those two out; the other two I know ; I wasn't at Meyersdale and didn't see them there ; Jack Sullivan had a handkerchief tied over his mouth au l part of his nose ; I recognize him by his eyes an the upper part of his face; I saw the money taken that was in the desk ; I didn't see the stockings or other articles taken, except I saw one of them have a coverlet under his arm ; I didn't recognize Iaker that evening, but he was there that evening; Marshall Sulli van was masked and I could not recog nize him ; I never saw Lewis and Jack Sullivan except the time of t'ae robbery till yesterday ; I am certain Liwis and Talker were at the house before; they eat Btiper there; it was candle light j when they eat supper; I was not there when they rains in, they left by the back door ; I was there when they left ; they sat down to the table and eat ; they olferd to pay but Voder would not take pay ; I examined that bundle of stock ings ; four pairs of them are mine ; I knit them myself of my owo yarn and I recognize the yarn ; it's home-made yarn that I got at home ; the yarn of this one pair was w hite when I git it and I col ored it red ; I know the stripes I put in ; that pair I just finished a few days be fore and they had never been washed ; I know my knitting and my stripes ; I am not mistaken; I know my own stockings; you can't find another pair exactly like these ; these mittens are not mine; thev were in this bundle also. He-direct $iof my money was taken from my trunk up stairs : it was in gold, greenbacks, and silver ; I didn't see it ta ken, but saw it in the evening, and next morning it was gone. Marshall Si li.icax. Christian Voder, affirmed I live in Klklick township; was home the evening of the l:'th of April last; Stevanus, Miss liaker, Miss Wilhelm and my wife and myself were together in one room ; the doors were shut but not 'ocked; some men came in at the back door and some in front; I didn't see anvthinit in their hands ; they tied Stevanus and me ; they had the cords in their pockets; I can't recollect what they said ; they asked where my money was ; they said, "Show me where you have your money f I showed them ; I saw them take it out; I can't tell how much it w as ; there was no gold in that drawer, but some gold was missing; they searched the house; I think 1 had $:!l in twenty dollar gold pieces, and some other gold pieces, and I that was gone next morning: after search- ing the hor.se thev took me to another room, laid me on the bed, and then ap- piiea snmcttiing to me aim to my throat to make me tell whether I had anv more money ; they then burned my thumbs with a candle: then they took me to the barn, into the feed room, anil they hung me up ; they didn't say anything ; they hanged me with a rope up to a beam ; they hanged me fiiMt by putting the rope in my mouth; (witness shows the jury) I lilvy ,,une.i me p al(0ilt a foot; after j they left me down they took me to the house first and then took me out and i,ung me again ; (shows by putting rope Lround his neciO they pulled me np I about a foot ; I didn't know anything j it while I was np ; before they l,R me no the Li.t time I said "It me alone ; I never done anything against you;" then one said, "I think it's the best plan to burn the barn and all, so no body else would find out what became of him;" they let me down then and I laid down and kn nothing of what took place for a gd while ; I think they set the hay on fire; it looked so to me; then they took me to the house again ; I didn't know anything at all for a good while after they hanged me; then they took me in the house and asked me to sign an order for $ Vt and I told them I could not, I was too weak ; I think they tied the women. Two men lead me out to the barn by each arm : I was born in lS2:!,on the 20th of August ; they wanted me to give the order to any man that had money ; any man from whom they could get it; next morning I missed bacon, four hams, one pillow case, and it looked as if some sug ar was taken, and a demijohn was miss ing:'shows moulilsl these are my sugar moulds ; this sugir looks like mine ; there were chestnuts in the sack and next morning the wick and chestnuts were gone; a pillo-.v slip of that size, in the room j where the siw.ir was, was gone next i morning; I had a demijohn like that; i the two ray horses were gone next ! morning: thev left between 12 and 1 t j o'clock ; w e were all tied when they 'left. j When tiA had me in the room on the j bed, they said "We will put a bullet i through your head and cut your throat, ! if you don't tell Oa where there is more money. Cms examination. The sugar moulds were not taken ; the soirar looks like mine; I have a demijohn like that; I can't say positively the demijohn is